"Granted, but his parties are legendary. At least, so I’ve heard."
"Still not making it sound appealing. I've got weed, and I've got vodka. I'm all set for the night."
"You're a boring motherfucker, you know that, right?"
I cringe at his words. I never used to hide like this. I used to be the life and soul of any party. But that was then. This is now, and things are different.
"I don't care. I just want to go to college and then get out of this weird-ass town. I don't even know why I'm here." Of all the places my parents could have sent me after… after I fucked up and shamed them in our old town, they had to send me here. I know they wanted me out of the way, but it's just bizarre here.
"You owe me one,” he smirks, “in case you've forgotten."
"How'd you figure?" I ask the one and only person I've connected with since I was sent to Gravestone nine months ago.
Despite my desire to keep my head down and just get through each day, Alex, the persistent fuck, won't leave me alone. He seems to think we're friends. I just wonder what's wrong with everyone else in this godforsaken town for him to want to hang out with me.
"I went to Sterling Bay with you for that wedding."
"Yeah, although I don't remember asking you to go." Although having Alex with me to face the mistakes of my past wasn’t exactly a bad thing. Not that I’ll ever tell him.
"Maybe not, but I did anyway."
"Jesus," I moan, scrubbing my hand down my face and across my rough jaw. "You're not going to let this go, are you?"
"Not a chance, my friend. Not a chance."
I push from the headboard and scoot across the bed. "It had better be a really fucking good party."
"It will be. I've got no doubt."
I pull my shirt over my head and drop it into the laundry basket before dragging on a clean, black v-neck t-shirt and shoving my feet into my sneakers.
"If it's lame, I'm leaving," I warn Alex as I follow him out of my dorm room and toward the parking lot.
We walk past my BMW, and I come to a stop at the passenger side of his gunmetal grey Porsche. The second the lock beeps, I pull the door open and drop down, the new car smell assaulting my senses almost immediately.
"Where is it, anyway?" I ask as he backs out of his space and shoots down the road, leading us away from Gravestone U’s campus.
"Just you wait and see."
I sit in silence as Imagine Dragons blasts through his speakers, thankfully stopping us from having a conversation. The sun is beginning to set behind the trees, casting everything in an eerie orange hue. It's about right for this town.
I always thought my hometown, Sterling Bay, was an odd place with all the money and privilege. I didn't appreciate just how normal it actually was until I was shipped here to live with my estranged uncle.
From the second I stepped foot in Gravestone, it was obvious I wasn't welcome. It almost felt like everyone already knew who I was, despite the fact that I'd never met any of them before in my life—including my uncle, Marcus.
The whole thing was crazy, but I know I only have myself to blame.
Senior year, my life was spiraling and I lost control. I thought I had it all. I thought I was untouchable. Sadly, I learned the hard way just how much of a lie that was.
With one bad decision, I lost everything.
I let out a sigh which Alex hears over Yungblud playing through the sound system, and he turns it down.
"You wanna talk about it?"
"When have I ever wanted to talk about it?"
I've been in Gravestone almost a year, and not once have I said a word about how I found myself here. I have no idea what Alex thinks about the whole thing. He knows where I came from, but that's about it. He must know I did something bad, seeing as my whole reason for attending James Jagger’s wedding with Uncle Marcus a few months ago was so I could apologize to Remi Tanner, my childhood best friend.
My heart twists as I think about her. When we were kids, Remi was my everything. My best friend, the girl I thought I was destined to spend the rest of my life with. Our fathers had the money and the power, and we'd have made the perfect couple as we took the reins from our parents and their places in Sterling Bay. But much like everything else in my life, I took her for granted and fucked it all up.
I'd never met anyone else like her. Anyone who's been able to see past the mask I pull on and accept me for who I really am.
But just like my parents, I pushed her too hard as well.
I don't blame her. How I treated Remi after her life imploded was unforgivable. But this time away has taught me a lot of things. It’s allowed me to see all of my mistakes, and I knew as soon as I overheard Uncle Marcus talking about James' wedding that I needed to be there to at least try to put things right.
I guess I should have been prepared for her to turn her back on me and refuse to hear anything I had to say. It's the least I deserved.
It still fucking stung, though.
My nails dig into the denim covering my thighs as my mouth waters for some alcohol, or something stronger. I shake my head. I promised myself I was done with all that shit. Vowed I was going to put the drugs, the excessive drinking, and the need to lose myself in anything or anyone I could get my hands on, behind me.
I've been offered the chance
