◤ chapter two: ❛ disappointing
realities ❜ ◢
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OF COURSE, TONI KNEW THAT HARRY OSBORN WAS HOT – SHE HAD SEEN THE MAGAZINES – BUT SEEING HIM IN PERSON WAS DIFFERENT. He looked better in person, the hair that must be soft, the nice eyes, the stature...the media did not portray his assets correctly. Based on his physicality, Toni would not be mad if he took an interest in her.
But people weren't just looks. They were whole human beings and that meant they had personalities and, well, Toni knew about his. Really, what girl at her age didn't? Harry was the typical rich kid – typical son of a famous father – and Toni was not into that. Yeah, she knew she was the stereotypical rich girl with a drug and alcohol addiction with daddy issues, but not as badly as him. He was at least ten times worse and he yelled at paparazzi. All his bad mistakes were on display for the world, hers were hidden properly.
So no, she was the exact opposite of interested in him. Yeah, he would be nice to look at but the moment something came out of his mouth, she was sure she should be turned off. Because that's what he's like and the media can't portray him that badly, can they?
Thankfully, but also so unfortunately for her, Harry was in her Spanish class. Now, here's the thing, Toni knows that learning a different language can be useful and exciting, but sitting in her Spanish class fucking sucks. It's probably her least favorite subject – and she hates math was a burning passion.
At least in math she does something every day instead of daydreaming for forty-five minutes in Spanish. But Midtown will only let her graduate with Honors with Distinction if she takes three years of Spanish so she's stuck. She will not be the only Alderson who went to Midtown to not get it, even though she knows she won't be the disgrace of the family like Finn.
If anything else, she always looks like a fucking angel when compared to him. At least he's good for something then.
But she's in Spanish and she's thinking about working at Wal-Mart instead, because anything would be better than listening to Miss Pratt talk about the joys of learning a different language – torture, really, if she was being honest. And Harry's in front of her and he looks good from the bad, so maybe it's not the worst class of the day if this is her view, but even a cute guy can't make her like listening to Miss Pratt drone on and on.
"Turn around and introduce yourself to the person behind you – in Spanish, of course," Miss Pratt said and then, oh shit, Harry's turning around to talk to her.
He smiles, and it's the playboy millionaire smile that she's seen a million times on TV. He wears it perfectly and Toni knows that he'll have girls dropping their panties faster than you can say hola in the future. But he doesn't look arrogant or stuck up, not like the other rich kids from her neighborhood. Huh.
"Hola, me llamo Harry," he introduced himself, as if he was just another new kid to the school. Yeah, right.
"I know," Toni answered, feeling no reason to lie and go oh I had no idea, wow! because that's fake as fuck and Toni only likes to think of herself as fifty-percent plastic, "Toni, by the way."
"Thought we were supposed to be doing this in Spanish," Harry attempted a joke and Toni couldn't suppress her eye roll. Please don't tell her he's a rule follower – those are the worst.
"Honestly, who gives a shit?' Toni questioned with a shrug, watching him do the same.
"Who knows? Apparently you don't," Harry pointed out, still the charming smile on his face that was going from cute to infuriating. Ugh, Harry Osborn was turning into the worst person ever and not even his good looks could save him.
Toni shook her head, "You're right, I don't. Rules are dumb as fuck and breaking them is more exciting. Not sure if you're aware of that."
"Oh me? No, I'm used to breaking the rules," Harry defended himself, chuckling at himself and his past actions, like he was proud of them, and in a hypocritical way it made Toni dislike him more, "But you? Not really a big fan of rules are you now?"
"Nah," Toni said, "Like I said, they're dumb as fuck. You should probably try and listen more closely. Think it'll help you in the future."
"Blunt, too," Harry noted.
She narrowed her eyes, "Yeah, so what? Stop assessing me, I'm not a product from your fucking company."
Harry raised his hands up in a mock surrender, "Hey, I'm just stating the facts."
"No, you're being annoying," Toni retorted, eyes flickering up to see Miss Pratt coming towards them so she asked, "Color favorito?"
