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Meghan slaps his arm. “Please. You’ll get a disease or something.”
Though he stops tonguing the air, he still ogles my chest when Meghan turns back around. I grab hold of my book bag straps and carefully maneuver my hands to hide my erect nipples. It’s the fucking air conditioner’s fault, dammit, but when I finally glance away, Stone catches my eye again. He’s glaring at me with narrowed eyes and a chiseled chin. He holds my gaze, not looking away this time either. Everything is a contest with him. I look away first when the professor speaks from the front again, “Miss Wilder, I see you plan on disrupting the entire class. Either take a seat or see your way out.”
Embarrassment rushes through me in a tidal wave of heat, and my breasts definitely stop nipping now. I turn and slop my way to the back row. Mr. Burns just stares at me incredulously, the suctioning of my wet shoes offending him until I finally plant my ass on a chair.
Class goes by in a blur. I stare at the back of Stone’s perfectly coiffed blond hair, questions racing through my mind. Taking center stage is wondering why the fuck he’s back in Clary. He has no reason to be here. His mom packed up and left hours before the news came that there was no trace of my father. She was already gone when I made it back to the house after the press conference, not even bothering to say goodbye. I don’t know where she moved to, but she took everything with her. The money in the accounts—what little of it there was, anyway. She pillaged the house for valuables, even. The only thing she left me was the truck and Dad’s house. And who knows if I even have that.
As I stare at Stone, my hatred for him and his whole family grows brighter and brighter until I’m a sitting inferno. I’m surprised my classmates sitting around me haven’t felt my fire yet. I loathe Stone Jacobs with everything in me. I hate his father, his mother, and his entire family tree. Losing my father has only made it worse because while I’m just barely getting by, the Jacobs are thriving. They have their money and their fancy jobs and their fancy treks up into the mountain while I’ve been venturing out by myself week after week, searching with no luck.
At the end of class, Meghan saunters up to Stone’s desk, leaning over to put her hand on his shoulder. He gazes at her with those discerning, twinkling eyes that are practically made of diamonds. I’ve seen diamonds in their natural state, and trust me, they match Stone Jacobs in every way. Cutting and beautiful.
Meghan turns her head to stare at me, giving me a small smirk that says she knows she’s about to get something that I want. That’s the fate of all Wilders, isn’t it? Never getting what they truly want. I hate to break it to her though. She can have Stone Jacobs. I couldn’t care less. I don’t want to be within five feet of my stepbrother.
Instead of stooping to her level, I give her a smile of my own, grab my bag, and try to leave the class with more dignity than when I entered, which honestly, is easy to do, considering the mess I brought in with me.
I can’t believe Stone fucking Jacobs is here, I keep telling myself. I simultaneously want to confront him and pretend he’s a walking case of COVID-19. Keep my fucking distance, that’s what I should do. Nothing good ever came from getting too close to a member of the Jacobs family.
How dare he enroll in Saint Clary’s though. He knows I go here, and last I heard, he and his friends were attending Arizona State. Even if he wanted to transfer, aren’t there a lot of colleges in Phoenix that are probably ten times better than this one? Lord knows he can afford to go to a more expensive school. Saint Clary’s is the cheapest college in all of Arizona. I know that for a fact because that’s why I go here.
I’m so lost in my own thoughts, I don’t see the towering body in front of me when I step out of the classroom. I run straight into a chest and bounce back. The first thing I see is the brim of a black cowboy hat. When he lifts his head, though, the face comes into view. In that instant, I can’t fathom how this day could get even worse. “Lookie here, Lucas. It’s our friend Dakota.”
Cowboy wannabe and Stone’s best friend, Wyatt Longhorn, slings his arm around Stone’s other best friend, Lucas Govern. A cold chill runs through me as they lift their gazes over my head to greet someone behind me. My back heats, and I just know Stone is right there within touching distance. I scamper out of the way like I’m a mouse and they’re feral barn cats. If Meghan is a mean girl, Stone, Wyatt, and Lucas are her counterparts in every way. They’re mean boys.
Wyatt laughs, the sound dark and rich, sliding into my crevices. Lucas, as usual, says nothing, preferring to observe instead. His brown hair in disarray and with a complete look of disinterest that turns mocking sometimes. He’s like a stray off the street. Always aware and skittish. Doesn’t say much but knows the territory far better than anyone else.
