Chapter 10: The Ultimate Betryal

“Good morning,” Wesley says to me as I flop down in the chair next to him in our Chemistry class.

“What’s so good about it?” I murmur, laying my head on the desk.

“Well,” He says, then pauses, like he’s thinking. “You could be dead.”

“I wish I was.” I deadpan.

“Aw, you don’t mean that.” He says, poking my shoulder with his pencil. I sit up from the desk, groaning heavily. “Why the long face, Vandergeld?”

I sigh heavily before saying, “Did you know that you can’t use dish soap in a dishwasher?”

“Uh, yeah. Did you not know that?”

“No idea!” I exclaim. “What’s the point of them calling it dish soap if you can’t put it in a dishwasher? It’s like, they want us to be confused.”

So last night a little while after I loaded and started the dishwasher, my grandmother got home. I heard shouting, and I figured it was nothing or something totally irrelevant to me, so I just turned my David Archuleta up a little louder and stared up at the ceiling. That is, until Spencer came running into my room and told me that Grandma was shouting my name. So after that I was forced to get up, go downstairs and see what all the hubbub was about.

Let’s just say I…saw it, rather than heard it. Soap suds were everywhere, all around the kitchen. Needless to say, my Grandmother was pissed. Like it was my fault, I mean, she knew I didn’t know how to work a dishwasher. She yelled about me about responsibility for about ten minutes before I got tired of hearing it and walked away. She shouted up to me that I was grounded, and I told her that she had no right to ground me, which she doesn’t. My parents of course agreed with her once they got back, and I’m grounded for two weeks now, which is stupid. I mean, how was anything my fault?

Oh and since I didn’t sweep or feed the horses, that accounted for some of my punishment. A load of bullshit if you ask me. I haven’t even asked my parents about going out to Laurel’s party tonight, and now that I’m grounded, I know they’ll say no. I’ll ask anyway though, because maybe I’ll luck out. If they still say no though, I’ll just do what I always did in L.A.- sneak out. And if I can sneak out of a two story mansion, I’m sure I can easily sneak out of a single story shoebox sized house.

Wesley laughs, “I don’t think that’s it, Steffy.”

“Well, I think it is.” I say stubbornly.

“You’re so dressed up today.” He replies, examining my outfit and quickly changing the subject.

I look down at my stripped black and white cashmere Michael Kors sweater, my black leggings and Christian Louboutin heels and frown. “I’m not dressed up.” I defend, looking back up at Wesley.

“So this is how you normally dress? You don’t wear jeans or anything? I thought you were just trying to look all fancy on Monday on account of it being your first day and all.” Wesley replies.

I shake my head, “Nope, I wasn’t trying to look fancy, it’s just normally how I dress.”

“Why?” He wonders curious.

“Why what?”

“Why do you dress like that? Don’t you ever wanna just lounge around in sweats or something?”

I crinkle my nose in disgusting, “Cotton is my least favorite cloth.” I tell him. “So no, not really.”

I guess that amuses Wesley because he lets out a soft laugh. “You’re something else Steffy.”

“So I’ve been told.” I say, shrugging. “Oh, I wanna ask you something.” I tell him as he looks through the microscope.

“Sure, what’s up?” He wonders, scribbling what he sees on our group paper.

“Are you going to Laurel Stevenson’s party tonight?”

Wesley clears his throat and hesitantly says, “I, uh, I reckon so, yeah.”

“Reckon?” I repeat, giggling. “I didn’t think you guys actually used that word.”

Wesley pulls back from the microscope, writing our names on the line at the top of the paper. “Why not?” He asks, chuckling. “Y’all don’t use it in California?” It’s kinda funny the way he says California. He’s like: Calla-forn-e-a.

I shrug, “I dunno; I guess I just kinda thought it was one of those stereotypes. But no, we don’t.”

“It is,” He answers. “It’s a true one though.”

I feel my phone vibrate, and sigh, pulling it out. It’s probably Samuel; I haven’t talked to him since our conversation last night after he basically told me that his mother didn’t want her rich son to date a poor girl. Even though my family use to be as rich, if not richer, than her stupid family. I never did like Miriam, Sam’s mom. Personally, I think she looks like a mix between an older Lindsey Lohan and Jerry Springer. I mean, she’s not really…ugly, but not pretty. I’m just glad Samuel’s looks came from his dad. His nice, sweet, humble dad. 

