“Can I get you a drink?”
“Yes, please.”
I tip my head, and she follows me. I want to make sure I have a proper read on this girl before I take things further. A drink or two will loosen her up, and then I’ll know for sure if she’s worth it.
I’m not out to break hearts, and I don’t want anyone too pure or sweet.
We go into this thing knowing what it is and I can avoid the drama.
“Here you go.” I hand her a cup of beer, then move her aside so we don’t block the kitchen area.
Pulling her into a quieter corner, I lean my shoulder against the wall and start with a little small talk. “You’re from Nolan U, right?”
“Yeah, I’m about to start my third year.”
“Me too.” I nod.
“I know.” She grins. “I’ve been watching you.”
“Oh yeah, and why’s that?” My fingers start to tingle. Shit, I want a joint. I’ve been trying to quit, I really have, but summer with my family has put me on edge all over again, and pot eases the tension like nothing else can. But I want to be sharp forthis party. I don’t want to miss out on anything because I’m too wasted to appreciate a good fuck.
But now she’s looking at me like she knows something more about me than I want her to… and it makes me want to get fucking high.
I gulp my beer instead, wonderingwhyshe’s looking at me like this. Shit.
“Well, you caught my eye because, well… you’re hot and…” She bites her bottom lip, her cheeks tinging pink.
My insides harden. “And?”
“Well, I might have googled you and found out that you’re related to Reena O’Shea.” Her eyes light up while my stomach takes a nosedive out my ass. “Holy shit. Your mom’s like super famous.”
“Yep.” I pop thepand look away from her, gulping down half my glass.
“That must be so cool. Do you get to go to premieres and stuff?” She gasps and snatches my arm. “Have you ever been to the Oscars?”
I clench my jaw and want to tell her that no amount of money on Earth would make me go to some red-carpet event with that heartless bitch!
Shit, I need to ditch this girl ASAP.
“I’m actually taking some drama classes,” she goes on, oblivious to the icy change in temperature that’s happening right now. “I tried for performing arts schools, but they’re so impossibly hard to get into, so now I’m just doing an arts degree and studying acting in my spare time.”
Great, so she wants to use me to get to my mom. Not happening, Blue Eyes.
I should tell her she’s fresh out of luck, but she’s going on about how she wants to be the Meryl Streep of her generation, and it’s taking maximum effort not to laugh in her face. Shecouldn’t even get into a performing arts school, and she thinks she can follow in Meryl’s wake?
Please.
I had the chance to meet her once, you know.
Mom invited me to some party in Los Angeles, but by then I was so over her bullshit that I stopped responding to her texts and voicemails. She’d let me down one too many times, and I was done.
That’s what happens when you break a kid’s heart on repeat. It stops beating.
“So, yeah. I just think you’re so amazingly lucky to have such a talented mother.”
Oh, you mean a woman who cared so little about me that she abandoned me to pursue her career? Only showing up when she needed to drag a kid along for her image?
Yeah, I’m the luckiest guy on the fucking planet.
