Diamonds in the Rough Page 11

  What would he do if she marched up to him and told him? And why did he not want to be part of her life, but he was welcoming Peyton, Courtney and Savannah into his?

  It was more reason for Madison to hate the Diamond girls, even if they technically were her half sisters. She hadn’t liked them from the moment she’d seen them. Peyton was a slut, Courtney a holier-than-thou Goody Two-shoes and Savannah a wannabe who was desperate for attention. How could she be related to them?

  “Your mom and I think you need to talk with someone about this,” her dad said. “A professional.”

  “Like a psychiatrist?” Madison looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. What if someone from school found out she was seeing a therapist? The rumors would make everything worse. “No way.”

  “We’re worried about you.” By the concern in her mom’s eyes, Madison could tell that she meant it. But that didn’t make her less angry about how she’d been lied to. “When you’re home, it seems like all you’re doing is watching TV,” her mom continued. “You’ve stopped going to the gym, and you’ve been eating greasy, fatty food at a rate that, if it continues, will have a negative impact on your health.”

  Madison shrugged and took another bite of her cheeseburger.

  “What we had to tell you was hard to hear, and we’re sorry you found out the way you did,” her mom continued. “Your dad and I have been supportive in every way we can, and we want you to realize that we’re still the same family we’ve always been. You have to figure out how to accept that and move forward. A professional can help.”

  “I don’t need a professional.” Madison dunked a few fries into ketchup and shoved them into her mouth. Why did her parents expect everything to go back to how it was? Nothing could ever be that way again. “I’m doing fine, really. My grades are as good as ever, so you have nothing to worry about.”

  “But you haven’t gone out in weeks,” her mom said. “You can’t avoid your friends forever.”

  “I’m not avoiding them,” Madison insisted, although she’d taken to “accidentally” misplacing her phone around the condo so she could “miss” seeing her text messages. Like that one from Oliver yesterday asking if she wanted to go with him to Jackie’s volleyball party last night, and the one from Larissa this morning about meeting with their friends for lunch. “Anyway, what’s the big deal? Most parents would be happy if their kid went to school, did homework and didn’t go to parties.”

  “We know you, and this isn’t your normal behavior.” Her mom’s voice was strained; she sounded desperate now. “Your dad and I are only trying to help. The last thing we want is for this to ruin the relationships you have with your friends.”

  “I’m actually going to the pool with some people tomorrow.” It was a huge lie, and Madison didn’t know why she said it. It might get her parents off her case, but she shuddered at the thought of wearing a bathing suit in public. She would look like a repulsive blimp.

  “Good for you.” Her mom smiled. “You’ll feel better once you get back to a normal routine. But if you feel like you need to talk with a professional, I can make that appointment for you, okay?”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” She picked up the remaining half of her cheeseburger, but knowing she had to go to the pool tomorrow made it unappetizing. She would have to keep her cover-up on. And because, despite what she’d told her parents, she wasn’t meeting any friends there, she would bring her iPad for company. She could watch a few episodes of The Vampire Diaries.

  Hopefully her parents wouldn’t discover she was going alone, and more important, that no one she knew would see her there.

  www.campusbuzz.com

  High Schools > Nevada > Las Vegas > The Goodman School

  The Hottie from Down Under is hooking up with PEYTON DIAMOND!

  Posted on Saturday 10/11 at 12:41 PM

  Have you all seen the pictures of our new English teacher, Hunter Sterling, with Peyton Diamond? There are two of them having drinks at the Lobby Bar in the Diamond, and two MORE of her talking with him and some of his friends at the Diamond pool, and of them following her into her private cabana. CLICK HERE to see them all!

  I already knew Peyton was a slut—she screwed Oliver Prescott, and who knows how many other guys this summer. Now she can add Hunter to her ever-growing list. She’s such a dirty hoe, I don’t want to know how many STDs she has. It goes to show: just because she moved from her shitty, rundown trailer park town to a penthouse in the Diamond, she’s still total trash. And gross trash, at that. She cakes on so much makeup that it’s impossible to tell what she really looks like. Not like guys care, as long as they can get with her.

