A Piece of Heaven_A Reverse Harem Contemporary Romance Page 3

  “People are not interested in me.” He rolled his eyes. “They just want to see me fail. They think I’m a goody-two-shoes. A prude.”

  “Well, there’s that, too.”

  I looked up at the slats on the ceiling and thought about it. People noticed me. They thought about me. And one move outside my box threw the whole school for a loop. As awkward and surreal as it all was, it was nice to not be invisible for once. “You know, maybe I should embrace this. Have some fun for once in my life.”

  “Uh…what?”

  “Maybe I should, Oliver. Who’s it going to hurt?”

  “Um...you? Your family? Your friends?” he said. But we both knew I didn’t really have any friends, and that’s when I told him what happened earlier that day.

  “Eric asked me to fake make out with him!”

  “He what?” His eyes narrowed and a thin vein appeared on his forehead.

  I covered my eyes with my hand. “I think I’m going to do it.”

  “No way. This is a bad idea.”

  “I just want to shake things up a bit. I’m sick of the girls at school looking at me like I’m a pathetic loser and the boys like I’m invisible. It was nice having a little attention today.”

  “Even from Spencer?” His voice came out in a growl.

  “Spencer’s a dick. But maybe I can help Eric the same way I helped Justin. That has to count for something, right?”

  “I’m not sure it works that way,” he said, trying to be the voice of reason.

  I didn’t say anything else, trying to sort out my feelings. Oliver wasn’t done.

  “I think you’ll regret it.”

  “They think I’m a whore anyway. What difference does it make?”

  “Heaven...you don’t see yourself clearly.”

  “Maybe I don’t,” I said. “Maybe it’s time I defined myself clearly, for me and everyone else.”

  I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, even after Oliver left and my mom came home. I had one night to decide if I wanted to alter my reputation forever. What did I have to lose?

  *

  The rain was coming down in sheets the next morning as I pulled into the parking lot at school. I spotted Eric’s beat-up Toyota in its usual spot and pulled my mom’s truck in next to it. Loud music shook his windows and I jumped in the passenger seat to get out of the rain.

  “Hey,” I said, tugging off the hood to my raincoat. “Sucky weather.”

  “Totally.” His fingers adjusted the volume, making it lower. When he looked up at me, his forehead narrowed. “Did you straighten your hair?”

  I rolled my eyes. I didn’t even want to know why he noticed. “Yes. I do that sometimes even though it’s ridiculous in this stupid weather.” I lifted up my hair. “I even burned my neck trying to get underneath.”

  Eric didn’t seem impressed or concerned over my injury so I dropped my hair and sighed. “Look, I want to help you, but I really think this is the wrong way to go about it.

  “What?” he asked, devastation crossing his face. “Come on, Heaven...”

  “I thought about it a lot last night and this really isn’t the solution to either of our problems, you know? It’s six months and you’ll be gone. No biggie.” I smiled weakly, knowing my argument wasn’t what he wanted to hear. Oliver had been right though, the sacrifice was too much. He didn’t even know how much.

  The rain slackened and I attempted a look out the window but they had fogged since I got in. I could hear the other students’ cars pulling into the lot—the bell would ring soon.

  “No hard feelings, okay?”

  He casted me a disgruntled glare but I could tell he wasn’t mad—more resigned. All in all, he was pretty good kid. I flipped my hood over my head and opened my door. When I stood up, I came face to face with Jennifer Stevens.

  “Oh. Hi,” I said, slamming the door behind me.

  “Heaven.” She peered over my shoulder. She narrowed her eyes. “What’s going on?”

  “Um... none of your business.” And it wasn’t. She was the last person who needed to know anything, about anything.

  A door slammed behind me.

  “Hi, Eric,” she said, glancing over at him. “So you gave Heaven a ride, huh?”

  Oh, Jennifer. Really? I considered the places I could kick her. “No, my mom’s truck is over there. We were just talking.”

  “Talking?”

  “Yes, are you deaf? Talking.”

  “Like how you and Justin Blackwood were talking?”

