by Mina Thorne
“Sounds good,” Sienna said with a small, evil grin. “Just let me know what I can do to help. I’ve wanted to punch down on Becca for years, if Agnes and Marie get caught in the crossfire then even better.”
“What about Mason?” I asked. “How do you feel about taking him down?”
“Fuck Mason, he’s a giant piece of shit too. You can trust me, Steph, I promise. I’m sorry I got high and left you alone with them, if I had know…”
“I know, I trust you.”
And I did. Sienna was on my side and I could depend on her.
She’d never be part of my inner circle like Barrett was, but she was somebody I could use for help in implementing my plans.
Once I figured them out.
The bell rang and I rushed off to class, barely making it in the door before it was locked for the remaining hour. The last thing I needed was another black mark on my record, another reason for Dr. Adams to come after me and another reason for Dad to be disappointed.
I wasn’t going to back down this time, so I needed a solid position. I needed to be the good girl on paper so I could be the bad girl away from school.
A bad girl who got what she wanted.
Chapter 46
I picked up my lunch and strolled to the cheerleader’s table out of a matter of pride.
I wasn’t going to let them beat me, I wasn’t going to turn into a scared little bitch just because a couple of nasty twats had tried to hurt me.
And the looks on Agnes and Marie’s faces was worth it. Oh my god, I laughed so hard to myself when I sat down and they looked like they were going to choke on their green protein smoothies.
“Hey girl,” Agnes said and her eyes flicked to Marie as if for support.
Marie wasn’t able to look at me though, she dropped her eyes to the table and played with the edge of her cup.
“Hey ladies, how was the rest of the party?” I asked and settled in like I belonged there.
Because I did. Fuck them both, it was my table too.
Sienna got my back and joined us right after, deliberately staring both girls down until they visibly shrunk under her gaze.
“Yeah, ladies, how was the party after you ditched Stephanie there on the beach?” Sienna said, nudging me with her hip as she sat down.
“It was, um, fine,” Agnes stammered and looked over at Marie as if pleading for support. “Right, Marie? Hey?”
“It was okay. A little boring,” Marie said and then stiffened up as she realized she’d potentially stepped on Sienna’s toes, it was her party after all. “I mean, well, you know…”
Sienna shot me a sly sideways glance and continued to press them both.
“What did you guys do after that?” Sienna asked.
“Just partied. Like, um, Becca brought a bunch of this Russian booze that was really fire. Like literally, it burned my throat so bad,” Agnes said. “And then we went back to her lake house and crashed hard.”
“Okay, so at what point did you force Whitt to turn on my beautiful friend here?” Sienna asked, leaning forward to eyeball them hard.
“Oh, good question. What did you have on him? Why did he turn on me?” I asked and leaned forward, matching Sienna.
“Was he there? Oh I didn’t even notice,” Agnes said and desperately looked at Marie. “Do you remember him from that night, Marie? Huh?”
“I don’t remember a thing,” Marie said and I thought I caught a tear hanging in the corner of her eye. I almost felt sorry for her.
Almost.
And then I remembered how cold I’d been, how the night air had leached the energy from my bones and muscles and left me limbless and exhausted.
And certain I was going to die.
And I remembered that fire that had burned deep inside, the anger that had fueled my heart and kept me going.
That anger wasn’t going anywhere.
“Wasn’t Whitt with you?” Agnes added after a few moments. “I thought you guys were dating.”
“No, she’s dating her brother,” Becca’s voice came from behind me. “She’s an inbreeder hillbilly trailer trash skank.”
“Speaking of skanks, there you are,” I said and turned to look up at her.
She smirked and walked to the other side, shoved Agnes hard and said, “Move.”
The two of them moved over and Becca sat directly across from me.
“Who’s the skank again? Not me, I’m not a brother fucker,” Becca said with a tight smile stretched over her glaring white veneers.
“If you had a brother, you’d fuck him,” I replied. “Or maybe you’re into your Daddy?”
“Fuck you, bitch, that’s nasty,” Becca snapped. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Nothing at all. I’m good,” I said and locked eyes with her. “Might go fuck the guy I stole from you later though, I don’t know.”
“Enjoy the sloppy seconds,” she said with a nasty sneer.
“You’re calling yourself sloppy? Uh, gross,” I laughed. “That’s fucking nasty…sloppy pussy, sloppy pussy, sloppy pussy!”
“Haha, Becca’s got a big ‘ol sloppy pussy,” Sienna yelled, joining in. A couple kids down from us heard and joined in and soon a small group was chanting along.
“Becca’s sloppy pussy!”
Becca looked mortified, her mouth worked soundlessly as she tried to speak but nothing came out.
I snickered and smirked at her for once.
Then she said, “It’s nothing Whitt has ever turned down. In fact just last night he told me how much he likes it more than yours.”
White hot rage and jealousy flashed through me and I wanted to say something witty, something scathing that would cut her down.
But the image of her fucking Whitt took over and my hand moved as if on its own accord.
I reached across and picked up the smoothie on the table in front of Agnes. I stood up, looked at Becca right in the eye and turned it upside down.
