Jacqueline Lexington was awakened by the most loudest, inhuman sound she'd ever heard in her entire life. If she hadn't known any better, she would have thought she was sleeping next to a bear but turning over to her right, she realized it was just a boy.

A half-naked boy and they were in a guest room that didn't look like anything from the Lexington estate.

For a few seconds, the emerald eyed Valedictorian-to-be was actually dumbfounded - until the entire night came tumbling back to her like a Chanel purse being tossed upside down. She instantly remembered the horrible Love Wins event, her mother's baby facade, Paisely's party, and bits and pieces of fooling around with Asher Donovan.

Either way, she had had a very non-Jac night.

And despite the terrible headache she had that seemed to be tearing her brain apart, she felt strangely...refreshed. As if she'd just taken a Voss bottle filled with strawberries and Figi water and had detoxed herself.

It was actually a pleasant feeling and the only thing that could shatter it was the thought of losing it.

Sitting upright in tawny-colored sheets, Jac reached for her Windows phone that had been tossed on the hickory wooden floor, mentally groaning at the bright screen that told her she had over twenty missed calls from her father. 'Not one from mother dearest though,' She thought bitterly but quickly recomposed herself.

She genuinely, for the first time ever, felt like she'd woken up on the right side of the bed and she didn't want to ruin it.

Asher stirred in his sleep next to her, arm brushing her shoulder as he rolled over. His dark hair had fallen in his face and he was still snoring like the plush, designer vibrator Jac had found in her mother's closet once.

The only guy Jac had ever gone past second base with was Damon Felix - and after that, it was a done deal that she had to marry him. They'd only gone to third base but Jac figured once you hit third base, there was no return. Or at least that's what she read in a Vogue Italia magazine and decided it made sense. However, it had felt kind of nice to just be with someone else.

She knew damn well he was doing it at St. Larks where there was an endless supply of busty teen supermodels. Even before ditching her for boarding school, he had no problem with exploring. If he could do it, she could too.

And she felt like she'd just purchased from a brand she'd never considered before; the brand of casual sex.

No wonder Veronica Conrad did as she pleased.

It was kind of fun...

Careful not to wake the fit baseball player next to her, Jac got up, slipped gingerly back into her dress - although she couldn't find her heels anywhere! - and slipped out of the guest room.

It was ten in the morning but there were still a handful of kids littering the mansion, either passed out or too hungover to collect themselves. Weirdly enough, most of the kids still around were middle schoolers.

'Probably too wasted to call their chauffeurs.'

Jac wandered around the upper floors for Paisely. She needed a ride home, calling the family chauffeur was definitely out and there was no way she was letting Asher Donovan take her. He'd been so excited to hook up that Jac was starting to think he was infatuated with her.

Nonetheless, Jac had to get home in order to pack for the Las Vegas trip and she'd take a Pizza guy for a driver over Asher.

She peered into Paisely's blindingly pink bedroom only to find a couple snoozing away on her bed instead. Apparently, they hadn't read the sign one of the Mont Vernon maids had taped to Paisely's intricate marble door; ' No getting the freak on in bedroom, guestrooms are on second floor.'

Jac continued her search, stumbling over magnum champagne bottles, drunk kids, and way-too-inappropriate objects before giving up because her head hurt far too much to look anymore.

She'd have to go home barefoot with sex hair and no idea where her purse was but that was okay. She'd never come home from a party that way before but it felt revitalizing.

She was just about to dial the Lexington chauffeur's number, squinting down at her phone as she swayed down the stone steps overlooking the Mont Vernon's perfectly green lawn and street graced by the few lingering Mercedes' and Bugattis when she spotted Benny Costa and Seth Montador sitting on the last step.

Too occupied with their intense session of french kissing to notice Jac as she shut one of the Mont Vernon's front doors. From afar, they looked as if they were just two friends hugging out a hangover together but as Jac slowly moved towards them, it was evident that they were sharing saliva.

