“That photo was taken at an Heir party. You know I control the rumors in this school,” he said, making her cheeks go pink. “This shit could look bad on us. We don’t want people knowing trash came to our party.”
She deflated. “Oh.”
“Yeah. Oh,” he said. “You know the rules. No one posts something from one of our parties without getting the okay from me first.”
Looking thoroughly chastised, she started twisting her hair nervously. “I just thought, since you guys hated her so much, that—”
“That the rules didn’t apply to you?” Bonham interrupted. “You thought wrong.”
He turned around and walked away without another word, nodding and talking to people like he was King Shit as he passed. All of Stephanie’s friends started whispering behind her back, while the blush spread all the way down from her cheeks to her chest. I felt my new phone vibrate in my back pocket.
When I pulled it out, I saw a new text from Bonham:
Rogue said get ur shit after school & go 2 dance class on Travis St. 4. Don’t be late.
“What the hell?”
I looked back up and saw Stephanie scrolling through her phone in frenzied movement. “That asshole didn’t just delete my post and the photo. He deleted everything and locked me out of all my social media accounts!”
I blinked in surprise. Was that Bonham just being a controlling socialite, making sure he kept his rule over the rumor mill, or was it their covert way of helping me out?
Either way, I’d take it.
At lunch, I sat in the library. Maybe I was that cliche reject you’d read about in all the pathetic books, but it was easier to eat alone than it was to test the boundaries of the Heir’s patience. Just because they were willing to stand up for me to Stephanie didn’t mean they were going to start being kind to me all of a sudden. That just wasn’t their style.
I was in the back of the library when my phone rang. No one really paid me any mind back here, so I answered the FaceTime call with a smile. “Scarlett Livingston, you never called,” Clayton said with a scowl. I could see in the background that he was at another art gallery, probably pissing off someone by talking loudly on the phone.
“Sorry, I got busy,” I replied absentmindedly. He was wearing a leather jacket and white shirt, looking like he just got off the set of Grease.
“Busy fucking that guy that broke my door down?” he asked with a sly grin.
“A girl doesn’t kiss and tell,” I replied, feeling like it was easier to tease him than it was to explain that Rogue showed up to my house and broke my heart. Again.
“Yeah, whatever. You’ve still got that virgin look about you. You know I could help you with that.”
“I bet you could. What are you doing tonight? I’ve got dance class near your apartment. Maybe I could stop by afterwards? I can watch you play video games while we pretend to spend quality time together.”
Clay had his attention on something outside the frame of the video feed. I watched him lick his lips in appreciation, and I said a prayer for whatever girl he had his sights on. “Aren’t you supposed to be in Switzerland?” he asked distractedly. “Wait. Dance classes? You don’t dance.”
“No shit, Sherlock. Mama decided she wanted me to stay home after I got an invite to join the Junior Debutante League,” I replied with a cringe. The shudder traveled through me, and I couldn’t hold it back.
“Speaking of which, I’m gonna need you to be my date for one of the events,” I added. I had decided last night that there was no way in hell I was going with Rogue Motherfucking Kelly.
“Lots of girls in pretty dresses looking to fuck a rich boy? I’m in,” Clay joked, just as I saw a shadow move from behind one of the library shelves.
“Hey, I’ll see you later okay?” I replied distractedly, trying to see who was spying on me.
“Yeah, okay. Get all sweaty at your dance class tonight. You know it gets me all hot and bothered,” he said with a grin.
I rolled my eyes before hanging up, not bothering to say goodbye.
I stood and adjusted my uniform skirt, which barely hit mid thigh, thanks to my mama’s oversexualized design, then headed towards where I knew a tall figure was watching me. When I turned the corner,