It wasn’t long before we were all down at the boathouse. The alcohol had already been hidden for later, and we all played cool, knowing the Headmistress Anne would come down here before she went to bed for the night. The woman was usually a hard ass during the school day, but she was often more lax on the weekend. And with this being the last one that we’d be able to use to enjoy the campus amenities, I suspected she would let us celebrate this last time, as long as we promised to follow the school rules.
“Hey, Cillian,” I heard and turned at the sound of the voice.
I grinned at the blonde. “Hey, Allie. How’s it going?”
“Better now that you’re here. Will you have a drink with me later?”
“Sure,” I said to her, then gave a curt nod to Conrad, who pointed toward the headmistress striding purposefully over to us. “I’ll catch you later.”
From there, I walked over to the pier and busied myself with one of the kayaks I had helped bring up here. As expected, the headmistress walked around to make sure everything was on the up and up. She was a stickler for rules, and while I respected her authority, it was a bit much at times. After she inspected everything, she motioned for us to all huddle together. Joining my friends, we all got in a half circle. The girls made sure to stay on one side, while us males stayed on the other. The woman was quiet at first until she looked behind her and motioned for the girl in the distance to join us all. When she did, I noticed it was the one the others referred to as ‘squatter’.
“I know this is the last weekend of summer temperatures, so I’m inclined to let you all have some fun. Remember the rules, which are no drinking, drugs, or sexual activity. I trust that youall will adhere to those rules, but just in case you decide to break any of them, my daughter will be here to keep an eye on you all.”
The redhead seemed as happy about that as the rest of us were, and after we collectively lied and said we would behave, we watched the woman return to her cabin. Once she was inside, most of the kids went back to what they had been doing. I stood there near some of the other guys, then saw Conrad walk over to her.
“You’re a babysitter, too.”
“I’m not here to babysit?—”
“Good, because we don’t like snitches.”
“They get stitches,” another said.
“And they sometimes disappear never to be seen again,” my cousin added, and his was a scenario I knew all too well.
“Look,” she said to them. “The last thing I want to do is spend my Friday night here with the likes of all of you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Benny asked as Conrad moved behind her, and Benny stayed in front of her.
I watched her tense the moment Conrad touched her. “We can make fucking you worth it all, only I’ll need to get some liquor in me so I can forget how beneath me you really are. Would you be okay with that? I get shit-face drunk, then fuck the hell out of you.”
“No,” she said and attempted to push him away.
“No? Do you think you’re too good for us?” Benny asked her.
“I didn’t say?—”
Josh joined the others. “You’ll only need to lie there.”
“Fuck that! I want her perched atop my cock. The little whore needs to earn her keep, not us,” Conrad added.
“You’re all disgusting,” she said before pushing at Conrad’s chest.
The shove was so unexpected that he stumbled backward, which allowed her to flee. I half expected her to run backto the safety of her house, but she took off toward the front of the school instead. Struck with a need to check on her, I nonchalantly looked over at the others.
“I need to get something from my room. I’ll be right back.”
All I wanted to do was go back home to scrub that one jock’s disgusting touch off me. I hated this place, and even more so, I hated the people who went here. Every year had been the same for the last three. Some wealthy prick looking down at me because my mother couldn’t afford the tuition to enroll me in this school. One would’ve thought with her running it that they would allow me to study here, but the Board of Trustees had shut her down at the suggestion and used the fully paid cottage we got to stay in rent-free as them being generous enough.
And they weren’t wrong. As is, my mother struggled mightily when it came to money, mostly because of my sister’s chronic health issues. Her insurance only covered so much, and it was only around this time of year that my mother saw any relief in those medical bills. She would have a two or three month reprieve, then be back to square one, repeating it all once the new coverage year began.
Rowan required multiple home health personnel including nurses, aides, and even therapists. There were also the medical equipment bills, prescription drug costs, and infusions. I wassometimes in awe of how my mother did that because she still had to buy food, keep insurance on the car, and have money to cover any additional expenses that came up. I didn’t know how she managed to hold everything together, but she did, which was why I tried to be as helpful to her as I could.
“But why does it always include making me be around these assholes?” I muttered to myself as I bypassed the door for the main building and circled around it instead.
Usually, I would hide out under the pier when I needed to get away from the madness, but the students were partying there right now. It left only one other place. When I reached the front of the school, I looked over in disgust at the parking lot full of luxury vehicles. Money did not equate to class, and that point was only driven home to me year after year of being in this place.
It was increasingly hard not to break down when humiliated as publicly as I often was. If I showed even a moment of weakness to any of them, they would emerge on me like a pack of wild dogs and me the wounded prey. There was no way I would ever let them see me cower, but tonight had been different. Maybe it was Rowan’s current infection, which scared the hell out of me, that made me even more emotional, but it had taken everything in me not to break down and cry for all to see.
