Twisted Palace

  Once she’s gone, Steve shifts his scowl to me. “Stay away from my daughter, Reed.”

  “She’s my girlfriend,” I reply through clenched teeth.

  “Not anymore. I asked you to respect her, and when I thought you were going to do so, I was open to the idea of the two of you dating. After what happened this morning, I’m no longer on board with it.” He addresses my father. “Our kids just broke up, Callum. If I see or hear of them together again, you and I are going to have words.”

  Then he marches out of the office and slams the door behind him.

  18

  Ella

  For the second day in a row, I go to school angry. Yesterday, Steve and Dinah ganged up on me about my skirt. Today, Reed is suspended because Steve has some kind of parental stick up his ass. The single good thing about my anger at Steve is that I don’t have the emotional energy to worry about Dinah any longer.

  I can’t believe he ordered Beringer to tell all the teachers to narc on us. That is so not cool. I’m still fuming about it as I pull into the parking lot. Luckily, I spot Val on the front lawn, which distracts me from my rage.

  “Hey, sexy,” I shout out my window.

  Her dark bob spins around, her middle finger ready. When she realizes it’s me, she jogs over. “Hey! I was worried about you. Did you have to deal with the never-ending lecture when you got home from school yesterday?”

  I maneuver into an empty parking space, then turn off the car. “You have no idea.”

  She already knows all about yesterday’s stupidity because I spent the entire lunch period bitching about it. Then I wrapped it up by griping and moaning for a good ten minutes about how I won’t be able to go to the away game and seduce Reed. And have sex for the first time!

  “What happened?” Val asks as I grab my backpack and hop out of the driver’s seat.

  “There was a lot of arguing, shouting, insults thrown. It ended with Steve telling me that I needed to stop being so easy. That guys didn’t find it attractive.”

  Val grimaces. “Wow, that’s harsh.”

  “It’s getting so bad, I’m actually thinking I need to spend more time at school.”

  “It can’t be that bad,” she says, knowing my great aversion to joining anything here at Astor. “It just seems bad because you’re not used to having a parent who imposes rules and stuff. From what you’ve told me, your mom was the kid in your household, and Callum kind of lets his boys do anything they want as long as they don’t make too big of a mess.”

  “So you’re saying that Steve’s behavior is normal?” I challenge.

  Val shrugs. “It’s not that abnormal. I think your mom and Callum are more lenient than other parents.”

  “You have parties at your house. And you don’t have a curfew.”

  She laughs. “Well, sure I do. I have to be home by ten on school nights and midnight on the weekends unless I tell Uncle Mark or Aunt Kathy first. And I wouldn’t be allowed to have a boy spend the night. It was easy to fool around with Tam because he lived in the same house.” Tam is the Carringtons’ housekeeper’s son. “I think most parents don’t allow boys to sleep over. I mean, why do you think Wade has so much sex at school? His mom is kind of strict at home.” She pats me on the shoulder. “Steve might be going overboard, but it just means that he cares. Don’t take it personally.”

  Is she right? I mean, I have almost no experience with normal parents, but here’s Valerie, who I presume does, telling me that Steve’s reaction is...well, ordinary. Am I overreacting?

  Maybe. But still, I don’t see myself ever being okay with all these rules and shit.

  “Even if that’s normal, I don’t want to live like that,” I admit as we walk into the building.

  “Ride it out,” she recommends. “You’re both so new at this. You’re a kid and Steve’s trying to be the adult. You’re bound to have clashes. I bet you’ll figure something out.”

  “I’m not a kid. I’m seventeen.”

  “Ha. That’s where you’re wrong. My mom always says that no matter how old I get, I’ll always be her baby. That’s just how parents are.” She nudges my shoulder with hers. “Honestly, I think it’s pretty cool that he came back from the dead. You’re not alone anymore.”

  The thing is, I didn’t feel alone before Steve came along. And that’s the piece that’s missing for me. He’s not filling something inside of me that was empty. The Royals were already there, and Steve’s trying to push someone out to make room for himself.

