by Liv Reid
It never happens though. He continues to be the same guy he was at the Aston’s mansion when I went over for dinner. Charming, kind, and apologetic for what happened in the past.
At one point, he gets me alone for a second between drink orders and apologizes again for what happened in high school. I don’t think there’s any way a person could do what he did to me and now be a completely changed person only four years later, but he’s so convincing I almost believe him. Almost. I’m not that naïve.
I’ve had a couple of drinks to take the edge off this party, and I’m feeling pretty good by the time dinner rolls around. Luckily, Logan paid caterers to prepare all the food. He also hired waiters to serve it, so we both just have to sit and eat and enjoy. Thank God because I don’t think I could have done it myself.
Logan and I are sitting as far away from each other as possible at both heads of the long formal table. Rhett is sitting on one side of me and Mary, a sophomore who I don’t know very well, is sitting on my other. I keep catching Logan looking at me from out of the corner of my eye, but when I look back, he looks away and pretends to be absorbed in flirting with another girl.
Bethany is sitting next to Logan and has been giving me the evil eye all day. I know she’s mad I’m paired with him, but it wasn’t my choice. I would have preferred to be paired with almost anyone else.
I try to ignore both of them and just focus on the people around me, and I’m shocked to realize I’m actually having a great time. Rhett is really fun to talk to. He’s playfully flirting with me, which in my tipsy state is very enjoyable. Mary turns out to be funny as well, so when the end of dinner finally rolls around, I’m actually sad it’s over.
After dinner, we turn on the dance music playlist Logan and I chose, and that’s when the party really picks up. People start getting their own drinks so I don’t have to host anymore. I find Everly and the two of us hang out for the rest of the night.
Near midnight, everyone is pretty trashed, including Everly and I. Logan stops the music and makes an announcement about what’s going to happen tomorrow, and my drunken brain can’t help but appreciate how hot he looks when he commands a room.
A little while later, Rhett asks me to dance, and I think, why not? I follow him out onto the small dance floor, which is just a space that’s been cleared in the living room. It’s packed with Dark Society members bouncing and grinding together. I didn’t think rich people would get down like this, and I laugh out loud at how ridiculous it all is.
Rhett takes my hand, and then we are bouncing along to the music too. Logan and I chose all these songs, so I love each one of them. And Rhett’s a fun dancer. He can keep a beat and his playful dancing style matches his personality. I’m quickly laughing and having a great time in his strong arms.
I suddenly notice Logan off to the side of the room, and he’s glaring hard at Rhett and I. I can tell he’s mad, but I don’t care. What does he have to be angry about? He doesn’t own me, and besides, he hates me just as much as I hate him. I’m doing him a favor by staying away. Also, he’s been flirting with girls all night. I’m not allowed to dance with one guy? Double standards much, Logan?
Rhett spins me around, and then I hear someone ask, “Mind if I cut in?” I spin back, and before I realize what’s happening, I find myself in Heston’s large arms.
I look up into the face of my bully. The face of the person who tortured me for one year just because I didn’t want to go to second base with him.
He looks down at me with those familiar brown eyes. His normally swept-back dirty blond hair now hanging down over his forehead. That familiar big, charming smile on his lips—the one that hides the real person underneath.
I pull away from him sharply as if I’ve been burned. I turn from him and walk straight out of the room. Suddenly, I’m completely sober.
24
L
I watch Heston get shot down by Violet on the dance floor, and I can’t help that it makes me happy. I hated watching her dance with Rhett. It made my blood boil to watch him touch her, hold her, spin her around like he’s some goddamn Prince Charming. He’s been flirting with her all night, and I’m going to make him pay for it later. I should be the one touching her like that.
I growl in frustration, and the girl I’m pretending to talk to asks me if I’m ok.
“I’m fine,” I say gruffly, and she goes back to talking about whatever inane shit she was saying before.
I don’t want Violet, I tell myself. I just want to fuck her one time and then be done with it. We were so close in the library when she stopped it. Yeah, that must be it. She left me with the worst case of blue balls, and that’s why I can’t stop thinking about her. That’s why I can’t get her out of my mind.
I only want her body, her sexy little body. I hate the rest of her, so that’s the only thing that makes sense. I just need to fuck her one time, get it out of my system, and then I’ll be over it and on to the next girl. I’ve never had someone invade my thoughts like she has, so she’ll probably be an incredible lay. She’s burrowed her way into my mind and taken over to the point where all I can think about is her. What a bitch.
Heston leaves the dance floor and heads outside onto the porch for some fresh air. I excuse myself from whatever-her-name-is and slip out after him.
The porch lights aren’t on so it takes me a minute to spot him. I find him standing at the far end. He’s on the section that hangs out over the water, holding on to the railing and looking out at the dark ocean. The moon is full tonight, and it highlights everything in a soft glow.
I walk up to him.
“Big brother,” he acknowledges me, and we both stare out into the moving mass of blackness for a while. He’s smoking a cigar and the smoke curls around his face as he speaks.
“Why are you trying to get with Violet?” I ask, finally breaking the silence.
