Chapter 4
“Touchdown!” Peyton yells, jumping up from her seat. She turns back to me. “Let’s go. We can’t be seen sitting in the parents’ section.”
“I told Brock I’d sit with him.”
“He doesn’t care where you sit. He’ll spend the whole game on his phone.” She walks to the end of the bleachers. “C’mon.”
“I’m staying here. After what happened today, I’m not sure I should sit over there.”
She walks back to me, laughing. “That was so awesome. I would’ve done it myself if I could, but I’m trying to stay out of trouble after what happened.”
“With you and the principal?”
“That, and some other shit.” She glances behind her, smiling and blowing a kiss.
“What are you doing?”
“Pretending to be the perfect daughter. My parents eat that shit up. They think I’m an angel. They got Principal Ballantine fired because of what I told them.” She smiles as she sits down beside me. “All those years of acting lessons paid off.”
“Fired? You said he left.”
“Because he had to. He didn’t have a choice.”
“You don’t feel bad about getting the principal fired?”
“Why would I?” She pouts. “He took advantage of a young girl.”
She is a good actor. I actually believed her, but only for a second.
“Let’s get out of here.” She flips her hair as the wind blows her perfume my way. It’s a strong, flowery scent that makes me cough.
“Peyton, I told you, I’m staying here.”
“You can’t waste this. You have to build on the momentum.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your celebrity status. Hitting Kristen got you attention. Now you have to keep it by being in their faces. Flaunting it.”
“I don’t want to flaunt it. I didn’t even mean to do it.”
She turns me toward her and looks me in the eye. “Popularity lesson number one. Never admit your celeb status was an accident. Make them think it was intentional. We all want to be at the top, but few people have the guts to do what it takes to get there.”
“I don’t want to be popular because I hit someone.”
“And I didn’t plan on my fame being because I went down on an older man to get my grades fixed.
But it happened, and I owned it. I let it take me to the top.
” She lowers her voice. “It doesn’t matter if you fuck a teacher or punch the principal’s daughter.
They’ll all get you to the top faster than driving the right car or wearing the right clothes.
Those tactics are child’s play. You’re in the big leagues now, where shock value wins over pretty designer clothes.
That’s why nobody respects Kristen. She’s only popular because of who her dad is. She hasn’t done anything to earn it.”
“You’re saying you have to punch someone or sleep with someone to be popular around here?”
Her shiny pink lips turn up. “I’m saying you do what it takes to get their attention. Then you do what it takes to keep it.”
My phone dings, and when I go to check it, Peyton grabs it from me.
“Give it to me,” I say, trying to take it.
She holds it away from me. “Who’s Burt?”
I jump up and grab the phone from her. “Don’t fucking take my phone!”
“Or what?” She laughs. “You’ll punch me?”
“It’s possible,” I say, unlocking my phone to read Jackson’s text. Why is he texting me during the game? I hope he didn’t get hurt.
Miss you, the text reads. Need to see you tonight.
“Who’s the guy?” Peyton asks.
“No one.”
“If he misses you, he’s not no one.”
“Stop reading my texts!” I shove my phone in my back pocket. “It was a guy from back home. A friend.”
“I thought you were from New York.”
“I am.”
“How is he going to see you tonight from New York?”
I glare at her. “I’m seriously considering punching you.”
“Here.” She puts her face in front of me. “Make sure it’s in the nose. I’ve been begging my parents for a nose job, but they refuse. Break my nose and they’ll have to get me a new one.”
“I’m not punching you. I was kidding. But I am pissed at you for taking my phone.”
“I need to get over there,” she says, motioning to the student section. “I told the girls I’d be there ten minutes ago.”
“What girls? Who are you sitting with?”
“The cheerleaders. Alyssa and I aren’t cheering tonight so I’m sitting with her.”
“You’re a cheerleader?”
“Obviously,” she says dramatically. “Can’t you tell by my spunk and bubbly personality?” She laughs. “That’s what our coach said about me when she picked me. I don’t even know what spunk means.”
