i had heard about the girl first from grace, who was probably my closest friend.
as close as she could be to me, with being so popular and also her head so stuck in drama all the time.
she was kind to me, even still. we'd had been friends since i moved here, and she kept me up to date on the school tea without forcing me to be apart of it. an attribute i really appreciated.
and she was fun. she was weird and quirky, but honest. and always herself. like me.
"you did what?" i cringed as i opened my locker door, shoving my books inside, and grace frowned.
apparently, she had bursted into her chem class, spilling all sorts of uncomfortable tea about the new girl in town from new york, when she was indeed sitting right next to her. skylar, grace's other good friend, was an innocent bystander.
jackie howard was her name. i had heard the whispers in first period, but not anything super concrete. new yorker. preppy. apparently on the news?
and quickly gaining popularity.
unfortunately, we never really get a lot of new people here. so she was destined for the spotlight. i remember just how brutal it was for me, even with being so young.
grace pushed her forehead harder against my open locker door, "i know right."
grace was honest, but she was all about the drama. for sure.
"did she seem okay?" it was my turn to frown, hearing the girls backstory mixed in with the summary of the encounter.
moving here from new york because her entire family tragically died? to colorado? i wanted to laugh that was so sad sounding, but unlike grace, i could read the room.
"yeah, she seemed cool, but quiet. also, already love struck for cole walter."
i gave her a look. that wasnt really my question.
being adopted, i know what it's like to live without your own family. but i had never been used to their presence. not old enough to remember anyway. i couldn't imagine losing someone i really loved.
i also could not have imagined then getting ripped away from my home and starting somewhere completely new. like, why colorado? must be distant family.
like a true last resort.
i sighed, "that poor girl. hasnt even been here for a full day yet and already is feeling the cole effect." i said it with jazz hands and a concluding gag. i hated the term started by the teens of silver falls, but it was also scientifically, and hormonally, truth.
however, after asking again about the girls state after graces exploitive gossiping, apparently the new yorker had shrugged it off and the three had actually bonded during their chem lab.
i opened my mouth to ask another question, but grace linked arms with me and rushed down the hall, "there she is!! come with me, you should meet her."
i didnt really have a choice at the moment, but curiosity had started eating away at me anyway. so, as i do a lot of my time being grace's friend, i nodded and let her lead the way. usually to more drama.
i was a natural watcher. i never dreamed to be apart of a click or get wasted at some party. just by watching most of the girls at this school, i had learned that the more you act the way others do, or the way they want you to, the more you lose yourself. and the more you get stuck in that role.
like i said, grace was able to know the drama, but not become it. and thats why i liked her. i was able to watch drama up close, like i was about to, and not fear my emotional safety. not feel like she was going to peer pressure me, or guilt me when i said no. it was entertaining, but still comfortable.
"you must be jackie." kiley, a girl also in our grade, had seemed to have beaten me to introductions, "im kiley." she was alex's, one of the walter boys, best friend.
"nice to meet you." the new girl was only a little shorter than kiley, so average height, and dressed like she was in an interview. her dark, thick, raven black hair was pulled back in a scrunchie, and her smile was small. innocent.
"you moved in with the walters, right?" the words had come so naturally, and so did the big huff and the "yes." from jackie.
my eyes found grace's, and both grew in size in sync.
"wait, wait, what!?"
i guess that distant family was the walters.
grace chased after the pair of girls, my introduction quickly falling on her list of priorities, and i followed a half step behind for the entertainment. but at the mention of the walter's, i unconsciously kept my distance.
"alex told me." kylie shot over her shoulder, jackie bounced her eyes between the two girls.
"woah! jackie, youre like the luckiest girl in the school!" grace immediately got giddy, and i scoffed.
"grace." kylie dead panned.
"yeah, please." i rolled my eyes.
a girl moving in with the walter's?? there was already eleven boys, and one girl. who was, im sure, just like one of the boys, being raised surrounded by them.
thankfully, this was a girl girl.
but... a girl...
"what? you know that she's practically landed in boy heaven, right? i mean there's like eleven of them to choose from." she pronounced the first E of the number very loudly to make her point - jackie was in the dream house. "like, there's danny with the actor-brooding thing, alex with the nerdiness-" i closed my eyes as i listened to grace list off each boy and their signature personal trait/thing, like i had a thousand times.
one of the ways grace is like every other girl in this school, is she is deep in the details of the walter boys. i tuned it out as best i could, but ill recall it for your sake.
danny, the actor. twin of cole.
alex, book lover / nerd. friend of kylie's.
nathan, the musician.
isaac and lee, cousins.
and the list went on of the boys that socially dominated this school and physically dominated the girls within it. i sent a finger to my mouth and gagged.
"-and, then, there's... there's cole."
i did it a second time, louder.
cole walter. the hottest brother (again, only public).
"i dont get it, what makes him so cool?" it was time for my eyes to widen at the new girls words, and i sped up to walk next to her.
i seemed to startle her, and she sized me up, "ignore my bestie here, she is just as under the cole effect as every other girl in this school is." i smirked, "every girl but me, that is." she smiled up at me, "im harper. and stick to your perspective as best you can. those boys, and that house, is only trouble."