Looking up, I see that Ms. Abrams is sitting at her desk, practically buried under a large stack of papers, that she’s slowly grading. I unlock my cell phone and see that I have a message, from none other than Sam.

Stef, you’re not mad at me, are you?

Quickly, I reply with: I told you I wasn’t, and I’m not.

I drop my phone back in my purse and then look at Wesley. “So why were you so hesitant?”

“Hesitant?” He repeats.

I nod, “When I asked you if you were gonna come to the party, you were all hesitant.”

“I wasn’t hesitant.” Wesley argues.

“Uh huh.”

“Nope,” He says, shaking his head. “I don’t think so.”

“Tell me,” I whine.

“Fine, little miss bossy. Laurel and I used to date. Like, last year.”

I raise an eyebrow, “What? Really?”

“Hard to believe?” He wonders.

“I, I mean, I guess not. You two are both kinda quiet, like within your group of friends.” I reply.

“Yeah, so I don’t even know if she’d want me to come to her party.”

“Why wouldn’t she? Was it a bad break-up?”

“Well, it was, you know, amicable, I guess.” He answers nonchalantly.

I give off a small fake gasp, “Country boy correctly uses the world ‘amicable’? This is big.”

Wesley chuckles, shaking his head. “Hardy, har, har. You’re so funny.”

“I know I am.” I reply. “So what happened?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, why’d you two break up?” I clarify. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Oh, no, I don’t mind. Well, Laurel and I were…I dunno, we just weren’t working anymore.”

“But you’re friends now, aren’t you?”

“I wouldn’t call us friends. We’re friendly, but not friends.”

“Is there a difference?”

“A huge one, city girl.”

“City girl?” I repeat.

He nods, “If you’re gonna keep calling me ‘country boy’, I’m gonna call you ‘city girl’.”

“You’re such a geek.” I tell him, stifling a laugh.

“See, you’ve known me all of four days and we’re already getting along. Here in the south this is called friendship.”

I laugh and roll my eyes, “I’m from California, not Mercury.”

“California may as well be Mercury for all I know about it.” He admits. 

And here I was thinking that all the people in the south had jacked up, terribly unaligned teeth. Well, surely some do, but Wesley has perfect teeth. They’re lined up impeccably and they’re a blinding pearly white color, not a gap or overlap in sight. Not that I’d stop talking to him or something if he had bad teeth, I’m just saying.

“You’ve never been there either?”

“Either?

“I was talking to Conrad and he said that he’s never gone to California.”

“Oh,” He says, nodding. “Right. Nope, I’ve never been there.”

“I can’t believe that. So you’ve never been to Disneyland?” Wesley shakes his head like it’s no big deal or anything and my jaw drops. “No Hollywood? Golden Gate Bridge? San Fran? Yosemite? Sutter’s Mill? Napa Vall-“

Wesley laughs, “If it’s in California, I’ve never been there.”

I stare at him with wide eyes, dumbfounded. “You poor deprived child.”

“You’re overreacting.” He says with a soft chuckle. “I have an awesome life.”

“Oh?” I say in disbelief.

“Yup.” Wesley confirms, nodding his head firmly.

“You live in Tennessee; how great can it be?”

“Very, actually.” Wesley tells me, with a pointed grin.

“I don’t believe you.” I say bluntly.

“Well, I’m telling the truth, so you should.”

“Uh huh,” I retort. “What’d you do for summer?”

“Huh?”

“This summer, well last summer before this school year started, what’d you do?”

“Like for summer vacation or something?”

“Exactly.”

“I worked.”

“And?”

“Worked. And worked. That’s pretty much it.” He informs me.

“Wow,” I say, giving off a fake gasp. “That’s an awesome summer.”

“Right? The best ever.” He says sarcastically. “Oh, actually I went to Graceland with Conrad and Ben, that was cool, I guess.”

“What’s Graceland?”

“What’s Graceland?” He repeats and I nod. “You don’t know what Graceland is?”

“Obviously not.” I retort.

“It was Elvis Presley’s house and now it’s like a tourist thing.”

