“You mean the way you do?” Parrish quips, apparently deciding against mentioning the misnomer of DingDong in place of TikTok. Close enough, I guess. And I mean, Paul is right about the rest of it.
“Don’t get smart me with me, son,” Paul reprimands, answering another phone call with the hands-free button on his steering wheel. That must be nice, to have one of those. Grandpa’s truck most definitely didn’t have Bluetooth. It didn’t even have AC or automatic windows. I mean, it was a freaking classic. God, I miss that truck, I think as I turn to look over at Kimber while Paul mouths, “this is work, I have to take it.” And then proceeds with his phone call uninterrupted.
“What the hell are you staring at?” Kimber whispers to me, her blond waves swept into a low pony and tied with a scrunchie. It’s her only form of self-expression; everything else about her uniform is perfect and polished. That is, until she gets to school and rolls the waistband over three times until her ass hangs out then leaves it that way until she gets told by the administration that it’s unhygienic to sit bare panties on the chair seats. At least they don’t slut-shame. I’ve decided I’m more comfortable in slacks, and Kimber already hates me for it. “Are you a dyke or something?” she asks as she stares at the offending pants, which is a question that just makes me laugh.
“Because I like pants? Girls can wear pants, Kimber. This isn’t the nineteen-fifties. I can wear or do whatever I want; it isn’t an indication of my sex or my sexual attraction.”
“You’re so uppity,” she breathes, like my being assertive is a problem. “And don’t you think it’s creepy that you’ve carved out a niche for yourself at the school for dating your own brother?”
Parrish whips around in his seat, his eyes flicking over to Paul to make sure he hasn’t heard before he redirects his anger in Kimber’s direction.
“Keep your goddamn mouth shut,” he growls out, his voice low and menacing. “You’re acting like a fucking child again.”
“And you’re a pervert,” she whispers back just before Parrish reaches out and snatches her phone from her hand like a ninja. Without skipping a beat, he rolls his window down and chucks it outside. My mouth gapes open as I spin in my seat just in time to see it shatter on the road and then … it’s gone.
Paul is too busy with his phone call and doesn’t notice.
Slowly, oh so slowly, I turn back around to stare at Kimber. I’m afraid to move too quickly lest I draw her attention. It’s like, if you come across a venomous snake poised to strike, don’t make any sudden movements.
“You …” she starts, her face going chalk white. But she doesn’t raise her voice. And she most definitely doesn’t alert Paul. “How could you?” Kimber’s glossy lower lip trembles as Parrish turns back around in his seat, rolling his window up and then zoning into his phone like he didn’t just throw someone else’s thousand-dollar smartphone onto the highway.
Uh-oh.
It occurs to me then that maybe I haven’t seen all that Parrish Vanguard is capable of?
Kimber turns away from me, burying her face in her hands, shoulders shaking slightly as she cries silently in the back seat and her father fails to notice. Even after he pulls into the white gravel turn-around and we climb out, he doesn’t catch on to the fact that his daughter is devastated and his son is an asshole.
Paul takes off and Parrish saunters ahead while I stand there beside Kimber, unsure if I should try to, like, comfort her or something? She’s been nothing but a total psycho to me, but I can’t help but feel sorry for her.
“Why did you let him get away with that?” I ask, that familiar rage swirling around inside of me. Parrish is really and truly one of the rudest, snobbiest assholes I’ve ever had the displeasure of meeting. I mean, he has his moments, but holy shit, what was that just now? Once I’m done dealing with Kimber, I’m going to find him and kick his ass.
Snotty and red-faced, Kimber lifts her head up to look at me. As per usual, she scowls before bothering to respond, just to remind me where I stand. Typical.
“Are you kidding me?” she snaps, like I’m beyond stupid for not immediately understanding why she’d allow her brother to destroy her phone and say nothing about it. She flings a hand back to indicate the towering walls of the academy. “Are you so dense you haven’t noticed that our brother controls Whitehall?”
Our brother.
Part of me is thrilled that Kimber’s referring to Parrish as ‘ours’. That must mean some little part of her has to come to accept me, right? On the other hand, he isn’t my brother. I don’t want anyone to think of him that way, least of all me.
“I don’t think any one student can control an entire population of—” I start, but Kimber’s just sneering at me and sniffling, pulling out a compact from her bag to check her makeup. It’s ruined. As soon as she realizes that, her face falls and her eyes dart around the empty courtyard to see if anyone else has noticed.
“You got lucky at that party, getting Lumen to back you up.” Kimber snaps her compact closed, her eyes red-rimmed as she glares at me. “That, and you pushed him into a corner. Everyone thinks you two hooked up, so you can’t be a total waste of life or you’ll ruin his reputation. But don’t worry: he’ll show his true colors sooner or later.”
Kimber takes off, cracking one of the exterior doors to peer inside. Whatever she sees sends her running off around the side of the building rather than into it. I watch her go with a long sigh and then head for the doors myself.
Just one last day of classes and then I’m going home with Danyella after school.
Setting this sleepover up was not the easiest thing in the world. I can see now what Parrish was talking about when he said that I ruined his life. Tess actually drove over to Danyella’s parents’ house to meet with them before agreeing to this. If she hadn’t met them on several prior occasions—apparently they attend the same country club as the Vanguards—then I wouldn’t have been allowed to go at all.
I’m also supposed to call as soon as I leave the school, once I arrive at Danyella’s, and then again before bed. The rules are stifling, especially when coupled with Tess’ general aloofness this week. She’s barely spoken to me other than a quick smile here and there, a few random questions about school sprinkled over dinner conversation. Paul says she’s on a deadline with her new book, but I can’t help but feel hurt by it.
This is my first week of school in a new state, my third week living a completely new life.
To me, it’s all just more proof that she cares more about me as an extension of herself rather than a person.
As soon as I get inside the school, I see Parrish and Lumen facing off in the hallway.
Utterly fantastic.
“Well, are you in?” he’s asking, his voice pitched in just such a way that it’s quite clear the rest of the students in the hall are meant to hear. There’s a cluster of girls behind Lumen, a group of boys behind Parrish. Chasm is leaning against the lockers, head back, eyes closed. He looks bored out of his mind.
“I have no fucking clue what you’re talking about,” Lumen replies just as smoothly. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were staging this whole thing to get some attention from me.”