Since Summers

four : lies

He was towering over me, with two of his minions on each side. Seriously, why do douchebags always have followers? I stole a glance at Jess but she was already passed out, her head rested on the arm of the couch and her lips slightly parted.

Everyone's eyes were on him as they all waited for his so-called announcement. I bet it was something unimportant like how he finally managed to excel in the art of torturing innocent people or seducing some other girl to dump her boyfriend. Whatever it was, I didn't plan to listen as I pulled out my phone, leaned on the back of the couch, and opened Instagram.

"I just found out that this girl," he started. I didn't notice he was pointing directly at me until I could feel everyone's eyes making a hole in my head. I looked up at him and sighed, waiting for him to continue so I could get it over with. I doubted he could really 'make my life a living hell' as he'd said earlier. "Was the girl that slept with the admission board to get in," he finally finished his big announcement. He looked down at me, those grey eyes glinted with excitement and something more. Something that made him look devilish. His eyes fixated on mine and I saw the cruelty beneath those chrome shades.

I rose from the couch, still keeping my eyes locked on his, unafraid of his cunning ways of payback for not saying yes to his earlier offer. If he looked so heartbroken, I would've felt bad and offered him friendship, but since this was the way he chose to go, I had to make my side of the story heard.

"What the fuck did you just say?!" I barked my words at him. I heard some people gasp, I bet no one dared to talk to him that way. Maybe that was why he became such an egomaniac asshole who thought he could do anything he wanted because the world revolved around him. "I got here by scholarship and because of my good grades. Not some sick ways like trading sex for a free passage, you nitwit!"

The corners of his lips twitched like he was about to smile, but his eyes were all about getting his way and right now he wanted revenge. "Oh, so you're poor." He let out a chuckle and the entire room followed with laughter. It was almost as if they breathed because he allowed them to. I wondered what he got in him that made everyone here willing to be his minions. "You traded sex for money then. So you don't need to pay tuition."

I felt that the more I argued, the more ridiculous I looked. It would look like a kids' play. Everyone here was clearly stupid enough to believe the words he said, so why would I try to make a fool of myself by trying to convince them otherwise? I knew the truth, I knew that I got here because of my good grades in Carlton, and as long as my friends knew that too, I was fine.

If only this happened in Washington, where people knew my father, Thornton Summers, the CEO and sole owner of the Summers Enterprises, they wouldn't believe a word Frazier said. But this was New York and I didn't like to boast about my father, so I was going to simply remove myself from this conversation and get to the door, where my amazing boyfriend probably has arrived to pick me up from this awful place.

I saw Colton walking through the crowd. He stopped by the couch and knelt beside Jess. "Babe, are you okay?" My friend answered him with noises unknown to humans. "Okay. Time to get you home."

"Mate," said one of Frazier's friends whose name was Mateus, according to Jess' words earlier about Frazier having two best men on his side: Mateus and Kennesaw. "Do you know this pauper girl?"

Colton followed his gaze and locked his eyes with mine. A frown appeared on his forehead. "Pauper? Do you know whose daughter she is?! She's—" Colton was about to continue but I gave him a warning look that stalled him immediately.

"Come again," asked Mateus, leaning forward so he could hear him better.

I fixed my eyes on Colton although I could feel Frazier's gaze on mine. There was no way I would give him satisfaction by looking directly at him. He just told the biggest lie I've ever heard since someone told me Santa wasn't real. For the crowd, I had no idea who they were, and judging by how they hung on his every word like he was some Matthew, Luke, or John telling a prophecy, I wasn't interested in making friends with them either. I only wished I didn't see any of them in my class next week.