"ignore her," grace mocked my words, "harper is our true little contrarian." she patted my head like a dog, and i squinted my eyes at her.
"this is all ridiculous!" jackie stopped to turn and talk in the hallway, "i'm on harper's side here. i mean the cole effect?" we high fived, and i giggled with accomplishment.
"its a sure thing." grace nodded excitedly, "i mean why do you think every senior guy wants to be him and every girl lines outside for him at 3:30 everyday hoping to get that extra seat in the walter car?"
jackies look of immediate fear told us all that seat had already been claimed, "i gotta go."
"you came with cole?" kylie cringed, and i groaned.
"yeah." the new yorker huffed, and bolted for the door.
"we should follow her right." i didnt say it as a question, because i didnt want the answer. we all just marched toward the door after her.
and watched as the walter car sped down the street and around the corner. not even an eye was batted behind them. i rolled my eyes at the sight of them.
"maybe they just forgot," kylie tried, "they do leave like right after they get out of class."
jackie just sighed.
"aw jackie, its okay! i'll give you a ride." grace chirped, and i wanted to hit her.
not that grace was mine, per se, but the more she got tied into all this new, fresh, walter drama potential, i'd have to hear about it.
almost on que to make things worse, erin collins began to walk up to us as we continued our walk to the parking lot.
the girl who's very emotional wellbeing depends on her on and off again relationship status with the golden boy himself - cole walter.
now knowing jackies living situation, i cant even begin to imagine what she'll think of her. living with them? not just another girl taking him away from her for a night or two, but getting free 24/7 access. the unlimited pass.
no, this was not good. jackie howard had just become enemy number 1 to many of the girls in this school. but especially erin.
and as much as i felt for the girl, she was already stained with walter drama. she was one of them. and i couldnt risk getting involved.
neither did i want to in this conversation.
i spun on my heels to hightail it for my car, when skylar came out of nowhere, bumping my shoulder to face the girls once again.
"oh no." skylar showed up at our sides, "she's probably still mad about what happened at lunch."
"what happened at lunch?" i asked the boy, but by the look of jackie's eyes, which were also seeming defeated at the moment, i'm guessing it had to do with cole. it had already started.
drama.
"goodness," i huffed.
"hey." erin's voice interrupted my one word contribution to this conversation, and we all turned to face her. i worked hard not to roll my eyes at just the look of her.
the classic it girl of her grade. especially after getting in with cole walter, and her freshmen glow up, her popularity spiked. she was gorgeous, well off, the track coach's daughter, and always surrounded by her possy of girlfriends. with high potential for a track scholarship, she had a bright future ahead.
and of course, the lead cheerleader had to be with the football star. even after he fumbled last year, and now was off the team.
even perfect people have their scars.
she already had a smug look, and was all too consumed with jackie, "jackie, right?"
jackie gave her a look, "erin, right?" it was almost like she was mocking her words back to her, "we sat together at lunch today, cole told you my name."
i pieced together the dots. cole mustve invited her over, which would obviously piss erin off. and now she was here, playing her classic "get off my man" bit. i tried not to laugh at how pathetic this all was.
"look, i dont know who you are or whatever," erin basically ignored the fact that the girl had even spoken, "but just so you know, coles only being nice to you because his mom told him to."
"yeah, sounds like classic cole." skyler had a death wish, but he was right.
"insecure." i masked the word in a cough low enough for only grace to hear, but then dodged erin's stone cold eyes that i dont think had been pointed my way... ever.
"trust me," she sent dagger eyes to both of us, "cole likes his girls a lot less vanilla than Ms. J Crew, over here." she looked at jackie like a piece of meat.
"its ralph lauren." she barked, and i couldnt stop the slight cough of shock that came from my throat, almost gleaming as erin's cheeks went red, "and i dont see the problem here. im not interested in cole, and hes not interested in me either. like you said, he was just being nice."
"just watch it." erin snapped, "im not buying this little orphan annie act."
i bit my bottom lip, knowing that was rich coming from her. losing her father years ago, she at least knew half the trauma jackie was going through right now.
"clearly." jackie said, not taking one hit from her. erin had begun to walk off, scoffing at the girl, when jackie refused to let her off easy.
"i love your bag. it looks almost authentic." erin went to speak for herself, but the new yorker wouldnt let her, "but its not. my mother designed a range for that brand. the leathers too thin, and the logo should be stitched on the inside, not printed."
erin's jaw dropped, but she just scoffed again and walked away, leaving me, grace, and skylar gawking at the new girl.
grace laughed, and i walked up to the girl, moving my open jaw to one side.
"i like you." i smirked down at her, and she smirked up at me.
but as the group continued their walk to the car, i trailed behind with a frown.
this girl seemed nice. strong.
erin obviously wouldn't get to her, she had just proved that.
but these boys were going to tear her apart.