8. Whitney

For the first time since this debacle started, Weston does what I ask. He takes me back to my dorm and doesn”t follow me inside. The night is lonely and my dreams have me fighting for what used to be. Weston”s obsession with making me pay for the mistakes I”ve made has deeper repercussions than he can fathom.

My conscience can barely stomach what I did to him or what he did to me. Tit for tat is how we got here. I say something in a class that labels him a cheater, so he gets the student body to call me Shit-ney. He saves me from Quinn but takes me home so he won”t save me from himself. I ignore his requests to stop, so then he ignores mine. That should make us even, except now there”s a video crucifying my credibility if I want to tell someone what happened.

How is this my life?

Tears fall as I lie on my bed, dreading the next day. When my alarm rings the following morning, I”m hoping that some natural disaster ravaged the campus. Unfortunately, the sun is shining bright. The chipper air of the morning is like an ominous feeling, creeping over me like a dark cloud. A forecast for the day to come, but I don”t imagine it ending as brightly as it started.

A guy known as Dicky Balls skipped out on our date last night. I have no idea what that means to my already tattered reputation. Still, I try to stick to my routine, heading to the cafeteria for breakfast.

There are the normal whispers and people ogling me as I waltz through the room with my head high. My tray is full after I hit up several breakfast stations. A Danish here, scrambled eggs there, and hot chocolate on a day that”s warm, but the icy demeanor of everyone around me leaves me feeling like I”ve been left in the cold.

There”s a small table near the elevator bank, like a lonely island for the exiled. However, I don”t make it across the center of the room before I hear raucous laughter. One laugh joins the other, and I”m certain it”s at my expense. However, I won”t turn around. Not a dirty look or anything. If I don”t engage, it will stop.

It doesn”t stop as Richard calls out to me. ”Don”t be that way, Shit-ney. You owe me breakfast since you blew me off at dinner.”

”I didn”t blow you off. I went to the bathroom?—”

”Right, you went to the bathroom for damn near forty minutes. It”s funny, you know? The waitress said it sounded like you were getting your back blown out in there. Was that it?”

”N-no,” I stammer, my lip trembling as my face tightens from the heat of my shame.

Richard continues to berate me in front of his peers. ”I figured it out, everybody. Sugar daddy Harland set me up on some cuckold shit, but couldn”t stand the idea I might give Shit-ney the good old Dicky Balls treatment.”

More laughter and finger-pointing surround me. I want to crawl away, slither into a hole, and not come out until an apocalyptic event destroys this campus.

Richard”s voice carries across the cafeteria. ”Yeah, and when he thought some young stud was gonna mate his young piece, he snuck in to grab himself a piece of ass. He could have at least joined us, Shit-ney. We could have talked business, politics, and then uh, we could have split you for dessert.”

A resounding murmur of oohs echo around me. Just when I think this couldn”t get any worse, a path clears between the crowd. This isn”t high school where a teacher or staff member gets to come break it up. There”s nothing to break up. We”re not fighting. I”m just standing here, taking it.

”I think that”s enough, Dick.” Weston shoves Richard before standing beside me.

”Oh come on, bro. You”re not falling for her bullshit. She”s the reason your papers gotta get double-checked and not a single internship will take you seriously. You”re a Whitlock for Christ”s sake. She”s just a Downing who will go down on any teacher or billionaire magnate that can change her grades.”

The swiftness of Weston”s fist connecting to Richard”s jaw shocks everyone. Richard falls back, clasping the lower half of his face with his eyes wide. Weston doesn”t stop with one hit. He gives Richard room to stand back up. Squaring his stance, Richard throws a punch that lands against Weston”s shoulder as Weston crouches to shield himself.

Weston returns an uppercut and jab combo that connects to Richard”s face again. That wakes up the snobby asshole as he puts his hands up and takes a step back.

”Fuck this shit. Neither one of you is worth it,” Richard stammers, spitting out blood and wiping his mouth.

”Apologize, shit stain,” Weston demands of Richard.

Richard scoffs. ”Hell will freeze over before I apologize to either of you.”

Weston is quick on his feet, rushing Richard and sweeping a foot behind his legs. Weston doesn”t let Richard fall. Instead, Weston forces him to kneel, interlocking his arms under Richard”s armpits, and behind Richard”s neck.

