Damon's new relationship status had spread like wildfire. Every girl in the whole district - even boarding schools nearby - were raving over the new single hottie. While others only admired from afar, girls like Lindsey Wells were constantly throwing themselves at Damon - and it was getting very annoying.

As usual, Seth Montador and Brett Richers stood in the center of the school's grand marble-stoned staircase leading into the main halls. Seth was frantically searching through his blue and grey Herschel backpack while Brett was drinking from an Arizona can that was most likely a cover for the vodka inside.

Damon was about to join them, shutting the door to his Rolls Royce, when Lindsey Wells came up to him, Addie Anderson flanking her side. "Hey Damon, nice car!" She chirped happily.

Damon gave her a once over and decided that Lindsey wasn't a Megan Fox but she wasn't  a Lindsey Lohan on drugs either. What bothered him the most was her wannabe Iggy Azalea bleached hair. Damon frowned. "This car is five months old." It was an unspoken rule to never refer to a car as 'nice' if it was outdated by months.

Lindsey shrugged. "Oh, well we-" She looked towards Addie who quickly nodded enthusiastically. "We we were wondering if you, um, wanted to hang out with us at lunch."

Damon racked his brain for a polite refusal. However, he couldn't come up with anything.  From the corner of his eye, Lindsey's fellow cheerleaders stood by a corvette across the parking lot, shooting daggers towards the girl.

It was funny how girls actually thought Lindsey had a chance with him.

"Unless you don't want to...."

Damon tuned her out. The Lexington Range Rover had just rolled into its place in the broad parking lot and out came the beautiful Jacqueline Lexington; black hair long and straight, model perfect figure glowing in a black Bailey 44 cold-shoulder jumpsuit, her emerald green eyes hidden by large retro J.Crew sunglasses. Now that was even higher than Megan Fox.

"Damon?" Lindsey asked, tearing his attention from Jac. "So do you want to?"

"Want to what?"

"Go to the movies with us? We're going to see Fifty Shades of Grey." Lindsey said hopefully, twirling a bleached blonde strand of hair. Damon noted that she went a little too heavy on the makeup, the sun was practically melting off her face.

"Nah, I'm good.." Damon didn't wait for Lindsey's hurt expression, moving past her towards Brett and Seth on the grand steps.

Seth stopped digging through his backpack long enough to give him a glower. 

"What?" Damon scowled. Seth had been his friend since Weston Day School and his obsession with morals and 'doing the right thing' was still a huge annoyance to Damon - and basically everyone. He could only hope that once Seth's father was done being a member of Congress, he'd stop keeping up his goody goody persona.

Seth just shook his head.

"Well, damn, who pissed in your Gatorade?" 

Seth narrowed his eyes. "This isn't funny. Does any one of you care that our circle is incomplete?"

Brett took a swig of from his Arizona can, looking around the manicured lawns and the parking lot, obviously puzzled. "Whose missing?"

"Chris?" Damon rolled his eyes. "All I can say is, good riddance." Chris wasn't really a huge asset to their group anyway. In fact, he was the reason for most of their problems. At the last game, he'd nearly gotten the whole team in a fight on the field for mouthing off to one of the opposing captains.

"I wish we could go back to how things used to be," Seth sighed, finally pulling out his Lacrosse helmet and zipping up his backpack.

"Don't let anyone hear you talking like that," Damon said pointedly. "You'll be mistaken for a glitter lover."

"Yeah, your estrogen is killing me." Brett slurred in agreement.

"Whats wrong with-" Seth was quickly cut off by the sight of Connor Royce making his way up the crowded steps towards them. He was a mess, his hair unruly, his dislocated right arm wrapped carefully in a cast.

"Hey guys!" The freckle-faced freshman greeted gleefully despite his condition.

So Damon felt somewhat bad about what happened on the field but not enough to apologize. Everyone knew damn well the game was all about him. He was the captain and their star player for crying out loud. Connor shouldn't have been trying to hog up attention that wasn't his to begin with.