Heston chuckles a bit. “Dad told me to.”
“Why?”
He doesn’t look at me when he speaks, just continues to stare out into the endless ocean. “Said it was the best way to get her to take back her accusation against him. Seduce her, date her, then propose. She’ll get what she’s always wanted ever since we were young—our money. We’ll get her to sign a document retracting her accusation and saying she lied—we’ve already had the lawyers draw it up, and it’s airtight. Once she signs it, I’ll break off the engagement and she’ll go back to working in that disgusting diner and living like the trailer trash she is, and dad will be able to come home. Win-win. Everyone back where they belong.”
His words make me bristle in anger. I don’t like the way he’s talking about her. “She’ll never go for you. I may not like the girl, but she’s not dumb.”
He turns to me then, and I see his narrowed eyes in the moonlight. He’s got a cruel look on his face. “What’s wrong? You catch feelings for this chick or something?”
“No,” I say defensively, but Heston laughs.
“I always knew you had something weird for her, ever since her dad started working for us—I couldn’t figure out what it was though. I thought you just hated the girl, but maybe you have a soft spot for her instead.”
“Hell no,” I growl.
I briefly think about punching his face in. Heston and I have never gotten into a physical fight before, but we are about the same size and weight. He’s only a year younger, so we are evenly matched. I’m not sure who would win.
He looks at me, assessing me, before turning back to the ocean.
“She was trying to get with me for my money and now she’ll finally get what she’s always wanted. Doesn’t matter what our family did to hers, she’d sell her soul if it meant she could get a new car and a couple designer purses. Doesn’t matter how she feels about me, she’ll eventually come around when she realizes what I’m offering. Poor girls like that only have one thing on their minds.”
As he says it, I suddenly realize where all my opinions that women are only interested in one thing�
�tricking you so they can get into your wallet—came from. It came from Heston—and he got it from our father.
“Don’t get too attached to her, bro. She’s beneath us. She’s beneath our family. We are going to use her and lose her.”
I don’t like what he’s saying. It’s making me feel uneasy, but I don’t know why.
Heston takes a drag on the cigar. The smoke billows out as he talks. “It’s about running an empire. Sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to do. I don’t like Violet Miller, but I’m doing this for the good of our family. We need to do our duty—you should try it sometime.”
He pats me firmly on the shoulder, and for a brief moment I imagine breaking his hand. Then he throws the cigar over the rail and into the water, and heads back inside, leaving me alone in the dark. The gentle sounds of the waves crashing are the only thing that breaks the silence.
25
V
I wake up the next morning with a pounding hangover. The sun is streaming into the room around the curtains we forgot to close last night. I look over and see Everly on the other bed. She’s still asleep and wearing her bright red party dress from last night. She couldn’t be bothered to get undressed before passing out.
I grab my temples and groan. I need coffee ASAP. I slip out of bed and change into jeans and a baggy sweater. Unlike Everly, I managed to change into my pajamas last night. However, I didn’t manage to take off my makeup. When I go into the washroom and look in the mirror, I look like a hungover raccoon.
I scrub my face, and the cool water manages to wake me up a bit. I run a comb through my long hair and put moisturizer on my parched face. When I walk back into our room, Everly is still asleep, so I go into the kitchen by myself.
I’m happy to find it’s empty because in my current state I don’t feel up to the task of interacting with anyone. I search the mammoth kitchen for anything resembling coffee. They have every type of utensil and serving dish imaginable, but no coffee. I groan and close the last cupboard.
I wander into the living room to survey the damage. There are glasses everywhere, and the place is generally a mess—there’s even someone sleeping on the couch. I then notice the wild black hair and realize it’s Rhett. He seems to sense my presence somehow because despite being dead to the world, his eyes pop open as soon as I walk into the room.
“Hey, lovely.”
“Hey, Rhett. How are you feeling?”
“Just great,” he groans as he stretches. “Anything to eat in there?”
“Nah, not even coffee.”
“We’re going to get breakfast then.”
“Where?”
He gets up and adjusts his clothes, combs his fingers through his unruly hair and suddenly he doesn’t look hungover at all.
“How did you do that?” I ask in awe.
He smirks. “I’m British. My ancestors have been drinking too much since the dawn of the British Empire. Handling hangovers like a champ is just in my blood. And we’re going to this little place on the beach. Get your coat and let’s go.”
Just then, Logan happens to walk into the room.
“Ok! I’ll be right back,” I say quickly and rush out.
I agree to breakfast with Rhett just because I can’t handle being around Logan right now in my hungover state—or in any state, really.
I quickly grab my coat from my room and follow Rhett to the front door. Logan’s eyes darken as I walk out of the house.
I try to put him out of my mind. His presence is a black shadow that’s been hanging over me ever since I got to Crowned College.
We get into Rhett’s new red coupe and drive off. The beach house is close to a small town with narrow, winding roads, and Rhett takes the turns like a madman. He practically floors it all the way, and I’m grateful we are still alive when we reach the restaurant.
