Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 113837 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 455(@250wpm)___ 379(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113837 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 455(@250wpm)___ 379(@300wpm)
41
Drew
One day.
That was all it had taken for my Dad to yank me out of Dayton and place me in the school I now wanted no part of.
I stared across the breakfast bar at my dad, the hatred inside me bubbling like lava. He looked so damn smug that I was sitting here, in the navy blazer and skirt that made up Barrington’s uniform.
It was like he thought going to Barrington was going to fix me, cleanse me of my taint. I could see it all over his face--He thought order had been restored. But it would never be restored because I didn’t fit into his uptight box, and I never would. No matter how many stuffy uniforms he forced me into. All I could think about was the fact that graduation would be in a few weeks, then it was summer, and I could...What, leave? Go to France? That was what I’d usually do. My mother was better than my father, but it was another shiny bubble of expectation. And the little pinch in my chest reminded me that I’d be half a world away from the only person who offered me a glimmer of happiness.
He slid car keys across the marble counter, a Porsche emblem on the fob. “You may have your car back.”
That car? He was giving me that car. Like I needed to draw extra attention to myself. The Dayton trash in a baby pink Porsche…
It seemed misery was my fate whether I liked it or not.
When I pulled up to Barrington and parked between the Mercedes and BMWs, my stomach knotted.
Bellamy had made no secret about us, making out with me in the halls of Dayton. Rumors traveled like wildfire through small towns, and I had no doubt people in this school would see me as trash, no matter how much money I was from.
I was braced, ready for a barrage of shit. But no one gave me a second glance. No one spoke to me, at all. Not even Olivia when she passed me in the hall.
It was like I didn’t exist. I’d almost forgotten that this was how the rich kids got their retribution, by ostracizing. Marking someone as a leper.
And after going to a school full of car bombs and razor blades, being ignored was nothing short of a welcomed peace.
This would be easy. Keep my head down, get my exams done, and then, in a month, I would be free of this bullshit and my dad’s control.
The dismissal bell rang, and I gathered my books, sprinting through the crowded halls to the exit, then hurrying across the parking lot to my car.
My dad’s rules were crystal clear. School and home. Bellamy’s house was twenty minutes away, but I had to risk it because, for all he knew, I’d just ghosted him.
I sped through Barrington until pristine verges dotted with colorful flower beds turned to overgrown, hard shoulders.
I wound through the rat’s nest of Dayton until I pulled up outside the single-story house with Bellamy’s dented car parked outside. My chest went tight as I made my way to the front porch, then knocked and waited.
Bellamy opened the door. He was like night to Barrington’s bright, sunny day in his tight, black shirt and grease-stained jeans. And I was all about the darkness.
His gaze swept over the Barrington uniform, and he promptly adjusted his dick. “Barrington, huh?”
“It sucks.” It had only been two days since I’d seen him, but it felt so much longer.
The second his arms came around me, it felt like all my problems disappeared.
“My dad took my phone. I wasn’t ignoring you.”
“I know.”
I pulled back, but he didn’t release me. “You know?” Realization washed over me. “Did he message you?”
“Right after I texted you about how good you taste.”
Oh, my god. Groaning, I buried my face in his chest, absolutely mortified on every level.
“I wonder if he watched that video I sent you…”
An almost pleased laugh bubble from his throat. The thought of my dad, sitting at his desk, reading our dirty exchanges, watching the video of Bellamy masturbating...everything inside of me felt weak and disgusted. I wanted to throw up.
Bellamy leaned against the wooden doorframe, tracing a finger beneath the waistband of my tartan skirt. “Wanna go make a video?”
“I can’t stay.” I wanted to. God, I wanted to.
On a huff, he half-rolled his eyes and pushed back from the entrance. “Give me a second.”
He disappeared down the hall, and I stood on his small porch, listening to the noise of cars backfiring and dogs barking.
The floor inside creaked as he rounded the couch, then stepped back through the open door. He handed me an outdated phone along with a charger. “I sent Nora over with it, but he wouldn’t let her see you.”
“The fact that Nora agreed to help you…” That just proved I was at crisis point. And the fact my dad had turned her away was ridiculous. I swear the man wanted me to be every bit as bitter and lonely as him.