to get in contact with them and my heart sinks every time she brushes off my feelings about this whole part of me I know nothing about. Maybe it was just too painful for her to talk about.
I get up and move towards the vanity in my bedroom, pulling my hair out of the two braids that I’d put in last night so that it would sport some natural waves today. My mother is black and my father was…well…is Italian, so my hair can be temperamental, but luckily, today isn’t one of those days. There’s a knock on the door and I snap my gaze towards the sound, glaring at the man I know to be on the other side of it.
“What?”
His deep booming voice moves through the room and resounds off the walls. “Are you decent?”
“If I say no, will you go away?” I rub under my charcoal eyes and lean forward, staring at the bags I know to be beneath them from staying on the phone until two a.m. the night before. A guy, of course. Carter James, the captain of the football team. I’m a cheerleader and it seems the whole school is set on us becoming a walking cliché. I’ve gone along with it because, frankly, I’m bored and he looks really good in that uniform.
But in actuality, I’m just looking for something to kill time. I’m so bored with everything. I go to school, get good grades—ones good enough to get me accepted to a few Ivy League schools my mother made me apply to and every state school I wanted to apply to. Luckily, I convinced her to let me go to a local university in the fall because I’m not keen on going away much like so many of my friends.
I’ll admit, I slacked off this semester after getting into college and most of my teachers know not to fuck with the principal’s stepdaughter anyway. I go to cheerleading practice and the occasional French club when I don’t ditch to go get high in my friends’ basement.
I’m excited about college and the very bright future still in front of me, but I’m not enjoying the present at all.
“You’re going to be late for school,” he tells me and I roll my eyes.
“Can’t have that,” I murmur. “Good thing my mother is banging the principal,” I call through the door. “Write me a note, Daddy dearest.”
I hear a huff and I can bet every dime I have he’s pointing at the door, waving that index finger around like it gives him any authority. “I am leaving here in twenty-five minutes; your ass better be in that seat.”
I get up and stomp towards the door, flinging it open and meeting his piercing blue eyes. He’s already dressed in his usual attire: a black suit, white shirt, and a tie with a pop of color. Today it’s turquoise, and I wish I could admire the fact that it really brings out the color of his eyes. I look away because there’s been a time or two that I’ve gotten lost in those blue eyes, and I’m too annoyed to let them sway my current mood. “This is ridiculous. I’m seventeen, I have a license, I’m graduating in two months, and I’m forced to ride to school with you. I want a car.” I cross my arms over my chest. It isn’t fair. I don’t have a car, and my stepfather hates when I ride in a car with any of my friends; most of us only have our provisional licenses and thus shouldn’t be riding around with any other minors. And yet everyone else does it.
His eyes narrow and he leans forward and points his finger at me. “You can have a car when your attitude changes.”
I swat his hand away immediately and press my hands firmly to my hips. “You’re the only one who thinks my attitude is a problem. I’m a charming delight to everyone else in my life. Seems you just bring it out of me.”
“Lucky me.” He grumbles before he takes a step back and runs a hand through that lush head of hair. Even though I hate sharing a house with him, I can admit he does provide for some nice eye candy. He has a nice face attached to an even nicer body, complete with abs and this tapered waist you rarely see on a high school principal. Veins protrude from his arms whenever he flexes and he has perhaps