Jac studiously pinned her glossy jet black hair into a swirled bun on her head with a Tiffanys hair clip, finishing her evening look. It  had nearly taken her three hours to pick the perfect dress - a Diane Von Furstenberg navy blue lace original - another hour to choose the right shoes, and two hours to style her hair the way she wanted it.

The final touch was a silver Atlas 18k pendant that nearly cost ten grand to be exact. Fastening the necklace around her neck, Jac gave her reflection in the posh and tidy bathroom another once over and decided she looked pretty damn good. 

" I remember getting you that necklace in Paris."

"Gosh, Dad, you scared the hell out of me." Jac gasped, startled by her father in the bathroom doorway. Jeffrey seemed to be losing his boyish features with every day that he didn't work. He had nowhere to go and was often scarfing down food in the Lexington's endless food supply. Thus, not only was he untidy but he was gaining weight too.

"Sorry I-"

"Do you think its okay to just barge into my room?" She spat. That was the whole point of having her own personal bathroom - that included a mini hot tub and a diamond-encrusted bath and shower - so she didn't have to share with the hired help and her god awful parents.

Jeffrey hung his head and Jac noticed dark circles prominent on his sun kissed skin. "Well I thought that maybe we could stay inside today and play some Monopoly."

"Monopoly?" Jac tittered. "No thanks, I'm going out."

"Jacqueline, you have to quit this. I'm your father."

Jac studied her father and almost felt sorry for him. He had a shitty wife, lost his job, and his daughter wouldn't even talk to him. Then again, she figured he deserved it after what he'd done. 

She grabbed her black Miu Miu clutch off the bathroom counter and moved past him, down the modern micro-loft stairs until she reached the lavish Paris influenced broad living room. The ivory lights gave off a gold tint to the room, making the sleek black and white furniture change hue. Just beyond the french windows of the sofas was the backdoor patio where Eve - if she were here - would be lazily lounging in the hot tub with wine glasses of margaritas.

Without the whole Lexington family present, Jac thought the big mansion seemed lifeless and lonely and preferred to be out of it most of the time.

"Uh, Jac, wait." Jeffrey came hurrying down the stairs, nearly tripping over a step as he tried to catch her before she hurried out of the door.

Jac cracked the front mauve-colored door of the house and reluctantly waited for her father. If she peeked behind the Austin Horn classic curtains, she could see a set of wheels driving into the estate's wide gravel driveway just behind her father's Lexus.

"That necklace...." He trailed off and sighed guiltily.

Jac found herself clutching her necklace then protectively. "What about it?"

"Do you think you could donate it to the Spring Debutante auction?"

"What?" They hardly ever donated to the fundraisers. Every little thing they owned was precious in its own way. So what if she'd only worn the pendant two times - the last time being eighth grade and then she'd quickly forgotten about it for nearly three years - the necklace still had some importance. 

"You can wear it tonight but make sure you leave it in the laundry hall, okay?" Jeffrey went on. "And maybe go through your closet and find some things you don't wear anymore."

"But why?"

"Well, money is tight around here now. We need some spare cash."

Jac narrowed her eyes. Her closet was big enough to be a hotel room and it'd probably take her two weeks to have looked through everything. Besides that, there was no way she was giving up any of her things.  

"Jac-"

"My ride is here," She snapped, slightly hating her father more than she already did. "While I'm gone maybe you can have some male strippers over." Then she instantly hated her remark and involuntarily sighed. "Sorry, I'll be back around midnight."

"Uh, nine thirty, honey."

"Dad," She groaned before opening the door again. "Midnight." Then before he could argue any further, she slipped out into the brisk, chilly night. - and nearly broke into a fit of horror.

Parked in the broad gravel driveway of the Lexington estate was a beat up red Toyota, Blake's grinning face in the driver seat window. Jac silently wished she had just offered to drive them herself. She had a phobia when it came to things under five grand. 'If I can handle Benny's vintage Chevy then I can do this,' she told her nerves.

Blake quickly got out of the car, a broad smile on his face. He was dressed unspectacular in a dorky white short-sleeved t-shirt, jeans that Jac was pretty sure didn't come from the expensive Nordstrom store, and plain black Converse shoes. His blonde hair was ruffled and his eyes were memorizing.  

He was no James Dean in his attire but strangely, it was enough for Jac. 

