Beautiful Dirty Rich: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Blood and Diamonds Book 1)

by L. A. Sable

  But our lucks run out just as the first doors are in sight.

  Dean Felton stands in the middle of the covered walkway with his arms crossed over his chest and a stern expression on his face.

  “Mr. Greenfield-Walton. Ms. Murphy. Out for a midnight stroll, I see. Have you been drinking?”

  I shake my head furiously, thankful that I didn’t have so much as a sip. To my surprise, Kai murmurs an adamant negative and I realize that I didn’t see him with a drink in his hand even once tonight.

  “You do realize it’s past curfew?” Dean Felton doesn’t wait for an answer as he surveys us both with a narrow gaze. “I hope you enjoyed it because I’ll see you both in detention tomorrow morning. Good night.”

  Kai doesn’t seem particularly bothered as he watches the dean march away. “I was hoping to avoid that. Oh well, I’ll guess I’ll be seeing you tomorrow in detention. Sweet dreams, Goldie.”

  Then he kisses me on the cheek, just the barest brush of his lips before he pulls back, face serene as if it’s the most natural thing in the world. He leaves me at my door, sauntering away with his hands stuck in his pockets as if he doesn’t have a care in the world and won’t spend the rest of the semester in detention.

  I spend the rest of the night lying in bed and staring up at the ceiling, trying to figure out what the hell just happened.

  Chapter 13

  Detention at Black Lake is manual labor, probably because it’s the worst thing that the entitled students can imagine having to do. Kai and I have been assigned to chip dried gum off the undersides of the tables and desks of the classrooms. It’s amazing that people are the same level of disgusting no matter how much money they have.

  I mean, how hard is it to spit your gum out in a trash can or swallow it like a normal human being?

  From what I can tell, Kai and I are the only ones who were caught out after the party broke up. It almost seems like Dean Felton was waiting outside my room for us to show up, but that could just be the paranoia talking.

  Between Asher’s drunken insistence on a kiss and Kai’s sudden desire to act like a decent person, I’m not sure what to think anymore. But I certainly wouldn’t put it past Chloe to tip off the faculty that I was out of my room after curfew. It could also just be a coincidence.

  One decent night and I’m questioning everything I thought I knew. It’s pathetic.

  These people are still my enemies, I remind myself. One party hasn’t changed that.

  But I still take advantage of the fact that Kai seems willing to pleasantly engage while we work. I spend most of the morning working up the courage to ask him the question that’s been burning at me since I arrived.

  “So what’s Asher’s deal?” I ask.

  Kai shoots me a look before disappearing back behind a long art table. “You should ask him.”

  “Yeah, I have.” I remember the kiss Asher and I shared by the lake and I’m glad that Kai can’t see my face. “It didn’t exactly go well.”

  “Asher is a complicated guy.” Kai picks up a metal scraper and works it hard on a stubborn spot on the underside of the table. “And you’re not like most girls around here.”

  That catches my attention, despite my best efforts. “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “You’re like this inflatable clown toy that I used to have as a kid. You’d box it down, it would fall but then bop right back up like magic. No matter how many times you hit it, it would pop right back up so you could do it again. You’re the same way, no matter how much gets dished out, you just keep taking it and asking for more.”

  “Asking for more,” I repeat, voice heavy with sarcasm. “You sound like a rape apologist.”

  “Not like that. I just mean, most girls would have given up a long time ago, but you don’t. And it’s not like you’re really hitting back, but you won’t stay knocked down either. It’s…different. And I think that’s threatening to some people.”

  I don’t miss the fact that his description isn’t exactly a compliment. “You’re talking about a literal punching bag.”

  “Then I’m not saying it right.”

  “I am not a threat to Chloe Devlin. There’s nothing I have that she wants.”

  “You say that, but I’m not sure it’s true.”