And they were the last two people Jac ever thought would be kissing at the moment. She couldn't help but stare, slack-jawed for a millisecond, before clearing her throat. "Good morning."

They quickly pulled away with a start, Seth practically shooting over to the edge of the step, his face completely red. "Oh, hey Jac....good morning..." He waved awkwardly, running his other hand through his golden blonde hair. Benny, however, kept her eyes locked on him as if she were studying every move he made.

Jac shrugged. "Don't stop on my account."

"Uh, we were about to stop anyway," Seth replied quickly, eyes shyly meeting Benny's for a moment before quickly looking at Jac again. He stood up, shoving a hand in his black Balmain joggers. "I should probably go home now," He said sheepishly, looking between the two girls as if he wanted to run away. "You know, to, um, to-"

"To pack?" Jac interrupted his mumbling kindly.

Seth gulped. "Um, yeah, right. To pack."

"I could take you home," Benny offered and unlike Seth, she wasn't flushing. In fact, there was a half-smirk on her face as she eyed Seth. "If you're too hungover to drive, that is. You could even come over to my house and help me pack...and do other things."

Jac was starting to think Benny had temporarily lost her mind.

Seth's eyes widened as if the raven-haired beauty had just suggested they take a field trip to public school and he nearly stumbled over one of the pearly white flowers pots that lined the Mont Vernon walkway. "That's, um, really nice of you but I think I can drive."

Benny only stifled a laugh.

"So I guess I'll just see you guys at the airport..." Seth trailed off, looking up at the clear sky - and then practically darted to his silver Jaguar convertible as if he were running a race.

Benny turned to Jac then. "Did I say something wrong?" She had an innocent grin on her face although her big, brown eyes had a mischievous glint that Jac knew indicated she was still a tad bit drunk.

Jac, with a sigh, helped her friend stand upright. "Hopefully you're not too tipsy to get us home in one piece." A car crash could definitely ruin her exhilarating mood.

Fortunately, after stopping at the Brighton Coffee Shop and replacing the champagne in their systems with espressos, Jac felt much better about riding in a firetruck red 1959 Cadillac with Benny. While old cars weren't her style, Jac could see why Benny liked them. The car screamed vintage and sophisticated but also had a roughed up, badass feel to it thanks to its coating and sleek, black interior. However, if Jeffrey bought Jac an old Cadillac for her upcoming seventeenth birthday, she'd still scream to the top of her lungs until it was swapped for a Rolls Royce.

'Ew,' maybe not a Rolls Royce. That was too much like him.

As if a switch had been flipped, Jac was suddenly losing that good feeling she'd woken up with. Suddenly the coffee in her hand reminded her of sunny, Summer mornings in Spain at Spanish coffee shops. The expensive Cadillac she was in reminded her of car shopping in Milan. The Bulgari Jewels venue that quickly blurred past them reminded her of that stupid ring that had become shattered pieces in the school parking lot, and worst of all, the reflection of the girl with jet black sex hair and smeared Estee Lauder makeup in the rear view mirror reminded her of everything about him.

She was not okay. In fact, she was not fine at all.

And some third base one night stand with Asher Donovan wasn't going to fix anything.

"I was going to tell him but I just got so frustrated because he just doesn't get it. He kept talking about that whole Ecstasy thing that happened over the Summer as if that's what I'd be mad about. He's too immature and all he cares about is drugs - annnd you're not listening."

Jac barely heard Benny as the Cadillac finally stopped at the gates of the Lexington estate that was protected by green shrubs and tall trees that only gave a peek at the circular driveway just beyond them. She said goodbye to Benny who only waved back vaguely disgruntled and waited patiently as the large gates opened before hurrying into the modern French chateau.

It was weird to be home after the catastrophe that was her father's wedding but it was still the same mansion with elaborate walnut staircases, elegant top-of-the-line decor, and million dollar portraits of Marie Antoinette adorning the walls because Jeffrey still insisted to anyone who'd listen that he was a descendant of the greedy queen.