“Oooh,” I say. “It did sound familiar, I guess. So you’re like an Elvis fan?”

“Just a little before my time.” He jokes. “My parents like him though, so I kinda had to endure it a lot as a child. But me personally? No. What’d you do?”

“I don’t follow.” I say, blinking a few times.

“That’s what I did this summer, what’d you do?” He explains.

“Oh, right. We went to Spain.”

“Like, the Spain?”

I nod, “Mhmm.”

“So you are rich?”

“What?”

“Conrad’s really set on believing you’re rich.”

“I’m not rich.” I assure him.

“Then how’d you go to Spain? Surely that’s not…inexpensive.”

“My, uh, my grandparents lives there.” I lie quickly.

“Really? Wow, that’s pretty cool.”

I nod, “Yup, it was pretty great there.”

I feel my phone vibrating in my purse and roll my eyes, knowing it’s Sam. He really thinks I’m angry at him, which is not true at all. I don’t even care. Sure I’m embarrassed by the facts that my boyfriend’s mother knows that my family is broke and that it’s spreading around the Country Club, but I’m not mad at Samuel. I have no reason to be. Why he can’t seem to get that through his thick skull, I dunno. I look back up at Ms. Abrams and see that she’s still grading papers, then I take my phone out, unlocking it.

“Boyfriend problems?” Wesley guesses.

I sigh, “Yeah.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

“No, not really.” I reply, reading Sam’s message.

I’m worried about you, Stef, call me. Please?

I quickly type in: I’m fine, I promise. I’ll call you later.

“You sure?” He wonders. “I’ve been told I’m a great listener. Granted my mom told me, but still.”

I laugh at that and nod, “Sam’s just not reacting well to the distance between us. Thanks though.”

“Oh, well I get that. California’s really far from little old Nashville.”

“Oh, he’s not in L.A., he’s in Puerto Rico.” I correct Wesley, dropping my phone in my purse. “And he’s being annoying, so I think I’ll just ignore him for a bit.”

Wesley laughs, “Well, that’s a nice thing for a girlfriend to do.”

“Well, if your girlfriend was being as annoying as my boyfriend is, wouldn’t you do the same thing?”

“I don’t have a girlfriend, so I couldn’t speak on that, actually.” Wesley says.

“Why not?”

“Wow, you’re blunt.” He says, chuckling uneasily. “I dunno, I mean, after me and Laurel, no one else has really expressed any interest in me.”

“But you’re popular.”

“There’s like three hundred kids at this school; it doesn’t take much be ‘popular’.” He defends.

“That’s beside the point, okay? I’ve been here three days and I’ve already seen like seven girls who’re probably in love with you.”

“That’s a scary thought; thanks Steffy.”

I shrug, “I--“ I feel my phone vibrate in my purse and stand up. “I’m going to the bathroom, I’ll be right back.”

“Uh, yeah, okay.” Wesley says, probably confused by my sudden need to go to the bathroom.

I stalk to the front of the room, my pointy heels making clicky-clacky sounds with every step. When I reach Ms. Abrams desk, I stand there politely waiting until she’s done with grading or whatever it is she’s doing. About twenty seconds of standing there and her not acknowledging my presence, I clear my throat loudly, making her look up with a startled look on her face.

“Oh, Stephanie. How can I help you dear?”

“It’s Steffy,” I remind her. “And I need to go to th bathroom.”

“Oh right, sorry dear. Now, are you telling me you have to go to the bathroom or asking me?”

I wrinkle my forehead - that’s a stupid question. “I’m telling you that I need to go, so that you’ll write a pass or whatever I have to have to go.”

Ms. Abrams sighs, pulling a sticky note from her desk and scrawling on it. She rips it off and hands it to me. “It’s ‘may’, and hurry back. We have a policy here at East Elm; five minutes for the bathroom, and if you’re a minute over, you’re gonna be taking a trip to Assistant Principal Muldrow.”

“Yeah, okay, whatever.” I say quickly, walking out of the room.

I don’t actually have to go to the bathroom, I just need to call my boyfriend. He’s worrying over nothing, and I don’t want him to do that. Besides, his families still filthy stinking rich; he has no reason to worry. About anything! If anyone has anything to stress over, it’s me. I’m the one who’s broke. Everyone knows rich people have no problems, and if they do, they can simply buy the solutions. At least, that’s what I did.

