CHAPTER FOUR

a warning

Saturday rolled around quicker than expected, and it was a good thing too because Angeline was getting sick of watching tacky promposals and taking useless tests. Today was the seniors-only beach party that happened every single year the week after spring break.

"Wear the yellow bikini." Paige tossed it at her as she searched through Angeline's selection of swimsuits. "It makes your skin look so much more tan."

Angeline held it up and huffed, shaking her head. "I was thinking of my red one, the cherry red one, to go with my nails."

Paige's eyes widened. "Oh, good idea."

The blonde girl started to search through the countless bikinis that Angeline seemed to have, finally finding the one she had previously described. Paige inspected it with raised brows.

"I might have to borrow this, you know," Paige hummed before she passed it along.

"Then our vaginas will be touching the same material," Angeline disclaimed. "That's like sharing pants."

"Panties," Paige corrected her before she shot her a disgusted look. "You say the most crude things sometimes, Angel. Besides, that's what washing machines are for."

Angeline sighed and peeled off the dress she was wearing. The brunette did wish she could stop saying stuff that got her into trouble, but it was like her mouth had no filter. If her brain thought it, she just had to say it. If she didn't she felt like she would explode.

Nobody understood that, except maybe Ciara. Her friend with bleached hair thought Angeline's burst of thoughts were actually funny, but everybody else seemed to shoot her glares or tell her she was inappropriate.

Angeline slipped off her bra and underwear and pulled on the bikini, turning so Paige could tie a tight knot at the back for her. Once she was secured, she slipped the dress back on and grabbed her bag.

"How does my hair look?" She asked.

Paige smirked. "Perfect. We both look hot."

Angeline smiled at her friend as Paige turned to check herself out in the mirror, clearly loving what she saw. Angeline was by no means unconfident, she loved herself too, but Paige made sure everybody knew there was not a single flaw on her body.

"Will Mitch be downstairs?" Paige questioned. "You need to introduce me to him."

Angeline's face contorted into one of slight disgust as she watched the blonde beauty pull the low cut of her dress down even further, her breasts practically spilling out.

"Paige, I'm not setting you up with my dad's security!" She whined.

"Oh, come on, Mitch won't be able to resist when he sees me," Paige replied with a small giggle.

Angeline rolled her eyes in amusement and turned off her bedroom light. The pair started to walk down the marble staircase, talking about how Jackie Williams' parents had supposedly gone bankrupt and she was dropping out of school.

"It's literally so embarrassing for her," Paige scoffed, shaking her head. "I think I would literally die if that ever happened to me."

As they reached the bottom of the staircase, Angeline saw Mitch stood in the foyer, typing something into what looked like an iPad, but she knew it was some high-tech security thing. She knew it had access to everything in the home, like the gates and the security cameras and lists of people who weren't allowed on the premises, stuff like that.

Paige quickly smacked her arm, accidentally catching Mitch's attention as he glanced up.

"Going out?" Mitch asked, spotting the bag in the brunette's hand as well as the flip flops on her feet.

Angeline nodded. "Yeah, to the beach. It's a senior thing."

The dark-haired man nodded back, his gaze only flickering away from Angeline when the blonde girl beside her coughed loudly. Mitch gave her a small nod to acknowledge her existence, which wasn't good enough for Paige who nudged Angeline.

"Oh, this is Paige, my best friend," Angeline introduced them, bored. "Paige, this is Mitch, one of my dad's minions— I mean, security."

Mitch didn't have a chance to respond to Angeline's comment because Paige was already giggling loudly and shoving her hand inside his to shake it. She batted her eyelashes, doing the hair twirling thing that normally worked with the teenage boys she flirted with.

"So nice to meet you, Mitch," Paige smiled.

"You too," Mitch replied before he looked back at Angeline. "Angeline, please make sure your phone is on at all times and if something happens press the button on your app."

The brown-eyed girl huffed. "Yeah, yeah. You don't have to go through it every single time I leave the house, y'know."

"Just doing my job."

Angeline folded her arms across her chest. "Do you say that to Elliot every time he leaves?"

"Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if your brother disappeared," Mitch lowered his voice to joke.

Perhaps he shouldn't have been so unprofessional, but it did put a wide grin on Angeline's face. It was the most that he had seen the teenage girl smile since the fight she'd had with her father three days ago— she'd been in a glum mood since.

"Okay, okay," Angeline smiled at Mitch. "I'll keep my phone on or whatever. See you soon."

Paige grabbed her arm as soon as the pair were outside the house. "Angel, he was staring at you the whole time!"