The only thing about the home that was slightly different was the miniature hints that Steve was dating her father; which were the occasional real Cheetah fur jackets draped over one of the living room sofas or some kind of note left for Jac detailing a romantic getaway that had kept her father away. She wasn't going to miss that.

Although there was a note left for her in her room, informing her that the Lexingtons were catching up and she was to meet them at the Spago restaurant later that night, along with a Sephora gift basket - most likely Jeffrey's apology for publicly embarrassing her - and a stack of crisply clean paperwork, the word, 'COPY,' at the right hand corner of each page in bold lettering.

The paperwork was the exact documents Eve had brought with her to the Love Wins Event, declaring her five weeks pregnant along with an official signature by some woman named Dr. Singh.

Jac studied the cursive lettering for a moment - and then tossed it to the velvet carpeting.

"You're still a lying bitch." She scowled to no one in particular. She wasn't stupid. She knew what money could do. Money, so far, had bailed her out of jail, gotten her everything she ever wanted, and a way for everyone to fuck her over and then give her every luxury in the world as an apology.

If money could make miracles, she was pretty sure money could get a verified doctor to sign a fake pregnancy document.

Jac tossed the Sephora gift basket off her bed too because Sephora was so cheap it made her heart ache.

Her glorious mood she'd woken up with was completely obliterated by her mother's bullshit and suddenly, all she wanted to do was hide under her silk Dreamsacks royal purple sheets with a carton of Cookie Dough ice cream while torturing herself with every lie she'd ever been told.

Yet again, she was reminded for the second time that morning, she was not okay - when she was calm, cool, collected, Damon lover, Jac that is.

But it was officially Spring Break. Spring Break. And Jac didn't just need a break from school or Beverly Hills. She needed a break from herself.

So after showering away her dirty deeds and changing into a white Gabriel Hearst polo shirt, a grey NSF hoodie, and dark Rag & Bone jeans tighter than her father's business connections, she summoned the chauffeur - and tipped him generously since it was his off day - and took the family's pearly white Range Rover to the Beverly Wilshire hotel, strutting determinedly across the glossy gold floor of the lobby.

The chandelier-lit lobby was annoyingly crowded as businessmen from drunk-off-their-ass college students flaunting Brown, Princeton, and even Harvard school wear strutted from elevators and to the rotating doors leading out to the busy street, the bell boys hauling Louis Vuitton suitcases on wheelers that seemed to be far too heavy to push.

However, the bell boy Jac wanted to see wasn't hauling heavy luggage.

In fact, he wasn't working at all.

He was sitting in one of the dark red sequined gold chairs near the entrance, all positioned in cozy three-chair circles with pink rose vases adorning the small mahogany end tables. Blake Evans looked as hot and nonchalant as ever, sliding into a denim jacket that looked straight out of a Target catalog over his infamous white T-shirt, trying to take a gulp of coffee from an intricate teacup whilst smiling widely at the person next to him - a girl with Tresemme golden blonde locks for hair.

As Jac neared them, she realized the girl was all too familiar.

'Is that...Emma Carmichael?'

The girl stood up, swinging her pink snake skin Gucci bag on her thin shoulder and fluffing up her perfect hair with her manicured hands. Then she leaned closer to Blake, said something apparently funny as he started to laugh, and strutted away from the table.

Right over to Jac.

Her head had been down, looking intently at her Windows phone - 'why does everyone suddenly seem to have a Windows phone after I got one?' - and bumped right into Jac, light, brown eyes widening for only a second. "Oh, hey, Jac."

Jac could only muster a, "Hey." What else was she supposed to say to one of the girls her ex had cheated with?

Emma moved to walk away - but then turned back. "I meant to say this a long time ago but my Dad hauled me to New York so I never got a chance," She tucked a lock of blonde hair behind her ear, showing off a graduate lobe piercing that looked as if stars speckled her pink ear. "I'm so sorry about what happened at Paisely's party last month. I was drunk and I kind of wasn't thinking. I've been cheated on before so I feel horrible that I pretty much did it to someone else."

