Matthew Felix paced angrily across the wooden pine oak floors of the downstairs living room. His hands were firmly behind his back as if he were an escort but the scowl on his face said otherwise. The two police officers who had answered the complaint stood awkwardly in the doorway, fidgeting with their hats and collars. Their behavior was expected as they were in one of the most wealthiest homes in Beverly Hills.

Erika was standing by the stairs, her auburn hair swept in a bun, wearing just a tight - fitted white t-shirt and Victoria's Secret PINK pajama pants. Damon could tell she was amused with the whole spectacle by the rueful smile on her face.

He rolled his eyes. Of course Erika was enjoying all of this. The one thing she loved more than maxing out their father's credit cards was watching Damon - or anyone else for that matter - suffer.

After minutes of walking back and forth, Matthew turned to the two young officers who straightened up in posture. "I'll pay off the ticket," and then his voice lowered. "And I'll pay even more to make sure this doesn't go anywhere else." Damon knew what that meant ; How much does it cost to wipe this off  the records?

The officers both looked at each other, astonished. Then one of them spoke. "Uh, sir, I don't know about-"

Matthew pulled out 10 grand from his suit pocket and shoved it at the officer. "Will that cover everything?"

The officers were nowhere near protesting when the cash came out.

Minutes later, Damon was watching the cop car roll out of their circular driveway, their lights flashing through the posh neighborhood. He was almost disgusted at how corrupt these cops were but then reminded himself that was a good thing - for his sake.

"Gosh, Daddy, Damon is so lucky you're smart," Erika said in her sugar sweet voice that only Damon could see through. "Without you, he'd probably be on some dingy episode of Beyond Scared Straight."

"Shut up, Erika." He moved away from the window he'd been looking through to see that familiar, pestering smirk of hers. The smirk that said, 'I'm behind it all'.

It only took Damon seconds to put the pieces together. "You stupid bitch!"

Erika grinned triumphantly although the smile was quickly wiped off her face under the glare of their father.

Matthew only crossed his arms, teeth gritted together. "You have disgraced me again."

"I didn't do anything, Daddy," Erika said loudly. "I understand how important your reputation is - unlike Damon." She shot him a spiteful look.

Damon couldn't believe what he was hearing. The girl practically went shoplifting at Barneys just a week ago and here she was acting like a precious angel. Damon was done playing their short-lived game of 'Who can catch who'. He was ready to win. 

"You wanna know what happened on one of Erika's shopping sprees, Dad?" He spat, shooting Erika a glare. Her eyes were moving wildly around the room, obviously trying to come up with a plan to stop him.

"Daddy, he's lost it," Erika managed. "I think he needs to go to rehab or something."

"Dad!" Damon shouted over her voice, looking towards his father who was still planted in the middle of the room.

Matthew Felix was glaring past them both, his eyes locked on the large mosaic art just above the staircase. Damon followed his father's gaze to the painting of his mother and grimaced. He liked to pretend that picture wasn't there.

Damon took a step towards his father although his movement was wary. "Dad, I haven't embarrassed you. There's way more talk going on about Erika's-"

"Haven't embarrassed me." Matthew snorted, his shoulders shaking with him. Damon practically jumped back because he was so sure his father was going to hit him.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Erika snickering now, moving slowly up the stairs. 

"Tell me something, son," Matthew said, smiling humorlessly. "Do you think getting arrested for car theft was embarrassing?"

Damon took another step back because he suddenly didn't like where things were going.

"Do you?" Matthew asked again.

Damon had expected the first punch. He deserved it after all. Matthew Felix prided himself on being the most successful of the Elites , or in other words, the most wealthiest 'old money' families that still occupied Los Angeles. Damon had jeopardized his position, his image, his reputation. So he didn't even flinch with the first punch.

However, he wasn't expecting the second one nor the ones that followed.

"He would beat my ass on a Thursday." Damon found himself muttering the next morning. After a painful sleep - despite his 25, 000 dollar bed sheets imported from Egypt - he'd reluctantly slid out of bed, sent Jac an apologetic status on her Facebook wall that he doubt would work, and went to examine the damage in his personal bathroom.

The damage was more terrifying than stains on silk. His lower lip was busted which Damon actually thought made him look tough. His right eye was bruised while the left  was swollen and he had a slight ache near his abdomen that had been much worse last night.

"God, I wanted you to get in trouble not watch your murder."

Damon found himself scowling - a facial expression that left no question of him being Matthew's son - when he seen Erika in the mirror, leaning against the tile door frame. She was already dressed for the school day.

