“So, you’re not going to get your half of the deposit back?”
“Not worth it,” he snaps. I follow him back into the house.
“Well, I can’t afford to lose that money, Beau.”
With a long, annoyed sigh, he spins on me and rolls his eyes. “Fine. Here.” He pulls his phone from his back pocket and types something quickly with a furrow in his brow. A moment later, my phone vibrates from my purse. “That’s his address. Take it up with him.”
Then, he just walks away, leaving me with my jaw hanging open. “Seriously? That’s it?”
“If you really wanted the money, you should have met with the landlord yesterday.”
“You’re an asshole,” I mumble, before turning and leaving him to unpack his shit in his new place. Walking down the driveway toward the car where my sister waits with her AirPods in, I do my best to not appear as bothered as I am. But as I climb into the driver’s seat and shut the door, I feel the intensity of her sympathetic eyes on me. My forehead drops to the steering wheel as I fight the urge to cry.
“Beau’s a dick,” she says quietly, and I laugh. Letting Sophie cuss around me is sort of the big sister deal. My mother has a fit when she hears either of us swearing, so I let Soph do it when we’re alone. And in this case, I can’t really argue with her.
“I know.”
“At least you broke up with him.”
“Yeah. Too bad I still don’t have my money.” Fishing my phone out of my purse, I open the text from Beau.
“Why not?”
“Because I’m an idiot and messed up. So now I have to go pick it up from his dad, and I’m willing to bet that asshole didn’t fall far from the asshole tree.”
“So, let’s go get it,” she replies, looking a little too pumped to go pick up money from a complete stranger.
“I have no clue where this guy even lives. I’m not taking you to the ghetto.” As I click on the address in the text, it pulls up the map app and shows a red pin on a street directly next to the oceanfront. “That can’t be right.”
“What is it?” she asks, leaning over.
“It says his house is over in the Oceanview district.”
“Let’s goooo.”
I laugh again and ruffle her short, faded blue hair. It’s still growing out from the buzz-cut she gave herself last summer, so now it hangs just below her ears.
“Nice try, little Smurf, but you have piano lessons, and Mrs. Wilcox will have my head if you’re late again.”
Sophie rolls her eyes and gives me a dramatic pout as we pull out of Beau’s driveway and head across town to the high school where Sophie gets her lessons. The entire way, I replay every moment of the fight with Beau, his harsh tone etched into my memory. And a feeling of dread settles in my gut as I think about having to confront his dad.
Beau rarely spoke about his family when we were together, and whenever I asked about them, he would just change the subject, as if he was ashamed or embarrassed. Getting his dad to co-sign for us last year was hard enough, but shortly after, there was a rift between them and Beau stopped talking to him altogether. At first, we bonded over our mutual disdain for our fathers. And if Beau’s dad is anything like mine, the whole interaction is sure to be a fucking blast.
RULE #2: NO POUTING.
Emerson
Why is she giving me that look? The Bettie Page lookalike with blunt black bangs and quite lovely curves is kneeling on the floor next to my desk, and she’s…pouting. Her ruby red lips are pursed, and she’s just gazing up at me as I drink my coffee. Everything that she should not be doing.
This is a cry for attention, which makes sense, considering my attention is exactly what brought her here in the first place. I’m literally paying her to earn a soft pat on the head or a little affirmation—earn being the operative word. So far, this girl has done nothing but patronize me with all the fucking theatrics, and I’m about two seconds away from tossing her out the door. Literally.
If you want my attention, you have to earn it first. Behave. Do as I say. Otherwise, stay silent. That’s not me being a dick, that’s literally the scene we’re playing, but this girl isn’t playing by the rules. She knew exactly what she was signing up for when she took this job.
“Stare at the floor,” I command without looking at her.
There’s a disgruntled sounding huff that escapes her lips before she turns her gaze down to the floor. I sure hope she’s not interested in being a brat because that is definitely not my style, and it said so quite clearly in the application.