Untouched (Bay Falls High, #1)(68)

Everything rich people had was perfect. Amazing. And perfect.

But none of it was mine.

There wasn’t a rich thing about me. No secret money. No million dollar ideas. No high paying skills. The only chance I probably had at anything that resembled that was if I told Claire I wanted to do what she did.

Which really wasn’t the worst idea to have.

If she lived like this because of business real estate deals…

My eyes ended up shutting as I shook my head.

Sitting in the corner of the room in a mansion trying to figure out where I belonged.

My heart sped up, telling me I belonged surrounded by Pres, Barr, and Kip. But that was only because my heart was listening to another body part. Which wasn’t bad. But it definitely wasn’t good. At all.

And then I slept, lost in dreams that were a mix of great and nightmares. Me and Ruby walking the sidewalks in the shithole town we called home. Licking ice cream cones in a hurry before they melted, giggling because of the brain freeze we’d get. And then there was Pres, Barr, and Kip waiting for us at Ruby’s house. Kip would touch my hand and the ice cream would turn into a gold color and taste ten times better. And Ruby’s ice cream turned moldy with cockroaches climbing all over it. And she kept eating it.

Pres handed me a bottle of perfume. It smelled like his but it was a woman’s version. There was a little price tag dangling off of it. Priced at one billion fucking dollars. Pres told me it was just pocket change. And then Ruby saw a penny on the ground and jumped at it. She dropped her ice cream and started to cry when she got the penny off the sidewalk.

Then Barr stepped forward and took the lit cigarette from his mouth and flicked it behind him. When he did, Ruby’s entire house went up in flames. Like instant flames. And it was just her house. She screamed from the sidewalk and ran into the house as it was swallowed up by the fire.

I called for her and jumped forward but they grabbed me.

Kip had my left arm. Barr had my right arm. Pres had his hands to my waist.

They surrounded me.

I could smell Pres’s cologne. Kip’s ocean. Barr’s smoke.

I heard Ruby yelling for help. Begging for me to come get her. To come save her.

But they wouldn’t let me move.

They were beautiful. They were sexy. They were…

All three opened their mouths and there were fangs.

Fangs?

They were vampires.

And they started to laugh.

And that’s when I was never so thankful to wake up.

My eyes popped open and I looked around the massive bedroom, trying to remember anything about myself. It was a weird moment where I couldn’t figure out what was reality and what was a dream.

I put my hands to the carpet and took a deep breath.

I leaned forward and saw Gi’s face almost hanging off the bed. Her mouth open, drool pooling around her. Snoring.

I sighed and forced myself to stand up.

When I looked out the window, I saw the ocean in the morning.

And I thought about the dream.

Stupid dream.

Stupid dream that I couldn’t stop thinking about.

But I knew there was no way Pres, Barr, and Kip were vampires. At least not the cliché kind with fangs and that would burn in the daylight.

Maybe they were a different kind of vampire though.

I laughed at myself.

And then I went to go find some coffee.





I drank coffee and ate a large bowl of fruit.

When I poured a second cup of coffee I went to the piano room and stood there, staring at the piano. It sat there, untouched since Barr had been playing it that night he and his parents were here. There was a story to each of them.

“Oh, and like you didn’t like it,” a voice echoed from the stairs.

“Stop it, Gi,” Iris said in a groggy voice. “My head hurts and I’m debating shit from two years ago.”

“You always do that though,” Gi said. “Pull your heart out of your vagina, dry it off, and let it decide what it wants.”

I turned and grinned, watching them walk down the stairs together.

Having a full conversation.

Not a care in the world.

If I walked out the door right then and there and never came back… would they even care? Would they even call me? Text me?

Or better yet… when I did leave for real… would they still keep in touch?

“I love how you play it so tough but you fall in love so easily,” Gi said.

“No I don’t.”

“Ohmygod, yes, you do… and you know it.”

“Fine,” Iris said. “That’s why I stick to guys outside of BFH.”

“Distance makes you forget.”

“That’s my secret,” Iris said.

They turned from the stairs and started to walk.

Shoulder to shoulder, just talking away.

I swore they would have walked right by me if I hadn’t cleared my throat to get their attention.

They stopped.

“Hey, bitch,” Iris said.

“Morning,” Gi said.

“Morning to you both,” I said. “How’d you sleep?”

“That bed is great,” Gi said.

“So was the corner on the floor,” I said.

“Ah, that’s cute,” Iris said. “Gives you a little taste of home, right?”