“For work?” Cathy asked me.
I looked up to Claire, wondering what the answer was here.
“Something like that,” Claire said.
“We were just tossing ideas around about some other pieces of land and housing,” Sylvester said. “Relaxing after a long day.”
“You relax by talking about real estate?” I asked.
“They have an idea to buy something down in Hidden,” Cathy said rolling her eyes. “Land that’s untouchable.”
“Nothing is untouchable,” Claire said. “You know that old man will die sooner than later.”
“And everything will go to his family,” Cathy said.
“Not the sons,” Sylvester said. “And the grandson is probably the same age as Tinsley here.” He looked at me. “You know the name Weslee Jackson?”
I shook my head. “Never heard of him.”
“Good for you,” Cathy said. “Plus, you know Rosemary already called me.”
“Angel investors,” Claire said with an eye roll of her own.
I had no freaking clue what they were talking about.
I slowly made my escape, backing up, grabbing some kind of fancy looking wrapped up lettuce thing. I used my other hand as a plate and bit into it. It was delicious. I went back for a second and caught Cathy watching me.
That prompted me to wipe my hand with a towel and get the hell out of the kitchen.
I followed the sound of the piano.
There wasn’t a musical bone in my body.
I couldn’t even sing with a hairbrush in the mirror.
The piano was so relaxing.
I couldn’t believe Claire was rich enough to not only own this house but to pay a chef to cook for her and a couple friends. And to pay someone to play piano.
When I was out of sight, I pretended I was wearing a dress and started to twirl on my toes. Like I was some fucking social elite motherfucker talking all fancy about interest rates and real estate taxes and the new foreign car…
I snorted and stepped into the room that had the piano.
A room just for a piano.
No lie.
The music came to an abrupt stop.
“No need to…”
The top to the piano was open.
So I couldn’t see who was playing.
Until that person stood up.
Standing there with an unlit cigarette in his mouth…
Fucking Barr.
eight
I sucked in a breath and realized my last safe place was no longer safe.
Barr took the cigarette out of his mouth and grinned. “Evening, love.”
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“Just taking the edge off the day,” he said.
He put the cigarette back between his lips and reached down to the piano.
My eyes went wide as he started to play.
The soft and soothing classical sound played by this guy? This asshole who messed with my locker. This asshole who gave me a lit cigarette and got me in trouble. This asshole who was part of getting me outside to the garden so he, Kip, and Pres could try and scare me.
Barr curled his lip as he played the piano harder and faster. The calm dinner music turning darker by the note. Now it sounded like a scary movie soundtrack.
And as loud as it was, it instantly all stopped when he took his hands away from the keys.
He stepped around the piano and put his fingers along the side as he walked toward me.
I swallowed hard.
My instinct was to turn and run.
Go to my room and lock the door and never come out again.
There was no getting away from these guys.
Barr took the cigarette out of his mouth again.
“You look a little tense tonight, love,” he said. He was then right in front of me. Reaching for the same hand I had punched Vicky with. The same hand Pres had spit on. He put the unsmoked cigarette into the palm of my hand and closed my fingers around it. “You should have a smoke and relax a little.”
“Barrington, why did you stop playing?” Cathy’s voice called out.
“Forgive me, Mom,” he called back with his eyes locked to mine. “I got a little distracted.”
Barrington?
Mom?
He walked out of the room, leaving me completely breathless.
I looked down at my hand and frowned.
I put the cigarette into some fake plant stand and moved toward the kitchen.
That’s when I put it together.
Why Sylvester and Cathy looked familiar.
Because Barr was a perfect mix of the two.
He had Sylvester’s manly chin and honey gold eyes. Yet he had the pretty features from his mother.
And he stood between them with his hands in his pockets of his fancy shorts with his plain white t-shirt hugging his body perfectly tight.
Leaving me in complete shock.
“Do you two know each other?” Claire asked.
“We’ve been acquainted,” Barr said. “Right, Ti?”
Ti?
Now you’re going to use my nickname, you asshole?
“Ti?” Cathy asked.
“That’s Tinsley’s name,” Barr said. “Ti is short for Tinsley.”
“Oh, of course,” Cathy said. “I thought maybe you two had names for each other.”
“Oh, I could think of a name for him,” I said.
“Well, it’s a relief to know you’re meeting people at Bay Falls High,” Claire said.
“She’s in good hands,” Barr said. “Even though today was a little rough.”
“Why is that?” Sylvester asked.
“It’s fine,” Claire said. “Honestly.”
“Of course,” Barr said. “Forgive me for bringing that up. It wasn’t my place.”
“Did something happen?” Cathy asked. “I’m telling you, I do not like that Jacobson being there.”
“Easy now, my love,” Sylvester said to his wife.
Barr eyed me and grinned.
Love.
Shove it up your rich ass.
“We can gossip about school politics later,” Claire said. “Let’s sit and eat and enjoy the simplicity of life.”
