Chapter One: The gay, the girls and the Hamptons.

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My eyes barely left the clock for the whole of the last period, counting down the seconds to my freedom. I chewed on my pen lid while playing with a strand of hair that had escaped my usually neat ponytail. Only ten minutes till I'm out of this hellhole I told myself mentally, shifting restlessly in my seat. My phone buzzed in my lap and I quickly looked down at the message on the screen.

'Only ten minutes till you're out of that hellhole'

I blinked at the screen in surprise. My best friend Rayne had a habit of knowing exactly what I was thinking. To the point it was as if he was in my head, I should be used to it after 10 years of friendship, but it still scared me a little when he did it.

"I'm sorry, but is your lap more important and interesting than my class? Miss Fitzpatrick?" Mr Reid snapped causing me to jump. I quickly stammered over an answer.

"N-no sir, absolutely not. Nope. Just erm, you know. Admiring the stitching on my jeans" I blurted. What?!? I wasn't used to being told off, in fact this might have been the first time in my whole school life. I groaned at how lame that sounded as I slid down in my seat, my sniggering classmates turning back to face the front. My eyes flicked back to the clock.

Four minutes till I leave this hellhole.

When the bell finally rang it sounded like angel song to my ears. Freedom... At last! I scraped everything from my desk into my bag and threw it over my shoulder, rushing for the door. The rest of the class was having the same idea and we were all stuck in a crush trying to get through the door, a jumbled mass of flying elbows, stray feet and swinging backpacks.

"Come on people some of us have places to be!" A familiar voice drifted from the hallway bringing a smile to my face, with a final surge I spilled out into the hallway, not getting a second glance from any of my classmates as they rushed for the exits. I caught the eye of the person whose voice I recognised, a smile splitting his face as he hurried over.

"Come on girl! It's summer! Time to hit the beach!" He yelled in my ear throwing his arms around my waist. I couldn't help but laugh at my best friend. My bat-shit crazy best friend.

"Okay, okay Rayne. Calm down, Georgia's in the car park, we'll be on our way in no time" I tried to keep the excitement from my voice so as not to wind Rayne up anymore, seriously he was more hyped than a kid in a candy store. Picking up on my pitch Rayne's eyes lit up even more.

"I knew you were secretly excited about this whole thing" he beamed, grabbing my hand and dragging me down the hallway. "Everybody get yo asses out the way! I have a Hampton house with my name all over it!" Rayne called loudly over the hubbub of excited students heading out for the summer. I laughed as I let myself get pulled along, still nobody looking my way, all attention on Rayne. Even attached to the centre of attention I was invisible, I was a nobody.

A scream of excitement ripped from my lips as I ran over to embrace my cousin as she leaned against her car. Rayne quickly joined the hug and we all started bouncing up and down.

"I can't believe this is actually happening!!" I squealed, throwing my bag into the trunk of the blue mini. Even though we'd had this trip planned for months, now that it was finally happening it just was too good to be true.

"Well the longer we stay here the less time we have there" Rayne announced as he clambered into the back of the car. I shared a look with Georgia, both rolling our eyes at his attempt to squeeze past the front seat.

"It's good to see you" I smiled giving her another hug and a kiss on the cheek before joining Rayne in the car. Although we'd been close our whole lives and spoke most days I hadn't actually seen Georgia since she left for college 10 months ago.

"Please calm down back there otherwise we are not going anywhere" Georgia threatened glaring at Rayne in the rear view mirror. I turned in my seat to smirk at him as he pouted and crossed his arms.

"Seatbelt" I reminded him sternly as I secured my own around my body.

"Kim Kardashian never wears hers" he retorted, earning a giggle from Georgia. Without turning I reached behind me and smacked Rayne's knee.

"Just because you like to think you're a sassy bitch, it doesn't make you Kim K. Kim is queen and you could never compare baby, I'm sorry." Georgia let out another laugh, this time being stopped by a glare from Rayne.

"I have 6 weeks of this" she mumbled as she reversed out of the parking space. "Kill me now".

Georgia drove us to my house where Rayne had left his bags this morning before school. We all trooped inside to be greeted by my mom packing a massive wicker picnic hamper.

"Oh, hey guys" she smiled as we walked into the kitchen, stopping when she saw Georgia. "Oh my, Georgia don't you look gorgeous?" My mom swooned, hobbling over to hug her niece. I looked down at the heels on my mother's feet and rolled my eyes, why everyone around me felt the need to be so glamorous and out there I'll never know.

"Raymond!" She screeched. "Get down here and come say hello to your niece!" Rayne nudged me and I looked at him before nodding.

"We'll go get our bags into the car" I told my mom as she fussed over my cousin.

"Well doesn't she know how to make her children feel welcome" Rayne huffed.

"I'm her daughter not you" I reminded him as we headed up the stairs to my bedroom. He only shrugged.

"I might as well be your brother, I practically live here and I love your parents more than my own". This was true, things had never been great with Rayne and his parents. Three years ago we'd invited Rayne and his parents around for Thanksgiving, after a few hours it became obvious why Rayne spent so much time at our house. After that my parents never once complained at how much time he spent with us.

Rayne had confided in me years ago that he was gay, and I helped him cover it up. For three years we 'dated'. Eventually he said it wasn't fair on me, I should have a real boyfriend and not be tied to some gay guy. That was his way of telling me he was ready to step out of the closet. I smile slightly at the memory.

"What are you thinking about?" Rayne's voice pulls me back to the present. I shrugged as I bent down to pick up my two massive bags, I didn't know how we were going to fit all this in the back of a mini. On top of my two bags Rayne had two and we had a fifth bag that we shared.

"Just remembering when we used to be dating" I teased. Rayne hated it being brought up, I knew it made him feel bad, but he had to understand that it wasn't a big deal and that I'd have his back no matter what he asked of me. Grumbling something about me being a bitch he shuffled out of the room leaving me to struggle with the third bag. "Asshole" I mumbled under my breath, walking over to my bedroom window and throwing it open. All for the easy way of doing something I slung one bag out of the open window, down onto the front lawn, bag number two was quick to follow before I hefted the last one out of the door and down the stairs.

"Mom, dad! We're going now!" I called from the porch, Georgia had escaped my mom and now refused to move from the car. Leaving me and Rayne to try and fit all of our bags in the trunk, along with Georgia's. Luckily it was times like this that growing up on Tetris was actually useful, that and the boot was deceptively big for such a small car. Finally, victory was ours and with a final slam of the door we were ready to go.

My parents came to the door and both gave me and Rayne a hug.

"You guys be safe out there, and call me as soon as you arrive, and please try and at least text every night just so I know you're all okay" my mother babbled, giving me another hug. I turned to my dad who held out the keys for the house.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't sweetie" he smiled, dropping the keys into my hand. There was no need to warn me of parties or breaking things, they knew what a sheltered life I led, but they knew that I was happy. Climbing into the car I rolled down the window and waved back at my parents as Georgia reversed out of the driveway.

"Hamptons here we come!" I called cranking the radio up gaining squeals and whoops from both of my companions.

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