  My fists balled into the bottom of my sleeves. “Justin and I are friends. Since pre-school. You know that.”

  She nodded, her stupid frizzy hair bobbing along. “You and Eric were ‘friends’, too.” Her eyes dropped and she reached over and pushed my hood back. “That looks fun.”

  My hand flew to the burn on my neck. I looked at the all-knowing smirk on Jennifer’s face and shifted my gaze to Eric. I thought he would defend me but instead, he had his own all-knowing smirk on his own face.

  I tilted my head and plead, “Eric...”

  He shrugged, basically throwing me under the bus, and said, “It was fun, Heaven, see you around.” He rounded the car and waved over Jennifer’s shoulder. Frozen in my spot, I watched as the two of them walked into school.

  Chapter 4

  Thankfully the school was abuzz with a different sort of energy that day. Every student was getting a school-issued laptop. We lined up alphabetically, shuffling through the library to sign the waivers agreeing to our end of the deal; any damage was our fault, any lost property was our fault, no porn, no games, nothing but homework and studying.

  In theory, we couldn’t watch porn or play games due to the controls set on the devices, but by lunch word had traveled around school about the way to circumvent this. Seriously, my generation was smart, but they needed to use their powers for good and not evil.

  The Fakestagram account said this was a long-shot.

  Oliver cornered me at my locker after lunch, new laptop tucked under his arm. He touched the burn on my neck. I sighed and glanced over his shoulder. Jackson Hall stood behind him, watching me intently.

  “Who told you?”

  “Hayden.”

  “Hayden? Why is Hayden talking about me?”

  “He overheard Jennifer in Art. But that’s not the point. The point is, less than twenty-four hours after I tell you not to pull this crazy stunt, I get word you were in Eric’s shitty car and came out with a hickey.”

  “It’s not a hickey.” I sighed, grabbing my book and slamming the locker door. “It’s a burn. I burned myself on my fucking hair straightener and for the record, I told him ‘no’, and that stupid skank Jennifer saw us together and blah, blah, blah, the rest is Allendale High history.”

  His eyes dimmed, realizing he’d yelled at me for no reason. “What happened to Eric?”

  I groaned. “The last time I saw him, he was getting high-fives in the hallway from Mark and Alex.”

  “Assholes,” Jackson says. I’d almost forgotten he was there. You know, other than the fact he’s so handsome my hands had been sweating just knowing he was nearby.

  Oliver nodded in agreement.

  “I know.” I felt like a fool. I turned the corner to where we could have a little privacy. “Everyone really will think I’m a whore after this. What am I going to do?”

  “Who cares?” Jackson asked.

  “Umm...everyone, apparently.”

  His gray eyes hold mine. “But do you?”

  “No. I know I’m not a whore. Most virginal whore ever.”

  Both boys stared at my admission. Jackson ran his hand through his hair.

  What Oliver said next took me by surprise. “I hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but what you said yesterday gave me an idea. It’s risky and it may totally fail, but really, at this point, it may be the best way to handle it.”

  I braced myself, already feeling the anxiety rising. “Okay, tell me...I’m ready.”

  But, I wasn’
t ready. Not at all.

  *

  I showed up the next day in an outfit that was a little tighter, a little shorter, and definitely a lot sluttier. My socks were tight, striped, and went up to my thighs. My skirt barely grazed the tops of them, and my shirt was from the children’s department. Enough said.

  I pulled my hair up, letting the red welt show on my neck.

  That was Oliver’s big plan, which was really my original plan, but now, for some crazy reason, it wasn’t just me implementing it. I had allies. Two hot, popular allies.

  Right. I was living in bizarro world.

  I wasn’t hiding anymore. They could think what they wanted, and for once, maybe I could change my reputation from nobody to somebody. I’d intentionally put myself out there. Maybe going from unnoticed to noticed wasn’t the worst thing. Maybe it was time to take control of my life, do what I want and forget about everyone else.

  Easier said than done, I thought, hiding with my head shoved in my locker. I pretended to rummage around for my books until I felt a tap on my shoulder.