"Hey, hows the arm doing?" Seth asked after waiting for Damon to say something and realizing he wasn't going to.

Connor looked down at his cast and shrugged. "Oh, this? Its nothing. In fact, its probably the best thing thats ever happened to me!"

"How so?" Damon asked.

"Paisely Mont Vernon seen my cast and signed it!" He exclaimed, moving slightly forward to show off the pink signature on his cast; 'Get better okay? Love, Paisely' ending with a heart. "She even kissed me!" He eagerly showed the left side of his face to reveal pink lipstick on his cheek.

Connor raised up his hands and Damon and Seth awkwardly high-fived him. 

Brett cleared his throat but just as he was about to speak, Veronica Conrad and Mia Matthews came up to where they stood, arms linked together and heads thrown back in laughter.  They both stopped in front of them.

Mia grabbed Brett's Arizona can and tossed it in the rose bushes behind them. "Babe, no drinking, remember?"

"Well, I was drinking when you told me that sooooo I don't." Brett slurred to her dismay.

"Hey, Veronica." Connor was blushing as the girl laid eyes on him for only a fraction of a second, smiled, and then turned away. It was a known fact that Veronica didn't associate herself with freshmen.

With a tentative smile, Veronica turned to Damon. "You just keep escaping me, don't you?" She grinned, flipping her red brown hair over her shoulders in an obvious attempt to bring his attention to the cleavage of her Cyprien low v-neck tank top.  "First you cancel on me and then you check out of the game early."

"What can I say? I'm a busy guy." Damon smirked although that wasn't the case. He was too busy lying in a jail cell to do much else. 

"Too busy for me?" Veronica leaned forward, so close that he could smell her overdose of Clive Christian No.1 perfume. 

Damon almost forgot he wasn't taken anymore - and was actually relieved to remember he wasn't. He decided relationships were overrated. There was too much work that went into it . Plus, he just wasn't good with commitments. He had a hard time using just one credit card for a month - which is why he has five from different credit companies.

The only reason he'd even tried a relationship in the first place was because the minute he'd laid eyes on Jac - when they were only five - he knew he had to have her.

"Hmm...depends on what you have in mind." 

Veronica smiled even wider, ignoring Connor who looked on longingly. "Well, my dad just bought this really cool yacht from the Beverly Auction and I have it all to myself."

"Interesting-" 

"Damon."  Seth interrupted him, shaking his head disapprovingly/.

"What?"

"Can you not?"

Damon only shrugged him off dismissively as the soft chime of the bell rang, causing everyone to spur from their perch and head off to their classes. 

"Walk me to class?" Veronica asked, a sexy glint in her eye.

Damon didn't refuse. He snaked his arm around her waist, ignoring Seth's judgmental face as he and Veronica ascended the steps of Alabaster Prep into the alabaster walled, shiny polished locker, halls of the school as if they were the new monarchs of the school. Well, it was more like a king with his mistress, the queen was unspoken for.

Many students nearly dropped what they were doing to gape at them as they passed. Veronica seemed to be enjoying the jealous snickers and shocked stares while Damon couldn't help but think of how fast this would travel to Jac.

As soon as he thought of her, she appeared.

Jac was walking in the opposite direction, coming from the indoor gym. She had been saying something to Benny Costa when she just so happened to turn his way. Like a movie, Damon could have swore time stopped and their eyes met.

He didn't see sadness, he seen a fleck of anger in her emerald green eyes - and then just like that, Jac had passed him, not even glancing back although Damon did.

As they stopped at the gold and white colored door of Veronica's Algebra class, Damon felt a pint of guilt but then quickly brushed it off. His days were limited. A court date would coming in soon and he was going to find himself in an actual jail cell with a roommate who probably knew the slums of Los Angeles like the back of their hand.

He was going to do whatever he pleased until that time came and breaking up with Jac might just make things easier when he finally has to leave his posh lifestyle for a orange jumpsuit.