I walk down the creepy, old corridor, my heels echoing off of moldy walls each time they hit the titled floor. It takes me about two minutes, but I finally reach a bathroom labeled ‘gals’. I pull the door open and walk it, letting it fall behind me. It seems everything in Tennessee is…smaller. This bathroom could have fit into my room in California with space left to spare. There’s only two stalls, one sink and a large mirror near the door. I crinkle my nose as the strong smell of ammonia hits me and shake my head, trying not to get a headache. Snatching my phone up out of my purse, I quickly dial Sam’s number and set my purse on the counter, pacing the small length of the bathroom.  

“Hey,” He says, sounding relieved as he answers on the fourth ring.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m at school and you’re being ridiculously persistent.”

“I’m sorry?” Sam says it like a question. “I was just trying to make sure my girlfriend was okay.”

“I’m fine,” I assure him. “I told you that.”

“Yeah, you keep saying it, but I don’t believe you.”

I scoff, “You’re making such a big deal out of nothing.”

“Look, I know this is hard for you. Is it such a crime that I want to be there for you?”

“That’s just it Sam, you’re not here! You’re there! You’re in Puerto Rico and you’re living it up.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

I sigh, “Nothing, and I have to go back to class before I get in trouble.”

“Y-you think I’m cheating on you, don’t you?” He asks incredulously.

“I didn’t say that.”

“But you’re thinking it.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Are so.”

“Am not.”

“Are so.”

“Am not.”

“Are so.”

“Am not.”

“I am not cheating on you, Stef, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Why would I risk our relationship just to cheat on you?”

“I know,” I say, sighing heavily. Man, I sure have been sighing a lot as of late. “I’m sorry Sam.”

“Me too,” He replies genially. “FaceTime date tonight?”

I giggle, “That sounds great, but I can’t.”

“Oh,” Sam says, sounding dejected. “How come?”

“There’s this party I’m going to tonight.” I say sheepishly.

“Oh, okay then. Well, have fun.”

“I’ll try. I’m grounded, so if I don’t get caught sneaking out, I’ll be fine.”

“You’re grounded? Since when do your parents ground you? What’d you do?”

I explain to my boyfriend the whole dishwasher thing and the suds amongst all the other chores I elected not to do. I’m pretty sure I’ve been gone for more than five minutes. I don’t really think she’ll send me to the office though; I’ll just tell her I got lost. I mean, I’ve only been at this school for three days, getting lost is believable. When I’m done telling him the tragic story that is my life, he laughs. Actually laughs.

“I miss you so much.” He says sadly, his laughter dying out.

“I miss you too, Samuel.” I tell him truthfully.

“I’m sorry about getting all protective. It’s just, you know, I worry about you there all alone.”

“It’s okay. It’s nice that you care. I’m okay, I promise. Well, as okay as I can be considering the fact that I’m poor, mansion-less, carless and grounded.”

“I’ll let you get back to class now. Be careful at that party.”

“I will, I’ll call you tonight if it isn’t too late. Otherwise, I’ll call you in the morning. I love you.”

“I love you too, Steffy.”

I hang up, dropping the phone back in my purse, and zip it up. I sling the purse over my shoulder, and walk out of the tiny bathroom, involuntarily letting out a small shriek when I see someone standing there.

“You scared the hell outta me.” I tell Wesley, who’s standing right outside the door, leaning on the wall.

“Caught you with your pants down?” He asks.

“What?” I ask confused.

Wesley shakes his head, “I forget you aren’t from around here. It just means like, surprised.”

“Oooh,” I say, nodding. “Well, then yes, you did catch me with my pants down. What are you doing?”

“Abrams sent me to find you, because you broke the stupid ‘five minute’ rule.”

“I thought so.” I reply as we walk down the hall together. “Wait, why’d she send you?”

“To find you. I guess she thought you got lost or something.” He says, shrugging.

“Then why didn’t she send a girl? I told her I was going to the bathroom.”

“I don’t attempt to figure out the female brain; I ain’t got enough time for that.” Wesley jokes.

“I guess that’s true,” I agree. “So am I in trouble or something?”

“I don’t think so. She really thinks you lost your way.”

