Hateful Lies Read online

  I’m speed walking so it’s a few minutes before I hear footsteps coming from behind me.

  “Wait!” It’s Everly.

  I don’t know if I can handle being around anyone right now. All of my emotions are like a tornado swirling around painfully inside of me. But I stop and wait for her to catch up.

  “Wow, you walk quick! I saw you take off when Logan was giving his speech, but it was almost impossible to catch up to you in these.”

  She grabs on to my shoulder for balance and takes off her high heels. She breathes out a sigh of relief. “That’s better.”

  “Sorry. I just couldn’t be around him.”

  “Why? Did he sleep with you and not call you?” she asks sympathetically. “We all know what that’s like. Wouldn’t be his first time.”

  “No!” I say in disgust. “I would never sleep with him.”

  “What is it then?”

  I sigh. I don’t want to get into this right now. I have a terrible migraine, and I need to go lie down in a quiet, dark place.

  “His father killed mine. I’m here because his family is paying for me to attend this school, but I didn’t know he would be here tonight. I didn’t even know he went to this school—though I should have guessed.”

  She doesn’t seem shocked when I tell her Logan’s father killed someone.

  “Seeing him again was just a lot, and now I have a terrible headache and need to lie down,” I finish.

  Everly takes a couple of moments to process what I just said. My heart starts to sink. Maybe Logan has already spread lies about me? She didn’t realize who I was before, but now she’s going to hate me.

  “Come on, let’s get you back to our room,” she says kindly.

  She puts her arm around my shoulder, and I’m so relieved and grateful.

  I put my arm around her waist, and we walk across the campus, me leaning on her, and her walking in her bare feet.

  The next morning, I wake up and my migraine is gone, but the lingering feelings of fear and pain from last night are still there. I don’t know if I can do this.

  If I stay, then I have to continue being a member of the group that Logan is the vice president of. I’m going to have to see him at least on a weekly basis at meetings. And he’s probably going to spread awful rumors about me, just like his brother did in high school.

  Everly is brushing her hair and notices I’m awake. “How are you feeling?”

  She comes over to sit on the edge of my bed.

  “I’m ok. Still a little shaken, but better than last night.”

  “Are you up for breakfast? It’ll make you feel better.”

  “Ok.”

  She’s probably right. Getting something in my stomach will help get rid of this light-headedness I’m feeling. We get ready and head over to the cafeteria. It’s not as crowded as yesterday. I’m guessing a lot of students skip breakfast in favor of sleeping in longer.

  We get fresh-made waffles with strawberries and whipped cream, and two large cups of coffee. We sit in the same private booth as before. We start eating, and I can tell Everly is being respectful, not asking me too many questions all at once, but there’s one question I have for her.

  “Why weren’t you surprised when I said Logan’s father killed mine?”

  She shrugs. “I was a little, I mean, I didn’t realize who you were. But everyone knows that rumor about Logan’s dad killing someone, so it didn’t really surprise me. The family has always denied it, so about half the people believe them. The other half think it’s very suspicious that his father would be on the run if it wasn’t true, you know?”

  “It’s true. I saw it myself.”

  Her eyes widen. “Seriously? You saw the murder?”

  “Yeah. I was there to pick up my dad since we only had one car. I saw it all happen.”

  “That’s crazy. I’m so sorry.” She reaches out and grabs my hand.

  “Thanks,” I say with a sad smile. “Mr. Aston went on the run right after it happened, so there was never a trial or anything. No one was ever charged. I haven’t heard from the family in four years—until they sent this scary dude to my job to give me a letter offering to pay for me to attend this school. So here I am. I didn’t know Logan was going to be here though. I don’t know if I can handle it.”

  “I hate to tell you this, but Heston is here too.”

  My blood runs cold at the sound of his name. Heston, my crush-turned-tormentor. My bully for one year.

  “Seriously?”

  She nods. “He’s not around a lot though. He’s kind of taken over the family business since his dad left. You’d think it would be Logan because he’s the older brother, but he’s not really that into ‘family obligation’, I guess. Logan doesn’t really seem to play by the rules.”

  That sounds like Logan, even though I never really knew him very well. He was always a quiet, sullen guy off by himself in the corner. Nothing like the guy I saw at the party last night. The one entertaining and charming a crowd of people. But when his eyes met mine, I saw flashes of the old Logan I had known.

  I can’t believe both brothers are here. I don’t know if I can handle seeing Heston again.

  “I don’t know if I can do this, Everly,” I say honestly.

  “Look, I don’t know you very well, and I don’t know everything that happened, but if what you say is true—and I have no reason to believe you’re lying—then if you leave, they’ve won. I know the Aston’s a little, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they are lying. I don’t know why they offered you that money, but who cares. Don’t give them any more power over your life by leaving just because those two guys go to school here.”

  I take another bite of whipped cream to give myself time to think over what she’s said. I mean, she does have a point.

  I decide that I’m just going to tell her everything. I feel like I can trust her. I start with Logan. I’m pretty sure he’s always hated me, and I’ve never liked him. He was quiet and would keep to himself. He was dark and brooding. We never really talked to each other in all the years I’d known him. We’d walk the other way when we saw each other in the halls at school.

