by Lisa Daniels
“Holy shit,” Lena breathed, mind flashing to some internet article she’d read. “I think I know about that. Didn’t everyone get off because they were all insanely rich or something?”
“They had very good lawyers, yes,” Oskar said. He smiled thinly. Lena thought she saw a glint of his dragon behind his eyes, as they went from amber to almost red.
“Did you ever have any trouble with your brothers in the whole thing?” Lena and Oskar found two spare chairs to sit on, content not to interact that much. Lena’s nerves were settling down now, and she no longer felt as though judgment was about to club her over the head. She was just a normal former school student, turning up with her partner. That was all. Nothing suspicious about that. “I mean, they entered the same fraternity—Gamma Beta Phi or something, wasn’t it?”
Oskar’s eyebrows shifted upward, most likely from the research of him she’d inadvertently revealed, before nodding, stroking his strong chin thoughtfully. Lena’s eyes traveled up his jawline, and her own throat closed, a strange heat nestling between her thighs. He was so damn handsome. So close, yet so far away.
“You’re right,” he said, and her thoughts cleared. “I was in the fraternity by default, really. Listening to all the amazing things my brothers had accomplished.” He kept his face bland, but Lena thought she detected a little sibling rivalry going on. Usually the case with the youngest member of a family. Either the youngest got spoiled beyond measure, or they had the achievements of everyone before them to look up to as comparison. Which sucked if anyone wanted to pursue a different tangent in their lives.
At least Lena was an only child, so she had that going for her. It was hard to imagine someone as wealthy and successful as Oskar Wainwright being anything other than successful. People like him were lucky. They didn’t do common things like be poor and sweat over the rent and bill payments every month. Paying five thousand into a bank account was as easy as twitching a pinkie finger, rather than an agonizing decision to wonder just how much should be offered, and if that five thousand might be missed later.
“You feel like you can’t live up to expectations, or you just… want to make your own ones?”
“My own,” Oskar said, his eyes fixed upon Lena’s for perhaps a little too long. He seemed unable to tear his attention away from her, and she wasn’t sure what to make of it. Was he bored with the party already? Or was she somehow the most interesting thing in the room? “Though it’s hard to say what ‘my own’ means. I have a life already perfectly mapped out for me. It’s a good one by anyone’s standards. It’s just not really…”
“Yours,” Lena finished with a whisper.
He smiled, but there was no warmth in it. “Of course, you can argue that maybe there’s no such thing as yours, anyway. Just people who make it, and people who don’t. And since I’m in a position many others would kill for to be in it… maybe I should stop second-guessing, right?”
Given that Lena was second-guessing everything about her life choices around about now, she didn’t think herself to be in a good position to reassure or comfort Oskar. And, honestly, there was a small wedge of resentment inside her that she couldn’t quite shake off, because his kind of problems were alien to hers on many levels. She could, however, relate to the feeling of not quite belonging. Of trying to fit in, but not enjoying the path laid out ahead.
She didn’t particularly enjoy standing still, either, in her library job, stuck in the same routine for years, angry nothing was changing, but doing nothing in her power to actually effect change.
Then again, change didn’t happen because she sat around and waited for it. It happened because she’d been desperate enough to think of alternate solutions.
“I don’t think it’s wrong to second-guess. There’s a message I always get from the books I read, and it makes a lot of sense, but I often forget it. Especially when I’m feeling low for whatever reason.” She pursed her lips, hoping she wouldn’t fuck up the message, especially since Oskar’s mouth was tugging upwards, his eyes so soft that it became harder and harder to focus. Or was that the wine starting to get to her? Shit, she’d almost finished the glass. “Everyone’s fighting their own battles. We’re all trying to put on our best faces when we interact with each other, but inside’s always a different story. We’re all… trying to fit in. But really, we don’t all fit in because we’re like fish.”
Oskar and Katie seemed to be following up to this point, but the fish statement threw them off. “What?” Oskar said.