The brown-eyed girl chuckled a little. "His job is to basically babysit Elliot and I."

"Huh," Paige frowned. "How come your dad needed a new guy?"

Angeline shrugged. "I think he's working on new stuff and he's worried about interference from competition. He has Winston by his side 24/7 now, so he needed another guy to make sure my brother and I aren't doing stupid shit or something."

"Sounds fishy to me," Paige said, but left it at that and something about her words swam around in Angeline's head.

...

The beach was already packed full of seniors from Fair Hill High when Paige and Angeline arrived, showing their student IDs to a man at the gate before they were let inside.

"Oh, cool— limbo," Angeline grinned, pointing over to where some of the boys and a couple of girls were messing around beneath what looked like a bamboo stick.

Paige didn't listen but started to yank the short girl towards Ciara and Grace who were sat by one of the bars, stirring cocktails and scanning the crowds.

"Hi, guys," Angeline greeted her friends once they'd walked across the sand to get to them.

"It's about time you two turned up," Grace huffed. "Jessica Morley has been prancing around like she's the fucking queen or something."

Paige looked horrified; her head flipped around so quickly that her blonde hair nearly whacked straight into Ciara who was trying to sip what looked like a Cosmopolitan.

"What the fuck?" Paige huffed, watching the redhead sit around with half the soccer team in her bikini. "Who does she think she is?"

Angeline shrugged. "She's not really doing anything."

"I'm going over," the blue-eyed girl ignored her, carefully pulling off her dress and putting it into her bag.

"Oh, God," Angeline muttered. "She's just talking-"

"Come on, Grace," Paige called, already heading over.

Grace followed quickly like a lost puppy, the two of them marching over and taking seats beside the soccer players. Angeline peeled off her own dress and sat on the stool beside Ciara that Grace had previously been sat in.

"What happened to girls supporting girls, huh?" Ciara muttered, waving the bartender over. "Another Cosmopolitan, please. And a Piña colada for my friend."

Angeline grabbed her purse and started to take out some money to give to the man behind the bar whilst she shrugged.

"I don't know," she mumbled. "Paige and Grace only support girls if they like them."

"Tea," Ciara muttered.

Angeline paid for her drink and started to sip at her Piña colada, spinning around on the stool to face the rest of the beach. Only then did she notice the 2000s music playing loudly over speakers across the beach, something by Britney Spears.

"Wanna limbo?"

"Duh."

Whilst Paige and Grace battled Jessica Morley and her friends for the attention of the soccer team, Angeline and Ciara were becoming drunker and drunker on cocktails and challenging anyone within a six feet radius of them to a limbo battle.

The sun was starting to set and Angeline and Ciara had moved over to the crowds of people dancing, cocktails long since abandoned but the alcohol positively buzzing through their systems. They sang at the top of their lungs, feet jumping up and down on the golden sand beneath them as the sun started to set, orange and pink hues mixing in the sky.

"Ba-by, you know that I miss you, I wanna get with you," Angeline and Ciara sang, stumbling around with each other. "But I cannot baby girl and that's the issue!"

"Hey, looks like Grace has pulled," Ciara pointed.

Angeline tilted her head to get a look, her heart nearly stopping when she immediately recognised the blond mop her hands were raking through. Grace, dressed in her hot pink bikini, was reaching up on her toes to make out with not just anybody, but Angeline's ex boyfriend of all people— Levi Edwards.

"That's Levi." Angeline stopped dancing, her shoulders sagging in disbelief.

Ciara's eyes grew wide when she did a double take. "What the fuck?"

Ciara grabbed Angeline's wrist and started to tug her over, but Angeline quickly let go and shook her head. She nearly tripped over her own feet in the process, her head spinning.

"I don't... I don't feel like fighting with anybody else this week, Ciara," Angeline admitted.

Ciara looked at her, a little confused. She assumed that Angeline just meant all the arguments she'd been having with Levi at school and nodded, releasing a sigh.

"Do you wanna go home?" She asked.

Angeline nodded, feeling sick with betrayal. She couldn't care less if Levi got with a hundred girls at the senior party, she just cared that it had been Grace of all people. One of her only and best friends.

Her stomach started to hurt, spinning with all of the alcohol inside. Angeline's throat ached and she could feel her skin sweating and her teeth starting to hurt a little. Ciara grabbed her friend when she started to stumble, straightening her up.

"Angel, are you alright?"

