Page 24 of Allure

“Sometimes when you’re lonely…”

I raise my eyebrows but say nothing. It’s not my place to judge but being lonely doesn’t seem like a good reason to me to drink.

“I had some champagne at a wedding,” Kaylie says. “Outside of that, I haven’t had much to drink.”

"I wanted to drink. When I was fifteen, I found some alcohol in the bathroom. I thought my mom stashed it there to keep it away from me, so I had a little bit and ended up getting so sick because it wasn't drinking alcohol. I haven't had any alcohol since."

“Dawn, that’s… You really didn’t realize what it was?” I ask.

“I was naïve back then,” Dawn says so seriously, as if she’s so worldly now, and I just have to laugh.

“Come on,” I say. “We need to score some popcorn and get some trashy movie started already!”

CHAPTER9

Friday is a good day. I ignore Declan, which isn't all that hard, honestly, except I do still smell him whenever he walks by me, and I swear he makes sure to walk past me in all of our classes just to try to draw my attention on him. He and his friends still make snide comments under their breath, but since the professors are starting to get into more serious coursework now, they're settling down some. Honestly, that surprises me. I would've thought they were the jocks in high school, the kids who got away with anything and everything, the underachievers, but this school costs some serious money, and while I'm sure many of the kids here have silver spoons, most probably do want to be here and want to succeed.

That’s the thing when it comes to riches. When you grow up with money, you take that lifestyle for granted, and you expect to continue to live that way forever. There are always going to be some kids who just live off their parents’ money forever, but that’s not for me. Not at all. I am not—repeat not—going to use my father’s money for longer than I have to.

Deep down, I have a sense of personal satisfaction that I’m using my father’s money to take him down.

Once Dawn’s last class is over, we walk around campus, checking out everything. There are some houses on campus that only seniors can live in. I have a feeling that’s where a lot of parties happen.

Someone dyed the water in the fountain red, so it looks like blood, but Dawn grins.

"It looks like the oak tree has blossoms."

“Can an oak tree have red flowers?” I ask.

“Yes. I’m pretty sure they can have flowers that are yellow, white, red, purple, pink, or orange.”

“Huh. How do you know that?”

“I have a lot of useless facts up here.” She taps the side of her head.

“It’s Friday,” I tell her. “No talking badly about yourself allowed.”

“Only on Fridays?”

“On any day that ends in ‘Y.’”

She rolls her eyes. “Everyone has their issues, thinks they’re flawed.”

“Everyone?” I ask skeptically.

“Who do you think is flawless?”

“Henry Cavill,” I say without hesitating.

“Um, he looks the part of Superman , but—”

“The scripts didn’t do him any favors. I’ll admit that, but that’s not his fault. He did the best he could, and no one else can ever be Geralt of Rivia. He’s amazing in the Witcher.”

“Oh, yeah. I can’t deny that he grimes up real good.”

We dissolve into a fit of giggles.

“But seriously, I have flaws too. Flat Ass, remember?”

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