Chapter Two
Roan
“Y ou have to come,” Sidney pleads, twirling a strand of her silky brown hair. “I know we’re broken up or whatever.” She rolls her eyes as though she doesn’t believe it. “But we can still be friends. You know it wouldn’t be Campfire Chaos without the Hornets.”
“I have shit to do,” I lie, ignoring her no matter how much she tries to shove her tits in my face.
“Ugh,” she hisses, shoving my shoulder. “When did you become such an asshole?”
I snap my head her way and narrow my stare. Sidney tries too fucking hard. She’s been whoring herself out to the whole student body since at least the eighth grade. I would kill Roux if she even looked at a boy.
My little sister is never allowed to turn into Sidney.
Fucking never.
“I said I have shit to do.” I lift a brow, waiting for her to challenge me.
The bell for second hour rings, making several people drop into their seats.
“Maybe I’ll just ask the new guy,” she sneers, turning back in her seat to text someone.
Her comment boils my blood and not in the way I’m sure she hoped. I’m not jealous. Fuck no. I’m pissed. Who the hell was that guy rolling up in his Mustang like he was fucking royalty?
Mr. Henley starts to work out a problem on the white board even though no one is paying any attention. Two minutes in, the door creaks open.
Mustang Motherfucker walks in, making my skin burn. He has a forced smile affixed on his pretty-boy face and he saunters into the room as though it’s no big deal to be dropped into this school. My school. He looks like the kind of guy who’s used to being the big man on campus. I’d enjoy the fuck out of knocking him down a few pegs.
“Sorry,” the guy says. “I got mixed up on where I was supposed to go.”
“Not a problem, young man. Find a seat.” Mr. Henley waves him off as he goes back to his equation.
The new guy— Hollis —glances around the room, looking for a place. Our eyes meet and he freezes, his smile slightly falling. He quickly darts his blue eyes away from mine and rushes to the seat in front of Sidney. She must find him cute—or the prospect of making me jealous—because she leans forward and taps him on the shoulder.
I’m still glaring at him when Mr. Henley says my name.
“Mr. Hirsch,” he says again, finally dragging my attention to him.
“What?”
The whole class sniggers.
“Don’t what me? I want you to come solve this problem.”
I stare at the board in irritation. Fuck no. I don’t know how to do that shit.
“Pass,” I grumble.
“Which is exactly what you won’t be doing if you don’t get up here and attempt this problem.”
Hollis glances over his shoulder at me, a frown on his face.
“Look somewhere else,” I snap.
He jerks his head around, but I don’t miss the way his neck blazes crimson.
“That’s enough,” Mr. Henley grumbles. “Apologize to this young man.”
I snort. “No.”
“Son, I will not have you—”
“I am not your son.” I pin Mr. Henley with a dark glare that has him taking a step back.
He huffs in exasperation. “Get out.”
Unbelievable.
“Hirsch, I said go,” he barks. “To the office. Now.”
I stand with an exaggerated sigh and storm up the aisle. The preppy new fucker has some fancy bag on his desk. For some reason, I make a stupid decision my dad would be proud of and shove it off the side of the desk.
“What the fuck?” Hollis howls.
“Both of you!” Mr. Henley yells. “Out of my class. I will not tolerate these disruptions.”
I cast an amused look over my shoulder at Hollis. His features go from angry to surprised to horrified. I’m quite pleased with myself by the time I make it into the hallway. It’s stupid to continually get kicked out of class, but it sure beats doing the schoolwork. I start down the hall and then footsteps follow after me.
“My laptop is in my bag,” Hollis tells me snippily as he approaches.
I turn on my heel and glower at him, forcing him to stop right in front of me. “So?”
“So, it’s expensive.”
It annoys the fuck out of me that he’s barely been at this school half a day and I’ve already encountered him flaunting his money twice now.
“Get the fuck out of my face,” I sneer.
He gapes at me. “What is your problem with me, man?”
“I don’t associate with your kind.”
My words hit their intended target because he flinches. His blue eyes flash me a wounded look before he averts his gaze. I scrutinize him openly for a moment since he’s standing right in fucking front of me. Shorter than me but built enough that he might take me in a fight. Dark blond hair that makes him appear sort of innocent. And sad eyes. How the hell a rich kid who drives a purple Mustang could be sad is beyond me. If I were rich, I’d be happy as fuck.
He’s a rich prick and I’m me.
Our kinds don’t play nicely together.
I shove past him, clipping his shoulder. He lets out an annoyed groan. Stalking down the hall, I try not to think about how pissed Ms. Frazier will be. Last time I got sent to her office, I thought she was going to skin me alive. As soon as I make it to the front office, I smirk at Miss Fields, the office secretary. She’s young—fresh out of college. My buddy Cal is positive he’s going to fuck her before the year is over.
“Frazier,” I clip out to her.
Miss Fields gives me a snooty once-over. “Have a seat. She’s with another student.”