“This school is tiny. It’s pretty hard to get lost.”

“That’s true, but you can either go with that or get detention after you see your A.P.”

When we arrive back at the classroom, Wesley opens the door, gesturing for me to go in first, which I do. “Well it’s about time you came back. I was fixing to call security.” The teacher scowls at me.

“Oh, um sorry?” I reply, going back to my seat, followed by Wesley. “Got lost.”

I’m gonna go out on a limb here and assume that ‘fixing to’, means like ‘about to’ or something like that. I don’t think they used that in California. Not in my beautiful L.A., anyway. My part of town, the elite part, is very prestigious and proper. Not one of us would be caught dead using improper grammar or anything of the sort.

✈✈✈✈

The remainder of Chemistry goes by fast, which is easy to believe, seeing as how when Wesley and I got back there was only fifteen minutes left. I just go to Computer Apps now though, and I didn’t bother speaking to the teacher guy. Keith. I’m almost positive that’s what he said his name is. He’s sitting at this desk, wearing a shirt similar to the one he wore Monday and his eyes are closed. I guess he’s mediating again. He’s weird.

“Morning doll.” Madison says perkily, prancing into the room and sitting down beside me.

“Hey Madison.” I greet her, smiling at her.

“I heard you got lost on your way to the bathroom?”

“How’d yo--“

“Small school, news travels fast.” She explains.

“Right, I’ll need to remember that. I didn’t get lost though.” I note.

“What happened then?” Madison asks, turning her computer on.

“I went to the bathroom to call my boyfriend and we had a mini-fight.”

“But everything’s good now between you two?” She asks sounding genuinely concerned.

I nod, pushing a lock of my hair behind my ear. “Yeah, we’re good now. It’s just, it’s kinda weird. He’s all the way in Puerto Rico, but luckily the time difference is only a one hour, so we can talk a lot. Not being able to see him is really hard though.”

Madison nods in understanding. “I know what you mean. I once dated this guy, Michael was his name. We started dating in the summer, like the summer before this school year, but we broke up a few months after summer ended.”

“How come?”

“Well, turns out he was actually twenty-one, and going to be a senior at Dartmouth, so you know.”  She says, shrugging.

“Wow, that’s…odd.” I retort.

“Tell me about it. Speaking of odd, there’s my brother.”

I turn my head just in time to see Conrad plop down in his seat beside me. “Hello, beautiful ladies.”

“Brother dearest, how are you?” Madison asks. “I didn’t think you were coming today.”

“Neither did I.” I interject. He didn’t ride the bus this morning, which is why I thought he wasn’t coming. 

“Well,” Conrad says, sighing noisily. “Mom and Dad kinda forced me to come. My head is still killing me though. So shhh, let’s just be quiet, yeah?”

Madison scoffs, “That’s what you get for drinking on a school night.”

“It was for Ben’s birthday, what was I gonna do? Not drink?”

“Um, yeah?”

“Ben’s birthday was yesterday?” I ask.

Conrad shakes his head, lying it down on the table. “It’s in two weeks.”

“Then why didn’t y’all wait two weeks to get drunk?”

“Because his and Carly’s older brother, Harry, who’s in college is in town and because he’s twenty-one, he can buy alcohol. He bought us a shitload last night, a birthday gift or some shit, I dunno. I do know that right now we’re talking too much and I’m tired so let’s all be quiet. Please?” He begs.

“We’re not gonna be quiet just because you’re an idiot.” Madison snaps. “Are you coming to the party tonight?” She wonders.

“What’s her name? Laurie’s?”

“Laurel, get it right, Connie.” Madison corrects.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. I’m coming. Now, I’m going to sleep.”

“Sleep away.” She says, nodding. “You’re coming too, aren’t you?”

“As far as I know. I’m grounded, but I think I can manage to sneak out and back in.”

“Oooh, how rebellious.” Madison says sarcastically, laughing.

“That’s me,” I retort, jokingly. “So badass.”

“Oh, yeah, I can tell.”

We both laugh at that which earns us a glare from Conrad. “Shut. Up. I. Cannot. Sleep.”

“This is school, Dumbo; you’re here to learn, not sleep.”

“If you don’t stop talking, I swear to God you’re gonna wake up tomorrow dead.”