  “I think you dropped this?” I heard a deep, sexy voice say.

  I turned and fought to keep the smile off my face. Jackson Hall was holding a pink Hello Kitty pencil in my direction. It wasn’t mine, but whatever. “Clumsy me,” I said, plucking the pencil from his hands. “Thanks.”

  Jackson wasn’t Oliver or even Anderson. We weren’t friends and if anyone was known as a player in the group, it was him. His gray eyes were glued to my legs and boobs and neck. Every time he shifted from one he got stuck on the other. I cleared my throat. “Bell’s gonna ring.”

  His eyes snapped upward. “Yeah, um...okay.”

  My stomach was twisted in a pretzel. We were really doing this. Operation Heaven’s A Slut was in action. Would I have liked Oliver to be the one doing this? Sure. Anderson? Definitely. Playing with Jackson was like playing with fire. I could get burned, but he was a means to an end, and I wasn’t going to risk losing the opportunity because I was out of my comfort zone.

  “Would you like to walk with me?” I said it teasingly. I’m pretty sure I sounded like an idiot. Man, flirting was hard.

  A lazy smile crossed his lips. “Sure.”

  We took the short walk together, talking about classes and stuff. I tried not to appear as though my heart was about to bust out of my chest. I tried to ignore Eric as he winked at me from his locker when we passed. Jackson mentioned a party that weekend, although he didn’t exactly extend an invite. When we reached the Chem lab, he abruptly stopped talking and looked away.

  Anderson was waiting at the door. He gave me the same cocky smirk as he always did, but his eyes were stuck on his friend. Every other boy in the school had given me the once-over that day. Apparently, Anderson was immune.

  “See you around, Jackson,” I said, leaving the boys in the hall.

  I walked to my seat and sat on the stool, dropping my books on the table. My eyes flew to the door when I heard a raised voice. It was Anderson. He and Jackson were arguing about something, and although I tried to use my supersonic hearing, they kept it low enough for me to not hear. Damn it. I needed a better superpower than being the good girl turned bad, especially since Anderson didn’t seem interested in either. The last thing I saw between the two was some kind of staring contest, and then Anderson punched Jackson in the arm. It was hard enough that he winced and rubbed it as he walked away from the door toward his own class.

  Anderson marched to our desk, head down, hair dipping over his eyes. He sat without a word.

  “Fighting with your boyfriend?” I jabbed.

  He brushed his hair back with perfect, long fingers and rolled his eyes. “Yeah something like that.”

  “I’m sure you’ll make up.” I tapped my pen on the desk, pretending to think. “You could write him a poem or something, expressing your feelings.”

  “Reeves,” Anderson breathed, his voice thick with warning. “Not today.”

  I backed off, never having heard him annoyed like this. Whatever. Mr. Baker started the lesson and my attention was diverted, thankfully, until halfway through when he issued an assignment that required me to work with Anderson. We pulled out our books and began answering the questions.

  “So what’s with all this anyway?” he asked, focused on the paper on the table.

  “All what?”

  He looked up and his eyes roamed over my body. “This costume. That shit on your neck.”

  I faked being affronted, but my hand slipped over the burn mark anyway. “This is not a costume. I just decided to mix it up a little. Shed the hoodie. Lose the Converse. Why look like every other girl in the world?”

  “Okay.” I wish I could say sarcasm didn’t suit Anderson, but it would be a lie.

  “Do problem eight,” I directed, not wanting to discuss my choice in clothing any further.

  Anderson scribbled down his answer and then shifted the paper toward me. “You don’t, you know?”

  “Know what?” I asked, confused and checking over his work.

  He scrunched his nose like it hurt to say it. “You don’t look like every other girl in the world.”

  I sighed. “I know, Thompson. I look stupid like this and boring like that, but this isn’t really any of your business.”

  His eyes widened; his beautiful, green eyes. “No, that’s not...” the bell rang and cut him off.

  I stood and gathered my books. “Not what?”

  But he only shook his head and tightened his jaw before he replied, “Never mind,” and stalked out of the room.

