Jenna waves us over from one of the many antique sofas that line one of the walls and Ayla smiles at her new friend but Alex steers her towards the huge mahogany bar at the opposite end of the room.
“Let’s get a drink and then enjoy the view outside. You’ll see, it's worth it.”
Ayla doesn't argue with his plan but whispers, worried:
“Do you guys have fake IDs? I mean, we can’t possibly be served...”
Alex shakes his head, amused by the expression on his date’s face.
“We don't need IDs here. This place is private and the dashing bartender and owner of this establishment, Harry, graduated from BHPA last year. He opened this place so we’d have a place to party when we get bored of our houses and we want to drink but be inconspicuous.”
“So, it's an illegal bar.”
She really looks worried. Damn, she's adorable!
“Let's go.”
I order a twenty five year old bourbon, Alex asks for a martini and then looks at Ayla.
“Can I have a bottle of water, please?”
This time is Alex's turn to eye roll.
“Seriously? Come on, live a little! Get something a bit stronger...”
“I’m not used to drinking...”
“Let’s start learning how to, then...”
He encourages her.
“Water will be fine.”
She looks worried and I honestly don't blame her: probably Alex is planning to make her drink to make her relax at the very least.
He's about to argue again about her getting a drink and those two are already giving me a headache, so I intervene:
“How about Ayla gets her water, and we let her try sips of our drinks and make sure that we stop her before she even gets tipsy? We’ll start her with really small steps, huh? And I promise that if you do get even the slightest bit tipsy I’ll see that you get safely to Jenna’s house and will keep lover boy over here on best behaviour. How does that sound?”
Ayla nods, reassured and we grab our drinks and make our way onto the balcony.
Balcony is an understatement, this is more like a top floor deck.
Huge pots with plants and flowers are scattered everywhere and plush patio furniture offers more than one comfortable seating area.
Fairy lights are strung everywhere, offering soft lighting without obscuring the stars.
I sit down first and Ayla takes the spot next to me.
Alex sits on her other side on the three seater couch, while Tuna, EM, Josh and the girls all drag chairs and sit opposite us.
Alex offers his date a sip of his martini which she takes but doesn't seem to like.
She scrunches her nose and comments:
“It's strong.”
“Here, take a sip of this...”
I offer her my glass and when she takes a sip, she licks her luscious lips.
I don’t think she realises how hot that is but my mind is straight into the gutter: I can't help but imagine those lips wrapped around my cock and I know that Alex has the same thought because he swallows and his eyes stay on her lips for a long time.
“Can I have another sip? This is really good. It doesn't burn and it's got a sweet aftertaste.”
I nod.
“Just make sure to sip slowly. It’s way stronger than you think, new girl...”
Alex asks Ayla what brought her family here and she tells us about her little brother selling an app that he created for millions of dollars and being offered a job by a huge tech company in LA.
“He’s only fifteen but I’m so proud of him. He’ll be the next Steve Jobs, I swear. You have to think that he built his app using this super old computer that my Mom bought him at a yard sale to play retro games.
He modified it by buying a few parts for it and... It’s amazing how he did it!”
“So you’re as new money as they come! Like, so new that you’re almost still poor!”
I sigh and shake my head at the sound of my ex-girlfriend’s voice.
Dude! I swear, I was so in love with Michelle since sophomore year! I never liked her voice but I thought that she was sweet and she does have amazing boobs. I thought that all the new things that we explored together were new to the both of us and I would have done anything for her. Until I realised that she's a two faced, conniving bitch.
She’d been cheating on me from the very beginning.
I lost my virginity to her and she lied about me being her first.
She even had a summer boyfriend in the Hamptons which I knew nothing about because my family owns a little Island in the Pacific and we go there for the summer: no internet, no TV, nothing.
Just surfing and driving around the little island.
She never accepted my invitation to come with us, claiming that her parents wanted the whole family together but now I know better.
Alex and Tuna have been tagging along for the last five years, so I was oblivious to Michelle's extra curricular activities until last summer, when she had a little accident and got herself an STD.
The only reason why I haven't let Alex destroy her life like he did with Tuna’s cheating ex last year, is that Michelle confessed when I got suspicious about her sudden request to use condoms.
At first she tried to lie about having forgotten her pill a few times but then she told me the truth.
And I’ve protected her from my brother’s wrath not because she fessed up when cornered but because she at least cared enough about me to want to use protection rather than risk infecting me.
That gave her one pass but not license to be a bitch to whoever she pleases, especially since Ayla has done absolutely nothing to her.
“So how did you get into BHPA? They really check where you come from, that you have the right pedigree, so to speak. I bet you must have fucked every man on the board of admissions. With whatever your brother made selling his little app, I doubt you could afford—”
“Michelle, this is enough!”
I growl and she stops talking for a second, narrowing her eyes towards me and seething:
“Oh, this is fucking awesome! Miss New Money here must be a bigger skank than I anticipated! So, you and Alex are fucking her...Tuna, are you banging her too?”