  Val must read the skepticism on my face. “Don’t break your head obsessing about this. You should go to him with a counteroffer.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Steve doesn’t want you hanging around with Reed because why?”

  “He says Reed’s a dog.”

  Val tips her head back and stares at the sky as if praying for patience. “Honey, Steve is totally being a dad.”

  I feel the need to defend Reed, again. It seems like I’m always defending him. “Maybe Reed was a dog before, but he’s not with me. Besides, he’s not like Easton. He doesn’t sleep around. He’s picky.”

  Val opens her mouth to respond, but before she gets anything out, the bell rings. “Hold that thought. Meet me in the south bathroom at lunch? We’ll talk more.”

  “The south bathroom?” I have no idea what she’s talking about.

  “It’s the one by the boys’ locker room. Wade always does his business there.”

  With that, she’s gone, leaving me to wonder if I’m the unreasonable one.

  * * *

  The moment the lunch bell rings, I make a stop at my locker to shove my books inside, then hurry toward the south bathroom. It takes me about ten minutes to find it, because this school is so ridiculously big.

  Pushing open the door, I stop abruptly at the sight of the full bathroom—there are about six girls in here. Val’s putting on lipstick in front of the far sink, and I quickly make my way to her.

  “Why is it so crowded?” I hiss under my breath. “I thought Wade has sex in here.”

  “In the boys’ room.” She smacks her cherry-red lips together. “This is the girls’ bathroom.”

  “Right.” Duh. For some reason I thought we were having a private powwow.

  “Dance team is having extra rehearsals for the away game performance. Apparently Gibson High is their main rival in state dance competitions,” Val explains, tucking the lipstick into her purse. “Anyway, I’ve been giving this some thought, and I think what you need to do is go to Callum. Have Callum work it on your behalf.”

  “I don’t think that’s going to make a difference. Callum already told Steve that I should live with the Royals, and Steve gave him the look of death and dragged me out by my hair.”

  Val’s mouth twitches. “By your hair?”

  “Okay, maybe not by my hair, but it felt like it.”

  “I was just kidding. I like seeing you get all angsty over hooking up with Reed. Sometimes you come off so together, it’s intimidating.” She pauses. “What’s Steve’s weakness?”

  I meet her reflection in the mirror. “What do you mean?”

  “When I want something from my aunt, she likes to see a sacrifice. So let’s say I want to go to a concert. I’ll tell her I’m studying super hard, doing extra work around the house, essentially laying the groundwork for what a fucking awesome kid I am. And then I’ll ask for the concert tickets.”

  “Does she know you’re manipulating her?” I ask.

  “Of course. It’s our game. She gets to see me being responsible and that gives her warm fuzzies, and then I’m rewarded for my sacrifice.”

  “My dad likes it when I write him a paper justifying all the reasons I want something,” some girl next to me chimes in.

  I glare at her in the mirror, but she’s unfazed. Or maybe she can’t tell I’m glaring because she’s busy putting on mascara.

  “My mom needs to hear it’s okay from ten other moms before she says yes,” another girl near th
e door says.

  I flick an irritated gaze toward Val at how all these girls are up in my business. She merely smiles, mischief glinting in her eyes.

  “What do you want?” the girl by the door asks. I think her name is Hailey.

  The blonde next to me grins. “She wants Reed, right?”

  My first reaction is pure discomfort. I don’t like discussing my personal issues with strangers. But the two girls actually look...friendly.

  So I sigh and lean against the sink. “I want to go to the away game, but my…” It’s hard saying the word, but I spit it out. “My father won’t let me.”

  “He’s being overprotective?” the blonde guesses.

  “Making up for lost time, probably,” Hailey suggests.

  “Oh right!” the blonde exclaims. “Your dad’s Steve O’Halloran. I forgot about his grand resurrection.”

  Val snickers.

  “Yeah, he’s definitely making up for lost time,” Blondie agrees.

  Val leans around me. “See?” She pokes me lightly. “This is all normal.”