I glance over my shoulder to find Stone introducing Meghan to the duo that make up Stone’s best friends who are more like his family. She looks like she died and went to hot boy heaven. In her defense, Clary doesn’t have much in the way of selection. Our high school had a total of one hundred and fifty students, which has only marginally increased at Saint Clary’s. I can’t blame outside people for not wanting to come here. The big cities might be relatively close by, but in the meantime, there’s nothing to do here. Clary is for simple people, and I can’t help but wonder why the fuck that brought Stone and his little crew here.
For the rest of the day, I simultaneously try and fail not to notice Stone, Wyatt, and Lucas wherever they go. I guess that’s the curse of a small campus. I share several classes with each of them, and unfortunately, we eat in the cafeteria at the same time where I watch Meghan and all her cheerleader friends from high school get all up in the new guys’ business.
I knew this would happen if the Jacobs ever made Clary their permanent residence, which was why I was always so grateful they only showed up during the summers, and even when they did, they were so focused on the treasure that they never did anything else. I knew they’d flock to him like vultures. As pretty as he is—and Wyatt and Lucas—they’re going to be the talk of the town for a while now. They’ll be a prick in my skin. A thorn in my side. It’ll be like rubbing against a cactus every few minutes. I used to only get that pleasure during the summer, but it seems like fate has more in store for me than just taking away my father.
By the time my last class ends, I’m jonesing to leave campus. Thatneverhappens. Saint Clary’s is a respite for me, kind of like the books I love to read. It’s a place I don’t have to worry about money, thanks to the full scholarship they gifted me, and a place where I can conform to the crowd as much as possible. Just another average college student supposedly living off ramen noodles and Chef Boyardee. I’ve talked myself into believing that, in class, we’re all equal. I was just fooling myself the entire time though, blatantly looking away from the cliques that still exist from two years ago when we crossed the graduation stage. Nothing’s changed.
Well, the only thing that’s changed is the fact that Dad used to be the only person who got me. Now, there’s no one.
The good thing about leaving Saint Clary’s today though is that I’m a lot drier than when I walked in. The blazing sun coats me in heat, and the dry air makes me take in a deep breath. I make my way down to the bike rack and pause. No bikes. Not a single one. If my math is correct, there should be at least one bike parked here: mine.
My hands fall to my sides. Having my hair up all day has given me a splitting headache, and I just don’t have time for this shit. A stolen bike? Who the fuck would want to steal that rusty piece of junk? I’m pretty sure it was my grandfather’s and squeaks the whole time I’ve been riding it.
“Oh, Blue’s Clues,” a sickeningly sweet voice calls out from behind me.
I turn to find Meghan standing next to Stone. Her arm lies loosely around his waist, as comfortable as can be. Jealousy spits fire inside me, matching the temperature of the desert heat. If I was a dragon, I could probably roast them right now. Roast the whole damn school, including Wyatt and Lucas who hang back behind the new power couple of Saint Clary’s. That can’t be right, though. It’s only been a couple of hours and already, Stone has something I’ve never been able to accomplish in Clary: Friends.
Their high school nickname for me burns like acid in my ears. My greatest enemies now know the truth. Dakota Wilder is a nobody, and she will always be a nobody. That’s my family’s true legacy. We may be good at one thing, but we fail at everything else.
This is not what I needed today.
“Missing something?” Meghan asks, a cruel tilt to her lips.
If I hadn’t already given up on Clary residents, I’d slap the smirk right off her face. How dare she.
The thing is, she can’t hide from me as much as I can’t hide from her. I know the only person who really loved her, her grandma, died two years ago in the trailer they live in outside of town. Her mother’s a drunk, has been ever since her husband ran off with her sister and moved to Sedona where they can be the artsy, spiritual people they claim themselves to be.
So, if you’re wondering what I’m getting at, it’s that I’m the better person. But that only goes so far.
Meghan takes a piece of paper from Stone’s fingers, wads it up, and throws it at me. It bounces off my chest and hits the ground. She sneers at it. “If I were you, I wouldn’t lose that if you want to see your bike again.” The way she says bike sounds as if she has a limo waiting for her when I know damn well she’s driving a shitty Ford Focus with an engine that barely starts.
I don’t lower myself to pick up the paper in front of the growing crowd. I don’t want them to see how weak I truly feel in this moment. Not only are Stone, Wyatt, and Lucas here, they’re apparently here to make me more miserable than I already am, enlisting the help of the people who’ve tortured me my entire life. Awesome. If I would’ve known today was going to hold this, I would’ve stayed in my dorm room.