together from scratch?
I lose the internal battle not to show my cards, snarling as I slam the folder down. The contents spill out in a cascade, spreading over the island, some dipping into the prep station Damien has going.
“What family image?!” My voice rises as I jab a finger at Damien. “Your fucking boyfriend is right there, and you think I need someone? Maybe you should stop spreading your legs for that piece of shit and worry about having an actual family! Instead of fabricating whatever the approval polls dictate, wouldn’t it be better to earn your votes the honest way?”
Mom crosses her arms and Damien casts a troubled look between us. Go ahead and try it, fuckface. If you step in front of me, I’m knocking you out again.
He takes a step closer and I raise my fists to a ready stance. “I won’t hesitate.”
Damien’s eyes go wide. With a menacing smile that makes him shuffle back to put more distance between us, I stare Mom down for a beat before leaving the room.
“You will do this!” Mom calls after me, her voice changing from the saccharine tone to something more forceful, more true to her actual character.
It sends anger racing down my spine, but I stomp up the stairs to my room instead of fighting her. I might get what I want at school, but with her it takes work. She believes she has full control over me because of the money. Everything with her is an endless sequence of moves until I can back her into a corner, proving that the outcome I want is the right one. If I don’t have smoke and mirrors, then my strategy blows up in my face.
My ragged breathing doesn’t calm down until I’ve paced my room, going over possibilities I can present to get out of this stupid ultimatum.
Movement from Thea’s curtains across from my window catches my eye and I creep over, keeping to the shadows of my bedroom so she doesn’t see me watching. She’s sitting sideways in an armchair angled toward the window, her bare legs crossed at the ankle and propped against the wall. Her head is bent, maybe reading something? Her foot bobs—she must be listening to music. There’s something about the way she’s sitting that amuses me. Is it even comfortable?
Watching her gives me an idea for getting around Mom’s girlfriend project, because she won’t sleep on this. I know how she gets. If I’m forced to do something, I’ll do it on my terms. I might as well have fun with it.
I have the leverage I need to make sure Thea has no other choice but to agree to become my fake girlfriend.
It’ll get me closer to her sugar-scented hair. Close enough to really pin her under my thumb and discover what other secrets she has for me to steal.
Her nosy Mom will hate it. If she was freaking out about me standing close to her, talking to her, she’ll blow a gasket at how I’m going to make sure Thea is corrupted and debauched in every way possible. I saw it in her eyes. She thinks I’m the worst kind of wild.
The perfect payback to Celine Kennedy has finally presented itself in the sweetest sweater-wrapped bow: her daughter.
Thea might be fun to play with, but everyone is a liar in some way or another. Apples don’t fall far from trees.
Eight
Connor
Third period English is lit this morning.
Devlin is out for blood with his little charity case obsession. She crawled up to him like a lost dog, surprising me by handing over a paper and acknowledging his existence when she usually ignores all of us like the uppity ice queen she is. A hot ice queen.
But I honor dibs, so she’s all Devlin’s.
I had snatched up the paper she presented to him and made up a love note instead of the essay assignment with his name typed at the top. He got her to do his homework somehow, but he also wasn’t taking it, declaring that he wasn’t accepting proclamations of love and calling what she wrote sweet.
Now, I don’t know what sort of kinky game he’s playing with her, but whatever it is, it’s brought a light to his eyes I haven’t seen since his cousin Lucas left for college. Davis brought his wrath on herself by picking Trent’s pockets right in front of us.
The laughter of our crew fills the room as other students filter in for class. Sean leans on Trent,