  “It totally is,” Hailey agrees. “My dad freaked out when he found a condom in my car. My mom took me to the clinic the next day and put me on birth control. She told me to hide that shit and be more careful next time.”

  “But it’s your body,” I point out.

  She sidles over. “Your dad is going to want to control you until you’re fifty. My oldest sister is twenty six, has a law degree, and when she came home for Christmas with her boyfriend, my parents made him sleep in the basement. Dads are the worst when it comes to sex.”

  “Ella doesn’t have a mom to run interference,” Blondie reminds everyone.

  I shift awkwardly again. It’s so messed up that everyone at this school knows my business.

  Hailey taps her chin. “Doesn’t Katie Pruett live with only her dad?”

  “Yeah, she does,” a curly-haired brunette says as she leans against the door of the fourth stall. “And she’s totally having sex with Colin Trenthorn. They’ve been doing it since she was a soph.”

  “Does her dad know?”

  “I think he pretends he doesn’t know, but she’s on birth control so he has to have some idea.”

  “My mom told my dad that my birth control was for my period,” Hailey says, “so maybe Katie used that excuse, too.”

  “I don’t need an excuse to go on birth control,” I tell them. “I’ve been on it since I was fifteen.” Because I actually did have terrible cramps, not just because my mother was worried about the pregnancy thing. “I need an excuse to get out of town overnight.”

  “Say you’re staying with a friend.”

  “And hide in the car while the game’s going on? That’s not going to work,” Val says impatiently. “Everyone knows the Royals, and someone is bound to mention that they saw Ella at the game.”

  A sympathetic murmur spreads through the bathroom.

  “Not to mention that Callum will definitely be there and probably rat me out to Steve,” I remind them. I’m not sure why I’m suddenly okay with all of these girls offering me advice, but I am. It feels weirdly welcoming in some way.

  Before anyone can come up with a workable solution, the bell rings. Everyone’s heads pop up and there’s a flurry of activity as the girls jostle each other to get their makeup reapplied and their stuff packed away.

  “We’ll think of something,” Hailey says on her way out. About six girls stream out after her, all of them waving goodbye to me.

  “That was…” I trail off, my confused eyes focusing on Val.

  “Fun? Helpful? Entertaining?” She grins. “Not everyone here is awful. Besides, now you know Steve’s behavior is completely normal. You just need to figure out how to work him.”

  A little dazed, all I can do is nod. Okay then. I guess he is being normal.

  “I tell my parents what they want to hear and then do my own thing,” a familiar voice offers coolly.

  I spin around to see Jordan stepping out of a stall.

  “Did you crawl out of the sewer or have you been there the whole time?” I accuse.

  “Eavesdropping the whole time,” she says blithely. “So you want to have a little sexcation with Reed Royal, hmmm?”

  I don’t answer her right away. This girl has disliked me from the moment I stepped foot onto Astor Park’s hallowed prep school grounds. When I was ordered to try out for the dance team, she left me a stripper’s uniform. I’m sure she meant for me to be too embarrassed to come out of the locker room, but I put on the gear, marched into the gym, and punched her in the face.

  “Maybe,” I finally say.

  “So you need my help.” She nudges Val out of the way and passes her hands under the automatic soap dispenser.

  “No. I came to Val for help.”

  Jordan scrubs her hands clean, shakes the excess water off, and then grabs a paper towel from the stack in the basket next to the sink.

  “And Val’s here and so were six of my teammates, but you haven’t come up with a solution,” she says smugly. “Meanwhile, I have the perfect one.”

  I doubt it, but her confident tone keeps my feet glued to the floor.

  “Why would you help me?” I watch her with narrowed eyes, but I can’t read anything on her face. Damn, she’d be an impressive poker opponent.

  She tosses the towel in the trash. “Because you’d owe me.”

  Owe her? That sounds miserable. But…what if she really does have a solution to my problem?

  “What would you want in return?” I ask suspiciously.

  “A favor to be paid later.” She pulls out a little pot from her purse and dabs her perfect lips with shiny gloss.

