The Practice Boyfriend (The Boyfriend Series Book 1)

by Christina Benjamin

  The Practice Boyfriend

  Christina Benjamin

  Crown Atlantic Publishing

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Epilogue

  Note from the Author

  About the Author

  Also by Christina Benjamin

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.

  Copyright © 2017 by Christina Benjamin

  All rights reserved.

  Published in the United States by Crown Atlantic Publishing

  Version 1.1

  January 2017

  To all the boys I’ve loved before.

  1

  The ping of her online chat window startled Hannah Stark from her studies. She quickly muted her laptop and pulled up the conversation—rolling her eyes when she saw who it was from.

  techE: Hey I thought you were at school???

  Str8-A: I am. Stalk much?

  techE: Just wondering what my little genius is doing online.

  Str8-A: Research. The internet is a wondrous thing. You should check it out.

  techE: Internet’s got nothing on me. But for real, what’s up? You ditching class?

  Str8-A: No. If you must know I’m in the library working on my grad speech, but it’s hopeless. Nothing I write is remotely relatable.

  techE: What do your friends say?

  Str8-A: I have no friends, remember?

  techE: Why don’t you do something about that???

  Str8-A: Yeah in the 4 weeks of school left?

  techE: It’s never too late to start. You can do anything you set your mind to.

  Str8-A: Thanks for the pep talk, Dad. Now scram. You’re making me look lame.

  Hannah scanned the stuffy library of her overly priced prep school. Luckily no one seemed to notice she’d been chatting online with her dad. But that was the problem, wasn’t it? No one ever noticed her. Case in point—why she had no friends and had spent the first half of her lunch period chatting with her tech-geek dad who routinely hacked her computer to check for viruses. Basically he was spying on her. But he couldn’t help it. It was sort of his job being in the biz and all.

  Hannah stretched her stiff muscles before deleting another perfectly good graduation speech. There was one month of school left and she was already done—coasting on autopilot. She was first in her class, graduating with honors and her associate degree. The last thing she had to do was write the speech she’d give as the class valedictorian. But for some reason that task eluded her.

  The more YouTube videos she watched of glossy-eyed seniors giving stellar speeches that ended in an eruption of applause the more Hannah realized she’d finally found something that her academic mind couldn’t solve. The legendary valedictorians that had gone before her all had something Hannah didn’t—a life!

  She groaned and massaged her temples in frustration before opening a blank word document. She never had trouble writing. It was her specialty. Even now, she knew her writing wasn’t really the problem. The problem was that she couldn’t make herself believe anything she wrote. She couldn’t relate to her classmates. She never had, and it seemed absurd that suddenly they’d want to hear anything she might have to say regarding fond memories and bright futures. She didn’t make any with them.

  Sadly, Hannah hadn’t really made any memories in high school at all—outside of her education, of course. But no one wanted to hear about her math medals or writing awards. They didn’t care that she was the youngest student to ever be accepted into Brown’s business school. They didn’t care that she’d been offered full ride scholarships to play tennis at six schools. They wanted to be reminded of the good times they’d shared and how their bonds formed at Stanton Prep had molded them into strong individuals ready to take on the world. But how could she say all those things when she didn’t believe them herself?

  She felt like a liar talking about carefree moments and wild memories that led to the precipice of their brave new future. Her classmates all knew she was a fraud on that front. She’d never gotten to know them. She’d been afraid to let them look too deep.

  The more Hannah tried to force herself to come up with something to say, the more anxious she felt. How had she let her entire high school career pass her by? That was just it. She looked at high school as a career. She’d forgotten to be a teenager, to fall in love, get her heart broken, forge friendships, share adventures, make poor choices, then learn from them, cherishing those bonds and memories forever.

  The tightness in Hannah’s throat told her tears were coming. This was it. She’d finally lost. School had always been a competition to Hannah. Having the best grades, the highest test scores, an undefeated tennis title, the most acceptance letters, beating everyone out for the coveted valedictorian title. She’d done it all. But the entire time, she was always looking over her shoulder, waiting for someone or something to best her and snatch away her perfect record. The fact that it was something as simple as not indulging her adolescence that was her undoing made Hannah’s blood boil.

  Her father’s encouraging words replayed in her mind. Maybe it wasn’t too late to start. She made up her mind. There was no way she was going to lose now. She’d given up all those foolish teenage experiences so she could be the best. How was it fair that what she’d given up to achieve perfection now made her feel like she was somehow incomplete?

