Becca
I was born with a silver spoon in
my mouth, or so I’ve been told. But I didn’t see it that way. Sure, I was lucky
enough to have everything that I ever asked for. Instead of going to Disney World on family vacations, I went
to places like Tahiti, Hawaii, and Australia. Unlike other kids, I didn’t have
to scrimp and save for a car; I was handed one, and not just any car; an Audi A5
Cabriolet Convertible. To some, that may seem a little extravagant but in the
affluent Connecticut community that I grew up in, it was the norm. My dad was a
very successful orthopedic surgeon who had worked hard to make that lifestyle a
reality. I tried to repay him by being the “perfect daughter”. I had just
finished up my third year at Columbia University, studying pre-law with a 4.0
GPA. Yes, my life couldn’t get any better. Unfortunately to some, I came with a
prepackaged label of “Stuck Up Bitch” which was so far from the truth. I didn’t
date many guys. In fact, I was still a virgin at twenty-one years old. I didn’t
have time for any of it with keeping up with my studies. The guys that would
ask me out and that I had turned down would have a few choice names to call me
behind my back, but I never really paid attention. They were just battling with
the sting of rejection and their own insecurities. The truth was that none of them
interested me. To me, they were only looking for one thing; the one thing that
I wasn’t going to give away to just anyone.
So I mainly kept to myself, keeping busy with classes and volunteering
my time at a center for women and children of domestic violence. To the rest of
the world, I may have been Becca Rose Keeton, spoiled rich girl, but to me I
was just a normal twenty one year old girl whose family just happened to have
money. I tried to remain as grounded as possible. Unlike most girls that I grew
up with, I didn’t look down on other people for what they didn’t have, I saw
everyone equally.
I raised my head from my laptop when I heard a
knock on my bedroom door. “Hey, Mom!” I said as she walked in and took a seat
on my bed.
“Hey Sweetie. Can I just tell you
how happy I am to have you back for the summer?”
“Me too, and I am super excited
that Lynn Barrett wants me to meet with her on Monday when she gets back to
spearhead one of the children’s charities that she’s trying to start up.” Lynn
Barrett’s husband was another doctor in my father’s practice. In addition to
being co-workers, they were also very good friends with my parents. They were
very well known in our community for all of their charity work. I grew up with
their son, Ashton and although I admired his mother for all of the time that
she had put into various charities, her son was a complete asshole.
“You absolutely amaze me, Becca!” My mother
smiled and took my face in her hands. “You have such a bright future ahead of
you. You’re beautiful, talented, as smart as a whip, and have the biggest heart
I know. If I wasn’t your mother, I’d be a little jealous.” We both began to
giggle. “Now, if some of that could just rub off on your brother.”
“He’ll grow up, someday….maybe,” I
joked.
My brother, Jordan, and I
couldn’t be more opposite if we tried. Physically, there was no doubt that we
were brother and sister. We both had brown hair and the same crystal blue eyes.
My mother would say that whenever she was missing the Caribbean she would just
look into our eyes because they were the same color as the ocean. As much as I
hated to admit it, Jordan was just like all those boys that I did my best to
avoid back in high school. He thought he was God’s gift to girls and even at
seventeen I was beginning to see how he would manipulate them, and I hated it.
“Your father and I are going out for
dinner when he gets home. What are your plans?”
“Krista asked me to go to this
party with her.” I didn’t dare tell her that it was at Ashton’s house or she
would have been on the phone with his parents in a heartbeat. Even though I
hated Ashton and could care less if he got into trouble, I didn’t want to look
like a tattle tale to everyone else. It was bad enough that I was already
labeled as a goody good. My mother
raised her eyebrow at me in disapproval. “What?” I asked.
“You’re not going to be drinking
and driving?”
“Mom! Seriously! I think you know
me better than that!”
“I’m sorry, Honey. Yes, I do.”
She kissed me on the forehead, before getting up from my bed. “Have fun.”
“Thanks, you too!”
We pulled into Ashton’s driveway.
His parents were away for the weekend and Ashton was taking full advantage of
the opportunity. I normally didn’t go to parties, but my best friend, Krista,
begged me, and since I hadn’t spent time with her in months with both of us
being away at school, I couldn’t say no. To say that Ashton Barrett wasn’t one
of my most favorite people was an understatement. He had always been relentless
with asking me to go out with him, even though each time I would shoot him
down. He was a total snob, jock, and womanizer all rolled into one. All the
girls fell at his feet, but I could see right through him. According to my
mother, he had failed out of his last semester at Fairfield University because
he was doing too much partying. There had always been rumors surrounding him
regarding drug use, which only added to my aversion to him. It was wall to wall
people when we walked through the double doors and into the marble tiled grand
foyer. Half of the people I had never even seen before. My eyes instantly
focused on the guy laughing away with Ashton. He was nice looking, no doubt.
Normally, I wasn’t instantly attracted to people based on physical
characteristics alone but something about this dark haired stranger made me
think differently for the moment. Even from across the room I could see his
well-defined muscles in his arms and chest through his form fitting tee shirt,
making me stop and stare a little longer.
“Hello! Earth to Becca,” Krista
said, waving her hand in front of my face.
“Oh, I’m sorry. What’s up?” I asked,
breaking myself from my trance.
“Were you just checking out that
guy with Ashton?” Krista grinned.
“What? No!” I played it off as
best as I could.
“Well, well, well, the beautiful
ladies finally showed up, now all the rest of these bitches can go home!”