Jac could only stare at Blake as he rummaged through a messenger bag that was definitely not real leather.

Emma shrugged. "Anyway, you probably won't see me next semester. I'm transferring to East because the girls are way less cattier than the ones at Alabaster." With a chuckle, she strutted away, disappearing in an array of vacationers trying to get through the rotating doors.

Jac felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach.

How was she supposed to take a break from herself when everyone kept constantly reminding her she was that calm, cool, collected, Damon lover girl?

Once again, she was not okay.

But she was about to make herself feel okay - because that was the only way to get over an asshole.

Shrugging off all the, 'WTF,' questions running through her head, she sauntered over to Blake as he stood up, tapping him lightly on the shoulder.

The blonde-haired bellboy who was still searching his cheap bag looked up, expression unreadable for a moment, before he relaxed into a shaky smile. "Jac! What are you doing here?"

Strangely enough, he actually made her feel like grinning back. "I'm here to complain to one of the managers. There's this one bell boy who keeps stalking me at public events."

As usual, her sarcasm was lost on Blake because he frowned as if he were trying to decipher some kind of code. She was always going to find his inability to decode sarcasm as the most annoying, unattractive, and boring thing about him.

"Are you talking about why I was at the Montage hotel? " Blake asked, his concern actually seeming genuine. 'I swear I wasn't stalking you last night. I'm working two jobs now to save up for a new car and-"

Jac broke his excuses with a kiss, Blake dropping his bag on to the glossy reflecting floor with a small thud! His lips were hesitant on hers but he quickly kissed her back, his arms moving around her back. Unlike Damon who tended to rest his arms around her neck, which she always liked because it gave her easy access to hickeys and it was much easier for her to become intoxicated with Calvin Klein cologne - 'Taking a break from Jac, remember?' She scolded herself.

And the more she told herself this, the more easier it was to just become lost with the person she was with. Maybe that's why it felt so revitalizing to hook up with Asher Donovan. She didn't think about him or any of her other problems once.

Blake broke the kiss. "What was that?"

"Me telling you to shut up and go on vacation with me." Jac replied fairly, tousling her hair in that way she knew guys just loved although she had the feeling nothing she did would make her any more attractive to Blake. It was clear he was already sprung just after one date.

Blake's smile slowly disappeared, however, and he picked up his fallen denim bag that Jac wanted to snatch away and replace with a Serpian messenger bag instead. "That'd be nice but I can't. I'm normal, Jac, and normal people have jobs."

"Take a few vacation days then." Jac said.

Blake smiled ruefully. "I wish it was that simple but I need the money."

Jac hated but was still intrigued by the whole normal concept. Sure, it made her feel silly at times but she always felt like she was getting a dose of reality whenever Blake explained the problems she - or anyone else she knew for that matter - didn't have.

Because she had much more money than Blake and money could handle everything.

Money can handle everything.

"Now I really want to see your manager." Jac crossed her arms, pretending to be an irritated customer - it wasn't really that hard since the girl she was taking a break from was more than irritated.

"You still think I was stalking you?" Blake nearly gaped.

"No," Jac rolled her eyes playfully, grabbing his hand. "I want to ask him personally how much it costs to kidnap one of their employees."

Blake's face practically lit up and Jac decided she'd brush off the whole Emma encounter. She didn't know why he was talking to a girl from her school but she didn't need to know. Blake wasn't ever going to be her boyfriend because casual sex was called casual sex for a reason - and Jac had a feeling Blake was much better under the sheets than Asher Donovan.

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A/N: In case you guys forgot, Emma Carmichael is indeed that one girl who started it all (kind of.)

Also, really interested to know what you guys thinks about the Benny x Seth thing? 

Thank you so much to everyone who reads! xx

(The trip was originally supposed to be Palm Springs but it's been changed to Las Vegas because reasons.)