Page 15 of Caged in Flames

The heat in her eyes when I mentioned his name has me tempted to piss her off again soon.

Before I can dig into those thoughts, the phone rings again. I think about declining it once more, but she'll just keep calling and I’d rather get this over with.

"Mother." I make no attempt to hide my annoyance with her.

"Charles, how are you?" Regina Hart Westbrook might be pretending with pleasantries, but it's all fake. For fuck’s sake her middle name is the closest thing to a real beating organ the witch has.

"Fine, mother. What is it you're calling for?" I don’t bother hiding my irritation from my tone. There’s no use in pretending with her. Not that she minds it either way.

"I wanted to ask if you'd spoken with Coach Pierce yet." Of course, football. It's always something with her. Not because she thinks I love the sport, but because it's one of Richard's interests.

"Not yet. I've been busy." As much as I want to be on the field, I don't know that I'm ready to have more eyes on me. I get enough attention sharing air with all the fuckwads in the school hallway.

"Surely you can make that a priority, Charles. Do you want Richard to make a call, son?" I shiver at her use of the word son. Gross. But that's the last thing I want. Richard trying to do more on my behalf. He'd do it for me, but it would just remind him of what I did. It'd remind him of what I did to her.

Sawyer, Jude, and I got back into Blisshaven on our own. We wrote Headmaster Hargrove the apology letters. Granted, it was Jude’s mom’s idea. We all wanted to come back to the academy.

Surprisingly, the old man didn't even ask for a check to accompany our re-admittance. Probably because our parents have donated enough over the years for him to assume it would keep coming once we were re-enrolled. I didn't tell Richard and Regina until it was a done deal. I waited until dinner the night before. I'm not sure where they thought I was going to graduate from, but it sure as fuck wasn't going to be military school.

"No, thank you. I'll see about making it to his office this week." Placating her gets me off this phone much sooner than fighting her. Besides, I need to do something besides smoking and gaming with the guys.

"Great. Now, Richard may have mentioned that his....illegitimate spawn is also back at Blisshaven." Every word comes out dripping with disgust. As if she forgets that Richard was married when they met. Nix isn’t illegitimate. I am. But Regina lives in her own world.

I'd rather not talk about this at all. So, I lie. "I haven't noticed her."

"Hmm. For now, that is fine, but be sure to let me know if she begins making any waves. We certainly don't need the past repeating itself." The worst part of that is she doesn't care that Nix wasn’t even responsible, or that I am the one to blame. No, she probably takes joy in that. She just doesn't want Richard focused on Nix.

"Yeah, whatever. Listen, I have to go." I’d rather listen to someone scraping nails down a chalkboard than her voice.

"Alright, son." She disconnects the call with that. It doesn't surprise me. No love and affection for her only child. Not from Regina. Not enough sleep in the world would make a conversation with her any easier. Luckily that one wasn’t bad.

It doesn't even hurt to know how little she actually cares about me. I care for her even less. Still, she's the only biological parent I have. Even if Richard is the one who raised me. Along with nannies.

My mother hasn't looked at me as her responsibility in a long time. I'm a pawn to keep her husband's attention. Or a way to impress her friends. She's pushed me into anything that will get Richard's interest. Football. Music lessons. Having dinner guests and hoping I'd entertain their stupid kids. It won't be long before that woman starts trying to arrange a marriage for me that will benefit her.

I take a quick shower to help me wake up before finding my cigarette stash and heading downstairs to find a place to smoke. I've made it a year without nicotine, but one call from my mother has me needing something to take the edge off.

If I’m going to ask for my position on the team back, I can’t go in high. So, this will have to do.

A shrill noise interrupts the peace before it starts. "Charlie? You're back?"

I’ve barely lit my cigarette before Molly Vandenberg’s in my face. Karma is loading on the justice this morning, making me deal with not one bitch, but two. This twat has been begging for my dick for too fucking long and hasn’t stopped no matter how many times I’ve turned her down. “Looks like it.”

My tone is unfriendly, but she doesn’t take the hint.

"Well, I'm still over in Banner Hall, room 213. If you want to stop by and catch up." Molly's hand reaches out to touch me and I dodge it, turning away from her.

"Cool." I don’t fuck girls I’d have to see again, and Molly would take physical contact from me as a damn proposal. I'd rather choke on ashes. I leave her without looking back and start the walk over to the athletic building. Hopefully, I can catch Coach Pierce before class starts.

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