"Azul. Y tu?" he turned the question back to her.
"Rosado," she answered easily, thinking about the pink collage on her wall and the pink comforter she had. What can she say, she looked pretty in pink. Then, when Miss Pratt was out of hearing rang, Toni glared at him again, "Stop assessing me."
"Stop being rude," he fired back and she scoffed.
"God, you stop like a child," she shook her head, "We're not in the third grade anymore, Harry."
"Believe me, I know, but that doesn't mean you're not being a bitch," Harry said and she had to laugh.
"Wait until I tell the press that you called a classmate a bitch. It'll make headlines," Toni teased, not really thinking about going through with the plan. It was weak anyway.
"Not the worst thing they've said about me," Harry shrugged, indifferent to the threat. She frowned at that, hoping that her comment would dig into him more, maybe even for him to beg that she didn't. He was so disappointing in real life.
"Whatever," she noticed that Miss Pratt was coming back, "Como estas?"
"Eh, bien," he answered back, though his face told a different story with his annoyance to her. At least they had that in common – wait, no, she didn't want to have anything in common with him.
Harry Osborn was terrible, obviously, and she was nothing like him. So what if they had daddy issues and were the stereotypical rich, white kid? They were so completely different and Toni was offended that she would ever stoop so low as to compare herself to him. She was better than him.
Before they could say anything else, the bell rang and Harry turned back around to get his bag. Miss Pratt called something out to them but Toni didn't catch it, wasn't really interested in trying either. She swung her back around her shoulder and walked out of the classroom, merging with Sabrina.
Her friend frowned immediately when she saw the annoyed face that Toni was sporting. "What happened to you?"
"Harry Osborn," Toni gritted, unable to stop herself from rolling her eyes as she said his name. God, he was annoying.
"Really?" Sabrina asked in surprise, "He was nice when I was showing him around. Nothing like how I always thought he would be – and funny. What did he do exactly?"
"He was just so fucking annoying, like he called me a bitch and said that I was being rude," Toni huffed out. She was not rude, even if she was a bitch – and it wasn't even like he had the right to call her that. Only certain people could say that to her face.
Sabrina frowned again, "Well that's rude. I mean, doesn't he know who to call someone a bitch politely?"
Toni laughed, "Apparently not."
"But that doesn't mean that you weren't equally as rude to him," Sabrina countered, "Come on, I told you to start being nicer. There's a reason why people either hate you or are afraid of you."
"That's not true. Atlas likes me, as so do all of his friends," Toni defended herself.
"Yes, because having only stoners like you is great," Sabrina said sarcastically.
Toni then pointed out, "You aren't a stoner."
"Yeah, I think I'm the only non-stoner that really likes you," Sabrina snorted, "And maybe Liz, but Liz likes everyone, so she doesn't really count."
"Whatever," Toni rolled her eyes, turning into her AP Biology class with Sabrina, "It's not like I care anyway."
"Well, good. You shouldn't care about whether or not everyone likes you. You love yourself and that's all that matters," Sabrina finished positively, always wanting to end on a good note.
Toni smiled at her, "And you like me. That's all that matters."
"Yeah," Sabrina agreed, sending her back a fond smile.
⋆
After school, Toni found herself at a dingy bar sitting by herself with a joint in her hand. She looked around, seeing more underage kids than adults, but then again, that's what Nix is known for; serving to people under twenty-one at a higher price and a limit on drinks. Good morals for someone without them, seeing as the owner had his own daughter working the bar. She was nice, so whatever.
She looked at the door, seeing Atlas walk in with his signature strut and smirk with eyes twinkling when he saw her. "Toni Alderson," he greeted her as he sat down across from her, "My favorite rich girl."
She rolled her eyes at him and kick him lightly under the table. "Shut up, as if you don't have money yourself," she brought the joint to her lips and let out a puff.
"But not nearly as much as you," Atlas countered with a laugh, "And I wasn't born into it either."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Hard working brother and everything," Toni waved her hand, "How is Colin?"
