No one had been around when I got home. No one had even cared that I had been gone, and I knew that he had no idea where had been. He had no idea that I had just spent the entire weekend with the boy he told me I was not to see.
He had no idea that I had just fallen so far for the boy who I knew wasn’t good for me that there was no way I could stop.
Not now.
It didn’t matter what my father had threatened. It didn’t matter that I could potentially lose everything because of Beck. I had fallen for him, and there was nothing else that mattered. There was nothing that could make me feel otherwise.
My stomach was in knots as I walked through the front doors of Clermont Prep. I was no longer the new girl or the girl who had been fucked over by the Gods of Clermont Bay. I was Beck Clermont’s girlfriend, and somehow that made me forget that I ever gave a shit what any of these people thought about me.
The way they watched me and whispered and talked. I didn’t care about any of it anymore.
I was Beck’s and that was all that mattered. I was his, and I couldn’t see
anything past that.
"Oh my God." Frankie leaned back against the locker next to mine and rolled her eyes. "I’m so sad the weekend’s over. It felt like it went by so fast."
"I know." She had no idea. It felt like it had flown by for me and Beck, and those few small moments that we managed to sneak away from everyone.
The small moments that seemed to change everything.
"I wish we could go back every weekend." I grabbed my books out of my locker and stuffed them into my bag.
"Me too." She sighed and looked over at me. "Have you seen Beck today?
He left early this morning for baseball workouts."
"No." I shook my head and closed my locker. "And I passed out so early last night that we didn’t even get a chance to talk."
"It’s not like you all did much talking this weekend anyway." She waggled her eyebrows at me, and I smacked her arm as she giggled.
"We did plenty of talking, thank you."
"Oh my God. Yes." Frankie ran her hand over her neck dramatically.
"That is not the kind of conversation I was talking about."
"You’re an ass." I laughed and lifted my bag onto my shoulders. "For your information, we talked about a lot of things."
"Like whether or not you two are official?"
"Yes. Like that."
"And?" She leaned closer to me, and I knew that she was dying for the answer.
"We are."
"Oh my God!" she practically squealed. "Thank you!"
"Do not be so dramatic." I rolled my eyes and pushed off my locker to head to my first class.
"I am not being dramatic. You have no idea how terrible Beck was when you were mad at him. He’s been moodier than he was when he hit puberty."
"Don’t blame me. I think he’s just generally moody."
"That’s true, but you got him all in his feels and he was extra peachy."
I couldn’t help but laugh. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be his sister. To live in a house with him and have to deal with his intensity all the time.
"I’m just glad the two of you have finally worked your shit out so I don’t have to deal with his attitude anymore."
I smiled, but it quickly fell from my face. As soon as Frankie and I
rounded the corner, there stood her brother, in all his perfect fucking glory, with Cami leaned up against him. And it wasn’t just her. She wasn’t just leaning up against the guy who I thought had belonged to me. She was welcomed there. He was leaning back against the wall with one of his hands resting on her hip, and he was watching her like he had never seen something so riveting.
Like he hadn’t just spent the weekend making me feel like I was the only girl he saw.
"Are you freaking kidding me?" I heard Frankie’s words, but I didn’t look at her. I didn’t take my attention off Beck for one second.
I didn’t want to miss a moment of what he was doing to me. I didn’t want to allow myself to forget who he really was.
Because I knew I would.
I already had.
Beck had shown me who he was time and time again, and I never believed him. I never believed that he could be this guy he pretended to be in front of everyone else. Not when he was so different with me.
But I was an idiot.
And I knew I should have just walked away. I should have turned my back on both of them and never looked back, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t just stand there and let him make me look like a damn fool again.
I couldn’t let him think he could get away with whatever he wanted without any consequences. I didn’t care if that was how this town ran. I didn’t.
I wasn’t this girl.
I wasn’t someone he could continue to play.
Frankie was talking to me, but I didn’t hear a word of what she was saying. My head was spinning, and even though I hated it, he was still the only thing I could see.
"Oh hey, Josie." Cami’s voice was full of honey and vinegar, and the sound of it snapped something inside of me. She was the only thing that seemed to pull my attention off of Beck and where his hand still rested on her body, and it only took a second before I knew that I was losing control.
Cami was the last person I wanted to see. She was the one person I never wanted to see Beck with again, and seeing her there like this when he was supposed to be mine. It broke something inside of me.
I felt Beck’s gaze as I made my way toward them, but I didn’t spare him
another glance. Not as I reached forward and grabbed Cami’s wrist. I pulled her toward me and as far away from him as I could, and I didn’t stop until she was out of his reach and stumbling on her feet.
"What the fuck do you think you’re doing?" she yelled at me as I pushed forward and backed her into the lockers behind her.
I was in her face, and I was so fucking angry. "What am I doing? What the fuck are you doing?"
She cocked her head to the side even though there was a flash of fear in her eyes. "Aww, honey. I told you that he couldn’t be trusted." She lifted her hand and ran it over my trembling bottom lip. "Don’t take it so personally."
My heart was thundering in my chest as I watched her. As I watched this girl who thought she was better than me, this girl who was taking away the one thing that felt right.
I didn’t know what came over me as I grabbed her retreating wrist in my hand and used it to slam her body back into the lockers. The look of shock on her face fueled me. It made me feel like I was more than this pathetic, broken girl that they were making me out to be.
"Fuck you, Cami. You think you’re better than me, but you’re nothing but trash."
"But I’m the trash Beck actually cares enough about to be seen in public with, right? How was your little secret weekend away? Did he convince you that you meant everything to him? Did he tell you everything he needed to get right back between your legs?"
"At least he’s the only one I’m fucking. What about you? Does your other guy like to be seen with you in public or does his wife have a problem with that?"
I didn’t know why I didn’t see it coming, but I never thought she would slap me until I felt the sting across my face. It only took a second to register before I was on her. Before I knew what was happening, I had her hair in my hand and she had mine, and I slammed my fist down against her jaw.
I had never fought with someone before. Not like this, and even though I had no idea what I was doing, I couldn’t stop. She was as angry as I was as our hands and fists slammed into each other, and I couldn’t help wondering if maybe she cared about Beck far more than she let on.
I could feel someone tugging on me from behind, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t.