"Pick me up at seven?" Veronica asked, still maintaining a cool, sexy composure. She received glowers from the girls entering the classroom but of course, it didn't seem to bother her.

"I'll bring the Jaguar." The only car he had that didn't feel overrated at the moment.

Veronica smiled slyly and batted her lashes like she typically did with everyone. In Damon's opinion, she was the only girl who could pull off such a cliche' move - the only girl besides Jac but she didn't have to do anything cliche' to be sexy. "Hmm..I've never seen you drive the jaguar before, I must be special."

On the contrary, Jac was the actually the only girl who'd been in his Jaguar but he'd let Veronica think she was special anyway. "Only person who will ever get to touch it."

Satisfied, Veronica said her goodbye and retreated into the classroom. 

Just as Damon headed back down the crowd-thinning hallway, he spotted Jac stuffing textbooks into her locker. As if by magic, she noticed his gaze and scowled before shutting her locker door and hurrying off to the Disciplinary Committee room.

Damon once again had to remind himself of the words he'd said at the game, 'We don't work.'

                                                                              ⓇⒾⒸⒽⓀⒾⒹⓈ

 "All in agreement to expel the defendant, say I."

"Say 'I'."

"Jacqueline?"

It took a nudge from Benny to tear Jac away from her seething anger. The Disciplinary Committee was in full swing this week with even more exciting cases than the last. So far, they had suspended three students and we're about to expel another.

Everyone, however, still sat dreary-eyed and tired in their chairs, obviously still worn out from Brett's after party. Jac thought they looked as hollow as the old headmaster painting staring back at them. 

She looked down at the wooden oak table in front of her, quickly scanning over the typed list of charges before looking up towards the girl who was about to get kicked out of the best school in Beverly Hills. She quickly understood why the girl was being expelled; she was a scholarship student therefore she was expendable.

The girl was shaking in the arm chair facing them, biting on her fake press on nails. 

If this had been any other day, Jac would have felt sympathy for the girl. Schools outside of the preparatory school district was harsh. The kids were usually obsessed with rowdy sports like Football and everyone had the 'Swag' syndrome. How did Jac know that? Eve had punished her for coming home drunk last summer by forcing her to do charity work at a public school.

Today, however, Jac was angry. Angry with her parents for insisting she stay at the main house - all alone with Mr. Lexington - as they tried to figure out a merciless punishment for her. Angry that she had seen Veronica Conrad flirting with him. Damon would always be considered hers since she liked him when he had braces - and those days were what everyone labeled Damon's 'Dark Days of Puberty'.

 So, since she was irritated, Jac said, "I." Then as the girl cried and wailed, she immediately felt guilty.

Two of the seniors from the DC table had to escort the devastated girl out of the room and Headmaster Vanderbit sighed in annoyance, wearing yet another cashmere sweater although it was nearly ninety degrees outside. "Everyone listen up!" He boomed loudly when everyone had taken back their places at the table.

Jac fought the urge to let her mind drift somewhere else. 

Damon doesn't know that Erika overheard him  and plans to destroy his plans. "Spring Break is coming up and that means the Spring Debutante Auction is around the corner," He said calmly, swiveling her fingers. "So remember to recruit other students to donate something - anything - except for underwear, that will not be permitted."

Jac and Benny were giggling profusely in their seats, ignoring the disapproving glares from the older members. Last year, Jac had gotten Veronica to donate for the auction and she gave away her whole 2010 Victoria Secret's Angel lingerie collection. Surprisingly, a boy from Pacific Vista bought it for ten grand.

As soon as the word 'dismissed' slipped out Headmaster Vanderbit's mouth, everyone was scurrying out of their seats and stuffing their designers bags - well that one scholarship student was stuffing their Jansport. 

"I know you seen what I saw this morning, right?" Jac asked, taking out her Vera Wang sunglasses case and putting on her J.Crew eye wear. The rule of not wearing sunglasses inside didn't apply to her. 

"You mean that fake bitch with the oompa loompa ass hugging on Brett, "Benny sneered. "Yeah, I saw." Benny was still fuming over the fact that Brett had moved on before she did.

