Free Sample
Preview from chapter one
"Hurry up, we're going to be late!" Amber called from the passenger seat of Mia's BMW.
Mia Parker flipped down the sun visor mirror, checking her makeup one last time. Perfect winged eyeliner, just the right amount of highlighter catching the morning sun, and her signature glossy lips. Her blonde hair fell in loose waves past her shoulders, exactly as she'd spent forty minutes styling it.
"Relax," Mia replied, sliding her designer sunglasses back on. "School doesn't actually start for twenty minutes."
"Yeah, but all the good parking spots will be gone," Amber whined.
"I have a reserved spot," Mia reminded her. "Daddy donated that new scoreboard, remember?"
She pulled into Westwood Preparatory Academy's parking lot, sailing past rows of modest cars to the section marked "Reserved" near the front entrance. Her white BMW slid perfectly between the lines of the spot labeled "Parker."
"Did you finish Rivera's history essay?" Amber asked as they grabbed their designer bags from the back seat.
"God, no," Mia laughed. "I'll just bat my eyelashes at him and get an extension."
"That doesn't work on Rivera," Amber warned. "He's, like, immune or something."
Mia flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Nobody's immune. He's just playing hard to get."
They walked toward the imposing brick building, other students automatically moving aside to let them pass. Mia Parker wasn't just popularshe was Westwood royalty. Her father's donations had built half the east wing. Her perfect GPA (achieved through a combination of natural intelligence and strategic flirting) had her on track for valedictorian. And her carefully curated Instagram account had over fifty thousand followers.
"Oh my god," Amber whispered, nudging Mia as they entered the main hallway. "Tyler's looking at you."
Tyler Matthews, captain of the lacrosse team and son of the town's mayor, was indeed watching Mia from his locker. His eyes lingered on her legs, visible beneath her deliberately shortened uniform skirt.
"Of course he is," Mia replied, loud enough for him to hear. "But after what Jessica told me about his... performance issues, I'm not interested."
Tyler's face flushed red as nearby students snickered. Mia smiled sweetly and waved at him.
"That was cold," Amber giggled as they continued down the hall.
"He should have thought about that before ghosting me after spring formal," Mia shrugged. "Nobody does that to me."
They reached Mia's locker, decorated with photos of her summer vacation in the Hamptons and a small mirror for emergency touch-ups. As she swapped out textbooks, Principal Harrison walked by, offering a tight smile.