  Her sisters are no better. Courtney Diamond pretends to be holier-than-thou, but everyone knows about her public makeout session with Brett Carmel, her soon-to-be-stepbrother, over the summer. If she’s anything like her older sister, I would bet they slept together. And it wasn’t only Brett she hooked up with that first week, but Oliver, too. Yeah, you heard me right. Courtney and Oliver went to Mrs. Prescott’s charity event over the summer, and they left together. Courtney might be worse than her sister—at least Peyton doesn’t hide that she’s a dirty slut.

  Lastly, there’s Savannah. Every time I see her, I want to wring her neck. Not only is she trash, but she’s an idiot, too. She actually believed Damien Sanders was interested in her. Newsflash, Savannah: Damien doesn’t give two shits about you! He’s still leading her on (they disappeared together at that volleyball party last night and couldn’t be found for over an hour) and when they got back her cheeks were so flushed, you could tell that they were having sex. Stupid, dirty slut. As if Damien would be interested in an idiot like her. But she makes it so easy for him that you can’t blame him for using her. She’s pretty much asking to be screwed over—in more ways than one!

  Plus, Savannah’s so stupid that she actually thinks her youtube channel can make it big. But have you all seen THIS?! In case your ears can’t stand it, it’s Savannah trying to sing and BUTCHERING Let It Go. Maybe Savannah will finally get a reality check and stop thinking she’s hot shit with her youtube channel that’s clearly going nowhere. Delete it, bitch, for all our sakes!

  1: Posted on Saturday 10/11 at 12:59 PM

  any girl (or guy) would have to be blind to not notice how hot hunter sterling he is. and with his sexy australian accent, listening to him speak makes early american puritan stories interesting (and that’s saying a lot, because that stuff is sleep inducing.)

  it’s one thing to LOOK, but from those pics, obviously peyton’s hooking up with him. you’re right about her being a dirty hoe. out of all the girls hunter could get with, why pick HER?! GROSS.

  PS: Listened to Savannah “singing.” OMG MY EARS HURT TURN IT OFF!!!

  2. Posted on Saturday 10/11 at 1:13 PM

  wow, you really hate the diamond girls, don’t you? if you listen to Savannah’s songs on her channel, she has an amazing voice. she’s a natural talent. she was just drunk at that party and that song is hard to sing sober, let alone wasted. and no way do i believe for a second that Courtney hooked up with Oliver. She HATES him.

  3: Posted on Saturday 10/11 at 1:20 PM

  Courtney hates Oliver cause he hooked up with her and ditched her!

  4. Posted on Saturday 10/11 at 1:23 PM

  it’s hard to NOT think Peyton’s hooking up with Hunter from those pics. And she didn’t only bring him into the cabana with her, but those guys that were with him, too! She probably showed them a good time in there…

  5: Posted on Saturday 10/11 at 1:27 PM

  hell yeah she showed them a good time…between her legs!!!

  6. Posted on Saturday 10/11 at 1:32 PM

  As a guy who’s in one of his classes, I’ve seen Hunter Sterling peek down the hot girls shirts. Larissa, Madison, and Kaitlin, to name a few. The guy’s a perv.

&nb
sp; 7. Posted on Saturday 10/11 at 2:08 PM

  If Madison keeps gaining weight, he won’t be checking her out for long!!! She’s easily put on ten pounds since school started. She was TOO thin this summer, so she looks healthy now, but it would suck for her if she keeps gaining, especially since she talks shit about fat girls all the time…

  8. Posted on Saturday 10/11 at 2:17 PM

  I can’t be the only one who remembers Madison was chunky in middle school, right?

  9: Posted on Saturday 10/11 at 2:34 PM

  You’re definitely not the only one who remembers. Karma’s finally giving that bitch what she deserves!!

