Chamberlain Academy

9/7 - 2:55 pm

Verity put a hand on her hip, facing the mirror. She’d finally picked out her date outfit - her Lilly Pulitzer dress, Sperry wedges, and kate spade bracelet. It had taken a lot of help from Cam (who’d screamed at her after the third FaceTime), but she eventually made her decision. Hopefully West didn’t care too much.

The brunette looked at her phone. Five minutes to go. Was he the early type? She had no clue. Then again, his family had showed up early for the dinner. But was that a family thing, or an entire family thing? Before she could debate anymore, there was a knock on her door. Smoothing out her dress, she walked over and opened the door, smiling.

“Hey!” She greeted, admiring his blue button up and khaki bermudas.

“Good evening,” He grinned in return. “You look wonderful.”

“As do you.”

“Shall we?”

Verity grabbed her bag before stepping into the hall, shutting the door behind her. She flipped her hair behind her back and walked down the hall with West, her shoes clicking behind her.

“Where are we going to dinner?” She asked, turning to face West.

He faced her and grinned. “It’s a surprise.”

“Tell me.”

“Nope.”

“Tell me!”

“You can guess.”

Ver groaned as they started down the staircase (a challenge in wedges, but one she had mastered long ago). There were only so many restaurants around town, but Lord knows where he was taking her. The school was only about a ten minute drive from Portland, which had tons of great restaurants. For all she knew, he could even be kidnapping her and taking her somewhere along the coast. She barely knew him after all, maybe he was a serial killer.

“What kind of cuisine?” Verity questioned.

They exited through one of the back entrances of the school, it went along a small path (which was rarely shoveled in the winter, unless someone took pity while watching the students slip and get themsevles knee-deep in snow) that led to the parking garage. Granted, it wasn’t really a parking garage; it was a lot covered by concrete to keep cars from being crushed by snow. It was ugly, the concrete didn’t match the school. Verity hated it, but as much as she complained to her mother, Charlotte never had the time or funds to invest in decorating it.

“Only yes or no questions, Verity.” West grinned and held the door that led in though the side. She was impressed with his knowledge of the school; he hadn’t even been here for a week yet.

Ver groaned as they walked through, thinking. “Italian? Mexican? Seafood? Uhh...French? Greek? American?” Only on the last one did she get a yes. Oh.

“Ish.” He then defended. She was confused, to say the least.

“Are we staying here in Westbrook?”

“Nope.”

Verity ran through Greek places in her head. Parthenon was the only one in Westbrook, and there weren’t many in Portland, at least not that she could think of. “Are we going to Portland?”

“No, we are not.” They approached a silver Audi. Oh. He drove an Audi. Just like Camilla, Carter, Preston, and half the kids in the school. He held the door open for her and she got in, smoothing out the back of her skirt. He got in the other side as she continued to debate.

“I give up.”

They made small talk the rest of the drive, which turned out to be a long one. Although the road had looked familiar, Verity wasn’t sure exactly where they were driving. Normally, Ver was pretty easy going. But she really wanted to know what was going on. However, she didn’t want to upset West, so she kept to herself. They would eventually arrive anyways.

After nearly a half hour of driving, West pulled to a stop in a spot that really didn’t look like a parking spot.

“We’re here!” He announced, getting out of the car and quickly walking over to open the door for her. Verity then got out to admire the view. They were on the ocean, literally. It was a cliff, not high, but high enough. The wind was perfect, the temperature was perfect, everything just felt perfect.

“It’s beautiful,” Verity turned around to say to West. She saw him holding a blanket in one hand and a picnic basket in the other. “We’re having a picnic?”

“Yep.”

“Who made the food?”

“Uh, I did. With help.”

“From who?” Verity took the blanket from him, laying it down on the grass and sitting down. He didn’t reply; she assumed his mother.

West sat down across from her, opening the picnic basket and handing her a cute little pinwheel sandwich. She smiled, taking a bite and looking out over her surroundings.

“How was your morning?” West asked, setting out a drink for both of them.

“It was alright!” Verity responded, sipping the drink. She chose to leave out all of the outfit drama, figuring that wouldn’t matter to him. “How was yours?”

West smiled. “That’s good. Mine was alright, a lot of homework. It’s definitely an adjustment.”

“You went to the public school, right?”

“Right.”

The kids at Chamberlain often made fun of the public school, in a sort of elitist way. Verity knew a couple of people who went to the school, although she wasn’t particularly close with anyone. Personally, she didn’t have a problem with them - for most of them, they didn’t come to Chamberlain simply because they didn’t want to be at a boarding school. However, some students (Chastity) would often mock them, particularly since a lot of them worked at restaurants and stores around town.

“And you came because of your family, right?” Verity questioned.

“My mother, mostly.” He explained, crossing his legs. “I love her, but she’s very...clingy? I sort of wanted to be on my own, even though I’m not that far away.”

Verity nodded. “Mmm.”

“If I’m being completely honest,” West said, setting down his cup. “I used to think you guys were just a bunch of party animals..”

“Really?” Verity raised an eyebrow, her tone sarcastic. “Whatever made you think that?”

“Well, a couple of my friends and I snuck into a party last spring -”

“What? Which one?” Verity interrupted.

“Um, it was in April -”

“Was it the Spencer party?”

“Yeah, I think so -”

“God, I don’t remember anything -”

“Verity.” West gave her a concerning look, and she bit her lip.

“Sorry.” Jack Spencer had thrown a big party in the Richards hall last spring after prom, but everyone had gone. No one really remembered the night, but it had theoretically been the best party ever.

“Anyways, we snuck in. Everyone was totally wasted on whatever you were all drinking, and it was crazy. Totally crazy. And we overheard this conversation, about how it was the best party of the year. But the two guys who were talking went on about all these other parties, so we assumed -”

“Wait,” Verity interrupted, tying her hair up to get it out of the wind. “You thought we were a party school just because of two guys talking about other parties?”

“Yeah, kind of -”

Verity laughed. “You never thought that it was just two kids?”

“Well, it sure seemed like the entire school was there. It wasn’t until I looked more into the school that I realized you could actually get a good education.” West reasoned. There was something about his tone. She couldn’t quite figure it out, but she stopped arguing with him.

“Yeah, it’s a pretty good school.”

“It’s a great school. And it turns out not everyone is a party animal.” West joked, smiling at her.