“That doesn’t make sense.” I tell him.

“What else doesn’t make sense is how much girls talk.” He rebuts.

“Alright, alright, don’t get your feathers ruffled now, Connie.”

“Get your feathers ruffled?” I repeat, not getting the phrase.

“Don’t start whining, pretty much is what it means.” She informs me.

“You guys have so many little things like that.” I note.

“Don’t call me Connie, Maddox.” Conrad slurs.

“That’s so stupid; Maddox sounds nothing like Madison.”

“Yes, it does. Now, wake me up when the bell rings.”

✈✈✈✈

So, apparently this party isn’t gonna be huge. Anna Grace said that I didn’t have to wear a dress or anything, but I decided to anyway. It doesn’t seem like it’s gonna be totally casual, but not like formal. So, I got my simplest, none flashy dress that I brought with me in my carry-on. Man, I stuffed a lot of stuff in my carry-on. I don’t own too many non-flashy, skin-tight dresses, but luckily I had this one. It’s a spaghetti strapped belted ruffle front lace skirt dress. The top half is  a crème color, while the actual skirt part of the dress is a sea foam green color. My hair is slightly wavy and I have a white flower headband - Taylor Swift style. I’ve also got on a pair of beige heels, but the heel isn’t as tall as usual, mostly because, well it’s a party and I know I’ll be standing up. I’m wearing my diamond studded earrings which are in the shape of a heart and my necklace that has three seats of pearls on it. Why I’m wearing some of my most expensive jewelry to this little ‘shindig’, as Carly called it at lunch, I don’t know. I mean, my jewelry alone costs more than your house, let alone the entire outfit.

It’s 7:30, but the party doesn’t start until 8. Anna Grace is gonna pick me up, and as a matter of fact, she should be getting here any minute now. The plan is for me to crawl out of the window and run across the front yard, hop in her car and we speed away. I already checked and found my grandmother in the living room wearing her permanent scowl along with my parents who were talking about something I didn’t care to hear about.

My phone chimes in my hand and I raise it, unlocking it and seeing a text from Anna Grace, telling me that she’s outside. I reply to her and then take a deep breath, walking over to the window. I’m pretty small, but I dunno if I can actually fit out of this window. I push the window up, and throw one leg out, satisfied when I touch the ground. That means I can just step out; no falling involved. Once I’m out of the window, I make my way to Anna Grace’s silver Hyundai and hop in the back, seeing Carly in the front seat. Madison is in the back seat, but there’s no sign of Laurel. Then again, it is her birthday party we’re going to, so she’s most likely at her house. Her car is nice; I mean, not as nice my BMW was, but still nice.

“Wow, you sneak out so casually.” Carly calls from the front seat.

“Well, years of practice, I guess.” I say, half seriously.

“You look so pretty, I’m borrowing this dress.” Madison informs me, eyeing my dress.

I laugh, but nod, “Borrow away. This is only like my third time wearing it.”

“What? Why? It’s gorgeous.” Anna Grace says.

“I’m more of a ‘little black dress’ type of girl.” I explain. “So how far is Laurel’s place?”

“Not very, only like twenty minutes.” Anna Grace answers, speeding down the road.

“Your parents aren’t gonna like, issue an Amber Alert for you if they find you not home, right?” Carly wonders.

I scoff, “Please, they don’t care enough about me to do that.”

It’s true, and I know that’s not a good thing to say. That your parents don’t care about you. Which is why I didn’t say that. I said they don’t care enough about me, which they don’t. Sure they’re around now, but from the age of like seven to fifteen, I saw my parents maybe like five times a year. My dad was always buried in work, jetting off to various parts of the world, promoting his company and my mother also had work. Spencer and I were practically raised by nannies.

That is until I got to be about eight and he nine, when we finally got a nanny that didn’t suck. Madge was her name. Madge was the sweetest old lady that ever walked this planet. I think I love her more than I love my own grandmother. Then again, Madge never made me get up at four in the morning and work. Anyways, Madge stayed up until I was fifteen, which was when my parents decided to actually be….well, parents. I haven’t talked to her since then, but I know that my parents secretly still send her money. Well, I guess they did, before we….went…broke. I hope she’s doing alright.