Angeline shook her head, feeling her heart start to race and her hands grow even clammier. Ever since she was young, she'd had an intense fear of vomit and anything to do with it. The sensation of throwing up made her feel like she was suffocating, and the gross feeling before it happened made her panic at the thought of being sick.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," she admitted fearfully. "Oh my God, oh my God."

Ciara started to hush her, reaching back and pulling Angeline's hair out of her face. She used the tie on her wrist to pin it back and she fanned her hands in front of the brunette's face, as if to try and give her some fresh air.

"You're okay," Ciara kept promising her. "You're okay. If you throw up, I'll stay with you, okay?"

Angeline managed to nod, but Ciara's words failed to keep her wild thoughts at bay. She knew it was probably stupid to be so terrified of something so natural, yet she couldn't help it.

"Fuck." Angeline rushed towards some bushes and gasped before she threw up.

Ciara rubbed her back, frowning at the short girl's sobs. She was breathing heavily in between being sick, tears streaming down her face and her jaw trembling as she prayed that she wouldn't be sick again.

"Do you want me to call your dad or your brother?" Ciara asked. "I'm sure they'll come pick you up."

Angeline quickly shook her head. "I'm not on talking terms with them right now."

Or ever.

"That was so scary," she added, wiping her eyes when she was sure that she was finished.

Ciara nodded in agreement, continuing to rub Angeline's back in soothing circles as they continued to move down the pavement towards Angeline's house. Angeline's brain was consumed with thoughts of Grace hurting her and the fear in the back of her mind that she might be sick again.

"Let's get some gum." Ciara jerked her head towards the store to the side. "You'll be okay."

...

Angeline was still wasted when they finally got back to the Lewis household. Ciara sighed as she held her up, using her spare hand to press the buzzer by the gate.

"Ur, hey? It's Ciara... Angel's friend. She's kinda really out of it right now," the teenage girl spoke.

"Buzzing you in," an unfamiliar voice came through the speakers and Ciara could only assume that it was Mitch's voice.

The man who had dropped Angeline off at school a few days ago was coming up the path as Ciara walked down it with Angeline who was giggling to herself and smacking her gum obnoxiously loud. Mitch did a small jog to meet her halfway when he realised that Ciara was literally trying to hold Angeline up, his dark hair flying back a little in the wind.

Ciara let Mitch take Angeline from him when he got there, his large hands pulling the teenage girl upright. Angeline groaned when her head spun even quicker, holding back onto Mitch and dropping her head against his arm.

"I'll make sure she gets to her room," Mitch said to the bleach-haired girl. "Thank you."

"Of course," Ciara nodded, hesitating a little. "I know you're new so I'll just let you know that Angel has a phobia of vomit, in case you didn't already know."

Mitch raised his eyebrows, a little surprised that big bad Angeline was scared of being sick. He held onto her tighter when Angeline muttered something under her breath, her words unintelligible and incredibly slurred.

"Thanks for letting me know," Mitch hummed. "I'm sure she'll text you when she sobers up."

Ciara tried to say goodbye to Angeline, but the girl was too far gone, her face hidden in Mitch's dark t-shirt. The slightly older man started to walk with her up the driveway, muttering things under his breath about looking after drunk teenage girls not being on the outline of the job.

He helped Angeline all the way up the stairs and into her room, helping her down onto her bed. Mitch hesitated before he left and went to get some water and aspirin, returning later and putting it on her bedside table.

"You need to spit the gum out or you'll fall asleep and choke," Mitch instructed.

Angeline shoved her face closer into her pillow. "Whatever, dad," she replied sarcastically.

"Angeline," he said, sterner.

The teenage girls sighed and tilted her head to the side, popping the gum out between her lips. Mitch scrunched his face up when he realised she was expecting him to take it from her and he grabbed the bin next to her desk, holding it out.

"Spit."

Angeline did as she was told before she started to giggle, uncontrollably. Her face went red from laughing as she leaned back up at the pillow, staring at the ceiling.

"What?" Mitch demanded. "What's so funny?"

"I don't normally get told to spit," she cackled.

Mitch's mouth dropped open a little and he swore right there and then that Angeline Lewis would be the death of him. The girl had no filter whatsoever, even to him, who was practically a stranger. It looked like it was even worse when she was drunk.

"Okay, I'm going to get your father now," Mitch sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"No," Angeline muttered. "He'll just get mad. Let me sleep it off."

He hesitated, standing in the middle of the room and contemplating his entire career choice. When Mitch said nothing and left the room after about a minute, the door silently closing behind him, Angeline listened out, praying that she heard no footsteps coming close to her door.

