Page 3 of Faux Real
“I don’t know the details, Oliver. All I know is that your grandfather has gotten very well acquainted with Malcolm Redford and thoroughly supports his platform.”
“Yeah, fine, whatever.”She’s so annoying.
“Alright, thank you. Well, I ought to be going now. Your sister and I are going wedding dress shopping.”
“I presume her dress won’t be white?”
“Oliver! Stop that! My God, how inappropriate.”
“But accurate, no?”
“Goodbye, Oliver,” Mother says, her tone even. I can almost imagine the vein pulsing in her forehead. “I’ll ring you in a couple of days.”
“Talk then.” I hang up and continue pushing the bike to school.
Note to self: do not answer calls from unknown numbers.
two
Fresh Start but Not Really
KENNEDY
“Alittlehigheronthe right,” I say, squinting my eyes and pursing my lips in deep concentration. It really shouldnottake this long to hang up a damn poster. We’ve been at this for almost ten minutes and Andy Warhol’sMarilynis still crooked.
Move-in day at Hilton Prep is always a shit-show. Since we’re seniors this year, we get to live on the fourth floor of the dormitory. The top floor comes with great perks such as bigger rooms, awesome views, and a giant student rec center that’sonlyfor seniors. The biggest downside is that it’s virtually impossible to sneak out at night without being caught by the staff. I’m sure Maxine will try and rope me into testing Hilton Prep’s security systems. I’ll have to play along because there’s no way I’m telling her I’ve been bestowed the ultimate pass.
“My right? Or your right?” Maxine asks, lifting herself on her tippy toes, her foot awfully close to the edge of the desk.
I let out an exhausted sigh. “We’re facing the same direction, Max! My rightisyour right!”
“Oh...” Max snorts and almost loses her balance. “Right!”
I slap my hand over my face, peeking at her wobbling stance through my fingers. I’d like to blame Max’s current hazy mental processing skills on the fact that she’s recently discovered the wonders of edibles, but my best friend has had the personality of a stoner long before actual weed came into her life. But I think it’s good, the weed helps her chill out, otherwise, she’d be bouncing against the walls.
“You know what? Just leave it like that. It’s fine. It’s...abstract.” I would suggest that we switch positions, but then the poster woulddefinitelybe crooked. Well, maybe not to Maxine, seeing as she’s always standing at an angle these days.
Maxine inserts the thumbtack into the wall and turns around, dusting her hands, a proud smile on her face. “I think it looks dope!” She hops off the desk like a graceful yet tipsy gazelle. “Should we hang the other ones up too?”
My eyes widen in pure horror. That was enough torture for one day. “No! I can do those later myself.” I walk over to Max and flip the un-ironed white collar of her school uniform right side out. “I think we need to get down to the quad. You volunteered us to give campus tours to the newbies, remember?”
Maxine scrunches up her face, her thick black bangs falling over her eyes. “I did?”
I shake my head and let out an exasperated chuckle. “Sweetie, you have got to stop eating those gummies! Your brain is going to melt by midterms.” I pause. “Plus, you should spend your money on more important things, like jewelry or...” I look down at her feet. “More Converse.”
“My parents upped my allowance this year, so money’s not a problem.” Max waves me off. “Plus, Sawyer gives me a pretty decent discount, anyway.”
My gut clenches at the sound of my ex-boyfriend’s name. “You’re getting your edibles from Sawyer? Since when does he selldrugs? He’s the captain of the football team, for God’s sake— they test for that shit like every week.”
“Crap! I wasn’t supposed to tell you that!” Maxine presses her lips into a thin line, her apologetic deep-brown eyes staring up at me.
“Too late now! Spill.”
Maxine sighs. “Okay, so apparently, Sawyer and a couple of guys on the team started making their own gummies this summer. Like a summer project, if you will. And to be honest, it’s pretty good shit.”
“Sawyer is making edibles? The same Sawyer that barely passed chemistry last year?”
I am mind-blown right now. What a fucking idiot. People sell drugs to earn money, so why in the world would the son of Malcolm Redford, one of New England’s most prominent lawyers, need to sell drugs?