  Chloe sees me as a threat, that’s information I have to sock away to process later. It’s too much to deal with right now when Kai is standing right in front of me. “None of that explains why Asher seems so hell-bent on making me suffer.”

  “Does he want you to suffer or does he want you to leave?”

  I hesitate for a moment, thinking it over. “I didn’t realize there was a difference.”

  “Then you’re missing the point entirely.”

  “So you’re saying that Asher doesn’t hate me?”

  “Oh yeah, he hates you.” Kai laughs as if a personal vendetta is the most hilarious thing he’s ever heard of. “You should hear the shit he says about you. It’s not fit to repeat in polite company.”

  I roll my eyes at that. “Color me surprised. I just don’t get why he acts like such an asshole around me.”

  Kai shrugs and goes back to scraping the desk. “It probably has something to do with his dad.”

  “How could it? I’ve never even met the man.”

  “Did you know that Carter disowned Asher’s father?”

  My gaze flies up to meet his silver one. “Really?”

  “Yeah, about a year ago. I’m surprised you didn’t read about it in the papers or online. It was a pretty big scandal. Frank Bellamy was embezzling money from his father’s company. Carter helped him avoid jail time by covering the shareholder losses out of his personal funds, but disowned Frank after that. Asher renounced his father, but his inheritance is on thin ice. Carter has talked about taking it and using it to make the investors whole. One wrong move and Asher will be cut off.”

  I had no idea about any of this. “But what does that have to do with me?”

  “Maybe Asher thinks you or your mom will whisper in Carter’s ear, convince him that Asher shouldn’t inherit. I don’t know. If he didn’t feel threatened, by you then he wouldn’t be working so hard to get you out of here.”

  The Asher that I made out with in the dark last night didn’t seem too interested in pushing me away. It makes me wonder what else I might be able to get out of him when he’s drunk. “Asher does seem pretty determined to see that I get voted a Proli.”

  “He’s your ticket to the top right now.”

  I glance up, confused. “What are you talking about?”

  “You never check the app, do you? Here, take a look.”

  It’s true that I’ve silenced all the notifications from the Inner Circle, if just to save my own sanity. I really don’t want to know what people are saying about me at this point because I know it’s nothing good.

  But Kai gets up to show me his phone and there’s a grainy video on the screen. I quickly realize that it’s of me and Asher, last night out by the boathouse. Someone had been filming us when we went outside on that dare.

  “Oh, God.”

  “Just wait.”

  I watch myself kiss Asher, him respond and then I’m shoving him away. Even though our conversation wasn’t heated, without the sound it looks like I’m berating him while Asher just stands there dazed. And then Kai appears at my side and we disappear together into the darkness, just leaving Asher standing there.

  “I can’t believe someone recorded that.”

  “The rumor mill is already going a hundred miles a minute. The most popular story is that you and Asher had some heated affair over the summer and you broke it off, which is why he’s been acting like such a dick. This makes you out to be kind of badass.”

  I’m already shaking my head, uncomfortable with all of it. Not just that we were being watched but that the people spinning tales don’t even really care about what actually happened. “That’s not the truth, though.”

  “This is a post-truth world.
Reality is what you make it.” Kai slips the phone back into his pocket and then leans against the table. “Regardless, your star is on the rise now that everybody thinks you’re too good for Asher Bellamy. It’s a good thing.”

  “If you say so.”

  “I do say so.”

  “Isn’t Asher one of your closest friends? Why are you taking my side?”

  “Asher has been different since all that stuff went down with his dad. Just because he’s my best friend, doesn’t mean I can’t see when he’s being an ass.”

  “Well, I’m glad someone here knows how to keep things in perspective.”

  “And I’m glad you came to your senses enough to push him away. Asher doesn’t deserve to have you.”

  Something about the way he says it makes me look up. But Kai is very carefully not looking at me, devoting his full attention to scraping a decade of old gum out from under the desk in front of him. But a pinkish blush stains his cheekbones, giving his embarrassment away.