She listened and listened for what felt like hours until she drifted off; smiling a little at the fact that Mitch had done as she asked.

...

One of Angeline's many talents was never having bad hangovers. No matter how drunk she got up, she'd wake up with a minor headache, but nothing some aspirin couldn't quickly fix. By the time she'd been awake for an hour, she already felt as good as new.

After a long shower and brushing her teeth, the brunette started to head towards the kitchen to get something to eat. She poured herself some cereal and sat at the bar in the silence of her large home, recalling everything that had happened last night.

She remembered partying with Ciara before she saw Grace and Levi practically dry humping each other on the beachfront, and then she'd thrown up and that was it. Angeline would deal with Grace later; but right now she was remembering something that Paige had said before.

Sounds fishy to me.

Her dad was a strange guy; Angeline didn't bother to try and understand the things he did, she just sat back and judged him from a distance, jumping in to make witty comments whenever she felt necessary. Except hiring Mitch did feel a little weird.

Winston and Renolds were old, they'd been with the family for years now. Mitch must have had a perfect CV to even get an interview with her father, since her dad never trusted anybody easily. Letting somebody into their circle took a lot, especially when Mitch lived with them like Renolds and Winston did.

Mr Lewis must have been really desperate for more security-- which made Angeline naturally wonder: why?

The petite brunette finished up her cereal and placed the bowl into the sink, looking around to make sure she wasn't being watched. So far, she hadn't seen anybody today, but at least one member of security was always on the property. Angeline looked left and right as she made her way up the stairs.

She didn't really know what she was doing. She daren't try and sneak into her father's office or the meeting room, all of the actually juicy stuff would be in her father's building outside of the house. But maybe Angeline wanted to know about her brand new babysitter.

Maybe if she found out what Mitch was doing here then she would find out why she needed him in the first place, and then she could figure out why the hell Paige's words wouldn't quit swimming about inside her brain.

Towards the end of the house was where her father situated the security's rooms. Maybe Angeline should have just waited until she was sure Mitch had a few days off work, but she wanted to know now.

Angeline found his bedroom door and twisted the handle, groaning quietly under her breath when she discovered that it was locked. She reached into the back of the messy bun she had created on her head and took out a bobby pin, biting it between her teeth and adjusting it like Paige had taught her one time.

She didn't know if it was going to work, but when the bobby pin slid right through the lock and she wriggled it about a bit, it made a clicking sound that caused her breath to catch in her throat. Angeline reached up and tried the door handle again, grinning to herself when it swung open.

"Oh, fuck yeah," she mumbled under her breath.

Before she could stand up, she heard somebody clear their throat from behind her. Angeline groaned loudly this time, flinging her head back and rolling her eyes when she saw Mitch stood there with his arms folded across his body.

"Looking for something?" He actually looked angry for once, which was a contrast from the monotone look he usually had on his face.

"You?" Angeline tried, her voice going up a few pitches.

Mitch was sending daggers at the short girl. "Get up, Angeline."

Angeline huffed and stood up, grabbing her bobby pin out of the door handle on the way. She tucked it into the pocket of the oversized cardigan she was wearing, folding her own arms across her chest to mirror Mitch's posture. She hoped it would intimidate him, but he didn't seem to give into her very easily.

"You're gonna tell my dad now, aren't you?" Angeline sighed.

"Tell me what you were looking for."

She shrugged. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Mitch repeated, not believing her for a second.

Angeline shook her head. "Honestly. I was just... curious."

"Stay out of my room." She was taken aback by how rough Mitch's low voice sounded as he came closer to her, like he was threatening her. "Don't try and go through my stuff, don't look through your dad's stuff, and stay out of what you don't understand."

Angeline was a little horrified, feeling like Mitch had totally just turned on her when she was starting to think he was actually alright. She swallowed, taking a step back from him. Her wounded expression didn't cause him to falter for a second and only then did Angeline see the look in his hazel eyes.

She didn't stick around but went past him, making sure to shove him with her shoulder a little before she ended up in her bedroom. His words sounded less like a threat and more like... a warning. Different to when every other man in the house said it to make her feel small and pathetic.

Don't try and go through my stuff, don't look through your dad's stuff, and stay out of what you don't understand.

Mitch was warning her.

...

arctic monkey's AM album and the neighbourhood's wiped out album are mitch and angeline's albums i dont make the rules but i also do

its so easy to write this book and im lowkey scared of when i get writers block or this inspo burns out bc im feeling so motivated rn