Toxic

6. fucked-up fairytale

CLEO
AGE 15

I QUIT CHEER A FEW MONTHS AGO.

The skirts were too short. Lately, I can't leave my house in anything that reveals my arms or legs. I only wear long sleeves and long pants. Even when it's eighty degrees out. Brookes thinks I'm crazy.

He doesn't know what I'm trying to hide.

When I was younger, I believed in love songs. In damsels who could be saved. And dragons that could be slayed.

Now?

I know better.

There's no such thing as a fairytale life. A bitch can grow up in a beautiful mansion. Earn good grades to apply for a good college. Date the right guy from the right family. Smile sweet and look perfect for Instagram. But reality isn't ever as shiny as it seems.

Shit just appears that way from the outside looking in.

I know what you're thinking. My problems are small, trite, and a bit shallow compared to others. I have a ten million dollar roof over my head, food prepared by a private chef on my table, and Louboutins lining my closet shelves. I'm Cleo Fitzgerald, after all. One of Fairmont High's prettiest, most popular girls, and I happen to be dating one of Fairmont's hottest, most eligible guys.

Everyone says that Trav and I were made for each other. Someday, we'll inherit our families' legacies and bend the world to our whims. That's why I keep shit to myself. No one wants to hear me bitch and moan about my problems. Poor little rich girls don't deserve sympathy. I get it.

Today is Monday. Trav brought me back to his place again after football practice. It's almost 9 pm. We're in his bedroom. Alone. His parents are never home. Much like mine.

I'm sitting on his bed, tapping away on my laptop. We're supposed to be doing homework. I keep my eyes glued on the screen and try not to draw attention to myself. But my boyfriend moves to sit beside me, anyway. All two-hundred pounds of him. The mattress sinks under his weight. Burly arms come around me, trapping me against an unyielding chest.

He slams my laptop shut.

Damn it.

He rasps in my ear, "You look hot as fuck right now, Cleo."

I didn't get to save my work.

Trav's arms tighten around my waist, reminding me of a giant snake constricting his prey. I can feel his dick pressing into my ass. It's growing harder and more insistent. I force my muscles to relax. I try not to recoil from him.

There was a time when a mere smile from Travis Reynolds would've sent me over the moon. Like the other girls in our class, I had a huge crush on him throughout elementary school. That was when I still believed in fairytales. I thought I was the luckiest bitch in the world when Trav asked me out on our first date.