ONE IN CONTROL

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     There really wasn't much to Helena Vermont. She was a pretty face, a good bank account, but that was really it. That and her crippling addiction to her ex. JJ Maybank was human garbage according to her and any of her friends you would ask, but that didn't stop her from disappearing with him to her car at literally any party with Pogues and Kooks alike. Of course, she would never admit to it, though.

"You have to stop sleeping with him," her sister, Hailey, droned on as the two got ready for some idiotic benefit their parents were dragging them to. She was sitting at the vanity in Helena's room, trying on earrings that cost more than anything else in the room. "You got home at three! Dad would not stop asking me where you were it's ridiculous. Mom's gonna be back in town soon and she won't put up the sneaking around shit."

"Calm down, Hails, I'm perfectly in control of the situation," Helena sighed, eyeing the long dress she was wearing in the mirror. It was designer, of course, and tailored to fit her so she looked amazing as always. "Besides, what's your teen years without a little bit of excitement?"

"Take it from someone happily leaving them behind, it's better," Hailey remarked as she chose a pair and began to put them in with minor difficulties, "Ugh, can you help me? That bitch made my nails too long this morning."

Helena nodded walking over to help with the backing, "You should know by now with a stiletto you always wanna go a little bit shorter than you normally would. Besides, they're so impractical that's why I stick with a short almond, it has never let me down once."

"Good for you, you have the same nails as everyone's mother ever," the older girl teased, "I swear, you were supposed to come out first with how fucking old your tastes are."

Helena scoffed, going back to admiring her reflection, "At least I don't poke my eye out every time I rub my eyes in the morning. They make you look like a whore anyway."

"Says the one fucking her Pogue ex-boyfriend," Hailey scoffed, her eyes meeting her sister's in the reflection.

"Don't be a bitter bitch just because you're almost eighteen and still haven't gotten any, it's not a good look on you, Hails," Helena tsked with an innocent expression that was one-hundred-percent falsified.

"I'm gonna stab your eyes out with my whore nails, bitch," Hailey yelled standing up with a rush from her chair as she moved to shove her sister. Before anything could get too rough between them, there was a knock on the door.

The door opened revealing their father with his signature kind smile, "You ladies almost ready to go?"

The two girls plastered smiles onto their faces as they nodded. Hailey was the first to speak, saying, "Yeah, yeah, is mom almost back?"

Immediately, their father's face faltered. This was an expression they had seen many times before but it hurt every time. With a sigh, he explained, "Something came up and she's stuck in LA. But hey! We'll still have a good time on our own! She asked me to take lots of pictures of her beautiful girls. Speaking of which, you both look amazing."

"I know," Helena exclaimed with a small smirk, causing Hailey to roll her eyes but she refrained from saying anything. "It's fine... about mom. Hell, she'll probably end up missing my high school graduation at this point."

Hailey scoffed, "She missed mine so maybe she'll be two for two."

"Hey, girls, you know she hates missing out, but—"

"—work is work," both girls quoted in sync. It was something they had heard many times over the course of the years since their mother began splitting her time between Los Angeles and the Outer Banks.

The man scoffed, but a smile still danced around his features as he asked, "All right well at this rate, we can still be fashionably late so let's get going, okay?"

The girls nodded and followed, absolutely content with acting like they hadn't been at each others' throats only moments before their father stuck his head into the room.

The event itself was filled with boring rich people as they crowded some museum they were raising money for which Helena thought was awfully ridiculous considering she was sure they had plenty of money already but whatever, she was just here to make her dad look good. Making him look like a family man after the cheating rumors was the most important thing. Helena never believed them, of course, she trusted her father and she knew how much he loved their mother. Hailey, however, was a different story. Helena didn't often find herself worrying about her sister's beliefs though considering her sister was pretty much the red sheep of the family consider how much she despised their wealth.

"I hate it here," her older sister scoffed, whispering in her sister's ear as to avoid any of the older guests hearing the disparaging review of the event. "Why do we have to be here?"

"Because we're good daughters," Helena answered with a breeze, grabbing a glass of water off of a waiter's tray passing by. "Besides, the sooner we give up and smile and wave the less miserable we'll be."

"Whatever you say, Barbie bitch," Hailey downed the rest of the champagne she had snuck (she often befriended the waiters) before slamming it down on the table and walking away. The younger of the two rolled her eyes, but refused to call the girl back for the sake of some foolish retort.

A clearing of the throat caught her attention as she heard a familiar voice say, "Barbie bitch, that's a new one. Hailey's losing her creativity."

"Ugh, I thought they stopped employing hooligans for these sorts of things," Helena whipped around only to come face to face with her absolutely horrible reject of an ex-boyfriend, JJ Maybank. "They haven't fired you yet?"

The boy shrugged, "My charming smile always has them calling back. Speaking of, you never called me."

"Because I have no reason to," the girl fronted even though both of them knew it was a lie, "And don't even think about starting something right now, I'm here to support my father I need you to respect that."

JJ scoffed, "Oh, I can't start anything? Who was the one who initiated it last time? I'm pretty sure it wasn't me, Tink."

"I told you not to call me that anymore," she scolded, rolling her eyes as she tried to look anywhere but at the boy. She could feel his eyes boring into her as she looked away, but she refused to give in. Helena may be a fool, but she wasn't weak. "Last I checked, I haven't been your girlfriend in a long time, Maybank."

"Last name basis? Ouch. Did you not like the gift I left you last time?"

This one set the girl off as she whipped around and got close to the boy, grabbing onto the stupid bowtie he had to wear for the waiter gigs. Seething, she stated, "No, I didn't not like your gift because I suck at lying and now I have all of my friends and my bitchy sister asking why I'm wasting my time sleeping with my ex-boyfriend."

"Rich girl like you can't afford the concealer?"

She groaned, "I am going to throttle you, JJ."

"Promise?" he winked. If they weren't in public she would have slapped him out of frustration — of both the plain and sexual sort, of course.

"You are a parasite, really," Helena tried to play it off as she didn't know where this night would end up. She really should just give in now, but she liked the way the anger made her feel. Helena needed to feel like she was in control of the situation and this gave her just that. With her manicured nails just dragging over the skin of his neck while she gripped his bow tie, a thrill went down her spine.

"Helena, Helena," JJ teased with that idiotic smile on his face, "Who are you fooling?"

With a sigh, she knew he was right. Her voice was cutting and her eyes made sure the rules of the game were clear. "You're an idiot. Bathroom, five minutes."

JJ smiled, "Yes, ma'am."

ahhh here's the first chapter!! i love helena's energy so much she really is That Bitch and also! with her opinions on wealth i just want to clarify that helena's beliefs do not necessarily represent my own! i fully believe we should eat the rich i just think rich bitches are where it's at!!