  Everly is surprised because she says he’s totally different now. She says he’s this cocky playboy that every girl at school wants. I saw the new him at the party, and he’s so different it’s unnerving.

  I tell her about the Heston I knew. Charming. Popular. Handsome. Everyone liked him, but when I started at Sycamore Heights Prep, I wasn’t looking for a boyfriend, so I barely noticed him. But my dad started working for the Astons a short while later, and that was when Heston took an interest in me.

  He eventually asked me out, and I was flattered. We went on a few dates, but I slowly realized I didn’t like him in that way and wasn’t interested. He started pressuring me for sex too, and so I broke up with him. I didn’t think it would be a big deal to him—he had the entire female half of the student body interested in him. And we’d only gone on a couple of dates, not like we were boyfriend and girlfriend or anything, but he completely changed. He took it so badly. I don’t think anyone had ever said “no” to him before.

  When I turned him down, he became a completely different person. I saw the real side of him that I had only seen glimpses of before—I think that was why I wasn’t really into him. He made me uneasy because I could see that something else, something darker, was lurking beneath that handsome and charming exterior. And oh boy, did I ever see what was beneath when I broke up with him.

  He made my life a living hell for the last year I was at Sycamore Heights. He spread rumors I was a whore, and that I was only trying to get with him because of his money. He told everyone that he had broken up with me because he realized I was a gold digger. He got his friends to torture me so there wasn’t a day where I could walk down the halls without having trash thrown at me. I got punched. Kicked. Called names. My nickname became “Poor Girl”. They all said I didn’t belong.

  He was the ringleader of one of the wo
rst times of my life, all because I didn’t want to sleep with him. He almost made me drop out of high school. All of a sudden, I realize he’s now the reason I’m considering dropping out of college.

  No.

  I’m not the same girl I was back then, and I’m not letting him do that to me again. I’m not giving him any more power over me. I’ve been through so much, first my father’s death and then having to survive without him. I’m stronger now. I don’t take shit from people anymore. I’ve seen what the real world is like, and I’m not letting a couple of spoiled rich boys scare me.

  “I’m staying,” I say suddenly, defiantly.

  “Yes!” Everly squeals and comes around the table to hug me.

  She really is one of the good ones. I got lucky when I met her. At least there’s one person at this school who likes me… but her brother is close with the guy who hates me. That might be a problem.

  8

  V

  Classes start the next day, and I quickly realize I’m very rusty when it comes to school. I signed up for all pre-med courses and maybe jumping into the deep-end right away was a mistake, but I want to get my life back on track and get out from under the Aston’s thumb as quickly as possible. I’m just going to have to suck it up and study harder. I used to be good at this, and I know I can do it again.

  Luckily, both Logan and Heston are a couple of years ahead of me, so I don’t seem to have them in any of my classes—give thanks for small mercies—but I see Logan around the campus occasionally. His presence haunts my life like a dark shadow.

  One day, about a week after classes start, I walk into one of my electives, Psychology 101. I’m late because the class I have right before this is all the way on the other side of the campus. Psych 101 is the most popular first-year course, so there are never any seats by the time I get here. Last class, I tried to sit on the stairs, but the professor told me off and said if I couldn’t find a seat I’d have to leave.

  I scan the room anxiously. There are literally no seats. I walk farther into the lecture hall to get a better view, but I still can’t see a single empty one. As I move farther in, I finally see the one empty seat left in the entire place, and my heart drops.

  Logan.

  He’s sitting in a weird configuration of three seats off by themselves, partially hidden behind the column at the back of the room. Next to him is some girl, and the final seat in the row next to her is the only empty seat in the entire room. He notices me, and his eyes immediately narrow like a predator. I gulp.

  I look around desperately, but it’s no use. I either have to sit next to him and that girl, or leave. I briefly consider skipping this class, but then I shake the thought out of my head. I steel my nerves and start walking over there. There’s no way I’m missing this class just because of him.

  I see his strong jaw clench as I get closer. His hands grip the armrest, and his knuckles turn white.

  I pointedly ignore the death stares both he and also now the girl are giving me and sit down. Why is she pissed off? Whatever, I won’t let either of them ruin my mark in this class. I take out my notebook and pen and sit back to wait for class to start.

  The tension is heavy back here. Both Logan and the girl are so pissed at me that their anger feels like a physical force trying to crush me.

  Soon class starts, and I’m grateful to have something else to focus on. The professor starts her lecture, and even though I’m looking at her, I can’t help but notice out of the corner of my eye when the girl next to me puts her manicured hand on Logan’s dick. My eyes widen, and I try to look over surreptitiously.

  She’s rubbing on top of his jeans, and I embarrassingly notice that he’s quickly getting hard. We are partially hidden back here from the professor and the rest of the class behind the column, so that’s probably why they picked this spot. Now I know why this girl was so mad at me when I sat down. She thought I was ruining their fun—but it looks like my presence isn’t ruining anything because they are still doing whatever the fuck they want.