“Um,” Lena touched her suddenly hot cheeks, “like, if you try to make a fish climb trees, it’ll always be unhappy, because it’s not made to climb trees. If you make everyone climb trees, same result. Because many of them are like that fish, and they’re meant to be doing something else.” She was fairly certain she’d misquoted, but it made sense, and the other two were nodding, so she didn’t feel completely stupid. She did, however, often forget the advice books had given her.
“That… hmm.” Oskar scanned the room briefly, checking out Chloe’s husband. His knee pressed into Lena’s knee. “I get that, actually. Maybe I am a fish. Climbing my father’s little tree, that my brothers are happily perched on.” His gaze went distant, and Lena let him mull over it, pulling Katie into conversation.
Shortly, the current headteacher of Geevor High School placed himself on the podium of the tiny theater stage in the hall, speaking into a microphone that whistled with high-pitched feedback a few times until everyone had quietened.
Yes, Lena thought mildly, listening to the headteacher, a Mr. Wilkins, it was nice to have another year, another reunion, and to hope that everyone would have a great evening. Wilkins snuck in a few puns that made people groan good-naturedly, before he left the podium, and Chloe took her chance to welcome everyone in her customary gushing enthusiasm.
“It’s just so good to have everyone here. Most of you don’t look like you’ve aged a day since we graduated!” Chloe’s smile was wide and bright, and seemed to pull some of her old influence from the days before. Lena felt increasingly concerned when she saw Chloe’s gaze flicker over to her once, before saying, “It just so happens we have a special couple here today. One of them is no other than Lena Tate, our star cheerleader—and her partner of the evening is Oskar Wainwright, son of the Wainwright Enterprises!”
Gasps and claps resounded around the room as Chloe pointed to Oskar and Lena, who froze like deer caught in headlights. Oskar recovered fast, smiling indulgently, and Katie clapped her hands twice, before dropping them, wearing a thunderous scowl upon her face. Lena remained tense the whole time, but Chloe didn’t announce anything else, so she wondered if it was just paranoia, that Chloe was genuinely just impressed that Oskar Wainwright happened to be crashing their humble high school reunion.
But then again, this was Chloe Galer. She wouldn’t want to look like a bitch in front of everyone, but she’d find a way to damage someone with little effort on her part. Chloe left the stage after her speech and meandered off, and Lena felt as though she’d just avoided the executioner’s axe.
Maybe I should leave. Before she has time to kick anything into gear. Wasn’t like Lena would be missing too much. Oskar scooped more wine glasses from another waiter, and distributed them, before giving the waiter the empty glasses.
Many of the men and some women now took stabs at approaching Oskar, clearly wanting to try and get in on the influence. Chloe had drawn attention to them, and now everyone wanted to speak to a Wainwright, take selfies, and ask questions about their relationship.
Eventually it got to a point where Lena, excluded from these conversations, found herself isolated as Oskar was mobbed by about ten people at once. There were even cameramen, paparazzi trailing into the hall, just to try and scoop up an interview with Oskar, and when one of them tried to coax Lena into one, she panicked and refused harshly, before going alone to the bathroom to relieve herself after two whole glasses of wine.
Shit, she thought, locking herself in her
stall. Cameras. Following like little beady-eyed predators, trying to scoop up every aspect of their lives. How long would it be until it became obvious that what they did was a charade? A few choice questions, some backtracking, maybe an interview with his father, and she was done for.
It wasn’t until Lena was washing her face in the bathroom, just to shock some alertness back into herself, when an unwelcome visitor slid into view of the bathroom mirrors.
“Hello, Lena!” said Chloe, beaming as if Lena was somehow her best friend.
“Hi,” Lena replied cautiously, keeping a pleasant expression for the tall blonde, hating how inside she felt herself shrinking, because there was something about Chloe that made people want to be submissive to her. For Christ’s sake, I’m an adult. “Enjoying the reunion?”
“Oh, yeah,” Chloe said. “It’s super grody, as my mother used to say. Now, can I talk to you for a moment? It’s about something really important.”