  I watch her, waiting for the rattler’s tail to sting me. “What favor?”

  “I don’t know yet. Depends on what I’ll need from you.”

  “Tell me your solution first.” I expect her to say no, but she surprises me.

  “Sure.” She puts the lip gloss away. “You’re a good dancer. Layla Hansell sprained her ankle the other day jumping with her little sister on a trampoline. You can fill Layla’s spot on the team.”

  “Shit.” That comes from Val.

  Shit, indeed. It is the perfect solution. Steve wants me to do extracurricular stuff. Dancing is the only thing I’m capable of and somewhat interested in doing. The dance team’s going to travel to this playoff game, which means I can be on the field and sell Steve on the idea of spending time with Astor Park kids.

  It’s diabolical how perfect this plan is.

  Jordan smirks. “Let me know your answer by the end of the day. You can text Val. Bye now.”

  She saunters out of the bathroom, her hair a dark ribbon streaming behind her.

  “I hate her even more,” I say to Val.

  “I don’t blame you.” My friend drapes an arm around my shoulders. “But damn, that’s a good excuse.”

  “The best,” I say despondently. “The very best.”

  19

  Ella

  “What are you doing here?” I exclaim when I find Reed leaning against my car after school. “You’re suspended!”

  He rolls his eyes. “School’s over. What are they going to do, suspend me again for standing in the parking lot?”

  Good point.

  I walk over and give him a hug, which he turns into a kiss that lasts long enough to leave me breathless. I’m smiling like a fool by the time he lets me go.

  “You look happy.” His eyes narrow suspiciously. “What’s wrong?”

  I sputter in laughter. “I’m not allowed to be happy?”

  He flashes a grin. “Of course you are. It’s just that the last time we talked, you were threatening to punch Steve in the face for all his crazy rules.”

  “I think I found a way to get around the rules.”

  “Yeah? How?”

  “That’s for me to know and for you to find out,” I say mysteriously, because I want everything to be worked out before I tell him the news. I’m not entirel
y sure Steve is going to buy into this, so I don’t want to get Reed’s hopes up if I fail. “Val and I are working on a secret project.”

  “What kind?”

  “I just told you—a secret one.”

  Reed rests an elbow against the car hood. “Should I be worried?”

  I run a hand down his chest to rest on the top of his belt. Somehow Reed manages to make a pair of black cargo pants and a blue sweater look as hot as if he was shirtless.

  “You should always be worried,” I tease, giving his belt a tug. I’m tired of being stressed, scared, and unhappy all the time. I’m going to enjoy Reed and all my moments with him. Screw the rest of the world.

  He allows his body to press into mine until we’re pancaked against the side of the car. His hand skims down my side until he reaches the top of my ass. My lips part, waiting for another kiss, the mingling of our breaths, the moment we shut out the entire world—

  “Look at them,” someone says as they pass. “Perfect trashy couple.”

  Reed’s head flies up. “Got a problem with me, Fleming? Come say it to my face.”

  I see a short, dark-haired boy stiffen and then quickly walk away.

  “Yeah, I thought so,” Reed mutters.

  “Jerk,” I say angrily.

  Reed takes my chin between his fingers. “Don’t worry about it, baby. Let them run their mouths. It can’t hurt us.”

  He pinches me lightly before dropping a kiss on my lips. I’m tempted to linger, but if I do, I’ll be late. I push him away regretfully. “I’ve got to get back to the hotel. If I’m not there at four o’clock sharp, Steve might lock me in a dungeon.”

  Reed snickers.

  “Call me tonight?”

  “’Course.” He leans down to give me one final kiss, and by the way his hand digs into my butt, I know it’s going to be one of those long, drugging ones. Oh gosh. I have to get out of his embrace before I turn into a puddle of mush.

  “Okay. I’ll text you later.”

  He wanders off to where his Rover is parked, and I wait until he’s driving away before calling Val. I put the phone on speaker as I pull out of the parking lot.