I see Alex’s gaze harden and he looks at me before saying:
“Michelle, do enlighten us. What's wrong with new money? My Father made his first million way after I was born! And his first billion about ten years ago. So my family's money is quite new too. Tell us what makes new money so much worse than old money?”
His tone is slow but icy and threatening, his eyes dark and unforgiving.
“I...”
She falters, red splotches appearing on her face as she is embarrassed in front of our whole group of friends.
“I thought so! After all, old money isn't much better. For example it doesn't guarantee good taste when it comes to who you fuck. Look at Sam, here... His family’s fortune came from Europe, on the Mayflower. And he’s been fucking you, so...”
She narrows her pale blue eyes:
“You, fucking—”
Alex shakes his head.
“One more word. I dare you!”
Ayla
MICHELLE STORMS AWAY and goes straight to a table nearby where there’s a group of college guys drinking beer.
She sits on one of the guys laps and takes a sip of his beer.
Alex walks away to order another round of drinks and we resume our conversation.
Josh is talking about this year’s school play and how he wants to close his career at BHPA with a modern rendition of Romeo and Juliet that he's writing himself.
“Of course as my Juliet, I couldn't cast anyone but my beautiful Jen...”
The conversation fades away when my attention is caught by Michelle snorting something white from the glass that tops the table her group is sitting at.
She laughs loudly and then grabs the hand of the guy whose lap she's sitting on and places it on one of her boobs.
&n
bsp; Her eyes are fixed onto me and Sam.
Sam doesn't seem to care, his blue eyes look almost bored when he grabs his glass of bourbon and takes a sip, and then scoots closer to me, tipping the glass towards my lips.
I drink the last of the amber coloured liquid, welcoming the heat that slowly descends down my throat as a different kind of heat starts spreading all over my face and neck when Sam’s thumb comes to dry my lips from an nonexistent residue of liquor.
His eyes are fixed onto mine and he smells as good as Alex but different: his scent is spicy and citrusy.
My mind drifts away thinking that these boys smell so incredibly good and they are so confident and...
I never finish the thought because Sam’s lips descend on mine.
All I can concentrate on is the feeling of warmth, the silky, soft texture of his lips, the sweet taste of the bourbon I’ve been sharing with him.
After the first few moments of surprise, I can't help but kiss him back when he increases the pressure of his lips on mine and his tongue tickles the seam of my lips, demanding access in a confident but gentle way.
And then the world around me disappears: every flick of his tongue against mine sends a hot wave from my lips down between my legs and I’ll never know if he pulled me onto his lap or if it was me jumping on it.
But I’m sitting on Sam’s strong legs, one of my hands on his chest, feeling his hard muscles under the thin fabric of his t-shirt.
I also feel his heartbeat under my fingertips and it's as fast as mine.
One of his hands cups the back of my head, making me tilt my head back and deepening the kiss.
The way Sam kisses is very different than the only kiss I have to compare it to.
It’s not just tongue, he uses his lips and his teeth to graze at my bottom lip from time to time.
And his kiss isn't too wet like Sean's was.
His lips feel so good that I never want it to end and I thank god that I’m sitting down or my legs would never support me.
When I think that I’m going to melt into a puddle, Sam breaks the kiss and sets me back down on the couch, next to him.
He tucks a strand of loose hair behind my ear and then winks at me.
I smile at him but as I turn around to look better into his blue eyes, I see him stare ahead towards the table where Michelle is sitting.
My heart breaks in a thousand pieces: this is why he kissed me, to make his ex jealous, not because he likes me.
After a long minute staring at Michelle, he stands up and walks away without a word.
Michelle addresses me with an evil looking smirk and gets up, sauntering towards the direction Sam just disappeared in.
I barely know these guys but when I’m around them I’m always on edge, always unsure, feeling inadequate and self-conscious.
This is why I never hung out with the cool crowd: I understand homework, school clubs, SATS...
Boys, especially these rich, cool, school ruling jocks are definitely out of my league.
I stand up and grab Jenna’s hand and I whisper in her ear, trying to keep in the hot tears that threaten to spill from my eyes at any second.
“Jen, I need to go home. Now.”
Jenna tries to argue with me:
“Why? Because Sam kissed you? If you didn't want him to...”
“No, I wanted to, I... I’ll explain later. Please, I need to go.”
“Ayla, you came here as Alex's date. You need to at least tell him that you want to go.”
I’m seconds away from freaking out.
“I need to go now, please. He’ll make me stay and right now, I can't...”
“Ayla, you are making a big mistake, just wait for Alex and—”
“I need to go, please...”
The girls relent and drive me to Jenna’s house.
I needed to go before Sam and Alex came back to our table, before Sam could realise how much he hurt me and before I had to endure more of Alex’s hot but unnerving attentions.
I can't even explain the way I feel to my new friends: I like both boys but Alex scares me and Sam... I want Sam to like me and I don't think I’ll ever forget his kiss, I’ll always bear the scar of it.
