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“You stole money from your mom.”
“No!” I spat, offended at the accusation. Jessica laughed, and I instantly felt stupid. Of course it was just a joke. We both knew I would never do anything like that.
“Come on. If I could tell you I’m banging Professor Leeds, I know you can tell me what your big secret is. We’re best friends, remember?” Jessica nudged me on the shoulder.
I nodded. Staring down at the carpet, I mumbled, “I cheated on a test. A big test.”
“So what?” she said. “I literally cheated on every single history quiz senior year.”
“I cheated on the SAT,” I admitted, as quietly as possible. She was quiet for a whole minute, just staring at me open-mouthed.
“Holy shit, Kenz,” she uttered, truly surprised. I felt my heart plummet. Then, without warning, she hugged me tightly. “Oh, honey. That’s not so bad. I mean, it happens all the time. And I know you’re smart enough to make a good score anyway—you just get nervous taking tests like that, right?”
Taken aback by her compassion, I said, “Yeah. I studied my butt off, but the night before the exam I just got so freaked out I couldn’t sleep. So when I got to the facility I was so scared that this guy—I don’t know his name—approached me and offered me the answers. He was really shady and weird, but I was desperate. I paid him all that I had in my wallet, and he gave me a list of answers. Obviously I couldn’t memorize them all, but I remembered enough.”
Jessica was shaking her head with a grin on her face. “I know this has been eating at you, but I have to admit, I’m actually kind of proud. Still, that ain’t got nothing on my secret.”
For some reason, this didn’t reassure me the way it usually did. It hit me then, just how pathetic I was. How boring. I had cried and cried over something so dull, while Jessica was out doing her edgy thing, living an interesting life. Suddenly, I felt compelled to do something crazy for once in my life. I wanted something to show for my eighteen years, something cool, something dark, something real.
It came to me, and I couldn’t stop myself from what I was about to say.
“And there’s something else, too,” I said. “I had a sex dream about my future stepbrother. I have a crush on Cole van der Hausen.”
Jessica jumped to her feet. “What the fuck?”
Afraid that maybe I’d gone too far, I started backpedaling. “I haven’t, like, done anything about it, obviously! It’s just a little passing crush, okay?”
“This is fucking fantastic,” she gasped, giddy with excitement. “You little slut!”
“Keep your voice down!” I warned.
“I so called it. I knew this was gonna happen!”
“Okay, okay, that’s enough. No one can ever find out. Seriously, I can’t ruin my mom’s marriage with something dumb like this.”
“Alright, girl. I’ll keep it to myself. But the second you and that fine piece of ass even do so much as hug, you better call me! This is so bad. I love it!” she exclaimed. Just then, her phone let out a discreet little ding. A sneaky smile spread across her face as she read the text message. “It’s my private tutor,” she said. “He, uh, wants to teach me something.”
I groaned. “Gross, Jessica. Go ahead!”
Hoisting her purse on her shoulder and readjusting her shirt so that her ample cleavage was optimally displayed, she blew me a kiss on the way out. As she lingered for a moment in the doorway, she whispered wickedly, “Good luck trying not to fuck your new brother.”
“Oh my god. Get out!” I said urgently. I could hear her laughing as her heels clacked down the hall.
Heaving a deep sigh, I locked my door and stripped out of my clothes to stand in front o my full-length mirror totally naked. I rarely did this, as the sight of my own body tended to make me a little uncomfortable. But this time I stood there for a full few minutes, just taking in the rounded curves of my breasts, the slope of my neck, the tautness of my ass. Still, I thought as I grabbed a towel to go take a shower, I would definitely never be good enough to be noticed by someone like Cole van der Hausen. And even if I was, it would be unthinkable for us to do anything about it. Wouldn’t it?
Cole
I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. My fourth beer almost fell from my hand as I slumped back in my chair in disbelief at the information I’d just been given on the first night of having the camera feed set up. She cheated on her SAT. I was surprised to find my first thoughts being How could she? Rather than Jackpot! How could someone so sweet and hardworking as Mackenzie have cheated to get where she wanted to go? It must have been nervousness, I told myself. She could have aced the test on her own, but the pressure must have built up on her too much.
The how and why didn’t matter, though. I had what I needed: hard information that could get her in seriously hot water. Now was the best chance I’d ever get to do what I had to do. I was going to blackmail my step-sister out of the house. It was the only way to keep her safe, truly safe, I told myself.
Throughout the whole conversation, though, I found myself liking her all the more. Mackenzie was a sweet girl, and all she wanted was to have the good life she deserved, just like Chelsea would have wanted. Even though it was just idle banter, I started to notice her mannerisms, and I could tell she wasn’t really a bad-hearted kind of person. Truth be told, Jessica was probably a bad influence on her. If I ever needed some kind of dirt on that one, I had all I’d ever need and more. Mackenzie wasn’t like that at all, though, and I needed to make sure that she stayed that way.
I snapped out of my planning to look back at the screen. I watched Mackenzie getting ready for bed, and when I realized she was changing, I turned my head and finished off my fourth beer. No matter how much I wanted to protect her, I wasn’t going to watch my future step-sister strip. After a few minutes, ignoring the couple more texts I’d gotten from some of the girls down at the club, I looked back and saw that she was in her pajamas and slipping into bed. It was getting pretty late, after all, so I stood up from the leather couch and went to throw away the beer bottles.
I changed into my own sleep clothes while I was up, and I realized I’d forgotten to shut off the laptop feed for the night. As I did, though, I noticed a strange sound coming from the monitor. Raising an eyebrow, I tapped the side of the monitor and checked the sound to make sure that I wasn’t getting some kind of feedback. Then I noticed the movement in Mackenzie’s bed.
I squinted my eyes and leaned in, and I realized that she hadn’t even gotten under the covers. She was lying on the top of the sheets, and she had a weird look on her face that I coul
