Chapter 5
“How is that possible?” I ask. “Why wouldn’t your dad tell you about me?”
“Guess he didn’t see any reason to if we were never going to see you.” He turns to face me. “Sounds like Uncle Devon didn’t see you much either.”
“He didn’t, but that’s only because he lived so far away. And because he was either high, drunk, or at rehab.” I pause, stunned that my cousins never knew about me. “I can’t believe they didn’t tell you. I knew about you and Braden. So why didn’t you know about me?”
“Who the hell knows?” He goes and sits on the small, white couch on the other side of the room.
I have a couch in my room. That’s crazy! This room is bigger than all three bedrooms in our old apartment. I wonder what this house had cost — three, four million? More than that?
“You never said how your mom got this house,” I say. “If she doesn’t work, how’d she afford it?”
“Her dad gave her the money. He made a shitload when he was head of the studio. Then when he retired, he got even more.”
“So she met Uncle Brock at the studio?” I ask, seeing if Brock’s earlier story was true. He seems like someone who doesn’t tell the truth, although I’m not sure why he’d lie about how he met his wife.
“Uncle Brock,” Trystan says with a laugh. “I’ve never heard him called that.”
“Is that how he met your mom? At her dad’s studio?”
“Yeah. He was an intern. She said she worked there but she really just collected a paycheck. She’d show up now and then just to hang around the celebrities.”
“I’m surprised she didn’t date one of them instead of your dad.”
“Maybe she saw his potential. Soon after they started dating, he got his first big role. And ever since then he’s been a huge success.”
“How long were they married?”
“Ten years. The divorce took forever. They were always going to court. He really wanted the house so he used my brother and me as a reason why he should get it. He said we needed stability.” He huffs. “Like he gives a shit about us. He’s never even here.”
“And then he got married again?”
“A month after the divorce. The marriage lasted less than a year.” He pauses. “She’s dead now.”
“Dead? What happened?”
“Freak accident. Fell down the stairs at a resort.”
“You sure it was an accident? Maybe someone pushed her.”
He smiles. “Interesting that’s where your mind went.”
“Why? It could happen.”
“The cops looked into it. Ruled it an accident.”
“Did anyone see her fall?”
“No, but some lady said she heard a man and woman arguing outside her room right before it happened. When she opened her door, she didn’t see anyone. She sent her husband to check it out and he almost tripped over the body.”
“Did the cops find the man the lady heard?”
“No, but I’m sure it had nothing to do with him. My stepmom drank a lot. She was probably just drunk and fell down the stairs.”
“So your dad and brother were both with girls who died by falling.” I eye him. “That’s a little odd, don’t you think?”
“What are you trying to say? That they killed them?”
“No. I just think it’s strange.”
“A lot of strange things happen here.”
“Like what?” I ask, hearing the fear in my voice.
“Lighten up,” he says, laughing as he walks to the door. “I’m just messing with you.”
“Where are you going?”
“You told me to leave so I’m leaving.” He disappears down the hall.
“Wait!” I chase after him.
“What?” He turns around, and I notice his blue eyes. They’re a really bright blue. I always wanted blue eyes, but instead I got brown like my mom.
“Tell me about the school.”
“What do you want to know?” he asks as he continues down the hall.
“What’s it like? Are the classes hard?”
He shrugs. “Depends on what you’re used to.”
“I’m used to public school. I’ve never been to private.”
“Then yeah, you’ll think they’re hard. They give out a lot of homework.”
I follow him up the stairs. “What about the people? Are they all snobby rich kids?”
“Rich? Yes. Snobby? Depends on how you define it.”
“Are they going to bully me because I’m new?”
“The girls might.” He glances back at me, at my body. “The guys will think you’re hot.”
“You think I’m hot?”
“I said other guys will think you’re hot. Not me.” He goes into his room. “You’re not my type.”
“And I’m your cousin,” I remind him.
He goes to his desk and plugs in his phone. “You’ll probably get asked out the first day. They’ll compete to see who can get you first.”
“Get me?” I ask, thinking he means sex.
“Get you to go out with them,” he clarifies. “We don’t get many new people. Most of the guys there have already dated all the girls. They need someone new.”
“I have a boyfriend. I won’t be dating any of them.” I go and sit on his bed. “Why don’t they just date girls at other schools?”
“We’re it for private high schools around here.”
“They can’t date girls at public schools?”
“Hell no.” He walks over to me. “Twisted Pine is king. We have the power. We make the rules. Public schools follow us. Want to be us. The only area they do better than us is in sports but that’s starting to change.”