"Wow, you look beautiful." Blake chuckled.

Jac felt a slight blush on her face and quickly held it back with a leveled gaze. She couldn't let on how smitten she was becoming. "Not so bad yourself.....although I think I'm overdressed." Here she was in a cocktail dress while Blake looked like he was ready for a stroll in the park.

He smiled sheepishly and Jac noted that despite the fact he didn't have a dimple in sight - like he did - his smile still managed to come off as bright as the sun. "Yeah, I was thinking of going to this really cool music bar."

"Bar?" Jac asked as Blake opened the passenger seat door for her. She couldn't help but think of the fact that he had never done that for her. Only once and that had been the first date.

Blake quickly closed the door, hurrying to the other side of the car as if he were a nervous wreck. Jac didn't feel the slightest bit worried. There was something about him that put her at ease, that made her feel less vulnerable and more in control. 

He gave her a jittery grin as he started up the car, that nearly startled Jac with its horrendous engine. "I hope thats okay."

"No, its fine." And then there was nothing but awkward silence as they drove through the glittering streets of Beverly Hills.

Jac had to break the silence, clearing her throat. "Well-"

"Sorry," Blake sighed, tearing his eyes from the road for a moment. "I'm just....I'm just really nervous."

Jac gave him a relieving smile, flattered that she really intimidated him. "Its okay.......so, um, what is this place all about anyway?"

"Just a lot of cool underground music," Blake's eyes seem to light up at the mention of music and Jac decided thats what she'd use to fill the silence. "Theres this band playing tonight called the 'Losers'."

Jac stopped herself from asking why on earth they called themselves the Losers. The name itself was unflattering -but after getting to the underground venue and seeing the band for herself, she decided it was accurate.

The performance was taking place in an old coffee pub in West Hollywood. The walls were nothing but red brick, decorated with vintage bumpers from every city in the United States. The bar, that looked as if it came straight out of a 70s movie, served names of what Jac was sure was cheap liquor and booze. At the very front of the pub was a stage, a sign hanging from the lights that read, 'KARAOKE' that looked as if it was going to fall on to the wooden stage at any moment.

"This is....nice." Jac managed, making sure to stay close to Blake as they weaved their way through the crowded pub so that they stood at the very front of the horde.

"You're gonna love it!" Blake cried excitedly to her over the cheers all the while Jac was trying not to bump into the nose ring, vampire, vintage girls around her.

The 'Losers'  were four men with long, Dumbledore beards and ripped T-shirts that were so damaged they might as well be topless - not that that would be a pleasure to see. 

For the first time ever, Jac felt completely out of place. It was a feeling she had never felt before, usually just her mere presence made others feel that way. However, Blake's hand reached out for hers as the band started up a song  - what they called, ' Bacon Pig Love' - and squeezed hers tightly, and she actually felt....well, better.

"I saw a pig, it stared at me, I went crazy, for that bacon meat!" The lead singer started, a heavy metal guitar joining in the verse.

Jac burst into laughter. "Um, did I just hear that right?"

"Did I say good music?" Blake grinned, his eyes sparkling against the fluorescent lights that lit the scruffy pub. "I meant Brain - killing music!"

Once the next song started up - 'Rice Krispies Smelling Farts' - Jac had completely lost it. Not only were the lyrics absurd but the seriousness the band put into the performance of the song was a riot.  Soon, she found herself jumping up and down to the roof raising metal music, hair loose and free, and nearly tripping in Gucci heels.

'Dammit, who needs shoes?' She thought giddily, giggling hysterically as she kicked off her shoes and danced even more wilder than before.

She danced with Blake, almost surprised at the fact that he didn't make a single move especially when they pressed into each other for the remainder of the song when the crowds got even thicker. In fact, not even the look in his eyes had any kind of lust.  The thought that he was gay reappeared in the back of her head.

The thought grew even more prominent when Jac was shoved accidentally - at least she assumed - by a girl with red highlights and a nasty glare. She was shoved directly into Blake who quickly caught her reflexively. Jac couldn't help herself, she leaned up into his striking brown eyes - and tried to kiss him.

Blake only chuckled nervously - something she couldn't really hear thanks to the booming metal rock - and took her hands in his, jumping up and down to the music again. Jac feigned a smile, pushing the hurt to the back of her mind. 