“Sure,” Lena said, wiping down her face, preparing herself to reject if Chloe wanted her to stand at the podium to speak, or introduce Oskar to her for business contacts, or whatever Chloe had planned in her blonde, curly-haired head.
“You see, Lena, I was really rather impressed that you’d managed to snag such a prize like Oskar Wainwright. I was also a little surprised, because, forgive me for saying this, I just like to be honest—you were always a follower. No ambition in that little body of yours, just doing what others told you and retreating into books.”
“And? Your point?” Lena folded her arms, legs planted apart as if they were roots to a tree, heart pumping faster as her brain processed Chloe’s words, trying to pick up the offense in them. She was building to it, taking her time chewing around the subject, maybe enjoying Lena’s increasing anxiety.
“I wondered if you were hiding any little secrets, because with all the people I’ve talked to about you, not one of them knew anything about this. And yet this week, he’s been doing these amazing gestures all over Geevor, making his presence known… like he just suddenly appeared out of nowhere.”
“Like I said,” Lena began, mouth dry, pulse radiating in her palms, “I didn’t make a habit of advertising it at first. No one wants cameras following them all the time or having microphones shoved in their faces.”
“Yes, but something doesn’t add up, little Lena,” Chloe said, placing a possessive hand on Lena’s shoulder when she made an attempt to leave. “It’s all just too sudden. But you’ll be pleased to know, I’m sure, that I did some thorough research. As for my husband—he’s a moderator on Date-Monsters. Did you know that? He has shares in it, too.”
No… Lena’s eyes went wide like headlamps, and Chloe’s smile turned dark, sinister.
“Does that ring a bell with you, Lena?” she practically purred, glancing behind them to check no one was coming in.
“I,” Lena began, mind shut down, mouth not working, “I don’t know—what you’re talking about.”
Chloe’s voice dripped with syrupy sweetness. “Moderators get access to a lot of private things, too. Imagine my surprise when I checked Oskar Wainwright’s history, and saw that his last contract was to a non-premium member. Someone desperate for a partner because she lied.”
“That’s private,” Lena gasped, unable to deny, only able to try and attack the snooping, though a fat lot of good that would do. “Why would you?”
“Why would you lie?” Chloe said, all warmth gone. Her hand pressed harder into Lena’s shoulder, nails leaving half-moon marks. “After all that effort I put into securing my husband… and you try to one-up me by pretending you’re dating a shifter, too? It’s pathetic. Beyond pathetic.”
“What does it even matter to you, anyway?”
“No one,” Chloe hissed, face close to Lena’s, “thinks that they’re better than me. Not some little bug like you. Interacting with people so far out of your league that it’s an insult you even try. You tried to show me up and my husband. You started this. Remember that.”
Holy shit, she’s insane. Lena had no idea how to counter such twisted logic. It didn’t help that her own inadequacies started piling up on top, refusing to leave her alone. “Chloe, you’re successful. You have everything someone could ever want. I just felt jealous, okay? I hated my life. I hated…” Being me. She didn’t voice it out loud, because her throat clammed up, intensified by a horrible, gut-wrenching sickness, because if Chloe went and told everyone in the hall now… she’d be finished socially.
“Oh, you’re ashamed of your own miserable life, are you?” Chloe hissed the words. “So you thought you’d try to be better than me?” She cleared her throat. “I’m not without mercy, though. I won’t show you up in front of everyone. On one condition,” she said, now giving Lena a friendly pat on the head. “You’re going to break up with Oskar. At this party. You’re going to take offense at something he does, you’re going to scream that he’s not yours, and storm out.”
“W-why?” Lena tried to back away from Chloe, but her back hit the wall next to the hand-dryer, and it briefly went off, detecting her elbow. “How is that mercy?”
“Because you ended it of your own accord. You still get to keep your little, disgusting lie… so really, it’s a kindness. But if you don’t do it within the hour… I’ll post the screenshots of this, and sell my story without question.” She grinned. “We need a little drama in this place tonight, after all. Might as well put that measly five thousand of yours to use. Oh, and you can’t tell him what you’re doing, either. Just show him. I’ll be watching.”