Jac sighed as they headed out of the DC room, joining the seemingly endless throng of students walking up and down the outdoor, marble stoned halls that overlooked the manicured lawns of the Lacrosse field. Jac had an odd feeling that everyone was gossiping about her which meant the Rumor Mill was going strong today.

"I meant Veronica and Damon." 

"Ohhh!" Benny exclaimed. "You mean the backstabbing, two-faced, skanky, this-girl-ain't-loyal, don't-even, big boob, slutty, stupid bitch!"

Jac chuckled. Leave it to Benny Costa to turn a morbid situation into something funny. However, Jac still couldn't get herself to cool down. She figured Damon would go out, find a girl who only looked slightly better than her, and make her jealous until she came back. Then he'd do something else stupid and the cycle would repeat.

What she couldn't wrap her head around was the one question mark hanging in the air; Why Veronica Conrad? For some reason, Paisely's words at the Back To School rager came back to her, "A lot of people want him." However, she had been foolish to think it was Paisely - the girl was crushing hard on Chris Edwards. It had been Veronica all along.

The school was having a celebrity menu, something they did every month, and today they had snagged Anthony Bourdain. Jac would have settled with a salad but since her mood had been slowly deteriorating since the dinner, she took a cheat day and grabbed nearly every desert the school offered.

 Erika Felix was already at their usual table, studying her nails as two wannabes tried an attempt at climbing the social ladder. 

"Move, Swifties!" Benny waved them off and she and Jac slid into their usual seats. 

Erika rolled her eyes, looking like a queen in her black Fenella crop top and a matching Kallie Contrast hem miniskirt. However, Erika wasn't quite acting like herself. Instead of immediately jumping into a conversation about the everyday fashion no-nos that were skulking around their school, Erika was gazing around as if she were nervous.

Benny gave Jac a worried glance but took a sip from her Starbucks mocha nonetheless. "So Spring Break is coming up...."

"Huh..." was all Erika said, frowning at a few irrelevant Lacrosse players that were gaping at them across the quad.

"I think we should all do something together." Benny said. "Especially since your birthday is over the break." She turned to Jac with a glowing smile. 

Jac leaned back in her seat, taking a bite out of her cheesecake - and wincing at how much weight she was going to gain. She made a note to be nice to her father - just for today - so she can see if he'd pay for a tummy tuck. "I don't want to go to Costa Rica, thats out of the question."

"Paris?"

"Been there."

"Shit, me too," Benny cursed. "Uh....Spain?"

Jac grimaced and had to take a sip of her vanilla milkshake - that was probably thousands of carbs going to into her slender body. "Been there twice." The second time had been freshmen year with the Felix family - and it was the most romantic memory she had of Damon.

"England?"

"Literally five months ago."

"Well stick a heel up my ass, dammit!" Benny exclaimed,.

Erika cleared her throat, interrupting their conversation. "So whats this I hear about Veronica and my brother?" She leaned over slightly and took Jac's sunglasses off of her before slipping them in front of her hazel eyes. Jac was too glum to complain. 

"The bitch is a trifling, hoe bag, dog shit, needs-to-be-a-peasant-"Erika held up a dainty hand , silencing Benny.

"The question we need to be asking is," She turned to Jac. "What are you going to do about it?"

Jac contemplated this but it didn't take long for her to realize what she had to do. If he wanted to pull the 'I'm-no-good-for-you' card and then screw one of her "friends", then she'd show him that it wasn't going to be easy to press Jacqueline Lexington's buttons. She was tired of being the victim anyway.

                                                                        ⓇⒾⒸⒽⓀⒾⒹⓈ

When Veronica Conrad - looking sultry in a Remi overlapping miniskirt, Solange cropped halter top, and Valentino Espadrille wedges - joined the stone table, everyone fell silent.

