Steve says he like I’m a carrier for Ebola or some shit. I don’t get it. I really don’t. Steve and I never had any problems in the past. We weren’t close, but there was no hostility between us. Now, the air is so hostile I can hardly breathe.

“Then it’s settled.” Beringer walks around his desk. “Mr. Royal, I’m releasing Reed into your custody. Ella, you may return to class.”

She hesitates, but when Steve offers a hard glare, she quickly moves to the door. Right before she walks out, she gives me the most miserable, frustrated look on the planet. I’m pretty sure I’m wearing the same expression.

Once she’s gone, Steve shifts his scowl to me. “Stay away from my daughter, Reed.”

“She’s my girlfriend,” I reply through clenched teeth.

“Not anymore. I asked you to respect her, and when I thought you were going to do so, I was open to the idea of the two of you dating. After what happened this morning, I’m no longer on board with it.” He addresses my father. “Our kids just broke up, Callum. If I see or hear of them together again, you and I are going to have words.”

Then he marches out of the office and slams the door behind him.

18

Ella

For the second day in a row, I go to school angry. Yesterday, Steve and Dinah ganged up on me about my skirt. Today, Reed is suspended because Steve has some kind of parental stick up his ass. The single good thing about my anger at Steve is that I don’t have the emotional energy to worry about Dinah any longer.

I can’t believe he ordered Beringer to tell all the teachers to narc on us. That is so not cool. I’m still fuming about it as I pull into the parking lot. Luckily, I spot Val on the front lawn, which distracts me from my rage.

“Hey, sexy,” I shout out my window.

Her dark bob spins around, her middle finger ready. When she realizes it’s me, she jogs over. “Hey! I was worried about you. Did you have to deal with the never-ending lecture when you got home from school yesterday?”

I maneuver into an empty parking space, then turn off the car. “You have no idea.”

She already knows all about yesterday’s stupidity because I spent the entire lunch period bitching about it. Then I wrapped it up by griping and moaning for a good ten minutes about how I won’t be able to go to the away game and seduce Reed. And have sex for the first time!

“What happened?” Val asks as I grab my backpack and hop out of the driver’s seat.

“There was a lot of arguing, shouting, insults thrown. It ended with Steve telling me that I needed to stop being so easy. That guys didn’t find it attractive.”

Val grimaces. “Wow, that’s harsh.”

“It’s getting so bad, I’m actually thinking I need to spend more time at school.”

“It can’t be that bad,” she says, knowing my great aversion to joining anything here at Astor. “It just seems bad because you’re not used to having a parent who imposes rules and stuff. From what you’ve told me, your mom was the kid in your household, and Callum kind of lets his boys do anything they want as long as they don’t make too big of a mess.”

“So you’re saying that Steve’s behavior is normal?” I challenge.

Val shrugs. “It’s not that abnormal. I think your mom and Callum are more lenient than other parents.”

“You have parties at your house. And you don’t have a curfew.”

She laughs. “Well, sure I do. I have to be home by ten on school nights and midnight on the weekends unless I tell Uncle Mark or Aunt Kathy first. And I wouldn’t be allowed to have a boy spend the night. It was easy to fool around with Tam because he lived in the same house.” Tam is the Carringtons’ housekeeper’s son. “I think most parents don’t allow boys to sleep over. I mean, why do you think Wade has so much sex at school? His mom is kind of strict at home.” She pats me on the shoulder. “Steve might be going overboard, but it just means that he cares. Don’t take it personally.”

Is she right? I mean, I have almost no experience with normal parents, but here’s Valerie, who I presume does, telling me that Steve’s reaction is...well, ordinary. Am I overreacting?

Maybe. But still, I don’t see myself ever being okay with all these rules and shit.

“Even if that’s normal, I don’t want to live like that,” I admit as we walk into the building.

“Ride it out,” she recommends. “You’re both so new at this. You’re a kid and Steve’s trying to be the adult. You’re bound to have clashes. I bet you’ll figure something out.”

“I’m not a kid. I’m seventeen.”

“Ha. That’s where you’re wrong. My mom always says that no matter how old I get, I’ll always be her baby. That’s just how parents are.” She nudges my shoulder with hers. “Honestly, I think it’s pretty cool that he came back from the dead. You’re not alone anymore.”

The thing is, I didn’t feel alone before Steve came along. And that’s the piece that’s missing for me. He’s not filling something inside of me that was empty. The Royals were already there, and Steve’s trying to push someone out to make room for himself.

Val must read the skepticism on my face. “Don’t break your head obsessing about this. You should go to him with a counteroffer.”

“What do you mean?”

“Steve doesn’t want you hanging around with Reed because why?”

“He says Reed’s a dog.”

Val tips her head back and stares at the sky as if praying for patience. “Honey, Steve is totally being a dad.”

I feel the need to defend Reed, again. It seems like I’m always defending him. “Maybe Reed was a dog before, but he’s not with me. Besides, he’s not like Easton. He doesn’t sleep around. He’s picky.”

Val opens her mouth to respond, but before she gets anything out, the bell rings. “Hold that thought. Meet me in the south bathroom at lunch? We’ll talk more.”

“The south bathroom?” I have no idea what she’s talking about.

“It’s the one by the boys’ locker room. Wade always does his business there.”