They The Pretty Stars (Court High 1)

Mira crossed her arms. “The only stalker is TP here, Big Bird.”

Birdie’s eyes narrowed. I wasn’t sure if it was because of the insult or whatever acronym Mira used. Birdie frowned. “TP?”

“Trash Panda?” Mira giggled, making her friends laugh when she nudged them. She eyed me. “I saw you shoveling dog poo today at the community center, TP. That’s where I realized I’ve seen you before. Oh, and of course that meme with Royal. Is scooping up dog crap what you do when you’re not stalking him—”

Birdie pushed through to get to her, but I stopped her, able to handle this myself.

I propped hands on my hips. “I’d rather scoop shit than be caught sucking dick out in the school’s boathouse. Is that what you do when you’re not all over Royal like some cheap piece of ass?”

“You little cunt—”

“Ladies. Ladies.” A member of Court pushed between us, but I only knew by his ring gorilla. He pulled two drinks off the beer pong table. “Why not settle this over a game?” he slurred, handing us the cups. “It’s more fun that way. Whoever can drink the most wins.”

Challenge accepted, I guzzled the booze without question, and a

table of shots nearby, downed one of those for good measure. No one. Absolutely no one could beat me when it came to shit like this. I could definitely hold my liquor. We partied harder than these uppity bitches back home.

The shot burning itself like liquid fire down my throat, I slammed down both that and the beer cup, waiting for Mira to do something. By then, a nice little crowd had formed around us, and the roars sounded through the air, my name being chanted by people I’d never talked to before in my life. They apparently liked the show, and I tipped my chin to them, hands on my hips.

Not having that, Mira forced down a cup of beer. It took her a bit longer, but she got it down. After a shot that made her step back a little, she took another, the second one easier. She placed the shot glasses down, and when I went for more alcohol, my arm was grabbed by Birdie.

“Don’t, December. She’s not worth it.”

I ripped my arm away. I wouldn’t stop, not with all these people watching and what Mira had done lingering in the air. She’d showed Royal those pictures, Royal who could ruin my life with like, two words in this place. He literally just had to give people permission, and it’d be all over the place, my past everywhere, and if people decided to look into it more…

I drank more, put down more than I should have, and Mira didn’t even wait for me to finish before she starting doing a dance of her own. I didn’t think either of us saw what was happening between us, taking down shot after shot while people chanted around us. I got a lot of “Go, go, go!” but a fair amount of stops too. These came from Birdie and eventually, Shakira, Kiki, and the rest of the basketball team when the entire house joined us out on the patio.

Shaking, I forced down vomit, the nausea threatening to end this game here and now, but I wouldn’t let it. I downed one more shot, almost falling over when I placed the shot glass down.

Mira didn’t even grab one, and within the inebriated state of her eyes, I saw it. She’d hit her limit, maybe three shots ago, and I’d won.

I knew when she collapsed to the floor.

She literally collapsed, a gasp and a few screams in the crowd from her friends when a wasted girl fell in her glitter dress in the middle of a high-rise patio. The crowd honed in around her, myself included. Touches to her cheek and shakes couldn’t even get her up, and the vomit did threaten this time, hot and harsh when it charged from my stomach but for other reasons. I started seeing visions of Mira in the hospital, visions of her dead and myself the reason.

Frantic, I started to shout to tell someone to call 911 but that stopped when four boys the size of gladiators pushed the crowd. Knight, the biggest, charged through the front, but it’d been Royal himself to create the most reaction. The crowd on the patio instantly divided for him and one look between me, the tossed-over cups on the table, and Mira sprawled out on the ground, had his lustrous eyes blazing green fire.

He instantly was on his knees with her, attempting to revive her with Jax, Knight, and LJ at his sides. He called out for one of them to call an ambulance, which they did, Jax suddenly completely serious when he got out his cell and explained the situation. The other boys pushed everyone a good few feet away from the scene, giving the pair space.

I fought through them. “Is she going to be okay?” I barely got the words out, stumbling and completely inebriated myself.

Royal saw that, instantly shooting daggers at me. “What the hell did you think you were doing? She obviously can’t take as much as you.”

I didn’t like how he said the words, like I was that same trash Mira talked about. There’d been judgment there, me different from all of them, and feeling really sick, I could only watch as Royal Prinze slid his thick arms under Mira’s body and stood with her with what was obviously a strong embrace. No effort at all came when he brought her from the floor to his chest.

“Go home, December. Now,” he commanded, treating me like the epitome of a child. He turned away, walking with Mira back into the house, and so embarrassed, I stepped through the crowd. I didn’t stick around long enough to wait for the ambulance to see if she was okay.

If I did, I would have vomited and embarrassed myself even more.

Nine

The Past - three years ago

“She’s having a hard time down here, Rowan. A real hard time. Can’t you get it through your head? Your daughter… Your daughter needs you.”

I closed my eyes in my bedroom, squeezing down tears as I curled up under my sheets. Aunt Celeste went into her bedroom to take calls she didn’t want me to hear, but it never worked. It was the best place to hear her, and my ears didn’t even need to be up against the wall we shared.

“I know she made the decision to live down here. I know but she’s just a kid, goddamn it. She shouldn’t have to go through this alone. You know she hasn’t left her bedroom for weeks?”