  I hear, more than see, the zip as she slides his zipper down. Are they fucking serious?? Are they really going to do that here??!

  I catch Logan’s eye, and the look in it tells me my answer.

  Yes, they are most definitely going to do that here.

  9

  L

  Of course she had to sit there. Of course. That’s just like her to try to fuck things up for me.

  I never really bother attending my classes because it’s mostly a waste of time. My family gives so much money to this school that I could hand in my name written on a napkin for every assignment and still get an “A”. I want to start a real estate company when I graduate, so I don’t give a shit about school.

  I’m taking Psych 101 because it’s easy—but how the human mind works is actually interesting. I’ll give this course that. But I wanted to fuck Josie. That’s what I wanted to do. And I thought getting her to blow me in class would make it more interesting. Everything at Crowned College was boring me lately. The women. The parties. The friends. None of it mattered or interested me anymore.

  Then she had to come and sit her sweet little lying ass right next to us. Even though I wanted to get sucked off in public, I still want a bit of privacy.

  “Do you mind?” Violet hisses at us when Josie pops my already rock-hard cock out of my pants.

  There are red spots burning on Violet’s cheeks, and I like it. I like that I’m making her uncomfortable. It’s a small bit of payback after she tried to destroy my family.

  “If you don’t like it, you can leave,” I growl back quietly, as Josie strokes me.

  I like the way Violet’s eyes bulge out of her head seeing Josie touch me. I’m a hundred percent positive she’ll storm off. I’m surprised she stuck around for this long, but I know girls like her. She’s all talk, but she lacks any spine. She’ll scamper off, pretend she’s a good girl… and then probably touch herself at the memory later. At that thought, I unintentionally buck upwards.

  “I’m not missing this class because of you,” Violet bites back, and I almost let out a moan.

  I didn’t expect that. I thought she was a coward. Maybe she’s changed in the last four years, but I still know who she is on the inside. A lying, conniving bitch.

  I don’t care about Josie. She’s just trying to fuck her way into my wallet—just like Violet tried to do to my brother. But her hand on my cock is making me harder than I’ve ever been in my life, and I wonder why.

  I then realize in horror it’s Violet. She’s challenging me and that’s turning me on more than I ever thought possible.

  Knowing she’s right next to me, refusing to leave, stubborn as hell, watching me, it’s all too much, and I’m quickly shooting my load.

  As I come down from the high, reality rushes back to me with the force of a tidal wave.

  “Fuck,” I mumble, as I quickly shove my cock back into my pants.

  I see Violet’s smirk and her roll her eyes. It makes me see red.

  “That’s never happened to me before,” I hiss defensively.

  And it’s true. I usually have great stamina, especially because I don’t give a shit about any of the girls I fuck. I’ve never come from barely a hand job before. What the hell just happened? What did that little liar just do to me? Josie didn’t even have time to put her lips on my cock before I was erupting like a volcano.

  “Yeah, sure,” Violet whispers, unconvinced.

  I’m so pissed off and embarrassed that I storm out of the classroom.

  I walk down the hall in a daze. I barely got a hand job, and that was the hardest I’ve ever come in my life. I’ve fucked Josie before and didn’t have that reaction, so it’s not her.

  It was Violet. She was the one I was thinking of the whole time. Her challenging me and refusing to leave turned me on so much that I prematurely came all over myself.

  “Fuck,” I shout and slam my hand into a locker.

  I brace myself against it and take
a deep breath.

  My mind is racing. Please no. I can’t be attracted to her. I hate her.

  I growl in frustration and start walking again.

  Josie races over to come walk beside me.

  “Umm,” she starts. I can tell she’s trying to be delicate. “I’m flattered you liked my hand job—I hadn’t even gotten to the good stuff yet. You must really like doing it in public, huh?”

  Yeah, that’s it. I like fucking in public. That’s why I was so turned on—but even as I think it, I know it’s a lie. I was so turned on because I was thinking of that hot little liar next to me.

  “Want to continue somewhere else?” she asks.

  “I want to be alone right now.”

  “Are you sure? That wasn’t much of a…” She doesn’t know how to finish, and I feel so fucking mortified.

  I’ve never come in my pants like that before. She’s going to tell all the girls at school for sure—whatever, who gives a fuck what they think of me. They’ll still all sleep with me regardless, and besides, I’m bored with all the women at Crowned College anyway… except maybe one. The one I want to want the least.

  I storm away from Josie and head outside. I walk towards the woods. I need to be alone to cool down and think.

  10

  V

  He rushes out of the classroom, and a second later the girl follows him. I’m finally alone and can concentrate on the lecture without that asshole getting a fucking hand job next to me.

  I try to pay attention to what the professor is saying, but my mind keeps drifting back to Logan’s large, hard cock sticking out of his pants. He’s disgusting to do that here. Even though we are partly hidden, anyone could have come up and seen. He’s so arrogant and obnoxious and inconsiderate. I hate him. And I hate how wet my panties are right now.