“You’re horrible,” Lena whispered, shivering, her stomach bottoming out, close to tears, wishing she was strong enough to just punch Chloe out of the way, defy her. But Chloe held all the cards. Chloe knew her secret.
She could expose Lena, and everyone would see her as the town liar. Her friends list on social media was up for the firing squad, and talk of how desperate she was that she spent most of her savings to fake a boyfriend…
Fuck.
Two girls walked in and saw Chloe and Lena huddled up against the wall.
“One hour,” Chloe said cheerfully, turning to greet the other two girls, who gushed about how amazing the party was, before she left. Lena took a moment to compose herself before leaving the bathroom.
Her stomach churned like buttermilk. The only options available left to her were bad ones.
Chapter Seven – Oskar
Oskar growled at one of the cameramen, one step away from transforming into his dragon form and scaring them all away with a gargantuan roar. Maybe some fire-breathing, though he might risk burning the place down.
“I don’t wish to be interviewed,” he said snidely, searching for Lena, wondering where the hell she had gone. He didn’t want to be here, having all these suck-ups crawl to him, people attempt to take his picture, no doubt to warp headlines to their own twisted desires. They always did. Loved taking sentences out of context, and loved in particular making Oskar appear like an embarrassment of the family, when all he wanted was some damn freedom.
Shame his contract with Lena ended tomorrow. He’d really grown quite fond of her. And perhaps a little frustrated with her as well, though, since he felt she was too fixated on this Chloe Galer. Galer, in his opinion, wasn’t worth the time of day, and was clearly so obsessed with her own status and standing in the world that he automatically disliked her. She would be exactly the kind of person who’d want a trophy husband, and to flash as many goods as possible.
He wanted to seduce Lena.
But he wasn’t sure the one time would be enough, the week an appropriate amount of time to associate with someone like her.
If he was being honest, he had an interest in extending the contract. Finding an excuse to keep seeing her. Listening to her, kissing her senseless, sinking into her skin.
“There she is,” Katie said, pointing to Lena, who was storming out of the bathroom with a frightening expression on her face. Oskar instantly brightened, pushing through the
gaggle of people to greet her, intending to get them both out of this place, out of the sight of all the cameras, people desperately trying to sneak into shots, or earn his favor, when he had none to give.
Lena’s dark eyes seemed scared, crazed, and instead of the hug he anticipated, he got a hard shove in his chest from the smaller girl and staggered backwards, slopping his drink over a camera and eliciting curses from the man’s throat.
“I can’t do this anymore!” Lena screamed, and if Oskar had been the center of attention before, now he felt like he was the only thing the universe had eyes for. His smile dropped, and something iced over in his heart. “I can’t do this with you!”
“Why?” Oskar bristled, feeling the heated glint of his dragon behind his skin, feeling it threaten to break the surface, because he did not want any more attention, humiliation, or stories appearing in the tabloids and social media. “What on earth are you talking about?”
“You keep looking at other women all the time! It’s like I don’t exist! You think buying me some flowers will make me forget, but I know you’ve been f-fucking them all! Fuck you—we’re done.” Lena, shaking like a leaf, eyes wide and watery, grabbed a wine glass and threw it in his face, and before he had time to process her reaction, to comprehend her nonsensical words, she’d stormed out, hands covering her face as cameras flashed.
What the fuck? Fury radiated into his skin, and his dragon dug its way through the cracks. He had to clench his fists to hide his claws, though he couldn’t completely hide the glint of red in his irises.
“Follow me,” Katie whispered harshly into his ear, clamping a hard hand on his shoulder, tugging him in a certain direction. Dripping with wine, he let Katie lead him as he alternated between fury, shock, and confusion. There was something else, too, but he couldn’t find words for it. Not yet. The spotlight remained fixated on them, and it wasn’t until they had dashed into a tiny room after evading the line of sight of a few plucky paparazzi that Katie slapped him on the cheek, the sharp string restoring some of his senses.