”You need to apologize to Whitney.” Weston smirks at me with a look of adoration in his eyes. He loves chaos, and I hate admitting that I love it, too. Weston presses his knee into Richard”s back, pulling the top half of Richard”s body back further into the headlock.

The stretching looks painful, and Richard”s face scrunches together. He finally hisses out a few words. ”Fine. Alright. I”m sorry, Whitney.”

”For?” Weston sings.

”For leaving you at dinner to pay the bill,” Richard says.

”Hey, let him go,” someone from the crowd shouts at Weston.

Weston yanks on Richard, delivering another dose of discomfort. ”I”ll let him go as soon as he finishes his apology to my girlfriend. Just for everyone”s information, she wasn”t in that bathroom with any old guy. She was in there with me.”

”I”m sorry, Whitney. I didn”t mean any of it. You”re not screwing Harland,” Richard blurts out.

My eyes dart between Richard and Weston. Weston nods to me and I smile for him to let go. Once Weston does, campus security arrives to break it up. Perfect. Now, they show up.

The maniacal grin on Weston”s face shouldn”t make him attractive, but there”s something deviously handsome about the guy standing up for me. He put his own reputation on the line for me. After all the hatred he feels, I finally acknowledge the shift between us.

Instead of finishing my breakfast, I drop my tray of food to follow Weston out of the cafeteria behind campus security. We end up at the dean”s office where Weston sits beside me, his fingers laced behind his head and feet crossed at his ankles. It”s like he doesn”t have a care in the world.

”You seem to be in an awfully good mood for someone who”s about to get suspended,” I whisper beside him.

”Don”t worry about me, babe. I”m a Whitlock for Christ”s sake,” he says, mimicking Richard”s words.

”What does that mean?” I ask him.

Before he can answer, Dean Drummond emerges from his office with a stoic expression.

”Please come inside, Mr. Whitlock.” Dean Drummond extends his hand into the office with an empty chair and an aura of uncertainty settling over us.

Weston gets up and looks over his shoulder at me. ”Put a smile on that gorgeous face, Whitney. Get out of here. You have class.”

”He”s right, Miss Downing,” the dean agrees to my dismay. I”m not ready to walk away from Weston, but somehow, I have to.

When I show up to my first class of the day, taking my usual seat, Claire”s ready and waiting in the chair beside me. The smile of deviousness isn”t as attractive as Weston’s. As a matter of fact, I kind of want her to say something cruel so I can try that headlock thing on her.

”I hear congratulations are in order for you, Whitney.” Claire leans over to me with a smirk spreading to her cheeks. ”Two of the richest guys on campus fighting over you. Kudos to you, girl. Dicky Balls got his balls handed to him by your man. What a guy! Does Weston have any frat brothers or teammates he can hook me up with?”

”Go to hell, Claire. You”re acting like you weren”t just calling my Shit-ney yesterday. Now, you want me to hook you up with one of Weston”s friends. Eat shit,” I tell her, getting up from my seat to take one closer to the professor.

The class runs smoothly without anyone else trying to be nice to me. I don”t want people”s fake admiration or attempts to be friendly now that Weston”s standing up for me. They”re only doing this because I”m his girlfriend. When they find out how I even got the role, they”d go right back to teasing and bullying me. Worst of all, I know that I”d deserve it.

The professor ends the class, dismissing us all, and I make my way up to the rear door where Weston waits, leaning against the frame.

”Suspended?” I ask him.

”Nope, just a lecture on my behavior and how my actions aren”t condoned in the real world. The dean and alumni association look forward to my mother”s annual contribution to the school.”

”Wow, so that”s what Claire was talking about. Is that what Richard meant, too?” I ask him, wanting to know more about the man I find myself falling for.

Weston nods. ”The Whitlocks are nowhere near the influence and power of Harland Adams, but we have our own achievements that keep me out of handcuffs. The key to power like that is to not abuse it. Once I explained the situation to Dean Drummond and assured him this thing with Richard isn”t ongoing, he let me leave with a few scathing remarks. Come on. Let”s go get you something to eat since you had to skip breakfast.”