Ashton said as he approached us with a red plastic cup in his hand. Ashton
Barrett was by no means ugly on the outside. He was a pretty boy, who had been
spoiled his whole life and took advantage of his parent’s money. Any redeeming
physical traits that he may have exhibited were immediately erased as soon as
he opened his mouth. He moved closer to
me and whispered in my ear, “So, beautiful girl, are you finally gonna give it
up to me tonight?” I cringed at his warm breath that reeked of alcohol on my
neck and pushed him away. He held his hands up in defense when two of his
friends began to laugh at my reaction. “Well, you can’t blame a guy for
trying?” He tried playing it off like he wasn’t bothered as he walked away, but
I could tell that I had majorly bruised that huge ego of his.
Less than an hour into the party
and I was ready to go home. This was so not my thing. I wasn’t into drinking
and acting like a complete idiot. I
stood around, feeling out of place as I searched for Krista, who had disappeared.
I was praying that she didn’t go up in the bedroom with Jack VanNess, another
one of Ashton’s high school buddies. I noticed him flirting with her all night.
He ranked right up there with Ashton as far as assholes went. Ashton stood on
the landing of his double staircase and got everyone’s attention. I could tell
he was totally wasted as he swayed back and forth.
“I have something to say!” he
shouted, getting everyone to quiet down somewhat and look up at him. “I just
want to thank everyone for coming to what will be my first epic party of the
summer.”
“Go Ashton! You’re the man!” a
few kids shouted.
“Tonight we are privileged by a
very special guest.” His glassy eyes stared into mine. “The ice princess, dick
tease, Becca Keeton has honored us by lowering herself to be here tonight. Some
of you may remember her from high school. Well, college hasn’t changed her much;
she still has that same stick up her ass!” I felt my face heat up and was
fairly certain that I was blushing when everyone began to laugh. I hate him! “So since she still won’t
give up any of that sweetness, which one of you ladies wants to join me in my bedroom
and take care of my throbbing dick? No need to fight over me, ladies, I’ll take
more than one.”
I felt the tears welling in my
eyes as I pushed through the droves of people and out the front door. I needed
to find Krista so I could go home, but there was no way in hell that I was
going back into that house.
I walked down the driveway and
leaned up against Krista’s car, hoping that she would come out soon. I ran my
hand through my hair and stared up at the starlit sky. As much as I loved being
home, I missed school and being out of this pretentious town and all of the
uppity people that came with it.
“Hey, are you okay?” I jumped at
the voice that had snuck up behind me.
I wiped away the tear that was
rolling down my face when I turned around to find the cute guy that Ashton had
been talking to when we had first arrived, approaching me. “Oh yeah, I’m good.”
I smiled, trying to play it off. He
smiled back and I got butterflies in my stomach upon noticing that he was even
cuter closer up.
“So do you like looking up at the
stars?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact I do!” I said in
defense, not knowing if he was being sincere or making fun of me for it.
“No need to take offense, I just
thought I was the only one that liked star gazing.”
I let my guard down a little and
gave him a slight smile. “In case you didn’t hear Ashton’s little speech, I’m
Becca Keeton. The ice princess or dick tease, take your pick.” I extended my
hand to him.
“I’m Drew Bryant,” he said,
gently shaking my hand back.
“So, are you a friend of
Ashton’s?”
“Yeah, college buddies.” I nodded and stared up into his deep blue
eyes. “Why don’t you come back inside?” he asked.
“Umm….no. I think I’ll just wait
out here for my friend.”
He leaned up against the car and
stood next to me. “So, Becca, tell me about yourself.”
“Well, you already know that I’m
a stuck up bitch.”
He shook his head and smiled. “I
don’t believe one word of it.”
“Well, that’s very kind of you.
But you’re going to take my word over your buddy’s?”
“I got a mind of my own. Plus, I’m really good
at reading people and I can tell you’re not.”
“Well, thank you.” God, his personality is just as nice as his
appearance. Still, I kept my guard up. He could just be a really sweet
talker who was hoping to get lucky. I didn’t trust any of these guys,
especially one that was good friends with Ashton. “So what’s your story?” I
asked.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you obviously go to Fairfield
but where are you originally from?”
“California. What about you?” he
asked with a smile.
“Born and raised in this uppity
town my whole life; finally got away from it three years ago when I went off to
college. Columbia. Pre-law.”
He raised his eyebrows as if he
were impressed. “So, how long have you known Ashton?”
I rolled my eyes. “Too long. His parent’s
and mine are really good friends. His dad and mine are both in the same medical
practice. His parents are such nice people, I just can’t believe they have a
son like that.” I placed my hand over my mouth to stop talking. “Oops sorry,
don’t mean to be talking about your buddy like that.”
He shook his head and chuckled. “Nah,
it’s all good. So –”
“There you are!” Krista shouted,
cutting Drew right off.
“Oh hey!” I smiled.
She looked at me and then at Drew.
“Well, I was going to see if you were ready to leave, but if –”
“Nope, I’m ready!” I said without
hesitation.
Although Drew seemed like a nice
guy, I was still a little leery. Yes, he was a total cutie that unleashed the
butterflies inside of me, but I was sure under that sweet boy next door exterior
there was a hidden agenda somewhere that included: Score with Becca Keeton….and that was a line item that I wasn’t
allowing anyone associated with Ashton Barrett to ever check off.
Copyright
Beth Rinyu
2014
Pre-order (US)
Pre-order (UK)
Pre-order (AU)
No comments:
Post a Comment