“I doubt that that’s true,” Anna Grace scoffs.

“No, really, it is.” I assure them. “They’re total dicks.”

✈✈✈✈

Something like fifteen minutes later, we arrive at the party, which is already in full swing. I guess it started a little earlier. That’s a good thing though. I mean, have you ever been the first person to arrive at a party? It’s awkward and painfully embarrassing, like, “Nope, I don’t have a life at all.” When Anna Grace said this party wasn’t gonna be big, she wasn’t kidding. The four of us got here about ten minutes ago - Laurel has a really nice home, by the way - and there’s not that many people here. If I had to guess, I would say there’s no more than forty-five, fifty people here. Half of them are in the middle of the living room - which is flashing with strobe lights and booming with someone called Luke Bryan. At least, that’s what Madison said his name was. Then she had a full on girl-gasm about him, telling me about how she was gonna marry him. Needless to say, I was confused as hell, but he has a nice voice, I guess. Like I was saying though, half of the kids are in the living room, dry humping, drinking and some are heavily making out like they’re in their bedroom or something.

“Where is Laurel?!” Madison whines, taking a sip of her drink.

Carly says, “I heard Jimmy Falcon say he was gonna finally ask her out tonight. Maybe that’s where.”

Anna Grace gasps, “On her birthday? That’s so sweet!”

“He’s only been in love with the girl since pretty much birth.” Carly replies. “And I see Tommy, I'm gonna go talk to him." She says suggestively. “Find me before you guys leave.” She says, prancing away and swaggering up to the boy I guess is Tommy.

He’s standing with his buddies, holding a tall can of beer. Well that’s weird; at the parties I always went to, you’d never find beer. Being that we were all rich, our parents all had liquor cabinets full of stuff like Vodka, Tequila, Hennessey, Gin, Brandy, Whisky, Rum, all of it. I’ve done it all, and though that’s not really something to be proud of, I am. It makes me feel bad-ass. I have my own drink, some kinda mixer is what they called it, but I didn’t really care enough to ask what was in it. Besides, the color is really pretty; it’s lime green. The three of us look on as he says something to her that makes her laugh. A few seconds later, she grabs his hand in hers, leading him away from the living room, probably upstairs, winking at us.

“She--“

“Did I just my baby sister go upstairs with some guy?” Ben asks, suddenly beside us.

“Yes, yes you did.” Madison confirms. “And you’re not gonna go harass her. Got it Sampson?”

It’s funny because Ben’s so big and Madison’s so tiny and non-threating. Ben nods firmly, suppressing a smirk. “Yes ma’am. Hey, I wanna talk to you.” Ben says, leaning down to my ear.

“About what?”

“Something.”

“Such as?”

“We’re gonna go find Laurel, you coming Steffy?” Anna Grace wonders.

Ben raises his eyebrows pointedly with a pleading expression on his face. “Um, no, I’m just gonna stay here and talk to Ben.” I tell them. “I’ll catch up with you two later though and if you find her, tell her I said happy birthday.”

“Go hog wild.” Madison says chirpily, before grabbing Anna Grace’s arm and heading off with her throughout the house.

“What does that even mean?” I ask, voicing my opinion.

“It’s kinda like a euphemism for ‘have a good time’.” Ben answers, taking another drink of his beer.

I give off another fake gasp, “First Conrad uses 'preposterously', then Wesley uses ‘amicable’, and now you use ‘euphemism’ all in the correct sense? Maybe you country boys aren’t as dumb as I thought.”

Ben scoffs, “We’re all very intelligent, thank you very much.”

“Sure, so what’d you wanna talk about?” I wonder, raising my cup to my lips and take down some of the lime green drink. It burns just a little going back, but overall, it tastes good. Like a lime flavored chip or something, only in the liquid form.

“Oh, I didn’t wanna talk.” He replies cheekily.

“Then what’s up?”

“Let’s dance.”

“Why?”

“Why not?” Ben rebuts.

“Because, like, we don’t even know each other.”

Ben laughs at that. “Two things. One, you don’t have to know someone to dance with them. And two, you’re such a valley girl.”

I scoff, “Oh, please, I am definitely not a valley girl.”

He nods, “Yeah, you kinda are.” His voice laced with amusement.

“Nuh uh.”