“Would you mind if I went to get some air?” Barr asked.
“Sure,” Claire said. “Do you feel okay?”
“I feel sick,” I said.
“Something in the air,” Barr said with a grin.
“Barrington always clears his head after playing piano,” Cathy said. “Such a marvelous musician. Yet nothing will come of it.”
“My love, we’re guests here,” Sylvester said.
He grabbed Cathy’s hand and squeezed hard. Really hard. So hard that she looked like she was in pain but hiding it.
“Going for a smoke?” I asked Barr.
“A smoke?” Cathy asked.
“Ti was caught with cigarettes,” Barr said. “She jokes and blames me.”
“Old habits from an old life,” Claire said, covering for me for more lies. “Come on. Let’s go sit down.”
“I’ll join you shortly,” Barr said.
“Take your time,” Cathy said to her son.
“I think I might join you,” I said. “Do you mind, Barrington?”
Barr curled his lip. “Not at all.”
So now I was following the devil outside instead of locking the door to keep him away.
The second we were both outside, Barr took out a cigarette and lit it. With his head down, messy hair almost in his face, taking the first drag, not caring who saw…
“What did I do to you?”
“Who said you did anything?” he asked, smoke dancing from his lips.
“I did. You did. I mean… the three of you are messing with me. You see who I am. Why I’m here. Right?”
“Living the rich girl life even though you have nowhere to live.”
“I have an apartment.”
Barr laughed. “Right. Isn’t that where your mother ge
ts high? Where she goes too far?”
“Fuck you,” I growled. “Fuck you for knowing anything about me. Because you really don’t.”
“Sorry, love, I know everything already. There’s no escaping it now.”
“Escaping what?” I asked. “Because I saw Pres trying to kill someone?”
Barr stepped toward me, eyes flaring. “Say that again.”
“You heard me. I was minding my own business. I didn’t mean to see anything.”
“But you saw something. And you were so quick to flap those thin, cute lips of yours to Kip.”
“He asked…”
Barr took a drag and blew smoke at me. “What do your other lips look like, love?”
“You’ll never find out, Barr,” I said.
“That’s what you think,” he said. “I’m a rich, ignorant fuck, Tinsley. Anything I set my eyes on I get. No matter what it is.”
“Is that how this works?” I asked. “You show up here and look like a good boy in front of your parents and then a complete asshole to me? And I’m supposed to just… get wet? Fall to my knees. Beg for your…” My eyes looked down and back up.
“You really don’t know what you’ve stepped into,” he said. “That’s attractive.”
“So now I’m attractive? My lips are cute. You’re thinking about somewhere else? And I’m attractive…”
“See? You’re getting it. And I’ll get it soon too.”
“What would your buddies think of that?” I asked. “You hitting on the girl they hate so much?”
“Oh, we’ve come to an agreement, love. The poor, dirty girl… every man for himself. Come one. Come all.”
Barr leaned down toward me and I stepped away.
I laughed and shook my head. “Nice try.”
I got out of his reach and stood next to a table next to the pool.
“When did you start playing piano?” I asked.
“Why the fuck does that matter?” Barr replied.
I turned. “Just curious.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It sounded good.”
“I don’t care what you think sounds good,” he said.
He smoked his cigarette, putting his head back, making the smoke dance in different shapes.
After maybe a minute of silence, I was done.
“I’m going inside,” I said. “I thought maybe we could talk for a second. Figure this out.”
Barr threw his hand out and touched my stomach.
I sucked in a breath.
“Not yet, love,” he whispered.
He took another drag and dropped the cigarette to the ground.
He stepped on it.
There was smoke all around us.
The smell of the smoke…
It stung my nose but it wasn’t completely disgusting.
“You’ve heard about us, right?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“That’s good. We own everything.”
“So I’ve heard.”
“Just want to make sure that’s very clear.”
“Trust me, it’s clear. The rat in my locker. The cigarette. The note. It’s all very fucking clear, Barrington.”
He laughed. He side stepped and looked down at me.
“We can just skip the formality here, love,” he whispered. “And you can show me to your room.”
I shook my head. “It’s a big house. Lots of rooms. Good luck.”
Barr moved closer and I moved back. “That’s what you want? To push at me? To tempt me? To tempt us?”
“Tell me what happened on the beach,” I said. “What did I actually see?”
Barr nodded.
Each time he inched toward me I inched back.
I was not going to let him get close enough to touch me again.
“Sometimes people don’t know how to take warnings,” Barr said. “So you have to… step it up.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it,” Barr said. “Then again, you were warned too. And you didn’t listen.”
“I had no choice,” I said. “I had to show up to BFH.”
“Look at you, love. Calling it BFH so soon. Like you’ve been here your entire life.”
“I think I hear your mother calling your name.”
Barr leaned down toward me. “No. That’s just your body calling my name. It’s just you… getting…”
Barr made a move and I stepped back again.