"Get out of my room, Erika." He muttered, wetting a Matouk egyptian cotton towel and slowly bringing it to his swollen eye. He hissed from the pain, cursing as he dropped it into the sink. There was no way he was going to do that again.

"Dr. Oz says you're supposed to treat it with warm water."" Erika said flatly. She was always quoting the man when it came to health ever since she met him in person at the Scarpetta restaurant five months ago.

Damon checked his phone for some kind of answer from Jac and then remembered she didn't have any of her phones.

"Well, good job at trying to ruin my life," Erika gave him one of those fake smiles she was always giving to the peasants that worked at Starbucks. "But lets be honest, I'm much better at that kind of thing than you are."

"What do you want from me , Erika?" He nearly shouted. "What did I ever do to you?" He could vaguely remember when he and his sister used to get along. That had been Freshman year. Everyone liked each other and there was literally no drama in their close knit group. It almost made Damon sad to think about how things had changed.

Erika bit her lower lip as if she were thinking on the question. "Lets see, you broke my Barbie dollhouse when we were five, you have Dad wrapped around your little finger, you're dating Jac even though I asked you not to-"

"Come on, Erika, that's petty, its got to be deeper than that." The dollhouse was a minor case as it had been replaced immediately the next day. Considering the damage to his beloved face, his father wasn't exactly worshiping him. As for Jac? Who was Erika to deny him the girl he loved? He had known Jac first anyway.

Erika shrugged. "You keep existing." With a toss of her auburn hair, Erika strutted out of the room, her Louis Vuittons clicking as she went.

Looking up at the mirror again - at his horrific face - Damon pretended as if he were prepping for a game, giving his team inspirational words to help them fight and win. However, his goal was different for this round. Instead of scoring a goal, he was getting back his girl - and bringing down a bitch that was equivalent to Medusa in Jimmy Choos.

                                                                     ⓇⒾⒸⒽⓀⒾⒹⓈ

Jac leaned against one of the gold pillars below the school courtyard's gazebo roof. The morning was crisp and the air was warm which meant literally every girl at Alabaster Prep were debuting their legs and bare arms for the first sunny day of the year.

Jac, however, wasn't like everyone else as she was still bundled up in a Nina Ricci floral lace cardigan and bleached True Religion jeans.She hadn't had time to dress with the trend yet she was still greeted with envious stares and compliments.

Looking over the brisk, crowded courtyard, Jac spotted Lindsey Wells weaving through the busy crowd into the indoor halls. She no longer wore her ridiculously long extensions and actually looked modest and pretty with her shoulder-length bleached hair. However, Jac took any good thought she had about the girl back when Lindsey - glancing around first -  picked up a hundred dollar bill off the ground as if she actually needed it - 'Gross!'

 "Hey," Jac nearly squealed as Benny Costa came to stand beside her. "I was texting you all morning but you never responded."

"My phones were taken." Jac admitted meekly.

Benny loosened the Tiffany's hair clip that pushed back her rocker black bangs. Looking over her vintage white Celine T-shirt and tie-dye Alexander Mcqueen jeans, Jac suddenly felt like a Plain Jane or a Peasant Mary. "That's the whole point of having multiple phones, Jac, so that if one gets taken you have a backup."

"I don't really care anymore." She had much more important things to worry about than her iPhone collection which she hadn't even missed. Eve and Jeffrey were not too thrilled about their daughter walking through the front door when she was supposed to be in her room, crying over the wifi they'd cut off.

"Is it about what I told you?" Benny asked. "Like I said, it could just be a rumor."

"That is incorrect." Erika pushed through the eavesdropping wannabes to join them, looking like she'd stepped straight ouf of a modern Marilyn Monroe biopic.  "The rumor is as real as the diamonds on your boots, Benny." 

"Oh, well then I'm really sorry, Jac," Benny said softly. 

Jac almost hated to hear the sympathy and pity her friends were giving her. Sure, it had been nice at first when the news had been too much to bear but now she just felt weak and dumb. Now everyone would regard her as that girl who had been dropped on her ass for the next best thing. It was a repeat of Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie except she was Jennifer and that sucked.

"If it makes you feel better," Erika said. "I'm the one who made the noise complaint."

Benny laughed but Jac was furious.

"You're kidding?" She gasped. 

"Kidding is for those who are too irrelevant to be telling the truth." Erika said bluntly, examining a strand of hair.