  The realization feels like a lightning bolt that strikes directly at the center of my chest. Kai Greenfield-Walton likes me.

  But before I can even let the idea settle, the more rational part of my mind is already tearing it apart. He’s probably just being nice because he feels bad that he set me up for so much shit here. A guy who looks like this and comes from the sort of family that he does would never slum it with a girl like me.

  And then a small hopeful voice reminds me that he had the option to spend his detention in one of the other dozens of rooms we’ve been assigned to clean. He chose to stay here with me and work together. That can’t just be because he wants to be nice.

  “You still haven’t explained why you’re telling me any of this,” I say, making a point to keep my voice casual. “Why are you helping me?”

  He shrugs, returning his attention to the caked on gum, but the set of his shoulders is tense. “I told you before. It’s only fair after everything that’s happened.”

  “That’s it? You’re some agent of justice now.”

  “I probably wouldn’t go that far. But I felt like helping you, so I did.”

  And that attitude is perfectly emblematic of how all the students here act. They do what they feel like doing when they feel like doing it, no explanations needed.

  “I still don’t trust you.”

  “Can’t say I blame you for that. Trust has to be earned.”

  I’m still squaring with the fact that he wants to earn my trust at all. Although when I think about it, his only real crimes are going along with a relatively harmless prank by not telling me he has a twin and then not speaking up when Asher humiliated me in class. Doesn’t mean I’m just going to forgive him, but it might be possible down the line.

  “So what are you planning to do to make it up to me?” I ask, realizing only belatedly how flirty that sounds. My head ducks back under the desk so he can’t see that now I’m blushing.

  “Options are a little limited at the moment.” He stands up and sets down the metal scraper with a loud clang. “The best I can offer right now is a soda from the machine. You want?”

  “Sure. Anything that’s not diet, fake sugar tastes disgusting.”

  “Got it. Be right back.”

  He lopes out of the room and I watch him go, marveling at the fact that I seem to actually be making friends with a Diamond, or a soon to be one at least. I just hope this isn’t some elaborate trick Kai is planning to humiliate me again. But if that’s his plan then I doubt he would share so many personal things about Asher. And that stuff about his father has to be true, all it would take is a quick internet search to confirm it.

  I hear footsteps in the hallway and then the door opening so I start talking without bothering to look up. “That was fast.”

  “What was fast, Ms. Murphy?”

  I jump up fast enough that I smash my head against the table above me. Mr. Cardill stares down at me with an amused expression as I get to my feet, rubbing the sore spot on my head. “Sorry, Mr. Cardill. I didn’t realize that was you.”

  “Got stuck with Saturday detention, huh?”

  “You’d be shocked how much old chewing gum accumulates underneath all of these desks.” I wave the metal scraper at him. “What brings you in on a Saturday?”

  “I’ve got some lesson plans to work on.” He enters the room completely, and I realize that he’s not dressed in the normal blazer and slacks he wears during the school day. Instead, jeans encase his slim hips and he’s wearing a faded t-shirt with the logo of an 80s metal band emblazoned on it. Mr. Cardill looks good, like really good.

  With an effort, I shake that thought away. Crushing on one of my teachers is beyond inappropriate for about a million different reasons. But just because I can’t touch, doesn’t mean I can’t occasionally look. “I’ll be out of your way in just a few more minutes. This is the last desk.”

  “Take your time.” He sets his leather attaché case down on the desk at the front of the room, opens it and starts removing stacks of papers. “I assume Dean Felton impressed on you the importance of getting every last wad.”

  “Yeah, he made it sound like detention will last for as long there’s still gum needing to be scraped off. So basically forever.”

  “Sounds like a pretty classic Felton punishment. Just count yourself lucky it isn’t winter yet. He loves making students salt the walkways during detention.”

  At least scraping gum means I’m inside with climate control. “Very true. This will be the last time that I stay out after curfew. No matter how cool the party sounds.”