"Too old for you and terribly gay," Atlas quickly answered, "You aren't getting anything from him."
"Why do you always think the worse of me?" Toni rolled her eyes, pouting to him is offense, "I merely asked for the wellbeing of your older, hot brother and you immediately think that I will try and sleep with him."
"Well, you did just call him hot and older – which means too old for you, by the way – and you like sex, so excuse me for assuming that you want to fuck him," Atlas sarcastically said, "It's not like you haven't asked my permission to fuck him before."
"The past is in the past, it's time to move on," Toni smiled before laughing at herself, "No, but really. Is he single?"
"Yes, and still gay, so you don't exactly fit his type. He's really into these two things called dick and legal age," Atlas replied, giving Toni a look.
"That's too bad," Toni sighed, taking her joint to her lips again, "Wanna get a drink with me?"
Atlas shook his head, "Sorry, can't tonight."
She frowned, "Then why the fuck did you agree to meet me here? We could've gone to the park."
"Yeah, like we got the park," Atlas' voice was laced with sarcasm as he rolled his eyes, "We always go here, and I like it here. It's nice and loud and freeing."
"Whatever, so why can't you drink?" Toni questioned, staring at her friend.
"Colin said that if I can home from my first day of school smelling like booze he'd kick me ass, and in the interest of not having a sore ass I am electing to stay sober for today," Atlas explained.
Toni snorted, she couldn't help herself, "Colin? Scrawny Colin? Going to beat your ass? I'd like to see him try."
"Woah, Colin may look weak but that is the exact opposite. Looks really deceive him. He's like a real life ninja, dude," Atlas looked at her seriously.
"Sure, sure," Toni said in a disbelieving tone, "I still don't buy it."
"What? You need him to kick her ass for evidence?" Atlas questioned.
Toni pondered it. "Well, I wouldn't be opposed to the idea..."
"Oh my God, no. That is not happening, ever, so stop trying to force it," Atlas cut her off.
She grinned wildly at him, "I'm just playing with you, Atlas, you know how I am and how easily it is to rile you up."
"Oh, fuck off."
Toni laughed at him, throwing her head back and everything, before coming back down and staring at him as she continued to giggle. "Fuck, you're easy," she grinned again.
Atlas rolled his eyes and kicked her under the table, "Shut up, Toni. You gonna get that drink ever?"
"What? So you can look at it and pine about what you can't have? Because if so, that's hilarious and I'll go get one right now," Toni teased him. He kicked her shin again. "Ow!"
He smiled, "That's what you get for being a bitch."
Immediately, her happiness faded as she thought about Harry Osborn again. "Ugh, don't say that," Toni told him, "Fucking Harry Osborn thought he had the right to call me a bitch earlier today. What an asshole."
"So you can call him an asshole but he can't call you a bitch?" Atlas asked, a teasingly smile present on his features.
"Not to my face, no. Only you and Sabrina can say I'm a bitch to me without me getting offended," Toni said, "But it's so disappointing, you know? Like, the media was right about him which sucks because he's hot."
Atlas thought about it for a second before nodding in agreement. "Yeah, he did look nice today. Like, I'd totally smash if given the chance."
"Even if he's a dick?"
"Well, all that matters if that he knows how to use his dick, not if he has a dickish personality. It's not like there's going to be room for a lot of talking while we fuck," Atlas said.
"I can see where your priorities lie," Atlas shrugged in response to her comment.
"I like to have sex, what about it?" he asked her with a careless look on his face.
"I still can't imagine having sex with a guy sporting a personality like that," Toni frowned.
Atlas blinked before giving her a disbelieving look, "You're fucking Caden Hayes – like, he has the worst personality in the world."
Toni frowned before conceding to his point with a shrug, "Yeah, but he's good in bed."
"And Harry probably is too, so I can deal with whatever personality he has," Atlas finished off.
Toni sighed, "I think I'd agree with you if he hadn't called me a bitch. There's no coming back from that."
Atlas just gave her a shrug, "More for me then."
She kicked him in the skin again.