Sitting with the cheerleaders will definitely help my social status, which I need after today’s incident with Kristen. And there’s a chance I could get more dirt from Peyton tonight. The more she talks, the more I learn.
“I guess I could sit with you guys.” I get up just as Brock is coming back.
“Going somewhere?” he asks.
“I’m gonna go sit with Peyton, if that’s okay.”
He smiles. “Of course. Go ahead. We’ll meet up at the car later.”
“I can give her a ride home,” Peyton says, batting her eyes at him.
“Thank you, but Rumor will be coming home with me. She’s grounded until I decide otherwise.”
“Grounded?” I say, putting my hands on my hips. “You never told me I was grounded!”
“I’m telling you now. You didn’t think I’d just let you get away with punching someone, did you?”
“How many times have you grounded your sons after a fight?” I spit out, furious with him.
“Rumor, we are not discussing this now.”
“None! That’s the answer, right? None? Because boys are different. They can do whatever they want and just get away with it.”
“Let’s go,” Peyton says, pulling me away from Brock. He’s ignoring me anyway, texting someone on his phone.
“Bastard,” I mutter as we walk to the student section. “He makes separate rules for me because I’m a girl.”
“You gotta just play along,” Peyton says. “The more you go along with it, the more you get away with. Trust me. I’ve been doing this forever.”
“Doing what?”
“Pretending to be the perfect daughter while I go behind their backs and do whatever I want. Parents will believe anything if you smile and say what they want to hear.”
She goes up a row of bleachers to where Alyssa is sitting.
I met Alyssa at lunch, but haven’t talked to her much.
I don’t think she likes me. I think she sees me as competition for the football players.
They all flirt with me, including Kade, her ex.
I ignore his flirting, especially when she’s around, but she still gives me dirty looks.
“Miss me?” Peyton says, sitting beside Alyssa.
“What took you so long?” Alyssa eyes me as I sit down.
“Had to put on a show for the parents. Then I saw Brock and got distracted.” She grins. “God, he’s hot.”
“Seriously, Peyton, you gotta get over your obsession with old men. It’s disgusting.” Alyssa glances at me. “No offense. Your uncle’s hot for an old guy.”
“Yeah, I get it. No offense taken.”
“I told her Braden’s the next best thing,” Peyton says, her eyes finding him on the field.
“He won’t go out with you,” Alyssa says. “You know his rule.”
“I’ve made grown men break the rules.” She smiles. “A teenage boy? Piece of cake.”
“What’s his rule?” I ask. “No dating during football season?”
“No dating a Twisted Pine girl,” Peyton says. “Why don’t you know this? You’re his cousin.”
“We don’t talk much. Why won’t he date a Twisted Pine girl?”
“After Andrea, he decided he wouldn’t do it anymore. He didn’t really say why. Maybe he thinks she’ll end up dead like Andrea. Like he’s cursed or something.”
“What do you think happened to her?” I ask. “To Andrea?”
“That psycho, Jackson, killed her,” Peyton says, twirling her hair around her finger.
“Jackson?” I ask, like I have no clue who she’s talking about.
“He’s this guy who used to go here,” Alyssa says. “Now he’s a psycho loner who goes to Legion and lives in a huge house all by himself. Even his parents don’t want him. They made him an adult when he was fifteen so they could get away from him.”
I tense up hearing her talk that way about Jackson. It’s not his fault his parents took off like that, and he’s not psycho just because he lives alone.
“I’m surprised you haven’t seen him,” Peyton says. “He lives in your neighborhood. He’s right down the street from you.”
“Oh, yeah. I know him. I’ve seen him out running. And one day when I was out with Braden I accidentally pulled into Jackson’s driveway and Braden went nuts.”
Peyton gasps. “You know they hate each other, right?”
“Yeah, Braden told me, but it was too late. I was in the driveway when Jackson pulled up behind us. And then Kristen showed up.”
Peyton and Alyssa look at each other, then back at me.
