Page 96 of The Dollhouse

Markus let out a sigh. “There is a… girl, under my care. She has not seen much of the world. Or any of it, really. But college is something she’s dreamed about. After you’re done doing what you have to do, I want you to show her around, show her what it’s like. She is naive, she believes the best in people. You’ll need to teach her that she can’t trust strangers. You’ll need to be her friend. Will you do that for me, Zoey Marbella?”

She didn’t hesitate: “Of course.”

It didn’t sound like a difficult task, although I had to wonder why Markus did not bring that up to me during our phone call. Why wait until now to mention that? I was expecting to pay him in other ways, and I did not like him making demands of Zoey one way or another—but I supposed it wasn’t too bad of an exchange.

“Good,” Markus said. “Now go. Roman has my number. Call me if you need anything, and I’ll see what I can do.”

I got up, giving him a nod. I did not say a single word as I left his office, mostly because Zoey was already too busy thanking him again and again for his help, smiling at him even though he still made her uneasy.

We left the house, rejoined Carter in the car. Carter saw the folder in my hands, along with the paper Zoey held onto, and questioned, “How did it go?”

“Better than I thought,” Zoey said as she glanced at the paper again, her schedule for Hillcrest. I did not like the fact that she’d be gone a lot during the day, doing her own thing, but I supposed it would be impossible for Carter and me to be with her all the time here. This was her thing; if that’s what she wanted to do, that’s what we would do.

“Zoey has to do something for him after it’s all said and done,” I spoke with a frown. Carter got us back on the road, driving us away from that house and the man who ran it. The Scotts were definitely an interesting family; there weren’t many men in this world who could go toe to toe with me.

“What?” Carter shot a glare my way. “Am I going to want to kill him? Don’t fucking tell me he wants her to—”

“God, no,” Zoey quipped. “Whatever you’re thinking, no. Get your head out of the gutter, Carter. Not everyone thinks of sex all the time.” After Carter tossed her a look in the rearview mirror, she coughed, her cheeks turning pink. “All I have to do is show someone around, take her to classes, be her friend. I guess there’s someone who hasn’t really seen the world and he wants me to help. Don’t know why it has to be me, though. He doesn’t know me. I could be a crazy psychopath for all he knows.”

I said, “I don’t think he cares about that. The Scotts, as a whole, are all crazy psychopaths, from what I understand.” Sylvester had told me a little about what the Scotts had going on, but even that was probably not anywhere near the truth. It did make me wonder just what they were doing in their basement.

“Great,” Carter deadpanned, taking a note out of Lake’s book whether he realized it or not, “can’t have too many of those around.”

“He did get us a schedule, though.” I flipped open the manila folder and went to the last page, scanning over it. “Who knew there could be so many parties?”

Zoey laughed. “You severely underestimate the rich and what they like doing with their time. Any kind of event—a party, a fundraiser, a coming out ball, whatever—they’re all opportunities to brag to their friends and their enemies. It’s like Hillcrest is full of people constantly trying to one-up everyone else. It’s so fucking tiring.”

Carter mumbled, “Great. So we get to dress up and go to a lot of parties. Sounds like so much fun.” Again with the deadpanning, and I glared at him. If I wanted to hear a sarcastic comment every five seconds, I would’ve brought Lake along.

“Yes,” Zoey admitted, “but those parties will be the best time to fuck shit up. Spread rumors, gossip, show off a little… basically embarrass my parents to the point where they will never want to step foot out of their house again.” She laughed. “Maybe they’ll even decide to move. And as for my sister, well—”

I handed her back the folder, and she took it. “It would seem your sister has a new boy.”

Zoey found the pictures, thumbing over them as she bit her bottom lip. “I saw him in her pictures on Instagram, but she had pictures with a lot of people. I didn’t think… I didn’t think he was anyone special, but these pictures definitely make it look like she’s got herself a new crush. It would be terrible if someone came around like a hurricane and fucked it all up for her, wouldn’t it?”

Neither Carter nor I answered her, because we already knew.

Hillcrest was a twenty-minute drive from Midpark, but we reached the house I’d gotten for us during our stay here, and as Carter pulled into the driveway, Zoey muttered, “Good. We’re close to campus here, and to downtown. My parents live less than ten minutes away.” She leaned up from the backseat, touching my arm. “Good choice.” As if I’d chosen this house for its location.

Still, I took the credit.

The house wasn’t akin to the mansions we’d passed in Midpark or the others in Hillcrest, but it would do. It had bedrooms aplenty, a large, spacious kitchen with an open-concept design, and a great room with a television so large it practically took up the entire wall. Furnished completely; it was move-in ready. All we had to do was buy whatever clothes we’d need here, along with stock the fridge with some food, and we would be set.

But, of course, since it was us, there was something we had to do before we went shopping. We had to christen the bedrooms, mark the sheets with our sweat and bodies. Oh, yes. No matter what might happen here in Hillcrest, Zoey Marbella was mine, as she always would be.

Chapter Three – Carter

Hillcrest gave me the heebie-jeebies. It was too fancy, too shiny and clean. Very different from the places I was used to, and yet I knew, with each passing day, these people were not so different than the ones back home. Sure, they had more money. Sure, their houses were larger and their noses turned up higher, but in the end, they were exactly the same.

Motherfuckers, all of them. Each and every one of them. All people were, really. You couldn’t trust anybody in this world. I trusted Roman with my life, and I trusted Zoey. Lake? Fuck that guy. He wasn’t even here, so I wasn’t going to waste one second thinking about him—other than that thought, I mean.

We’d spent the week preparing, shopping, fucking, planning. Zoey had circled some events she wanted to go to, though she hadn’t quite decided if Roman and I, or just Roman, or just me, would go with her. She spent an hour on the phone with Lake every night; gag me. We’d gotten her the textbooks she’d need for the classes she would start, too. Had to make it look real and all that shit.

I was of the opinion that her grades didn’t matter, all that mattered was her being here and fucking things up for her sister, but then Zoey came at me with the fact that Markus Scott wanted her to remain in Hillcrest University to show some girl around afterward. So, yeah, I guess we’d be stuck here for a little while longer than we anticipated.

Great. Just great. I loved this fucking city and couldn’t get enough—yeah, okay, I couldn’t even think that without wanting to stab my eyeballs. The truth was I could not wait until we were out of Hillcrest and Zoey never looked back.

It was Sunday night, the night before Zoey would walk the sidewalks of Hillcrest University again. I sat with her on one of the couches in the great room, the TV on some stupid movie that reminded me of that nerd Lake, her bare legs in my lap. We’d eaten about an hour ago, and Roman had gone upstairs to shower not too long ago. Zoey stretched out on the couch, her head on a pillow, her pink hair splayed around her head like a messy halo. Didn’t know any angel who’d have bright pink hair, though.

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