Only I didn’t realize I was at the end of the pool.
My foot touched the water and I knew I was screwed.
I went all the way into the water, my clothes instantly soaked.
“Wet,” Barr said, finishing his sentence.
He stepped to the edge of the pool, his expensive leather shoes looking a mile long.
I grabbed the edge of the pool and kept my hair from getting wet.
Barr looked down at me and slowly backed up. “I was three.”
“What?” I asked.
“I was three when I was forced to start taking piano lessons.”
“Good to know,” I said.
Barr paused. “This night, love, is far from fucking over yet.”
* * *
I had to climb from the pool and run through the house in secrecy. Which was easy to do considering the size of the house. So getting caught soaked by Claire wasn’t a worry of mine. What was a worry was the way my clothes clung to me. Nothing was really hidden. And going from the pool to the air conditioned house… wet clothes… you know… things happened.
I took the back set of stairs and found my bedroom.
After locking the door, I rushed to the bathroom to strip out of the wet clothes.
Thankfully I had left my phone on the bed.
I wrestled and peeled the wet clothes off my body, leaving them in the middle of the bathroom floor.
I covered my chest with my right arm as though someone could see me.
Sneaking through my own room, my heart racing, almost scared.
When I dressed in fresh, warm clothes, I caught my breath.
He was making his point. He was trying to show his power. Because money meant nothing to me. That was the thing that made them look at me the way they did. Other girls in BFH had money and cared about money. For me, I didn’t care. What was Barr going to do? Buy me a six figure car so I’d fool around with him?
Please.
This was all a stupid game.
I was the new girl.
I had a story.
I was poor.
They loved it.
And now I knew I had no chance in hell of talking to Claire about it. There was no way she would believe me about Barr. Or the others. Because if she was tied to Barr’s parents, she was tied to Kip’s and Pres’s too. Because that’s how these fucking rich towns and rich people did their business.
It made sense.
And actually, I was glad it happened this way. Before I opened my mouth to Claire.
I ripped open my bedroom door and walked to go back downstairs.
Barr would never expect to see me again.
But I had nothing to lose here.
He had everything to lose.
Maybe if I just kept showing up. That would be enough to send them packing. They’d get bored with me in a week. Because there was nothing there. No dirty secrets that could ruin my life. I lived in a fucking dump of an apartment with a junkie for a mother. How much lower could I go?
A smile crept across my face as I poked my head into the dining room.
“Sorry I missed dinner,” I said.
“That’s fine,” Claire said as she held a glass of wine. “Did you get changed?”
“She fell into the pool,” Barr said.
“What?” Cathy asked.
“I made sure she was okay,” Barr said. “Right, Ti?”
“Totally,” I said. “Stupid me. I was just walking and next thing I knew I was in the pool.”
“Nothing wrong with a midnight swim,” Sylvester
said.
He laughed.
And slowly everyone else laughed too.
It’s only nine at night, you fucking moron.
I smiled and then excused myself.
In the kitchen the spread of appetizers was still there but there was no sign of the chef. I looked around at the food, most of which I had no idea what it was. Honestly, it all looked really gross. And I was sure it was delicious and extremely expensive.
“Not your usual, love?”
I learned my lesson already so instead of turning around right away I walked around the island in the kitchen and then turned to face Barr.
“Your tongue gets used to it,” he said.
“Good to know,” I said.
“Sometimes it’s an acquired taste and sometimes you learn to love it. Makes me wonder what you taste like.”
I laughed. “Is this your pick up game, Barr?”
“Oh, if I really wanted it that bad I would have it already. I’m just feeling things out right now.”
“Yeah. Why don’t you go feel yourself in the bathroom?”
He stepped back and folded his arms.
His silence was the best part of the night so far.
“I guess nobody remembers how to make a grilled cheese, huh?” I asked.
“Love, this isn’t elementary school anymore.”
My eyes went to Barr’s. “I know.”
“I don’t think you do,” he whispered.
He moved from the kitchen and I shut my eyes.
I returned to the dining room and saw Barr’s seat was empty.
“You know, Tinsley,” Cathy said, “I’m not sure what your plans are when you’re done with Bay Falls High, but you could always come work for me.”
“For us,” Sylvester said.
“She’ll be working for me,” Claire said.
“Oh… I… I don’t know where I’ll be,” I said. “I mean, it’ll depend on what my mother…”
“What business is she in?” Cathy asked.
“Pharmaceuticals,” I said. “Please excuse me.”
As I left the dining room I heard Claire begin to whisper the truth about my mother.
Great.
But whatever.
I checked the kitchen and there was no sign of Barr.
I checked the piano room.
The piano was dark and silent.
I even took the risk by checking the bathroom. I wasn’t sure what I would do if I found Barr standing at the sink taking care of himself.
UNtouched: a bay falls high novel Page 7