"Do you know how much trouble I'm probably going to be in for that?"  Jac exclaimed. Jeffrey had thrown a cringe-worthy fit about ransom kidnappers and slimy pervs, vowing to buy alarm systems for every door in the house. Not to mention Eve decided to take away Jac's favorite Mercedes so Jac had to ride in the Range Rover with Steve again.

"Looks to me like you're already in trouble," Erika shrugged. "You're practically maxed out on social media."

"My phones were taken," Jac found herself saying automatically and then gave a frustrated squeal that made a few heads turn. "I am seriously about to lose it with you Felix people!"

"Hey guys!" Seth Montador came up behind Benny,his usual easy going smile radiating his whole face. He quickly frowned however when he detected the tension between Erika and Jac.

Erika waved her hand dismissively. "I did you a favor so stop acting so ungrateful and say thank you."

Jac was baffled by Erika. How could she not see what was wrong with this whole situation? She'd called the cops on her brother and brought more chaos into Jac's punishment. 'Yeah, thank you for ruining my already fucked up life even further.'

Erika raised an elegant eyebrow. "Well?"

"Should I go?" Seth whispered into Benny's ear.

Before Jac could tell Erika exactly what needed to be taken out of her snobby ass, there was a  loud blaring that quickly silenced the whole courtyard. They all looked up to see two sleek, black jets flying in zigzag lines through the sky. The jets left white smoke and as the clouds cleared, the smoke turned into words;

'From the day I first saw you, you had me, I was yours. Please forgive me.'

Jac felt her face flush like a tomato as she read Damon's name at the bottom of the message as if it were a letter. 

As the jets flew away from the school, all eyes fell on to their posse. Jac was all about attention but standing there, feeling the eyes of pity boring into her soul, made her want to run to the nearest bathroom and live there for the rest of her life.

Seth was the first to break the painful silence. "Did that really just happen?" Then, of course, everyone broke into loud chatter, shooting stares and glances towards them.

Girls were practically gushing over the spectacle while others insisted the message was for them.

Jac lifted the hem of her cardigan to cover her face, not caring that she looked ridiculous. "Great, now everyone is going to be wondering whats wrong with us."

"No offense, but everyone knows about the Ermma issue." Seth pointed out and Benny slapped his arm, causing him to yelp. "What was that for?"

"Don't make her feel worse, you dickwad." Benny scolded.

"No, he's right," Erika smirked."You'd have to live in the slums to have a good excuse to why you don't know about the Emma issue."

"What happened to that girl anyway?" Benny asked tentatively.

"Parents have joint custody so she spends one semester here and one semester in New York with her Dad." Seth said matter of factly.

Jac felt nauseous talking about one of the many girls who had gotten to have Damon first. Here she was saving her virginity for him while he ran around parties with girls like Emma Carmicheal. Jac couldn't help but feel like a dumbass.

The daily Disciplinary Committee didn't have any more victims for the week and so Jac was forced to go to her actual first period; Pre - Calculus - with Damon and some of the most biggest gossipers in the junior class. Jac was not looking forward to that so when the bell rang, she took her time.

She first went to her locker to retrieve something she already had and then went to the bathroom, primping until the warning bell rang. By the time, she came to her class room, nearly all the chairs were filled - and Damon was nowhere to be found.

Taking a deep breath, Jac slid into a seat at the front of the class. Everyone knew the back row of Pre-Calculus was for those who cared way too much about the school gossip than mathematics - and Jac didn't feel like hearing what they most likely had to say about her today.

Just as the tardy bell rang, the dreaded Damon Felix waltzed into the classroom with a huge smirk and a black eye. There were collective gasps as the room went dead silent, everyone gaping at him. 

However, Damon seemed unfazed, nonchalantly taking a seat directly next to Jac. She anxiously looked over her shoulder only to find there was nowhere for her to move.

Ms. Mession cleared her throat - obviously trying not to look at Damon's eye - and ordered everyone to start doing the usual morning warmup. Though not even the start of class could silence the room.

"I heard Chris beat the shit out of Damon."

"Well I know for a fact that some guys from East Prep got him in the parking lot."

"A bunch of gang bangers from the slums broke into the Felix estate last night. Duh!"

Ms. Mession shot a death glare towards the back of the class which quickly diminished the whispers. Everyone seemed to be itching to acknowledge the big diamond in the room, every now and  then glancing up to look at Damon.

"What happened to your eye?" Jac couldn't help but ask but she made sure not to look at him. He couldn't just leave a sky message for her to see and expect everything to be better.