  10: Posted on Saturday 10/11 at 3:14 PM

  Wow. There are some terrible things said on this site, but this takes the cake. I’ve never posted on here before, but whoever started this thread needs a reality check. Because sure, those pictures do make it seem like Peyton and Hunter have crossed the line of what’s professional for a student/teacher relationship. But you know what those pictures are NOT? Proof that they’re sleeping together. Even if they are sleeping together, you don’t know the full story. I don’t know Peyton or her sisters, and I’m not going to pretend like I do, but it sounds like you don’t know them, either. All you’re doing is fueling rumors. And judging someone because of where they’re from is flat-out LOW. I just hope that most people who read what you posted know better than to assume it’s true.

  11: Posted on Saturday 10/11 at 3:28 PM

  Preach! <3

  12: Posted on Saturday 10/11 at 3:58 PM

  Poster #10 has a point. But I mean, come on. Look at those pictures. You can’t blame someone for assuming Peyton and Hunter are hooking up???

  13: Posted on Saturday 10/11 at 4:15 PM

  She (or he??) does have a point, but apparently it’s one you missed…

  Chapter 9: Savannah

  Savannah straightened her last section of hair and checked the time on her iPhone. Thirty minutes until her date with Damien. Her stomach fluttered, and her body felt tingly and on edge. This was the first time a guy had asked her out to dinner just the two of them. And it was Damien Sanders, one of the most popular, confident, hottest guys in school.

  With nothing else to do while she waited, Savannah brought her laptop over to her bed and browsed Facebook. Then she clicked her YouTube channel. That afternoon, after Evie had left to go back home, she’d recorded and uploaded an acoustic cover. She was curious whether anyone had watched it.

  The video had almost one hundred views. Not bad, but nowhere near what she’d hoped for when first making her channel. There were also a few comments, so she scrolled to see what they said.

  The one on top, with the most “thumbs-ups,” made her stop cold.

  Want to see something funny? Check out this AMAZING video of Savannah Diamond BUTCHERING “Let It Go” from Frozen!

  Savannah stared at the comment for what must have been minutes, afraid to click the link. Karaoke at Jackie’s party last night had been fuzzy, but at the sight of the comment, some memories came back to her. The way she’d been so confident that she’d insisted multiple people record her singing. But then, she’d had so much to drink that it was impossible to focus on the words that went along with the karaoke track without them blurring. And even worse, the song had been much more difficult to sing than she’d anticipated, and the drinks had made her lose control of her voice, so the notes hadn’t come out right.

  Unable to resist, she clicked the link and cringed while she listened and watched herself. Whoever had posted that was right—she’d forgotten words and missed notes—she had butchered the song. And she looked like a giggling idiot while doing so. But hadn’t she asked everyone to delete the videos after it happened? They’d all said they would, and after so many drinks, Savannah had just believed them. And who was “them” anyway? She vaguely remembered Evie being there, and Alyssa, Jackie, Brooke and Damien, and a bunch of other volleyball girls and football guys.

  Which of them had taken videos?

  She couldn’t remember. It could have been anyone. To make it worse, whoever uploaded it had included a comment linking people to the horrible clip under every one of Savannah’s videos.

  Who hated her enough to do that? Evie had been angry after Savannah had disappeared with Damien, but Evie was her best friend. And, yes, Evie had still been upset when she’d left to go back to California that morning. But she would never do something that cruel…would she?

  Savannah wanted to text her to ask, but she couldn’t. Because if Evie hadn’t posted the video, she would be more mad that Savannah suspected her. Plus, why would anyone ever admit to it?

  She leaned back in her bed, banging her head against the headboard. She would probably never know who’d posted the video. And it was all her fault for drinking too much and singing drunken karaoke. She’d encouraged people to record her. How much stupider could she get?

  She stayed like that for a few more minutes, hoping that when she opened her eyes again, she would realize she’d dozed off and this had all been a bad dream. But the video was still there. There was no escaping this awful mess.