Green smoothie slipped out of the cup and slid right down on top of Becca’s head.
She screamed and it dripped down into her eyes, down her face and down the front of her white blouse.
She stood up and shrieked even louder.
“Fuck you, Stephanie Montgomery. Fuck you!”
“I guess your head is sloppy like your pussy now,” I laughed.
“It’s probably the same color too,” Sienna giggled next to me.
I looked down at at Becca, raised my eyebrow and said, “It definitely is. Sloppy pussy…go wash yourself. You look disgusting.”
“Fuck you, Stephanie!” she shrieked. “Fuck you, you stupid bitch! You should have frozen to death on the beach!”
She jumped up and ran out of the cafeteria as Sierra and I laughed loudly.
We were joined by a few others, and by the time Becca reached the doors, the laughter was loud and mocking.
It felt invigorating to be on the other end of it for once, it was powerfully addictive.
Becca wasn’t around for Biology and I sat at my table with a gigantic smirk on my face.
I enjoyed it a little too much. I was so cocky.
At the end of the day I went home with Barrett, he let me drive his fast little car but I drove it like an old granny according to him.
I was laughing and telling him about the look on Becca’s face with the green goop running down it when we pulled up in front of our place.
I parked it there, we climbed out and were talking when I saw somebody out of the corner of my eye.
“Stephanie, sweetness,” Whitt said and jogged up towards us. “Steph, I need to talk to you.”
“You don’t take a fucking hint, do you?” Barrett bellowed and raced to meet Whitt. He pulled his fist back and landed a hit on Whitt’s chin with a loud smack.
Whitt fell to his knees cradling his face in his hands and he looked up at me. Barrett reached down and shoved Whitt hard when he was trying to stand up. Whitt stayed down with Barrett’s hand clenched on his shoulder.
“I’ve been trying to see you, but nobody will let me in. You haven’t answered my texts and I didn’t go to school today,” Whitt said. “Please talk to me.”
“I didn’t get a single text from you,” I said as ice wrapped around my words, making them hard and cold. “And you haven’t come to see me, I would have heard about it.”
“I texted you like twenty fucking times,” he said. “I swear!”
I held up my phone and said, “Look, nothing.”
And then it dawned on me, Barrett was so protective of me and had punched Whitt without a second thought. “Did you have something to do with this?” I asked him.
His face was expressionless and he narrowed his eyes as if contemplating how to respond to my question.
“Yes,” he said. “When you were in the shower I blocked Whitt on your phone and all your social media. I told Kit to have the staff block him from coming in. I didn’t want that piece of shit to have any contact with you.”
“Why weren’t you at school?” I demanded, looking down. I hated that Whitt looked so damned hot even when I was this upset with him.
He seemed so sincere too, like his heart was breaking harder than mine and that was infuriating in a way.
Because it meant that he still cared for me, and it made it harder for me to stop caring about him.
I shouldn’t want him, but I wanted him. I still did. I was weak.
“I…fuck…I thought they were going to tell everyone,” he and his voice was heavy.
“Let him up,” I told Barrett. “I want to hear him out.”
Chapter 47
Barrett didn’t move. He didn’t respond, he just stood there with Whitt at his mercy, not wanting to give it up.
“He’s going to lie just to get in your pants, babe,” Barrett snarled and squeezed Whitt’s shoulder until Whitt visibly winced.
“Of course he wants in my pants,” I said and caught Barrett’s eyes. “But he knows he has to tell the truth for that to happen. If he wants to ever fuck me, he has to tell me what the fuck is going on.”
“Stephanie,” Barrett said and his voice almost broke, it was so thick with emotion. I knew Barrett needed me to tell Whitt to fuck off and for me to never see him again. I knew he was desperate for it, for me to declare that he was the only one I ever wanted and I would be content to be his boo.
But I couldn’t do it, I needed more. I didn’t know why, maybe I was weird or something in me was broken, but the balance that the two boys brought to my life gave me security and it gave me love.
“Let him up,” I said and stomped my foot. “Come on, Barrett, he should have a chance to talk.”
Barrett reluctantly let Whitt climb to his feet and he brushed himself off as he looked at me. A light bruise was forming on his chin already. I didn’t know what I was going to do with these two if they were constantly throwing hands at the slightest provocation.
“Tell her what was going through your thick head,” Barrett said and glared at Whitt. “Tell her why you did that to her. You could have fucking killed her.”
“I called you for a reason. I heard you were back in town and knew you’d make it there in time,” Whitt said.
“How did you know?” Barrett asked.
“Roland’s SnapChat. You guys checked in down the street for dinner,” Whitt said. “I never would have done it if I thought she’d be hurt.”
“It was horrible though,” I said and the rage had left my body. All that was left now was sadness that he’d even left me there in the first place. “You don’t know how it felt when I saw you drive up with Becca. And then drive away. You don’t know how it broke my heart…”
Tears welled up unbidden in my eyes and I wiped them away in frustration.
“I know, sweetness,” Whitt said and stepped towards me. I wanted to let my guard down and fall into his arms. I wanted to feel him holding me, but I couldn’t. There wasn’t a single reason I could think of for him to have crushed my heart like that.