“I saw my life flash before my eyes,” I say sarcastically, as I get out.
“Life’s too short to go slow. You have to try to fit everything you can in because one day it’ll all be over and you won’t wish you spent more time in the car.”
That makes me pause for a moment. It sounds like good advice, but then I think about it more and realize life’s even shorter if you die in a car accident.
We walk inside the restaurant. It’s a small, quaint place with a large enclosed balcony leaning right out over the water. There are a couple of customers, but it’s not very busy. We take a spot right next to the window so the bright sun can wake us up.
We both order full English breakfasts and the largest coffees they sell. Rhett also orders two mimosas.
“Are you serious?” I ask. “We are both nursing pretty severe hangovers at the moment.”
“Haven’t you ever heard of ‘hair of the dog’? It’s the best hangover cure there is. Trust me.”
The mimosas come first, and we cheers before drinking them. I’ve never drank in the morning before. It feels luxurious and like a thing rich people would do. People who can’t afford mimosas don’t tend to drink in the morning because they have to go to work and stuff.
I could get used to this life, I think absentmindedly, but then quickly feel a surge of guilt. My dad died and here I am partying and drinking at breakfast. I place the glass down.
“What’s the matter?” Rhett asks. “Can’t handle your orange juice and champagne in the morning?”
“I’m usually too busy working,” I fire back.
“I wouldn’t know what that’s like,” Rhett quips, and I can’t help but smile.
Breakfast is nice. The food is delicious, and Rhett is good company. By the time we’re finished and heading back, my hangover is feeling a lot better.
When we walk into the house, a couple other people are up and lounging around, including Logan. He seems pissed off, but I don’t care. I don’t want to deal with him, so I just head straight for my room.
“Where were you two?” I hear him ask Rhett. He sounds furious but like he’s trying to hold it together.
“Just out for breakfast, man,” Rhett answers, and he sounds exasperated. “That’s all. We’re just friends, but I’m getting sick and tired of your bullshit. She’s not your girl. If you want her, you have to claim her.”
I freeze with my hand on the doorknob to my room. What the hell are they talking about? I’m no one’s girl, and even if I was, I would never be Logan Aston’s.
I push open the door and go inside to check on Everly. As I enter the dark room, I hear a groan. She’s closed the curtains and is still lying in her bed.
“How you feeling?” I ask.
Another groan.
“That good, huh?”
“I feel like an elephant sat on me,” she mumbles into her pillow.
I laugh and hold up the takeout containers I brought from the restaurant. “I got you breakfast and a coffee. Hopefully that will help.”
26
V
We leave the beach house around lunchtime and drive back to campus. The weekend was exhausting, and I feel completely drained. The Dark Society, the party, the Astons, Logan—all of it has distracted me from what I came to Crowned College to do. For the next couple of weeks, I decide to just concentrate on schoolwork.
Unfortunately, there are still a few Dark Society meetings I can’t get out of. At the meetings, Heston goes out of his way to be extra nice to me, and it makes me uneasy. Logan goes out of his way to stay away from me, and it stings for some reason—but I don’t know why because I’ve been doing my best to avoid him too.
One night in mid-November, I find myself walking home alone from the library. It’s pitch black, and the campus is deserted. It’s chilly now, and I wrap my scarf tighter around my face to keep out the biting cold. The only sounds are the wind in the trees and the fallen leaves skittering across the pavement.
I should have paid better attention to the time, but I got caught up in finishing an essay for my psych class, and before I knew it, it was late and everyone was gone. I walk briskly to try to g
et home as quickly as possible. I then spot something out of the corner of my eye that makes my blood run cold.
It’s not my imagination this time. There is definitely someone following me.
I start walking faster, but I don’t run because I don’t want them to know I’ve spotted them. I turn my head slightly to try to get a better view of the person. They are a dark shadow moving through the trees. It’s hard to make out, but it’s very obviously a person—and a large one at that.
Fuck.
They are moving faster than me—shockingly fast. But the trees are slowing them down. I quickly veer down a different path which takes me away from the woods.
Adrenaline is coursing through my body, and the second they step out from under the trees, I bolt.
I don’t look back, I just run as fast as I can, but I know they are chasing me because I can hear their heavy boots slam into the pavement.
Fuck fuck fuck.
There’s no one else around, no one that can help me. The campus is completely deserted though it’s not even midnight yet. I’m running as fast as I can, but I can hear they’re gaining on me. I’m a fast runner but my short legs are no match for their giant ones. If I don’t do something soon, they are going to catch me.
I look around desperately. I’m in a part of the campus I don’t come often, so I don’t know this area very well. I make a quick turn down a different path, but the person behind me also changes course, and their pounding footsteps keep coming closer.
The cold air is burning my lungs as I suck in large breaths. The adrenaline is stopping me from feeling tired, but I know my body is starting to give out. I can’t sprint like this forever.
I see another path and make the split second choice to take it. It’s narrow with shrubbery on one side and runs along the back of a building. I’m boxing myself in, but I don’t have much to lose right now. If I stayed on the other path, the person was going to get me for sure.
