Rich Prick – Tijan Page 0,11

about it.

“I, uh…” Screw it. I shrugged. “It was live porn. What did you expect?”

His eyes lit up. His nostrils flared. And he stepped toward me. “To turn around and leave.” His eyes narrowed. “I looked for you the rest of the weekend. No way were you there for the party, so what’s that mean? Were you spying on us?”

Ooooh boy. So not good. I didn’t want him to get anywhere close to that realization about me.

My stomach shriveled up. I swallowed over a knot. “Um...”

“Were you?”

Shoot. Shoot. Shoot.

I could not talk about that. No way. That was my big secret, and it was embarrassing. If he found out, if he said something, I’d be the laughingstock of Fallen Crest. I couldn’t handle that—not at this school. At Hillcrest, they would’ve left me alone. People knew me there. They knew Owen.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” His nostrils flared again, and he moved even closer. He was almost within touching distance now, his gaze locked on mine.

I had to distract him. That’s the only way I could get out of this one.

“I like you,” I blurted.

“What?” He blinked, seeming stunned.

I got him. Crisis averted.

And I doubled down. “Yeah. I mean, girls have crushes, and you’re mine. I crush on you.”

His eyebrows went up. “You crush on me?”

I blushed. That was embarrassing enough, but the other secret would’ve been worse. So much worse.

I ducked my head, shrugging. I kicked at a rock. “Like you don’t know. Like you don’t know a ton of girls like you, so whatevs. I like you, and I mean, do you want me to apologize for crushing on you?” I lifted my head, peering at him.

He looked confused and backed away.

My lungs could expand again.

“I—wait.” His head cocked to the side. “So you were following me?” Even as he said it, I could tell he didn’t believe it. I heard his tone. It was suspicious.

“No. I mean…” Crap. That wasn’t as much of a distraction as I thought. Arrogant much? I tried to smooth it over. “I was going for a walk. I got lost, and then I saw you and I—” Fishbowl effect. My mouth was moving like a goldfish, and I was thinking. I was stalling. “What do you want from me? This is embarrassing.”

I didn’t need to act. My face was beet red. I was starting to sweat too. Gross.

He coughed, clearing his throat. “I saw you today. I saw you duck into your first-period class. Didn’t realize it was you until later. You’re in my fourth period. I watched you the rest of the day. You don’t talk to anyone. No one knows who you are. I asked around.”

My chest puffed up. Pride swelled there.

He looked taken aback, those eyebrows shooting up. “What? You feel good about that shit?”

I frowned, my chest deflating a little. “Wouldn’t you?”

“Fuck no. You have no friends here.”

That stung. I blinked a few times, trying to erase the feel of that invisible hand across my face. “Uh. Thank you?”

“No.” He shook his head, his eyes becoming way too determined and way too focused on me. He moved closer again. His arm rested on the top of Maisie, and he was almost leaning over me. “What’s your damage? I mean…” He leaned back, giving me a onceover. “You’re hot.” He motioned to my car. “You drive a chill car, so you’re not hurting for money. What’s your deal? You’re just known as ‘that girl’ or ‘she’s in my class’ and that’s it. Someone thought your name was Colorado. What’s your last name?”

“My name is Aspen.”

“I know that much. Mr. Latham is a lazy fuck, but he still does roll call.” He nodded at me again. “What’s your last name?”

I hesitated another beat. “Monson.”

He was quiet a second. I could almost see him connecting the dots before his eyes went flat. “Your parents are doing that documentary thing?”

I felt a jolt run through me, my hand jerking up and taking hold of my backpack strap. “How do you know about that?”

He was right, but they hadn’t interviewed kids here. Only in Roussou. The people they were interviewing here were adults, people who wouldn’t connect my parents to me. It was one thing I’d been adamant about—that they leave the high schools in Fallen Crest out of their project.

“My brother and sister go to Roussou,” Blaise said. “I’ve heard all about the project.”

Oh.

Oh, shit.

“So those rumors are true?” I asked. Oh wow! Like, wowza wow. “Is that why you