"Thank you guys for coming out! If you can, buy our debut EP, 'The Cheese Of The Pizza'  on Soundcloud!" The lead singer bellowed and everyone cheered in response.

"So what did you think?" Blake grinned as they followed the throng of edgy city dwellers pouring out of the rundown pub and into the busy streets of West Hollywood. They strolled side by side, barely even touching, to Blake's car - that had a dreaded sticky note stuck to the hood. "Oh no!"

As they neared, it was obvious what the note was. "But you're not even breaking the parking rules....I don't think." Jac shrugged. Parking tickets were no big deal to people like her. In fact, they usually paid it off in the first few hours.

He only shook his head, ripping the note off the hood and shoving it into his cheap jean pockets. "I'm gonna have to take up some extra hours at the hotel then."

Jac watched him studiously and couldn't help but think of how defeated he looked. 'Gosh, they really do must have it bad.' And here she had been deciding that having two year old phones was the struggle when she didn't even know half the story of peasants - 'Normal people,' She corrected herself. People like Blake were normal and well, everything her society is - wasn't.

"I think I can help with that," She smiled warmly, pulling out her floral knight leather Gucci wallet and producing the last hundred dollar bill she had - before she was truly broke. There was no way Jeffrey would be giving her any money now that their millions were tied with far more important things.

"I'd rather you not," Blake said quickly, backing away from the money as if it were the plague. "I can take care of it."

Jac shrugged and slipped it back into her wallet. She wasn't about to complain. 

After a moment of awkward silence, Blake spoke, "So, uh, Steve is back in town. He's picking up the stuff from his apartment and then he's off."

"Oh." was all Jac could say to that.

"You never told me what he did to you," He went on. "Why you wanted to know about him?"

Jac pursed her lips, pondering whether or not she could even trust the bell boy. Then she swiftly decided she could. Besides, who would he tell? He would never, in a million years, get into the Elite's circle of wealthy families with the occupation he had. 

So she spilled everything, not leaving a single detail out about her family's dirty little secret gone public - and it felt pretty damn amazing to speak. In fact, as soon as Jac was done, she felt even lighter than she did at the dinner.

"That doesn't sound like Steve," Blake blinked repeatedly in astonishment. "Maybe thats why his reason for ditching town sounded bogus."

"I just don't know how to fix this," Jac sighed miserably. "Soon, we're going to be like....like-"

"Soon you're going to be people like me." He finished for her evenly.

"Not to be a bitch but, I don't want to be people like you," Jac admitted and quickly wished she could take it back.

Blake stared solemnly and she became slightly worried she'd hurt his feelings but it was true. Being rich made her who she was; Jacqueline Ophelia Lexington. Without that, she would be nothing, her grand last name meaningless.

"Well, I have an idea." He smiled tentatively.

"I'm all ears."

"What if you could get Steve to tell everyone the affair was a lie? I mean theres some pretty solid reasons you could use."

Jac looked up at him then, her heart beating rapidly in her chest - because the idea didn't sound bad at all.

                                                                           ⓇⒾⒸⒽⓀⒾⒹⓈ
"Eastport?"

"St. Larks?"

Damon groaned at his friends' astonished expressions. "Didn't I just say that?"

It was practically six in the morning and Coach Mitchells had decided to send the team on a long morning practice due to the fact the field would be taken up by the cheerleaders after school for Nationals. So there they were, completing push ups on the unbearably wet grass and trying to see beyond the fog that had formed around them.

Connor Royce was the only team player that didn't have to be present that morning and yet he still sat on the bleachers, munching on a Cookies N' Creme pop tart. Damon thought the boy was the most stupid person he'd ever met. If he was in his position, he'd be at home sleeping off the hangover headache he'd gotten from all the stupid things he'd done last night.

"But St. Larks is full of snobby, rich kids who judge you on who your parents are and how much money your worth - oh wait." Seth deadpanned beside him.

"St. Larks is for dummmieeesss." Brett slurred, dopey-eyed from the sleep he'd lost.

"Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred - HOLD IT!" Coach Mitchells barked, looking mighty cold in a short-sleeved J.Crew polo shirt and cargo capri pants., veins popping against his skin as he yelled.

The exhausted team held their stance and Damon took the the time to scout Chris - who was resting on his elbows at the very end of the push up line, out of the Coach's sight. 'And Coach calls that a captain,' Compared to him, Chris was a slacker.

