Rags to Riches

Chapter 9: The Insider

Looking at the clock during calculous seemed to be a routine thing for me at this point. Should I be paying attention? Yeah, I'm not going to lie to myself about that. But I took this class already and I know exactly where we are and exactly what we are talking about. If his teaching didn't work the first time, why was it going to work the second time?

The bell rings and I am the first one out of the classroom.

I look for Erin because I couldn't find her this morning. But the more I think about it, she's probably missing school again because of Oliver. The way she sounded last night would only make me assume she's going through a major hangover. Is that why she missed all this school? Because she was having hangovers?

I do manage spot Kat and Axel though, so I'm not a complete loner. "Hey," I say to them as I catch up to the couple.

"Hey there, Teabag." Axel smirks and Kat rolls her eyes. "You think you're clever," she says. "But you're really not."

"Stop calling me that." I say and walk beside them. "I let it slide yesterday, but you know I hate that nickname."

Axel shrugs. "Whatever. I know you love it."

"Have you heard from Er-"

"UGH!" a girl screams in frustration and slams her locker shut violently.

Not surprising at all, that girl is Julia.

"What's her deal?" Axel mutters and Kat frowns. Kat and Julia used to be really close... But you know, Julia is a bitch and Kat isn't. Simple as that.

"You told me that you were coming home tonight, Mom." Julia hisses loudly into the phone. "How do you expect me to ride the bus one more day? That thing is disgusting! Not only that, I had to have some photography nerd drive me to the ball last night. Do you know how embaressing that was?"

"Why can't she drive?" Axel asks Kat and she just looks away. "She, um, didn't pass the driver's test."

Even I sensed that was a lie and I don't even know her as well as Axel. I'm sure they would talk about it more tonight, but I wasn't going to press it, because I didn't really care if Julia had her driver's license or not. And I also didn't care that she had to ride the bus because of it, or that she had to have a nice boy from the school drive her to a ball-

"Wait, Kat. Which ball is she talking about? Do you know?" I ask Kat.

Kat shrugs. "I think the only ball that was happening and that you can drive to around here is at that country club a little away from here."

I nod and look over at Julia screaming at her mom on the phone. I remember Erin telling me how Julia probably went to events like balls and fundraisers all the time. Theo and I needed an in, an insider. And unfortunately, Julia was the closest thing to an insider as we got.

****

I texted Theo to meet me at a local coffee shop a few blocks away from school. Since I basically got no sleep at all last night, I was in the mood for some coffee.

I sat at a small table, twisting my cup around in my palms. The small bell on the top of the door rings, indicating someone has entered. I look up and see Theo saunter in like he owns the place, wearing a black leather jacket and sunglasses. He pulls out the chair across from me and plops down.

"Are you not going to get anything, James Dean?" I ask him and he smirks and takes off his sunglasses. "I would drink my own piss before I take a sip of coffee."

"You could, it's a YouTube challenge." I retort and Theo rolls his eyes this time. "I'm here because you said you knew someone with an in and even though I highly doubt this, speak." He nods his head toward me.

"First of all," I say, slightly annoyed. "Stop treating me like a child. I'm practically an adult, so treat me like one."

"Oh god, are you one of those teenagers who think just because they can vote they are automatically adults?"

I glare at him. "That's not my point. I would just like some respect, that's all I'm asking."

Theo narrows his eyes as he lets out a long sigh. "Fine. I thought I already showed you respect, but fine. Whatever. Now tell me who it is,"

I take a long sip of coffee just to get on his nerves, but I doubt if he notices. "Julia Palimore." I say and place my almost empty coffee cup on the table. "She goes to events that almost always include Oliver. She was even at the ball last night. Her stepdad is Gavin Grant, do you know him?"

Theo nods. "Yeah, he's like a millionaire. He owns a bunch of car dealerships. But isn't he like, seventy years old or something?"

I nod. "Her mom is the classic gold digger. Gavin always brings his trophy wife and her daughter with him to the things he's invited to."

Theo looks at me for a couple of seconds in silence, like he's thinking this over. Then, he breaks into a huge grin. "Great job, Teagan. Now all we have to do is convince Julia to help us."

I look up at him for a moment and study his features. "I don't think It'll take much convincing."

Theo's grin turns into a smirk. "Teagan Carter, are you admitting I am somewhat attractive?"

"You're the reason women believe men should burn in hell." I say and he laughs.

"I'm not even going to argue with you on that one. I'm an ass. But good job. Glad to be working with you, Teagan." Theo stands and boops my nose. "See you la-"

"Don't do that." I glare up at him.

"What?" He asks, genuinely confused.

"Don't boop my nose. You just said you were going to treat me like an adult. With respect."

Theo stares down at me for a couple of moments and I imagine that if it was Oliver doing that I would want to crawl under my chair and hide.

"You're stubborn." He says after almost a full minute of staring me down. "But that's good. It means you'll help me get this done faster."

I stand up and pull on my sweatshirt. "The faster this is done, the better."