  Hannah straightened her spine and slammed her laptop shut. She took a deep breath. She would not let this stupid speech unnerve her. There was no reason she couldn’t have it all. Who said she couldn’t be studious and popular? She would resort back to her tried and true techniques for success—studying and practice.

  How hard could it be to fit in? To be an average teenager? She’d never tried, but she had four weeks to cram in an entire high school social life. Hannah’s father was right. If anyone could achieve it, Hannah knew it would be her. She was determined and when she set her mind on a goal, she always ac
hieved it.

  2

  Step 1: Immersion

  Hannah reasoned she just needed to immerse herself into a clique, study them and then join in. Maybe she could even handle a different clique each week? She scanned the quad deciding where to start. It was lunch this period and the lush green grounds of Stanton Prep were dotted with clusters of students enjoying the thawed spring weather. There were the jocks, freaks, geeks, flunkies, and of course, on the bridge that overlooked the campus, were the Goldens.

  The Goldens were the popular kids. Someone at Stanton Prep coined the term long ago, donning all the trust fund brats, socialites, and celebrity offspring as the proverbial golden children. Born with more than a silver spoon in their mouth, these social climbers made the rules at Stanton.

  Everyone wanted to be, date, or kill one of the Goldens. Knowing exactly where they’d be at this hour, Hannah zeroed in on them. They always held court on the bridge at lunch. Everyone passed under it each day to enter and exit their campus, giving the Goldens the perfect view of their kingdom.

  Hannah heard laughter coming from what her fellow classmates snidely referred to as the Golden Gate Bridge. She gazed studiously at the bright clothing and shiny hair peppering the stone bridge. That’s where she would focus. The Goldens would be her Everest. If she could crack them she could gain access to any clique in the school.

  Game on.

  Step 2: Recon

  Hannah picked up her bagged lunch and moved closer to the bridge, settling directly below a cluster of three gorgeous senior girls. Savannah Huxley, Madison Carmichael and Blakely Anderson. They were all yammering on excitedly about something. Hannah silently chewed her PB&J listening intently.

  “Madi . . . really? I think you can do better than Vera Wang,” Blakely scoffed.

  “What’s wrong with Vera?”

  “Nothing if you don’t mind looking outdated.”

  Madison’s perfectly glossed lips parted in shock. “Vera is classic!”

  “Yeah, classic last year maybe.”

  Savannah piped up. “She’s right, Madi. You wore Vera last year.”

  “But she’s a close friend of Daddy’s. I feel bad wearing someone else.”

  “This is the last Cohl ball. It’s the culmination of our high school reign. Our dresses need to be perfection,” Savannah added. “This is how we will be remembered.”

  Harrison Cohl’s masked ball! That was it. That was Hannah’s ticket to high school social success. Harrison Cohl was one of the Goldens. Okay, more like the Golden. His parents, Alastair and Evelyn Cohl, were powerful politicians. They’d divorced over an alleged affair when he was a child but still worked together, each holding power positions in Boston’s governing party. The Cohl’s practically owned the state—a title their sons were happy to tout. And with a political safety net like that, the Cohl boys got away with everything. Including throwing hedonistic parties full of underage drinking, sex and debauchery.

  The Cohl boys were legends at Stanton Prep. They basically built the Golden dynasty. And their famous crown jewel? Their not-so-secret, secret masked balls. They were held at a different location every year at the end of the semester. And you couldn’t gain access unless you were given a coveted key. Of course Hannah had never been invited. She was pretty certain that the Goldens didn’t even know she existed. Harrison Cohl certainly didn’t. He was the youngest of the five Cohl boys and he would be graduating with Hannah in a few weeks. But not before throwing one last legendary party.

  If Hannah could get an invite to the ball she would have no trouble making wild, carefree memories with her classmates. She reined in her excitement and focused back on the bickering girls.

  “I’m going to be photographed more than a Kardashian when I show up on Harrison’s arm,” Blakely mussed.

  “Not if I beat you to him!” Savannah sneered.

  “Oh please, like either of you have a chance?”

  “And you do, Madi?”

  “I didn’t say I did. But you know Harrison always goes dateless so he can play his games. It’s half the fun of wearing a mask. Never knowing who’s with who . . . the allure of bedding a stranger . . . it’s all so romantic,” Madison sighed.

  “Oh god, Madi, give it a rest. It’s not like you’re going to meet prince charming. Besides, everyone knows you’ve slept with the whole senior class by now so no one will be new to you,” Blakely retorted.

  Savannah laughed, but Madison just smiled. “I guess I’m just a hopeless romantic. And how else is a princess to find her prince without trying them all?”

  The three girls laughed.