Jac, scowling into her hands, Benny, pretending to be invested in a Nylon magazine and Erika, smiling smugly and waiting for the show to begin. Her previous days had been Hell. She had woken up to realize all the communication she had was stripped away from her. Her father refused to even acknowledge her existence at breakfast - although he hardly ever does anyway - and she broke a nail retrieving her Trig book from her locker.

The other half of her problems - all stemming from the game after party - was something she'd rather not address to herself as it would only make her nauseous.

It was time to see someone else's life - and status - come crashing down.

"Why is everyone so quiet?" Veronica asked, taking a sip of the cappuccino in her hand as she took a seat next to Benny - who scooted herself away with a snicker.

Veronica only rolled her eyes. "Ohhhh-kaaaayyy."

Paisely Mont Vernon sauntered over next, blonde hair crimped to perfection and blue eyes gleaming thanks to the CoverGirl eyeliner she wore. Something stirred in Erika at the sight of the blonde. She found herself looking at the girl in a new light. Paisely was gorgeous, her curvy figure made her stand out from the rest and her lips were much more fuller compared to the average white girl. Erika had to admit that she wasn't an ugly Betty, that she was actually attractive.

'Oh my god, what am I thinking?' Erika gasped and everyone looked at her. 

Paisely sat down next to Jac, pulling out a Hot Cheetos bag from her Louis Vuitton duffel.  Jac stared at the bag longingly. "Can I have some?"

Paisely gleefully handed her a cheeto before popping one in her mouth too.

"Wow, whats up with the binge eating, Jac?" Veronica giggled snidely.

Jac's green eyes narrowed but she took another handful from Paisely's chips.

Erika was about to start the interrogation of Veronica Conrad when Lindsey Wells and two of her annoying cheerleaders came by the table. Lindsey was smiling although she shifted her body from one foot to the other nervously. The other two girls flanking her were too irrelevant to even pay attention to. "Don't mean to bother you guys-"

"But you're doing it anyway." Erika snapped, loving how the girl had to muster up courage again. On cue, everyone at the table laughed.

"Well,um, Jac..." Lindsey turned to Jac with a renewed smile. "Well we've been hearing some stuff. I mean, is it true that you and Damon are over?"

Jac froze and Erika knew she wasn't going to regain her control.

"Hmm, well is it true that you're planning a lesbian orgy on the premiere of Fifty Shades of Grey?" Erika countered.

Lindsey gasped and turned to her friends who were just as equally shocked. Erika snickered. What had they expected? She was the queen of catty remarks. 

"You're one to talk!" Lindsey gasped again. "You totally kissed Paisely at the after party!"

Erika was caught off guard for only a moment. She quickly searched her mind for something witty and in seconds, she had found a recovery retort. "It was a game, you dumbass! Besides, I'd rather be kissing girls then struggling in a low income house with a broke cop for a mother."

Everyone fell silent, all in either awe of Erika's total shade or horrified. Erika was pleased with herself. She had been waiting to throw out that little secret since the shoplifting incident at Barneys.

Lindsey's friends took a step back from her in disgust. "You're a - a serf?" One of them exclaimed.

Erika flipped her hair haughtily and turned to Veronica, not even watching Lindsey run through the quad in tears. "And you better find a new table because you are officially banned from this group."

Veronica dropped her cappuccino and it splattered on to the fresh cut grass, staining Benny's Nike Air Revolution hi-low shoes. She gasped in terror. "You bitch! These are directly from Indonesia!"

"Indonesia? I love that store!" Paisely cried giddily.

"Honey, Indonesia isn't a store." Jac said sympathetically, resting a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Indonesia? Then they weren't that expensive to begin with." Veronica shrugged.

Erika rolled her eyes, annoyed by the constant chatter - and the attention from the whole quad with every outburst that rang out. "Shut up! You're all sounding like idiots!" She hissed. "Veronica get the hell away from our table."

"Why?" Veronica cried and Jac smirked from where she sat.