“She’s still seeing him?” Alyssa asks me.
“What do you mean? Are they dating?”
“They were. But I thought it was over.”
“Maybe it is, but they still hang out. I can’t believe she gets away with it. Everyone here hates Legion. Why aren’t people getting on her case about it?”
“Because of her dad,” Alyssa says. “Nobody’s going to challenge Kristen as long as her dad is the principal. And Principal Edwards doesn’t seem to have a problem with her being with a Legion guy.”
“He knows? I thought she was doing it behind his back.”
“He knows,” Alyssa says. “Some people think Kristen and her dad are working together to try to get Jackson to come back here.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me if Principal Edwards pimped out his daughter to get the star football player back,” Peyton says.
I didn’t think about that, but what if that’s really what’s going on? I always suspected Kristen was using Jackson, but I didn’t know what for. Attempting to get him back here makes total sense. But no matter what she did or said, Jackson wouldn’t come back to Twisted Pine.
“What was he like when he was here?” I ask Alyssa, who seems more than willing to offer up dirt on Jackson.
“Popular jock like Braden, but people liked him more.”
“People don’t like Braden?”
She pauses as she looks out at the field. “Sure. They like him.”
“Another touchdown,” Peyton says, lacking the enthusiasm she showed with the first one. “Three touchdowns and it’s only the first quarter. This is so boring. We should leave.”
“We can’t,” Alyssa says. “And don’t make up another one of your fake illnesses. No one will believe it after you were gone a week.”
“You faked being sick?” I ask Peyton. “That’s why you were gone last week?”
“I didn’t fake it,” she insists. “I thought I was pregnant.”
“She always thinks that,” Alyssa mutters.
“You really thought you were pregnant?” I say to Peyton.
“I felt fat and like I was going to throw up. But it turned out it was just really bad PMS. That’s why I can’t cheer today. I’m recovering.”
“And I hurt my wrist,” Alyssa says, holding it up. “It looks okay but it hurts.”
“Better watch out, girls,” a guy says as he walks past us. “Halliway might punch your pretty little faces.”
“Shut up, Sawyer,” Peyton says, flipping her hair.
He continues down the bleachers, looking back and smiling at me.
“Who’s that?” I ask.
“An asshole who used to go here,” Alyssa says. “He’s in college now but his sister goes here so he shows up at the games. Peyton used to date him.”
“I slept with him,” she says, correcting her. “I wouldn’t date that asshole.”
“Another touchdown.” Alyssa sighs. “I wish they’d hurry up and win so we could skip ahead to the party.”
“Rumor can’t go. She’s grounded,” Peyton says with a laugh. “She hasn’t learned how to sweet talk the parents.”
“Brock is not my parent,” I clarify. “He’s my controlling asshole uncle.”
“Just sneak out,” Peyton says. “He’s not going to notice.”
“He has cameras recording my every move.”
“Then I guess you’ll have to stay in your room and sext your mystery man.”
“You’re dating someone?” Alyssa asks, sounding surprised.
“No. Peyton just assumes I am because she read a text on my phone from a friend back home.”
“He said how much he missed her.”
I glare at Peyton. “You really want that nose job, don’t you?”
“I don’t know why it’s such a big secret. Is he married and doesn’t want people finding out about you?”
“No! I wouldn’t date a married guy!”
“She’s dated one,” Alyssa says, motioning to Peyton. “His wife showed up at school. She hired some guy to find out who he was cheating with. She even had pictures.”
“Seriously?” I say to Peyton.
She shrugs and flips her hair. “It wasn’t a big deal. I told her it wasn’t me and that her husband was doing it with the nanny. We almost look like twins so in the blurry pictures she had from her investigator, it could’ve been the nanny.”
“And his wife believed you?”
“Of course.” Her lips curl up into a smile. “I can make anyone believe anything.”
The crowd suddenly gets quiet, and the announcer comes on. “Time out for an injury on the field.”
Alyssa gasps. “It’s Braden!”