The Envy of Idols (Rich Boys of Burberry Prep #3) - C.M. Stunich Page 0,20
They have a stake in them.”
“Wow. I guess money really is a disease, huh?” I ask, fighting to stay calm, when on the inside, I want to freak out. “These millionaires and billionaires, they have nothing better to do than play around with my life?”
“I'm sorry, Marnye. We … should've just told you what was going on from the beginning.”
“You should have,” I say, but my voice comes out a little shaky. I mean, I'd heard from the boys before that the senior version of the Infinity Club was invested in this, but hearing Zayd say it all aloud, hearing him name the stakes … It's a lot to take in. “Instead, you guys continued to bully me. You made me feel so small, and then you ignored me. You let the others treat me like crap.”
Zayd looks away sharply, that shame creeping up his neck and face. It all makes sense now, the way he pulled away from me, his resistance to being around me. That doesn't make it okay, just … understandable.
“Creed and Tristan, they know you're telling me all this?” Zayd shrugs, and then looks back at me, mouth tight.
“I don't care what they think.” Zayd releases me and steps back, just before the doorknob jiggles, and Miranda calls out to me. I turn away from Zayd, grab my phone, and head outside, pushing the door closed behind me.
“What did he want?” she asks, but I just shake my head, and we go downstairs together.
The party is beautiful, the full indoor-outdoor living of the house brought to life with paper lanterns, tables full of food, and soft but upbeat music. People mill around in swimsuits and expensive gowns both, talking and laughing. For the most part, the crowd is older, but there's a small group of students out back, near the open gate that leads down to the beach.
The boys are all there—Tristan, Creed, Windsor, and Zack—as well as Andrew and Lizzie.
In the corner, huddled together for protection, there's Ben, Harper, and Becky.
“Seeing the three of them standing on my property,” Miranda starts, narrowing her eyes and flipping Harper off when she turns our way, “it's just infuriating. It makes me sick to my stomach. My mother knows the things that girl has done. She knows it, and yet …” Miranda sighs as we pick our way between the party guests. “She can't exactly stand up to the Infinity Club by herself. We might be rich, but sometimes those old money bonds are impossible to break.”
“It's okay,” I say with a slight smile, “I get it.”
Really, I'm standing there thinking that growing up with Charlie in the Train Car in the Cruz Bay Trailer Park was the best thing that ever happened to me. These people are insane. All they care about is money, appearance, and power. There's a total lack of compassion or empathy or care. My stomach starts to hurt again, and I think that at the very least, maybe I made some kind of impact on these boys?
Maybe Tristan, Zayd, Creed, and Zack will think a little differently about how they behave in the future?
“From now on, I'll try to be a better man. It wasn't Marnye’s job to teach me how to be one, but she already has anyway.”
My eyes lock on Zack's as we move across the small stretch of lawn toward him. He smiles at me as we approach, and I take up a position on his right side.
“You and Zayd were up there a long time,” Creed remarks, leaning against the short white fence like he can barely keep himself upright. “Find anything interesting to talk about?” I give him a look, and there must be something to my expression because he quickly stands upright and shuts his mouth.
“We were just discussing Ben Thresher,” Windsor says, enunciating the boy's name to the point that it'd be impossible for him to miss it. “His family owns Thresher Chicken, a big factory farm conglomerate.” The prince tilts his head to one side as he studies me, hazel eyes burning. “You did say you'd like to get Ben before the week was over, didn't you?”
“What—” Tristan starts to say, but there's a sudden hubbub amongst the other partygoers as several cars pull up, one of which is a police car. The other has a man and a woman in plainclothes, but they both very quickly bring up their badges, and nod to be let through the side gate.