  “But seriously, I hope there’ll be some new blood at this ball,” Blakely whined.

  “Well we know who won’t be there,” Savannah smirked,

  Hannah followed Savannah’s line of sight to the slouched figure that strolled under the Golden Gate with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans. His dark, shaggy locks fell like curtains over his face as if trying to hide his identity, but it was no use. Even if he wore a mask everyone would know Cody Matthews.

  “Kill anyone today, Cody?” Blakely called.

  Cody flipped her off without looking behind him.

  Hannah shook her head at Blakely’s cruelty. It was true that Cody’s girlfriend died when he crashed his car. He’d been driving home from one of Harrison’s parties. He was drunk and lost control of the vehicle, slamming into a tree. It was quite the scandal, but not just because of the DUI. That happened quite often at Stanton. But Cody’s girlfriend, Elena, was pregnant. They were both Goldens, but had been dropped with alarming speed once the pregnancy rumor caught fire.

  The snickering above called Hannah’s attention back to the vicious girls on the bridge. She wondered how they could be so cruel to one of their own. How did they not see that they could fall just as quickly as Cody had under the right circumstances?

  “I don’t know what Elena ever saw in him,” Savannah scowled.

  “I do. Tall, dark and handsome,” Madison quipped.

  “And dangerous,” Savannah added.

  “That just makes him sexier,” Madison purred.

  “Well you can forget about it. Harrison would kill you if he sees you flirting with him. Besides, it’s not like he’ll be at the ball.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure,” Blakely replied. “He still has his key from last year.”

  “Only because he was locked up in rehab. There’s no way Harrison would honor his key.”

  “He’d have to. There’s only two rules . . . a key gets you in, and your mask never comes off.”

  Hannah smiled to herself as a plan started to unravel in her mind.

  3

  Step 3: Formulate a Hypothesis (aka: The Plan)

  The more Hannah eavesdropped on the Goldens the more she realized that she didn’t have enough time to infiltrate them and get an invite to the ball on her own. She only had four weeks and as she looked around at the other cliques on the lawn she realized they’d had four years and still hadn’t found a way to climb the social ladder to high school royalty. That just meant she’d have to come up with a different strategy and it just so happened his name was Cody Matthews.

  Facts: Cody possessed a key. And Cody owed Hannah.

  After returning from rehab at the beginning of the school year, Cody was dangerously close to flunking out of Stanton. Being a tutor in every subject, Hannah was assigned to catch him up. He was still wrecked from losing everything he cared about—his girlfriend, his friends and even his spot on the basketball team—so getting him to focus had been a challenge. Hannah often wondered why Cody even came back to Stanton. It wasn’t that she didn’t think he was sharp. But there were plenty of good schools where his scandalous reputation might not have followed. When she asked him about it, he said he believed sins should be paid for.

  She wasn’t really sure why, but Hannah lost sleep over that comment. She knew Cody must wrestle more than a few nasty demons after what happened to his girlfriend, Ele
na. But to force himself to relive the pain every day by facing her friends at Stanton . . . it seemed too cruel.

  Everyone blamed Cody for Elena’s death. And the police report claimed it was his fault since he’d been driving drunk, so there really was no other argument. But still, it’s not like Cody planned to kill Elena. He loved her. Hannah remembered how inseparable they’d been as a couple . . . Cody always doting on her, Elena cheering at his basketball games. It was sad that their love story ended in a drunken car crash. Hannah knew Cody wished he could take it back. Or at least that’s what his quote in the paper implied. He’d said he’d do anything to take back what happened to Elena. But that didn’t change the facts. Elena was dead and the students at Stanton Prep were happy to remind Cody that it was his fault.

  Rumors swirled around Cody’s return. Everyone thought he would be sent to prison, or juvee at least. But to return with little more than a stint in rehab and a suspended driver’s license seemed like a slap in the face to Elena’s friends. That’s what the Goldens had become—Elena’s champions. Even though they dropped her the moment they found out she was pregnant, after her death they’d adopted her back as their saint, if only to curse Cody further.

  Harrison, who’d been Cody’s best friend, was the coldest. As the basketball captain, it was his decision to kick Cody off the team. But strangely another rumor surfaced that it was Harrison’s father’s legal team that got Cody off with such a light sentence. It made no sense to Hannah, but then again she didn’t try to understand the strange operating of the upper echelon.

  With so much drama surrounding Cody, it wasn’t any wonder why he couldn’t focus on his studies. Hannah eventually took pity on him and passed him with C’s on his make up exams so he could rejoin his classes. He’d graciously thanked her and in his own words had said, “I owe you one.”