  “Party, huh?” Liam smirks, the move making a dimple appear on his already devastatingly handsome face. “I remember those days. Let me guess, the boathouse out by the lake?”

  “How did you know?”

  “Some things never change, apparently. The lake was a legend even back in my day.” He takes a seat at his desk but doesn’t make any move to get to work, resting his elbow on the table and resting his chin in his hand as he regards me with a curious expression. “I assume you weren’t the only one caught.”

  “Kai and I were the only ones who ended up with detention, as far as I know.”

  His lips curve in a moue of displeasure. “Kai Greenfield-Walton?”

  “We got caught out after-hours by Dean Felton. Kai was walking me back to my room.”

  “Walking you back to your room?”

  I catch his expression and rush to explain. “It was dark, and he was just making sure I got to my door without a problem. Like in a gentlemanly way.”

  “As long as that’s the way it stays,” Liam says sternly. “You’ve got to watch yourself around boys like Kai.”

  For some reason, I get the impression that his opinion extends to all of the boys on campus, not just Kai. “He was just being nice.”

  “You tell me the minute he’s not.”

  I tell myself that he’s just looking out for the new student, because that’s what good teachers are supposed to do. “Sure thing, Mr. Cardill.”

  He seems slightly taken aback when I address him formally, but doesn’t remind me that he said I could call him Liam. Getting familiar would probably be a bad idea for both of us, if just because of how it would look.

  “How are things otherwise?” Liam asks, as he arranges the papers on his desk. “I assume there have been no other life threatening incidents.”

  “Not so far, but there’s still a few months left in the semester. Chloe really seems to have it out to get me.”

  “If I could prove what happened was purposeful, believe me I’d do something about it. The board had already been cleaned off by the time I got back to the pool that day.” His expression is grim and an intense light burns in his eyes, as if it’s just as important to him justice is served as it is to me. “Chloe will go too far eventually. There’s a Diamond like her in every class.”

  My eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “You know about all of that? The Inner Circle, I mean. I thought faculty weren’t
a part of it.”

  “The app was created in my last year. Not much has changed since then from what I gather.”

  “Wow. I hope that means most of them will grow out of this crap. Right now, most of the people here are literally the worst I’ve ever met.”

  “Well, I can’t blame you for that. High school doesn’t usually bring out the best in people.”

  “My old high school wasn’t like this.”

  “Black Lake is a unique place, that’s for sure.” He levels his gaze at me, dark eyes more serious than I’ve ever seen them. “You know you can always come to me if you’re having problems, right?”

  “I know and thank you. Things seem to have settled down, at least for now.”

  “Well, I just hope it’s not the calm before the storm.”

  “Me too.”

  I go back to work while he focuses on his lesson plan, the companionable silence broken only by the scrape of the metal implement against the wood of the table I’m working on. It’s apparent that Kai got waylaid trying to find the vending machines, or maybe he just decided to take a prolonged break. His stated intention to make things up to me is a little less believable if he bails and leaves me with the rest of the work.

  A few more minutes pass and then I startle, realizing that Mr. Cardill is standing right over me. I hadn’t even heard him get up from the desk.

  “This will take you forever if you do it that way. Here let me show you.” He comes up behind me and grips my hand that’s holding the scraper, shifting it up so the edge is at a different angle. “You want to come down on it like this, get everything off in one piece, instead of chipping away at it.”

  “You’re really good at this,” I murmur, trying to ignore the heat of his chest against my back and the feel of his hands on mine. He’s just trying to help me get done faster so he can get his work done in peace, nothing more than that.

  “I spent more than my fair share of time in Saturday detention.”

  I force myself to laugh even as my heart bangs wildly in my chest. It has to be just me feeling this way. Mr. Cardill is just wants to be nice to a student in need and I’m spinning taboo fantasies in my head like an idiot. “You seem to have gotten yourself together now.”