Fake Love - Jaxson Kidman Page 0,5

Evie said. “Ohmygod, I didn’t mean it like that. Oh, Winter, I’m sorry. I probably sound like such a rude bitch.”

“As opposed to who you really are?” Darcy asked.

Evie scrunched up her face and pretended to laugh.

Darcy rubbed my arm. “Look, Winter, we’re here for you. Anything you need.”

“Tell me about the Bumps and the Trocs.”

“It’s just the way things are around here,” Evie cut in. “You have your regular BFH groups, okay? And believe me, don’t get sucked into the East vs. West stuff. Those two places have been going at it for, like, ever…”

“BFH,” I said as I touched my hoodie.

“Bay Falls High,” Darcy said.

“That’s where we go…?” I asked.

Evie and Darcy laughed. “Do you even remember how old you are?”

I thought about it. My age. My birthday. I knew those words but I didn’t remember what they meant.

“Okay,” Darcy said, “don’t worry about it. BFH is where the rich people go to learn. Are we part of that? Sure. But we get to go to the other part of it.”

“The other part?” I asked.

“You have no idea how rich you are, Winter,” Evie said. “You got made fun of all your life for what your father does for a living, but the money is… ridiculous.”

“We have a private place to go,” Darcy said. “A private setting. We’re the Bumps. It’s a terrible name. I hate it, but it is what it is. The name comes from complete jealousy. Because the Trocs don’t have what we have.”

“Money?” I asked.

“That’s right,” Evie said. “Nothing worse than someone being jealous and bitter. Like I didn’t choose to be this, right? I was born into it. And if you think I’m not going to enjoy it…”

“We get the point,” Darcy said to Evie. She focused on me again. “You’ll figure it all out. I promise.”

“Do the Trocs go to BFH?” I asked.

Both Evie and Darcy burst into laughter.

I didn’t laugh at all.

I was just asking a serious question.

“Oh, Winter,” Evie said. “The only way a Troc will ever be near our building is if they’re there to clean the toilets.”

They laughed again.

Something about it felt so wrong. So snobby.

I swallowed hard, wondering if I was like them. Before the accident. If I made fun of people because of their monetary or social status.

Darcy wiped the corners of her eyes. “Sorry about that, Winter. We just needed that laugh. After getting the call about you…”

“It’s been so hard,” Evie said. “Like ridiculously hard.”

Darcy took a deep breath. “Okay. You’re in your last year of studies. If you were going to one of those regular places, you’d be done already and probably off to college or something. But that’s not what we do. We make sure we learn so we’re ready to do whatever.”

“Do whatever?” I asked.

“Most live off their parent’s money,” Evie said.

Darcy pointed to Evie.

Evie proudly nodded.

“I feel like I need a drink,” I said with a half-smile.

“That’s the attitude,” Evie said.

“We’ll have to get you another fake ID,” Darcy said. “Technically you still have about eighteen months until you’re able to go into a bar. But we always have ourselves covered.”

“Do you know what I was studying?” I asked.

“Well, you were totally majoring in Chester’s ass and di-”

“Stop,” Darcy said to Evie. “You were good with investments… math and stuff. You were almost a dork.”

“But a totally hot dork,” Evie added.

“Oh, yeah,” Darcy said. “I mean, have you seen yourself in the mirror yet?”

“Yeah,” I said.

“So you know how hot you are,” Darcy said.

“And you’re not wearing makeup,” Evie said.

I shook my head. “Do you have pictures of me?”

“Of course,” Darcy said.

“Can we let the others say hello first?” Evie asked. “Like a quick in and out thing.”

“That’s up to Winter,” Darcy said.

“The… Bumps… are they my friends?” I asked.

Both Darcy and Evie cringed.

“Friends are tough to come by,” Evie said. “Think about it this way… those who show up are the ones afraid of you.”

“Or they want you to remember they were here so they can fuck you over later,” Darcy said. “So keep your eyes open.”

“Wow,” I whispered.

I turned my head and looked toward the window.

What kind of life have I been living?

I sat up in bed and had this urge to care about what everyone thought about me.

Maybe that’s who I always was.

Darcy and Evie stood at the side of the bed.

And so began this slow procession of people… of Bumps.

I had no idea what kind of name Bumps was. That’s what the super-rich people were called