'Practice was harsh," was all he said.

Despite the fact that they were going over answers for the big test, Jac found herself unable to concentrate, her mind still racing away with last night. She thought about the things they'd said and grimaced at how far she' d gone. Damon was right, talking about his father was out of line. Yet raising his hand over her definitely didn't make him a saint either.

Damon didn't speak again until Ms. Mession turned her back to the white board. "Did you see my message?" He asked innocently and Jac accidentally looked at him, shamefully admiring his blue eyes.

"Yeah, I did."

"And what did you think?"

'That it was the most sweetest thing anyone could ever do for me.' However, there was no way Jac was going to admit that. She'd made too many mistakes and given too many chances. She had missed the signs that Erika and Paisely had practically been throwing in her face. Not to mention, the balcony fight was the most intense argument they ever had.

Yet Jac was scared. If she turned her back, Damon wouldn't have any problem finding someone else. With that thought in mind, Jac had to remind herself who she was. She was Jacqueline Lexington; calm, cool, collected and one of the most hottest girls at Alabaster Preparatory School. Damon was lucky that he even got to talk to her let alone be with her.

She put on her best unimpressed scowl. "I think you're going to have to try harder." Then with a flip of her long, jet-black hair, she turned towards Ms. Mession's lesson and tried to focus for once.

                                                                           ⓇⒾⒸⒽⓀⒾⒹⓈ

 Erika examined her face in her locker mirror, once again admiring her flawless skin and enchanting eyes. From the corner of her eye, she could see the group of Seniors who were leaning against their lockers, watching her. 'Disgusting.' However, Erika winked in their direction anyway. Better to be what everyone was looking at then invisible.

"You confuse the hell out of me, y'know that?"

Chris Edwards' voice startled her and she nearly closed the locker door on her manicured fingers. She forced herself not to curse, slamming the locker door shut and turning to him. "Shouldn't you be hanging out with the Lacrosse slobs right now?"

Chris chuckled and Erika again noticed how good looking he was - yet she still couldn't understand the hype over him. He was childish and was trying way too hard to be another Damon.  "I wanna hang out with you today."

Erika smirked, walking towards the school cafe's Starbucks stand that had a ridiculously long line. Rich kids loved their coffee. Despite the line, Erika simply had to strut all the way to the front , pushing past two tumblr girls who were just about to order. The girls didn't dare protest.

"Well, that was rude." She heard Chris snicker from behind her and was almost annoyed that he had followed her.

She almost couldn't bear being around him but watching Paisely's little smile crumple up like a knockoff Gucci purse was all worth it.  She smiled sweetly at the cute scholarship student who worked the stand; David Beckham - who nearly melted under her gaze - and ordered her usual latte.

"If I'm so rude, why are you still talking to me?" Erika challenged Chris now.

He licked his lips and she noticed his attention was on her slender hips. "Come on, you don't just send dirty texts and expect me not to-"

She brought her finger to his lips, surprised at how soft they were. He was cute and he had nice lips but Erika just could not get herself excited about him. As she thought back to her old boyfriends and crushes, she realized she hadn't been excited about them either. She usually used guys to get back at other girls - and to show example of her dominance of course.

David handed her her latte and Erika grabbed it, pulling away from Chris and heading for her usual table. He followed like a lost puppy.

Veronica and Damon were already at the table along with Paisely who was eyeing Erika enviously. 'Gosh, can she make it anymore obvious?' Despite the ditsy blonde shooting daggers towards her, Erika sat down next to her, sipping her latte innocently.

She made sure to give Damon a nasty glare and he quickly returned it before putting his attention back on Veronica. Erika was disappointed. That was all he was going to give her after last night? She'd set him up for the beat down of his life. She wanted him to blow up, cause a scene. The dumb romantic sky message wasn't enough - especially when every girl at school was praising him for it.

"So since you never let me take a spin in your car," Veronica batted her long lashes, a move that was so cliche' but actually worked when she was doing it. "Maybe we can reschedule? How about after the big game?"

"Depends on whats going on after the game," Damon said huskily. "Don't you wanna go to the after party?"

"I wouldn't mind ditching it for you." 

Erika was about to interrupt the conversation when Chris slid in to the seat next to her, his arm circling around her and pulling her close. Erika had to stop her normal reflex of pulling away because Paisely was looking at them - and she loved when Paisely, or anyone for that matter, was mad.

She forced a grin, removing Chris' arm with a secretive smile. "I don't know what you think you're doing."

"You know exactly what I'm doing."