I plop down in one of my usual chairs as Hollis enters. Her face lights up at seeing him.
“Hey, honey. How’s your first day going so far?” she chirps, smiling fondly at him. “Ms. Sommers said you got into all the classes you wanted.”
Of course she’d love the pretty new boy. If I had to guess, he has a much better chance at fucking Miss Fields than Cal does.
“It’s fine,” he says in a bright voice that doesn’t at all seem defeated like it was moments ago. “Is it supposed to snow today?”
While they start talking about the fucking weather, I slouch in my seat, stretching my long legs out in front of me. We have basketball practice after school and then I have to haul ass to my after school job. Mondays and Wednesdays are always long ones. And now that winter break is over and I’m no longer on vacation, I’m back to work this week.
Ms. Frazier’s door opens and Trey storms out. I lift my chin at him. We fist bump as he walks by, neither of us saying a word. He’s pissed, though. When Ms. Frazier sees me, she lets out a heavy sigh.
“It wouldn’t be a Monday if I didn’t see all my favorite Horn River boys,” she grumbles. “Were you involved with the vending machine incident?”
“Nope.” I pop the ‘P’ in an obnoxious way that makes her nostrils flare.
“What then?” she demands. Her eyes drift over to Hollis, who’s gone quiet, and she gives him a concerned smile. “Everything going okay?”
He shakes his head, briefly looks over at me, and then forces a smile. “I got kicked out of class.”
Ms. Frazier blinks several times in confusion. “Why?”
“I cursed in class.”
Her face turns red with anger. “And why did you curse in class?”
His eyes dart my way and then he looks at his feet. “I don’t know.”
Ms. Frazier sees right through bullshit, though, and doesn’t believe him. “Roan,” she barks out. “What happened?”
I clench my jaw and shrug.
“Both of you. In my office now. You both know me well enough to know I’m not going to let this go until I have answers.”
How the hell does rich boy know?
It’s his first damn day.
With a huff, I rise to my feet and stalk past her into her office. I plop down in a chair. Hollis takes the one beside me. Where I’m all sprawled out and uncaring, he sits rigid and straight like he’s here for a fucking Harvard interview. Unbelievable.
Ms. Frazier glares our way as she takes her seat. Without missing a beat, she launches into her lecture. “I won’t stand for disrespect at my school. Mr. Henley is fair and only asks that you show up, shut up, and do your work. It’s not that hard. Hollis, you excel at math. The fact you’re getting kicked out of algebra on your first day is uncharacteristic for you.” She hardens her eyes at me. “Roan, what happened?”
I would get mad and accuse her of blaming me of being the perpetrator, but I know better. Ms. Frazier is one of the few people who cares about me. Mom sure as hell doesn’t. Ms. Frazier wants my account because she trusts me with the truth.
“Henley wanted me to do a problem, but I didn’t know how to do it,” I admit with a grumble. “Then he got pissy.”
“And how did Hollis get involved?”
For just fucking being there.
Annoying me.
Looking perfect and rich. Reminding me I’m not.
“I pushed his bag off his desk.” I challenge her with an evil stare.
Her brows crash together. Disappointment. Fuck. I’m screwing this all up. I can’t get on Ms. Frazier’s bad side. She’s too important to my family.
“And you cursed for that reason?” she asks Hollis.
“My laptop is in there,” he says bitterly. “It’s expensive and it’s probably ruined.”
Tattletale. His words boil my blood.
“Fuck off, rat.”
“Roan!” Ms. Frazier bellows, slapping her palm on the desk. “Enough of this.”
I curl up my lip and give Hollis a look of disdain before turning to regard Ms. Frazier with a cool expression. “I’m sorry.”
She rolls her eyes. “No, you’re not. But you’ll be sorry if you have detention.”
I wince at her words. She’s right. I can’t get detention. Detention is after school. I can miss basketball, because even though I love it, it’s not a requirement. My after school job is.
“Listen,” she says, leaning forward. “I need you to be someone Hollis can turn to. He’s new and doesn’t have anyone yet.”
Hollis groans in embarrassment. “Aunt Karen—”
“What?” I snap, frowning at her.
Her lips thin out. “Hollis is my nephew. He doesn’t gain favor because he’s family. You of all people know I’m fair, Roan.”
She’s right, but it’s still annoying as hell.
“I’m not going to give you detention with your friend Trey, though he could certainly use the help cleaning off the horrible words he wrote on the vending machine,” she tells me. “You have basketball…and everything else.” She lets out a heavy sigh. “I need you to remember to stay focused, okay?”
I let out a defeated sigh. “I get it.”
“You’re not like him.” Her eyes sear into me, but I don’t believe them. I’m more like my father than she’ll ever know.
“Can I go?” I clip out, ending this line of conversation.
“You both can. I don’t want to see either of you in my office again. Make nice with each other. You’re both adults, so act like it.”