“You don’t know because you still drove away! You left me there and I was so cold…I was so fucking cold…”
I couldn’t keep talking. The way my throat clenched in emotion cut off my voice, I choked on it and suppressed a sob.
“I drove away and I’m basically human garbage,” Whitt said and reached for me. Barrett moved to step in between us but I waved him off. I had to hear what Whitt was going to say. “I haven’t been able to think about anything else since then. I can’t eat, I can sleep…I can’t fucking function knowing I left you there. Knowing I was such a fucking coward.”
“Why? Why did you do it?” I asked, strength returning to me after losing my voice. “How could you have treated me so well, like I meant something, and then driven away like that?”
Whitt looked over at Barrett and said, “He might know. Fuck, this is all so complicated and stupid. I shouldn’t let it control me like this.”
“Is this about last summer?” Barrett asked.
“Yeah, man, it is,” Whitt said.
Barrett crossed his arms in front of him and looked stern but the anger was gone from his face. He seemed to contemplate his next sentence before he finally said, “Okay, I can maybe understand where you’re coming from. But how did they know?”
“Becca had a video. You know my dad, you know what would happen if it ever…”
“Fuck yeah, I know,” Barrett said. “I know too well.”
“Wait, what is going on here?” I asked and looked from one boy to the next. “Why are you suddenly on his side, Barrett?”
“Not on his side, but I understand his motivation a little better. Becca had him over a barrel, so to speak.”
“How? What does she have on you?”
I was so terrified now, thinking about all the worst possibilities that this could mean. Had Whitt committed a crime? Had he killed somebody? Caused a car accident or maybe was addicted to drugs?
I needed to know. Barrett’s sudden change of heart wasn’t enough to sate my need for an explanation.
And I felt as if I deserved one. He owed me one, even if it meant opening himself up to me. Even if it meant possibly having me reject him because of the terrible things he’d done.
“What is it?” I demanded again.
Whitt took a deep breath and stared at the ground. Barrett shrugged when I looked at him for answers. He was letting me know this was Whitt’s information to tell, not his.
“So, you know I want you, right?” Whitt said and finally looked up at me. “You know I’m crazy about you and can’t stop thinking about you. And I want to…damn, I want to be with you…to touch you and taste you and finally fuck you…”
“Yes, I am aware of that,” I replied. I was perhaps a little too prickly with him but he had me concerned here.
“The thing is, I’ve been with other girls,” he continued.
I nodded impatiently. I’d already heard about the girls from Westview Academy that he’d banged and although it bugged me, I couldn’t blame him for what he’d done in the past.
“I’ve also been with guys,” he said and looked down again. I could practically see the shame cloud his aura, his body language was so different than his usual cocky self. He was so beaten down. “Well, guy. One in particular. We didn’t go all the way, but we kissed at a party and there was some video of it and Becca has it.”
“Who was the guy?” I asked. And I almost wanted to laugh at this revelation because it seemed so small compared to the horrible things that had been going through my head. So he liked guys sometimes, it wasn’t the worst thing that could happen. I’d known lots of bisexual people back in California.
“He was an exchange student from France. Andre,” Whitt replied.
“So what’s the big deal then?” I asked. “I don’t mean to downplay your sexuality but in California it isn’t such a big deal I guess.”
“The problem is that my father is a gigantic homophobe,” Whitt said. “And he’s very right wing conservative. If he found out�
�fuck, I don’t know what he’d do. I’d be disowned. Probably kicked out of the house. Lose my trust fund and college education fund. You name it, he’d do it.”
“Oh shit,” I replied. “I’m sorry…is there anything that we can do?”
“No,” he replied. “I just have to keep it under wraps I guess. Hide that part of myself until I’m on my own. Can you forgive me for leaving you there? Becca was fully prepared to send the video to my father.”
“I forgive you…but it is going to take some time for me to get over this,” I said. “I’m not being petty, I’m just letting you know that I won’t recover with just a simple explanation.”
“What can I do to prove myself to you?” Whitt asked, and the pain was still there in his face, in his eyes.
“You can start by telling Becca to fuck right off,” Barrett said. “Steph deserves better than that, dude. You should know that by now. Let Becca send the video and deal with the fall out, Steph is more than worth the risk.”
“Like you’re risking anything by being with her,” Whitt snapped back to him.
“I’m risking my family, she’s my stepsister remember,” Barrett replied.
And I realized he was right, both of them were risking a lot by being with me. Both of them had a lot to lose if they continued in a relationship with me.
And for a moment I felt a little overwhelmed by the weight of the responsibility that brought with it, they were giving up so much and I was giving up nothing.
And then I realized that if I was getting to fulfill my dream of balancing both boys in my life, then everything was worth it.
We could all be satisfied with our arrangement if it benefited us.
“I think we’re all taking risks here,” I said and I finally saw Whitt as somebody I could forgive. If not now, then eventually. “You know I like you both and can’t decide one or the other. So this unconventional relationship is a risk.”
So I stepped towards him and let him fold me into his arms and let our bodies find solace in each other again.