“You guys think you’re king? Seriously? That’s really obnoxious.”
“It’s the truth. And if you don’t go along with it, they’ll destroy you.”
“Who?”
“Everyone who goes there. We take pride in our school. It’s like family. We take down anyone who talks shit about it.”
“And yet you talk shit about public school.”
“And they talk shit about us. You protect your own. The place you belong. And starting next week, you belong to Twisted Pine.”
“I don’t belong there. I’m being forced to go there.”
“Tell anyone that and I promise you, they’ll make your life hell.”
“They haven’t met a New Yorker. They give me shit, I’ll give it right back.”
“I’m telling you, Rumor,” he says in an ominous tone.
“Keep your mouth shut. I don’t care what you think about Twisted Pine and the people who go there.
You need to pretend you belong. Pretend you want to be there.
You fuck this up and it won’t just be you they’ll go after.
Braden and I are at the top of the food chain right now and there’s no fucking way you’re bringing us down. ”
“Whatever,” I say, getting up. “I’m gonna go unpack.”
He holds onto my arm and looks in my eyes. “I’m serious. You’re not fucking this up for Braden and me. We own that school. We paid our dues. Worked our asses off to get where we’re at. We’re not going to stand by and do nothing if you fuck this up.”
“Meaning what?” I snap, staring back at him.
“Meaning we’ll take you down. Harder than anyone else there would.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“I’m warning you. Do what you want when you’re not at school, but at Twisted Pine, you play by the rules.”
“I don’t do rules.” I yank my arm from him and storm out of his room.
Who the hell does he think he is, threatening me like that? He can’t tell me what to do or how to act. I was starting to kind of like him. I was thinking we could be friends. But now I realize I can’t trust him. He’s nice one minute, and a jerk the next.
When I get to my room, I see my phone on the bed. I forgot to grab it when I left. I pick it up and see four missed calls from Axl.
“Shit!” I call him back. It rings and rings before he finally answers.
“Rumor, what the hell?”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“You said you’d call when you got there. That was hours ago.”
“Didn’t you see my text about having to drive for two hours?”
“Yeah, but it’s been three.”
“There was traffic, so it took longer. And then my stupid cousin was here, and I was talking to him.”
“You should’ve called me,” he says, sounding angry. “I thought something happened.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry.” I pause. “I miss you.”
“I miss you too.”
Silence follows, which never happens when I talk to Axl. Why is he so quiet? And why am I?
“So you’re not in LA?” he asks, finally breaking the silence.
“No. Brock lied.”
“Why the hell would he lie about that? To get you to go out there?”
“I guess technically he never said I’d be living in LA. But he lives there so I just assumed I’d live there too.”
“So you’re not living with him?”
“Some of the time, not all. He lives in LA when he’s shooting one of his shows. When he’s not, he lives in La Jolla.”
“Where’s that?”
“Next to San Diego. A long damn drive from LA. I’m so pissed he didn’t tell me this. I was looking forward to all the stuff there was to do in LA. It was the only good thing about being here, and now I’m not even living there. What am I going to do in La Jolla? I’ve never even heard of it.”
“I have, but I didn’t know where it was. One of my mom’s boyfriends was into golf. He was always talking about some golf course there. I don’t remember the name. Something Pine.”
I nod. “Torrey Pine. My driver was talking about it on the way here. My new school is Twisted Pine. What kind of stupid name is that?”
“Sounds haunted.”
“I know, right?”
“Kind of cool, though. I like it.”
“I don’t. Trystan said they have all these rules and if you don’t follow them, they make your life hell.”
“What kind of rules?”
“He didn’t say, but it sounds like social rules, like accepting your place. Whatever place they give you. I hate that shit.”
“Then don’t follow it. Do what you want.”
“I will, but I think at least part of what he said is true. There’s a hierarchy of power and I’m going to be at the bottom. He claims he’s at the top, but he has an overinflated ego so it’s hard to say if what he believes is actually true.”
“Just be yourself. I bet they haven’t had a New Yorker there before. They have no idea what’s coming.”
I laugh. “True. They’re the ones who should be scared.”
“What about the other guy? You meet him yet?”
“What guy?”
“Don’t you have another cousin?”
“Oh, Braden. Haven’t met him yet. He’s at football practice.”
“He plays football? I’d definitely hate him.”
Axl can’t stand athletes, especially high school athletes. He thinks they’re all assholes and bullies because they picked on him when he was younger. Axl would rather go see a band than play sports. He never got along with the jocks.