I feel heartbroken but also confused and guilty because I really like both boys and that isn't right, especially when I suspect that I could have neither of them.
4.
Interactions
Alex
I’VE BEEN IN A SOUR mood all weekend: when I came back to our table with fresh drinks, I found Ayla and the girls gone, a tight lipped Sam and obviously Josh and EM weren't any help.
EM was just able to tell me that Ayla and Michelle were staring each other down and that Ayla got really upset and left in a rush.
I’ll deal with Michelle in due time: that bitch’s days are numbered in this school and I suspect that even Sam is running out of willingness to protect his ex.
No blow job can be that good, not if you have to endure Michelle's constant ugliness.
Her voice alone grates on my nerves: that's probably why my brother kept her mouth constantly stuffed with cock, so he wouldn't have to listen to her.
I enter the school building early in the morning: today we have no practice but I know that Ayla takes the bus to school, so she gets here early and I want to catch her alone.
I’ve been going insane all weekend: I almost fucking called her!
But then I decided against it.
I don't want this to get out all over school and everyone to think that I’m pussy whipped.
Especially not for a girl I haven't even kissed.
But I can't explain why I keep thinking about her: it's like an obsession.
I hope she's ok but at the same time I’m mad at her for the way she left and at myself for caring so much.
Caring about people is what gets you hurt and the only people I care about and trust to not willingly hurt me are Sam and Tuna.
This time, however, I couldn't even bring myself to tell them about how I felt when I didn't find Ayla when I got back from the bar.
And my obsession got so bad that I did something I’ve never done before: I friended her on all social media.
I’ve never sent a girl a friend request before but I had to know if she'd said something about me.
And thankfully for my own sanity and for her own sake, Ayla accepted my friend requests but her social media has been totally silent; so the only way to find out what's going on is to speak to her.
I’m standing by her locker, right outside of our classroom in the empty hallway on Monday morning.
I spot her straight away in the dark grey blazer of our school uniform, the orange accents in the silk scarf tied around her neck, making her even complexion stand out.
She has a perfect hourglass figure and I don't think that she realises how perfect and beautiful she looks: she seems to be always concentrating on her studies and not constantly worried about her makeup and hair like all the other girls I know.
She doesn't see me when she approaches her locker, always lost in her thoughts, so she jumps when I greet her.
“You have some explaining to do.”
I say with more hardness in my tone than I intended.
“Good morning to you too, Alex...”
I take a deep breath: why does she have to be so defiant all the time?
“Why did you leave without telling me?”
Her gaze lowers to the floor but her lips are set in a stubborn line and I’m about to go ape shit if she doesn't tell me why she stood me up mid date.
People are starting to slowly trickle in for the school day and I can't have this conversation in public, so I grab her wrist and drag her inside our empty class room, locking the door behind me.
She attempts to walk towards her desk but I’m still holding onto her wrist and I pull her sharply towards me, sending her soft body crashing against mine.
“Ayla, why did you leave?”
“I didn't feel well.”
> She’s not looking at me: her gaze is directed to my chest.
“Ayla, you need to elaborate a little more than that. This isn't how you behave on a date.”
She's trembling but it isn't fear or weakness: she's angry.
“What's it to you anyway? It's not like you know me or we're friends.”
My grip on her wrist tightens and I use my other hand to force her chin up and to make her look at me.
Her green eyes are veiled by some emotion that she isn't disclosing and I want in.
“I’m trying to get to know you, Ayla! And you aren't helping me by disappearing on me and not talking.”
“Are you? Really? You told me that we were going out, you didn't ask me. You were too busy trying to put your hands on me to even exchange more than two words.”
I see red: she's actually right but any girl at school would give anything to be taken out on a date by me.
I just don't understand this girl, she makes me mad with her attitude and she's so pretty that I can't think straight.
“So did you leave because of me? Was I making you uncomfortable?”
Her eyes are locked onto mine, my fingers still holding her chin.
She sighs and then looks at me with some kind of determination in her gaze.
I want to hear her explanation so much that I keep from taking her lips the way I’ve wanted to since the day she walked into this classroom last week.
“Yes, you made me a little uncomfortable but I didn't leave because of you. I really was feeling nervous and Michelle kept looking at me, that made Sam mad and I... It was too much. At my old school I didn't date, Alex. And I just spent my weekends hanging out with my bestie or with my brother. So, this whole high pressure social environment and then you... It was too much and I had to go. I’m sorry, you're right. I was rude, I should have waited and said goodbye.”
Her words have a strange effect on me: they partially piss me off because... I know I’m the hottest and richest guy at this school and I can't accept the fact that the one girl I actually like for some fucked up reason, is the only one who isn't dying to date me.
But also they deflate me because maybe, just maybe, I need to give Ayla a bit more time and approach her in a different way.
The Initiation: A High School Light Bully Romance (Beverly Hills Prep Academy Book 1) Page 4