Erika didn't like many people. They were always so flawed. Jac, although the most sane person at the school, was too caught up in emotions especially when it came to her parents' drama and her brother. Paisely was ditsy at times and Erika was starting to feel something she wasn't sure about when it came to her. Benny was too much of a tomboy for her liking - and a rich version of 'ratchet'.

However, Veronica was okay. Sure, she was a little slutty - 'What am I kidding? She is slutty.' - but Veronica had things in common with her. She liked doing evil things and was a really good accomplice when Erika needed one.

Yet there was one rule in the Beverly Hills Elite; 'Don't trust anyone' and well, Erika was one you definitely shouldn't count on.

"Do you really think I'd let a backstabbing bitch sit at my table?" Erika scoffed. "Especially a girl whose constantly throwing her cat around. I mean, seriously? Jeremiah? And, what? Now, my brother too?"

"Jeremiah?" Pasiely gaped.

"Make sure to spread that around." Erika added sweetly to the girl - but she was only being nice so she could obey her. In seconds, Paisely was texting rapidly on her phone.

Veronica's arm were crossed firmly over her gigantic boobs that looked as if they were about to burst through her top. "This is about Jac?" She scowled. "Its not my fault that she doesn't know how to keep a guy interested."

"And you do?" Jac snapped.

"Yeah," Veronica sat up, flipping her reddish hair. "And he'll be very interested tonight."

Erika snapped her fingers to silence them - only to break another nail. "What the hell?" There was no hope for her manicure now. Manicures cost over five hundred dollars in Beverly Hills. It was not a big problem for the wealthy but Erika might as well be considered a peasant like everyone else. Her father had cut her off. Her credit cards had been ineffective at the school's Starbucks stand that morning and she had to cancel a hair appointment at the posh Batia and Aleeza hair salon because she wouldn't be able to pay.

"Okay, now you really have to go," She said angrily. "I just a broke a nail over this." She already had enough drama in her life to last a lifetime and now two broken nails too?

"This isn't Mean Girls." Veronica shot back.

"Yeah and this isn't a porno either so get the hell away from my palace." Erika retorted snidely.

"Palace?" Paisely giggled.

Erika didn't answer her because the girl was smiling and she didn't trust herself around Paisely anymore.

"Does anyone care that my shoe is fucked up?" Benny cried. She had taken off her stained right shoe and was cradling it in her lap.

"You're really choosing them over me?" Veronica scoffed again. "You don't even like them!"

"Who said I even liked you?" Erika countered. Erika didn't have friends technically. They were just her followers. She was the Jesus to their religion. She could practically walk on water in Jimmy Choos.

Veronica tsked and shook her head, standing up then and slinging her black Chanel handbag over her slender shoulder. "Fine, you're all a bunch of basic bitches anyway." 

"Says the girl whose trying to screw someone's leftovers." Erika said proudly, figuratively patting herself on the back for that one.

With a huff, Veronica strutted away although Erika was pretty sure the girl was heading to the bathroom to cry over her non-existent social life. However, Veronica had been so stupid to even think she could mess around with Damon and still sit at their table. She had committed social suicide with that stunt.

Nonetheless, Erika actually felt sad. The girl was a skank but she had actually enjoyed her presence.

She looked up to see Paisely staring at her, a somber look on her face. Every time she looked at her, she remembered that kiss and how it meant so much more than any other kiss in her life.

Only Erika refused to accept what that kiss might just symbolize. She refused to believe that she could be...that she could be -'Ugh!' She couldn't even think of the word but if Paisely was going to be an everyday reminder of that, then Erika would have to make sure she's the next out the door.

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

A/N:

Thank you for the awesome 900 reads! - well, unless that was me the whole time :p Also, just to make this very clear, Lindsey is Lindsey WELLS not Wellington! I just find myself typing her last name that way but I'm not planning to edit until I finish the book! 

Honestly, this book doesn't really have a clear plot but I kind of like it that way. Theres no goals, its just catty drama, humor - sometimes dark :p - and thats just how I like to write. I like to call it Guilty Pleasure xD

Remember to leave any thoughts or feedback and vote, of course cx