**Officially published as Clique Bait with HarperTeen!**
Payment is usually a part of a basic transaction. You give and then you take. But, at Arlington Preparatory, people take at their leisure. They take their entertainment in the form of humiliat...
Stop teasing me, I'd be back in an instant. Short message for now - I'm very busy lately. Not that I'm too busy for you, but I have less time to write much. Next time will be a longer letter.
Love you more than cookie dough ice cream.
That's a lot.
Mon.
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"Chloe," William breathed, half as a greeting and half as a sigh of relief.
"What are you doing here?" I blurted. "Why haven't you replied to my messages and why on Earth are you outside of my house at eleven o'clock at night?"
William stood, and it was when he struggled to gain balance that I realized he had been drinking. "That's a really nice dress."
"Oh, god." I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "Should I call you a cab?"
"I caught a cab here," he said. For some reason, he found this amusing, a smooth chuckle breaking through the late night air. His cheek was red and shadowed from where it had been hit, and the corner of his lip looked like it was harboring a small gash. When I realized I'd been staring at his lips for too long I blinked rapidly to clear my head.
"Why did you come here, William?"
He gave a wry smirk. "Well, you see, I forgot you were out with Maddy tonight, and even though I rang the bell nineteen times, nobody answered. So I've just been waiting here."
"Thank God my parents weren't home," I muttered between my teeth. "You could have just texted me."
"Well, that's the other thing..." he said, rubbing his elbow. "I kind of smashed my phone."
"Smashed your phone?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. It was cold, and my skin felt awfully exposed. I hugged my arms around my chest.
"It was kind of a long story. Can I..." his voice trailed off as he looked up the driveway towards my home. "Can I come in?"
I couldn't exactly leave him on the street, and I wasn't going to wait outside any longer without a jacket. Not to mention, I was a little intrigued as to how he ended up at my house drunk in the middle of the night to begin with.
"Yeah."
I unlocked the gates and led him to the front door and into my home. I was busy turning on the lights when he started pacing, examining the furniture in the living room.
"No parents?"
"Not tonight," I said. Then I thought about the possibility of my father showering my mother with a luxury hotel. "Probably not until tomorrow, actually."
"That's unfortunate, I'd love to have a word with your father," he said, in a mock-business tone. Then he started going up the stairs.