'A peasant could kidnap me right now and I'd be grateful,' Erika thought with disdain but on the outside, she was still looking into Chris' eyes with that seductive smile she pulled on every guy at school.

Chris' eyes tore away from hers to look at Damon who was scowling now. Then with a stretch, he settled in his seat. "We better win that game tomorrow." Erika made a note to herself of the fact that he'd totally backed away from her once Damon had noticed them.

"Is someone doubting themselves?" Damon smirked.

"No," Chris snorted. "I'm just not so sure about you and Connor. I swear if we don't win and get that after party, I'm destroying every Bugatti in the city."

Erika was torn away from the conversation by a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see Paisely biting her lip warily as if she were afraid the girl was going to snap at her. "Can I talk to you?" She asked.

Erika rolled her eyes. "What?"

"Privately?"

Erika took a sip of her latte and followed the blonde girl to the outside lockers. Paisely was, as usual, natural in a casual Surf Bazaar tank dress that showed off curves no one else at school had. Erika suddenly felt a tad bit self conscious. 

"Are you and Chris...." Paisely trailed off.

"Spit it out, gosh." Erika snapped even though she already knew Paisely's question.

"Are you and Chris dating?" She asked, her voice trembling slightly.

Jac came over then, holding her Gucci bag tightly to her chest. She stood next to Paisely, a relieved look on her face. "Is Damon over at our table?"

Erika reluctantly looked at her. "Yeah, they're talking about dumb Lacrosse."

Jac made a face and leaned against the locker behind Paisely, taking out her MAC compact mirror and examining her pore-less face. Paisely was still eyeing Erika uneasily. "Well...are you?"

Erika put on her best 'bored' face, taking another sip of her latte and tossing a lock of auburn hair over her shoulder. "What makes you think that?"

Jac looked up at them then, waiting for Erika's answer.

Erika weighed her options. She could deny any relationship with Chris and drop the operation of getting back at Paisely or she could completely shatter Paisely's self esteem and act like something was going on.  Obviously the more fun - and satisfying - choice was what appealed to Erika.

"Yes, we're dating," She lied smoothly and Jac gasped. "I hope that's not a problem, Paige."

Paisely pursed her lips. "But....But I told you I liked him."

"Gosh, Paisely, this is like your longest crush ever." Jac said pointedly.

"Oh well, Paige, I got him first." Erika said triumphantly, loving how puny Paisely looked at that moment.

"But that's not fair!" Paisely exclaimed, causing a group of girls passing by to stop and watch from a short distance.  "You probably don't even like him!"

Erika took another sip of her latte, making sure to wink at a group of Lacrosse boys who were watching them from the Starbucks stand. "Well, maybe this is a karma considering you nearly got me arrested."

"Well, that is true." Jac agreed sheepishly.

"But you said you weren't mad." Paisely cried.

Erika was about to crush the girl's soul when her phone buzzed in her Fendi purse. She pressed a finger to Paisely's lips - and almost blushed - as she pulled out her phone. She couldn't help but be conscious of how close she was to Paisely at that moment. So, she took a step back and checked her phone.

'Game tomorrow. Wanna be my good luck charm?'

Erika hid her disgust with a smirk aimed at Paisely. "Looks like Chris wants me to be his girl for the game."

"How come I can never have a guy actually like me?" Paisely looked as if she were about to cry right there in front of everyone and Jac put her arm around the girl. "Why do you have to be so mean?"

Erika only thought about the question for a split second, realizing she didn't know why she was so mean. She just knew that being a bitch was more fun than going on a million dollar shopping spree. 'I probably need a therapist,' She thought to herself.

"I thought we were friends and-"

"My Louis Vuittons are higher than your self esteem, please shut up." Satisfied that she had silenced the girl, she turned on her heel, making her way back to their group's table. Although, she was nowhere near liking Chris, she walked right up to him - and kissed him.

He responded eagerly and she opened her eyes slightly only to see his  were closed. Of course, the world didn't move and she didn't feel anything from the kiss.  In fact, while she was kissing one of the most hottest guys at school - the whole courtyard watching, bewildered - and her mind was on one question that hung in the air.

'Why do you have to be so mean?'

---------------------------------------------

This was more of a filler chapter or you could call it, the calm before the storm cx Thank you for all the reads I've gotten so far and helping this book make it to 200 reads! It means a lot!

& this beautiful fanart is by misscaulfield! It reminds me of Erika so much!

Feel free to comment and vote as I really do like seeing feedback!