Brookside Academy

2 - Road Trip, Anyone?

Ryan and I are nearly at the dining hall, the walk between the buildings taking less than 5 minutes, when a pair of arms wrap around Ryan, hands covering her eyes.

"Guess who?" the voice questions Ryan as I identify him. William Huntington, known by his friends as Will. He's your typical skater boy, guitar player, and overall "cool guy," despite the multibillion dollar Huntington fortune. He also happens to be Ryan's boyfriend since eighth grade.

"Hm...maybe Emmy?"

"It's me and you know it," he continues.

"Do I?" Ryan challenges, before the figure takes his hands off her eyes, turning around to kiss her quickly. He gives me a quick salute as we walk into the dining hall, scanning the tables for where we usually sit. The room is more empty than usual, considering students have the entire week to begin getting on campus. My friends and I just like to be prepared, apparently.

Will spots our table first, holding Ryan's hand and leaving me trailing behind. I love my best friends, I do, but third wheeling is never ideal. As we get closer, I notice a mop of brown-black hair look up at our group approaching.

Bennett Sterling. Known by us as Ben. William's best friend, and by default, a member of our inner circle. He's the perfect rich boy, in love with his Aston Martin and ever-growing collection of Rolexes. Any girl in my position would be an idiot to hate him, but as soon as he turns off the charm, he's the biggest asshole you'll ever meet. Him and Will met at lacrosse in 6th grade, and when Will began getting closer with Ryan, the four of us became a sort of friend group. As they say, the rest is history.

"Ben!" Will momentarily lets go of Ryan to give his best friend some kind of secret handshake, which Ben enthusiastically returns before gesturing to the table for us to take our seats.

William and Ryan slide in easily, leaving the only seat left to me. I sit down between Ryan and Ben, beginning my usual routine of ignoring the latter, when I catch him smirking at me.

"What do you want, Sterling?" I roll my eyes at him.

"Nothing from you, Carmichael." I shake my head at his stupidity, and turn my attention to Ryan and Will.

"So, Will, what did you do this summer? I feel like I've barely heard from you!"

"I was pretty unreachable for most of it," Ryan nods in agreement, rolling her eyes at the unfortunate situation, "I was out boating with my father for over a month, exploring different islands and shit. And, since you all know what a rare occasion it is when he remembers he has a son, I figured I'd take advantage."

William's story is one us Brookside kids know all too well. Juggling having a family and being a top 1%-er tends to be a struggle for a lot of our parents, and I'd say most of them choose the fortune over us. It's not that our parents don't love us, it's just more that we're not their top priority. I've always been jealous of Ryan, her parents having grown up like normal people, she has a great relationship with them.

Regardless, I continue talking about summer activities with Will and Ry, trying my hardest to ignore Ben. Yet, when William and Ryan decide our breakfast table is a fun place to flirt with each other, I'm forced to interact with him once again. My phone is still in the dorm, so it's either deal with his presence or stare at an empty plate.

"So, Ben. What did you do this summer?" I try to be courteous and polite.

He looks up at me with his green eyes and simply says, "I dunno, a bunch of shit," before pulling out his phone. Not even a quick question asking me about mine, since he's spent the entire prior conversation with his face trained in his lap.