  *

  “How’d it go?”

  I slid my new laptop on the desk and then flopped on my bed, my tiny skirt flipping up and revealing everything. I flicked it back down. “Super.”

  “Really?” His eyes were glued to my legs.

  “No, Oliver, Not really.”

  “Tell me exactly what happened.” I hadn’t seen him that day, other than from a distance in the hall. He’d left early for a doctor’s appointment.

  So I told him everything. About how all the boys in school were drooling over my new clothing choices. They loved the new me. They had visions of me in their bed. Or the backseat of their car. Or wherever they could think. Who knew the school needed fresh meat? I shuddered at the thought.

  He was sitting in my desk chair, eyes glued to my legs, growing more and more tense with my description. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was angry. But why? This was his idea in the first place.

  I tugged down the skirt but there was only so far it would go. “Jackson did a good job playing the part. So good I think he and Anderson got in a fight.”

  Oliver’s eyebrows shot to his forehead. “Seriously?”

  “Apparently, I repulse Anderson no matter how I dress. Nerdy. Hot. Whatever, I suppose my only value is as a lab partner. Nothing more, nothing less.”

  “You don’t repulse him…he’s just…”

  “Just what? A hater?”

  “No.” Oliver ran his hand through his hair anxiously. He moved from the chair next to me on the bed. Having him so close excited me. And he was on my bed. Oliver Baldwin on my bed.

  I tried futilely to control my breathing.

  “Don’t stress over Anderson. He’s uptight and has a hard time knowing how to get what he wants, you know?”

  “And you? Do you know what you want?”

  Because I’d never been so confused in my life.

  He nudged his shoulder into mine. “There’s a reason I haven’t filled Anderson in on our little plan, but in the end, I think we’ll all get what we want.”

  Again, I wasn’t sure what that was but I’m glad Oliver has a vision. “You think Anderson will come around?”

  “I think we’re going to have to drag him kicking and screaming. It’s going to be fun to break him.”

  The heat from his arm warmed me and my brain tried to process the fact that Oliver was on my bed. We’re sitting, just sitting, but it gives me an idea. I
take out my phone and hold it over us and snap a photo. I run it through a filter, making sure everyone can see just where it was taken, and send it into the universe.

  “Nice,” Oliver says, once it appears on his phone. “That’s going to drive everyone crazy.”

  I nodded but didn’t admit it was driving me a little crazy too.

  *

  Needing to boost my wardrobe, I took my birthday money and hit the thrift store. My selection of sexy clothing was limited and to get this right I was going to have to suck up my fear of fashion and go with it.

  The shop was fairly empty, the racks full of unappealing clothes, but I’d looked online for a few ideas and managed to luck out.

  The following day, I knew I’d hit my mark when Hayden stopped dead in his tracks in the parking lot, nudging Jackson in the arm.

  I fought a smile at my success.

  After my research I figured I could stay within the dress code while pulling off a sexy look. Today was a ruffled shoulder-revealing shirt matched with a denim skirt with a frayed hem. Black booties covered my feet. I found a pair of big hoop earrings in my mother’s jewelry box.

  The minute the soles hit the pavement, a pair of hands pulled me from the car and slung my bag over his shoulder. My stomach dipped, wondering if Oliver had found me. When I turned, I plastered a smile on my face the minute I saw it wasn’t any of the boys I’d hoped to see.

  “Oh, hi, Garrett.”

  Garrett was tall and had light brown hair. I could see broad shoulders hidden under his flannel shirt. He wore thick-rimmed glasses and had a scruffy beard that made him cute in that hipster kind of way.

  “Hi, Heaven.” He was shy and artsy. Everyone knew it. We had all been to school together forever. Garrett and I were not friends, but we weren’t not friends either. He opened and closed his mouth like he was preparing to say something, but no words came out.

  “So, what’s going on?” I asked, walking toward the building.

  “I, uh...”

  I stopped in the walkway, other students jostling me out of the way. “What’s going on, Garrett? I’m going to be late.”