"HOLD IT, HOLD IT, god dammit Richers, HOLD THAT PUSH UP!"  Coach Mitchells shouted profusely but Brett collapsed, breathing heavily. He was a splotchy mess and Damon figured lack of sleep wasn't the only thing that was making him so dopey-eyed. He needed rehab in his life.

There was a collective amount of groans from the whole team as Brett buried his face into the wet grass with a disheveled sigh.

"One-hundred! One-hundred! One-hundred! One-hundred!" Coach Mitchells blew his whistle and everyone, nearly crying, went back into the push up position.  

'I'm too tired for all of this,' Damon thought but went down when Coach Mitchells shouted to the top of his lungs, "One-hundred and one!" By the time, they had completed another set of a hundred push ups, the fog had cleared and the parking lot was slowly thickening with Porsches, Bentleys, and Rolls Royces.

Despite the chilly morning, Damon could still feel sweat trickling on his face and he grabbed one of the towels waiting for the team on the bleachers.

 "So you're really going to St. Larks?" Seth asked, grabbing a towel of his own and dabbing off the sweat on his face.

"No, I'm going to prison."

"What?"

"Yeah, I'm going to St. Larks." Although compared to Juvie, Damon wouldn't mind going to St. Larks. It would be a nice way to get away from everything that plagued him here in Beverly Hills. The other plus was that Eastport was all the way in 'old money' Connecticut, miles and miles away from the reckless student body of Alabaster Prep.

"For how long?" Brett piped up as he joined them on the bleachers. "And why are you even going anyway?"

Damon froze because he and his father hadn't really discussed an exact reason. However, a reason was necessary if he were to make people believe his story. So he thought on his feet. "My grades suck ass here and I don't want to screw up any Ivy League offers."

"I call bullshit."

Chris Edwards strolled towards them, a smirk on his features that made the black eye Damon had given him - that should have cleared up by now - more noted on his face. 

However, Damon was unfazed by him. When he was stripped of his 'Captain' title, it gave him less fucks to give. "Of course you call bullshit, you are bullshit." As usual, the whole team was listening and everyone erupted into Ooohs!

Chris' face flushed for a moment and he shrugged it off. " I know the real place you're going."

Damon met his look with a smirk of his own because there was no way that Chris Edwards could know anything about the dirty secrets of the Felix family. Matthew kept their privacy in a safe, the key thrown away. "Fine, enlighten us all."

Chris snickered. "You're going to the army."

Nearly everyone fell silent, some unsure whether or not to laugh and others trying hard not to. Damon doubled over in laughter anyway because Chris was more far off than he had thought  "Are you kidding me?"

"What? Your father will do anything to get rid of you," Chris went on although flustered by everyone's reactions. "I wouldn't be surprised if he sold you off."

Damon leered then., not even giving an answer to Chris' failed attempt at ridiculing him. He was slowly accepting his fate. From all the research he'd done on Google, Juvenile Hall didn't seem that bad - well except for the part where there was a jumping nearly every day but Damon was sure he could take that too.

However, that still didn't excuse the living conditions. He'd rather sleep on the soft expensive carpeting of the Felix estate then on a hard metal bed with only a thin cloth for comfort and a roommate who probably had way more issues than he did.

The first half of Friday went smoothly. There was no sign of Erika or Jac anywhere and it was almost as if Damon could finally have a breather. He'd been able to avoid his demon sister that morning thanks to early practice and Jac had probably taken different routes to her classes to dodge talking to him.

Nonetheless, he forgot about Veronica Conrad - who he just had to have AP English with.

Veronica took her usual seat next to him in the English-Meets-Modern class room with its wooden desks arranged in a semicircle around Mr. Baldwin's office decor. The large windows shedding light on the room, giving a clear view of the school quad.

Ever since the school had been given 500 grand worth of iPads, Macbooks, and Windows computers, English had become nearly everyone's favorite class - mostly because someone had figured out to how hack the school's equipment to do whatever else they wanted besides work on it.

"Is it true?" She hissed, making a show of sticking her gigantic chest out as she leaned towards him. Damon wasn't even slightly amused by the casual grey Donna Karan tank top that showed off the best cleavage angle the girl could ever achieve.

"What?" He groaned.