“Uh huh.” He replies, playfully bumping his shoulder into mine.

“You’re weird.”

Ben shrugs, “I’m blaming it on the alcohol. So what do you say? Let’s dance?”

Five minutes later, Ben and I are in the middle of the dance floor along with the other people, dancing to the fast music playing. The Luke Bryan guy went off a while ago, and now it’s some really fast rap snog playing. Ben’s standing behind me, his arms wrapped around my waist and I’m practically grinding my butt into his pelvic area. He spins me around suddenly, his lips attacking mine. My eyes widen as I remember my and Sam’s conversation this morning about cheating.

Oh my God, that’s what I’m doing. I’m cheating on my boyfriend. With some guy I’ve known for three days at that. This is not good. This is not good at all. That aside though, Ben’s a really, really good kisser. Even if the inside of his mouth is tainted by the toxic taste of beer.

I pull back slightly, but not completely away from Ben’s warm lips. “Ben, I can’t do this.”

“Why not?” He murmurs against my lips.

“I have a boyfriend.”

“A boyfriend who is, from what I hear, in Puerto Rico.” Ben replies. 

“He’s still my boyfriend and I love him.” I argue. “I’m not gonna do this to him.”

Ben doesn’t reply for a while, he instead moves his lips to my neck, trailing kisses down it. The spots where he kisses my neck immediately warm, sending weird shocks through me. He lets his tongue slyly slip over the burning areas previously kissed. Ben proceeds to kiss my neck, sucking lightly on it, and I can practically feel the hickey forming. I don’t push him away though; I like it too much.

“Who ever said your boyfriend had to know?” He whispers.

I open my mouth to defend my love for Sam, but instead of words coming out, a moan does and I feel Ben chuckle against the skin of my neck. Damn my stupid teenage body being all hormonal. I put my cup full of the green liquor on a table behind me and raise my hands, twisting my fingers in Ben’s hair, and pulling his lips to mine. Ben’s hands go to my hips, and he grips my waist tightly, pulling my body to his. This is so wrong. I am cheating on my boyfriend and actually liking it. Oh God, I’m going to hell.

“You wanna go upstairs?” Ben asks, not breaking our amazing kiss.

Not even thinking about any possible repercussions, I nod eagerly. “Yeah.” I say quickly. 

Ben pulls away from me, grabbing my hand and leads me through the house. In the blink of an eye, we’re upstairs in a bedroom alone. Ben closes the door behind us, kicking it shut and putting his lips back on mine. His tongue slips in my mouth, causing me to emit another moan. Ben’s hand reaches up to my shoulder, and he slides the white strap of my dress down, causing it to fall down my shoulder. I shake my head of every siren, red light and voice shouting at me to not do this and pull down the other strap, letting the dress fall to the ground.

Hurriedly, I reach to the buckle on Ben’s jeans, unbuttoning them. He yanks them down then I go to work, getting his grey short-sleeve shirt over his head. Ben throws it to the ground before kicking his shoes off and reaching behind me, unclasping my bra. My shoes and underwear follow shortly thereafter as do his boxer shorts. We fall back onto the bed, kissing passionately, breathing heavily.

“W-wait,” I say breathlessly, pulling away from Ben.

“What? What’s wrong?” He asks from above me.

I’m about to commit the ultimate betrayal, that’s what’s wrong.

“A condom. We need a condom.”

“Oh right,” Ben says, reaching down on the floor to where his jeans are. He retrieves a packaged condom and slips it on faster than I ever thought possibly, before leaving back over me and kissing me again.

I’m not drunk. Ben isn’t drunk. Neither of us is drunk. We know exactly what we're doing.

But like Ben, tomorrow I’m blaming this on the alcohol. 

Author's Note: Wowza, this chapter is long! Like, really. It's 6,308 words, which is like, two times my normal chapters! Anyways, I hoped you liked it and this does not mean Steffy will end up with Ben. It also doesn't mean she won't! I'm not telling. c: Thoughts for the next chapter? You know the schedule, it'll be up on Tuesday, [5/21]. Also, I only have tweleve days of school left, and I'm so happy that I can't even explain it. Also, I changed the cover, in case you did't notice. Don't forget to commment and vote! The picture is what Steffy wore to the party! ♥