His Guilty Pleasure (FIRST DRAFT)

The Hamptons (1)

GABBY

"No." I stare my stepmother in the eyes, daring her to challenge me. "I am not spending my summer with Leo Hamilton. Actually, I take that back. I will. When Hell freezes over."

Janice brushes a strand of red hair behind her ear and rolls her eyes. "Quit being so dramatic, Gabrielle. It's not the whole summer, it's a month. And he's just a boy."

I pause for a moment, considering this. Just a boy? Impossible. "Correction: he is Satan."

"We're going, Gabby. It was very nice of Vanessa to invite us up there."

"But--"

Janice's eyes widen and her lips thin, and I know to be quiet. I have been baited by this woman too many times to know that this expression is never a good sign. I may be angry, but I don't have a death wish. I stomp my foot entirely aware that I look like an adult toddler. "God! Fine!"

"Get packed." She raises a brow at me before returning to sending emails on her smartphone. My stepmother is strictly stay at home, so I have no idea who she is always rigorously communicating with, besides my dad who she is disgustingly in love with. They've been together for three years. I like Janice, she's the mom I never had.

"Get packed." I mimic, spinning on my heel and marching to my room. I start to yank things out of my closet and throw them into one of three suitcases. If I'm spending the stupid summer in the stupid Hamptons with stupid Leo, I'm not packing light.

I must be making a ruckus because Bianca comes into the room, giving me a glare. She looks fresh off the runway which both disgusts and infuriates me. "Can you stop stomping everywhere, you diva? I'm trying to read." My older sister crosses her arms and purses her lips. She's going to be a freshman in college after this summer and I'm going to be a senior, so of course she assumes she's in charge.

"Too bad, so sad." I roll my eyes. "I'm allowed to pout, okay? This was supposed to be my and Camille's bucket list summer. Now I have to spend it with Leo, and you know how I feel about that prick."

"What the Hell, Gabby?" Bianca places an elegant hand on a dainty hip. "Do you hear yourself? We're spending summer in the Hamptons. Do you know how privileged we are?"

"Oh my God, stop being so high and mighty!" I groan, throwing my head back in exasperation. "Seriously, Bianca, you volunteered at the homeless shelter once, Bianca. And it was only because you had to for school. Stop talking about privilege like you've ever experienced being anything less than it. Jesus!"

Bianca frowns at me. Ever since she started dating this guy, Juan, she's been pretending to be an intellectual. That's who she is--she changes herself for guys. She dated pretty much our entire school's football team and for the longest time she was a ditzy blonde who gave hand jobs under the bleachers. She dated my best friend Camille's brother, a creative type named Kingston, and all of the sudden she was a starving artist. Now, she's an activist that attends poetry slams. I give it another week before Juan dumps her.

"Whatever." She pouts. "Just keep it down."

I continue to pack, making sure to be extra loud. Let Bianca and her big, intellectual brain take that.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Janice's Range Rover is packed to the brim. Dad couldn't come. He's the CEO of Hampton Enterprises, a tech company, so he hardly has any free time much to my chagrin. In lieu of my father, Janice has our pit bull mix, Layla, sitting up front with her.