"Are you....are you moving?" She stammered as if she had just been cut off permanently and forced to do charity work in some rural country.

Damon shrugged. "Not moving, just leaving."

"But why?" Veronica cried, causing heads to turn their way as everyone settled down in their seats. "What about us?"

Damon tried his best to make his sentence gentle. "Veronica, there is no us."

She jumped back, startled. "Um, how hard did you hit your head today in practice? I'm your girlfriend."

Realizing this girl was never going to take a hint and that a rough break up was inevitable - although he really wished it wasn't - Damon sighed, turning to Veronica, who didn't hide the fact she was fuming. "Do you mind if I break up with you?"

Apparently, he hadn't made his voice low enough as the whole class went deathly silent, everyone looking towards them now. Flushed from the attention, Veronica was gawking, hands trembling as they flew up to cover her glossed lips.

The calm bell of Alabaster Prep signaled, silencing the chatter of the classroom and bringing Mr. Baldwin; the most adored teacher in the school due to his striking looks and good sense when it comes to suits  silenced the class. Moving aside clustered work on his desk, he observed the semi-circle of students, causing every girl in the class to swoon.

However Damon could still clearly hear the gossip that had erupted in the form of hushed whispers. 

"Eh, I didn't ship them anyway."

"Yes, I prayed to Rihanna yesterday to give me a chance to be with Damon and it worked!"

"Jacmon is back on then, dammit."

"Out of Erika and Paisely, who do you think would win?"

"Veronica is a little slut, why does Damon like her?"

As soon as iPads were loaded up and ready to present the power point Mr. Baldwin had put together, Damon's screen was quickly bombarded with messages from an IP address that he knew for sure had to  be Veronica's.

'Um yes I do mind. What kind of fucking question is that?'

He didn't dare look at Veronica. Instead, he deleted the messages and went back to the power point, pretending to care about it while returning a cheerleader's flirty smile from across the semicircle of desks.

'Damon why are you looking at her????????'

Groaning, he realized he was going to have to pull an asshole move. Shooting glances up at Mr. Baldwin who was smiling far too inappropriately at Paisely Mont Vernon on the other side of the circle, Damon hurriedly replied to Veronica.

'I'm going to be at St. Larks and I don't think we can do long distance. Sorry.'

There was a low gasp from where Veronica sat and Damon hoped this didn't have to be any harder than it already was. Although he wasn't really lying, long distance relationships would be pretty hard to pull off in Juvie.

'Damon you're not allowed to break up with me!'

Mr. Baldwin suddenly stopped in between his lecture, looking up at the ceiling as if he were a dog sniffing the air and then looked straight at Damon. "I smell secret conversations. Hand me your iPad, Mister Felix."

Damon thought of quickly erasing the messages but it was too late. Mr. Baldwin had snatched the iPad out of his hands - and smiled evilly. "Oh look class. I'm sure you gossip fanatics would love to hear all about this. Shall we read it out loud?"

There was a buzz of glee in response. However, Damon could care less. He hadn't really said anything damning in the messages and Mr. Baldwin reading to the class would save him the hassle of telling everyone about his fake St. Larks story.

"Um, yes I do mind," Mr. Baldwin read. "What kind of - oh curse word, probably shouldn't read that - fucking question is that?"

The class was stifled giggles then all the way until the very last sentence, Mr. Baldwin commenting on every single message. Then he opened a drawer behind his desk and slipped the iPad inside. "Well I guess the school will have to discuss what to do about that little loophole."

The class erupted into protests at this and as nearly every word became inaudible, Veronica tapped Damon's shoulder.

"What?"

" Just so we're clear, I broke up with you." She snapped, whipping her brown reddish hair over her shoulder with disdain.

Damon shrugged, relieved at the outcome. "Fine with me."

Scoffing, Veronica turned away from him with a hmph!

--------------------

A/N:

So this is being split in two parts! Two part chapters in a row and I hate it! I also hate this chapter with a passion - been hating a lot of them lately :p I also need to work on my chapter names, might end up changing some of them once I'm done with this book.

But the good news is theres only ABOUT - I say about cuz I'm not really sure -  four chapters left. I'm just making the final outline of the ending. Also, Jacmon is officially the ship name so thank you to sortaslimshady for coming up with it lol

Make sure to leave your thoughts - and vote! xD

Part two will be up as soon as I can!