“Then why?”
She shrugged. “Oh, Locke, there are so many things I need to educate you about this town, but the first thing you need to know is that it’s transactional. If a Super Snob invites me, a lowly Have-not, to the Cotillion, then it’s because he wants something from me. That’s not a game I’m willing to play.”
“What if he just likes you and would like to dance with you?”
She looked at me as if I was naïve. I was entirely the opposite of naïve. Which made me wonder why I even asked the question. Yes, I got it. She was a walking advertisement for sex that any teenage boy or grown man would respond to instinctively.
However, she was also a person. With a genuine smile and a bright sparkle in her eyes. Who seemed likeable enough.
The music stopped and I stopped dancing with it. I let go of her and bowed slightly as I’d been taught to do.
As I leaned down, she leaned down with me and spoke softly into my ear.
“No onejust likesme, Locke. It is my blessing and my curse. Thanks for the dance.”
The bell rang then, ending the class. I watched as she practically skipped out of the gym, as if she didn’t have a care in the world. Immediately, I was certain of one thing.
She was putting on an act.
* * *
Later that Afternoon
I walked homefrom school with my thoughts filled by some of the conversations I’d heard.
Apparently there was some betting ring happening that revolved around freshman girls. I had to learn the American high school classifications and the equivalent age ranges. If my math wasthecorrect, the betting involved the loss of virginity of fourteen-year-old girls.
That seemed inappropriate, but I quickly decided it wasn’t my business.
Unless, of course, making it my business could prove to be useful.
The key to getting along in any new environment was understanding the power dynamics. Once I had a firm grasp on that, I would know how to proceed going forward.
I made my way to the townhome Croft was renting. Unusual in that there were only eight like it in the entire town. We’d been told by the Realtor that it wasnew construction.It had been said in a way that suggested these townhomes had been an insult suffered by the town, but one that the town had, ultimately, forgiven.
I opened the door and entered the foyer, which felt larger than it was because of the twelve-foot-high ceilings throughout the house Decorated by some interior designer, it looked and felt posh, which I imagined was the goal.
It didn’t feel like home, but I didn’t need it to. I was here only as an observer.
I smelled my brother before I saw him. The trace of his cigar lingered throughout. I followed the scent to the rear of the townhome where the kitchen was located. He was sitting at a small table covered with papers.
“You know you’re not supposed to smoke inside. It’s against the rules,” I reminded him.
He glanced up with a scowl. “I’ll remember that when you’ve got that infernal vaping pen in your mouth.”
My brother was a large man. Obese, to be sure, but in a way that made him look powerful as opposed to flabby. Twenty years my senior, he was the product of our father’s first marriage, whereas I was the product of his third.
“How was school?” he asked me.
It might seem like a prosaic question, but I knew he didn’t mean it in the traditional sense.
“There is an underground betting ring related to freshmen—that’s what first years are called here—losing their virginity. Seems it’s in its nascent stages, but I’ll continue to follow.”
Croft barely lifted an eyebrow.
“Did you meet him?”
“Not yet, but I’ve been invited to an event on Friday night where I should have an opportunity.”