  She had only five more minutes until her date with Damien. They were meeting outside the restaurant, but after seeing that video, Savannah didn’t want to go out anymore. She wanted to stay in her room and wallow about her YouTube dreams being crushed because of one mistake at a party.

  But Damien was waiting for her, so she dragged herself off the bed and out the door.

  As promised, he was waiting by the new Italian restaurant, Adagio, when Savannah arrived. It was packed with people dressed in designer clothing and expensive jewelry, and everything gleamed with sophistication: polished wooden floors, glossy red armchairs and glowing brown walls. Damien hadn’t seen her yet, and he looked so at home there, leaning against the railing near the hostess stand. Eating at the finest restaurants was normal for him; Savannah doubted he’d ever been inside a chain like Olive Garden or Chevys, both of which had been special-occasion restaurants when Savannah had lived in Fairfield. And the Diamond placed Adagio in the “casual dining” category.

  After living in Vegas for a few months Savannah was growing more comfortable with eating at places like this, but she still looked around in wonder. Sometimes she felt like Cinderella—one day the clock would strike midnight and this Las Vegas fairy tale would end.

  She greeted Damien, who was wearing a navy button-down that complemented her royal-blue dress, and the hostess led them to their table—a two-top in the front corner of the restaurant where the ambient noise wasn’t quite as loud. They ordered their drinks—a cherry Coke for Savannah and a Sprite for Damien.

  “You look beautiful,” Damien said after the drinks arrived.

  Savannah’s cheeks heated, and she looked down at her place setting. “Thanks,” she said, taking the silverware out of her napkin and placing it on her lap. She should be acting bubbly and excited to be there with him, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Not after seeing that awful video online. Instead she studied the menu as if it was the most interesting thing on the planet.

  “Is everything okay?” Damien eventually asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

  Before she could tell him about the video, the waiter came over. “A selection of artisanal cheeses, to welcome Savannah Diamond to Adagio.” He placed a platter of fancy cheeses on the table and told them about each one, although afterward Savannah couldn’t remember a word he’d said. “My name is Eduardo and I’ll be your server for this evening. Do you know what you’d like to order?”

  Savannah went for penne with meatballs—she never could resist classic Italian food—and Damien got veal marsala. Eduardo took away their menus, and Savannah’s stomach dropped. No more pretending that she was focusing on the menu and making chitchat about the food.

  “Do you remember
when I did karaoke last night?” she said, since there was no way she could pretend she wasn’t upset. Better to just let Damien know what had happened.

  “Yeah.” He cleared his throat and sipped his Sprite. “You saw the video, didn’t you?”

  “You know about it?” Savannah’s mouth dropped.

  “I saw it just before I left tonight,” he said. “I was hoping you hadn’t seen it yet. I knew you would eventually, but I wanted to warn you first.”

  “Do you know who posted it?” Savannah’s heart raced, and she sat up straighter. If he knew, maybe they could convince whoever it was to take it down.

  “No.” He shook his head. “I wish I did, but you asked everyone in that room to record you. And whoever posted it made an anonymous YouTube account.”

  “Damn it.” Savannah rarely cursed, but a non-swear word wouldn’t cut it for how angry she was. “This sucks. Maybe I should delete my channel. No one cares about it, anyway.”

  “That’s not true,” Damien said. “What about that video of you singing at Imperial Palace? You got great comments on that one, right? And a bunch of views?”

  “That was the first video I posted,” she said. “Since then, it’s gone downhill. I record covers, but barely anyone watches them, and if they do, they don’t comment.” She sighed and leaned back in her chair. “I should take a hint.”

  “Don’t do that.” He sounded alarmed that she was considering it. “You have an incredible voice.”

  “So why aren’t my videos doing well?”

  He paused, as if contemplating how to continue. “Do you want the truth?”

  “Sure,” she said, although from the way he phrased it, she doubted it would be something she wanted to hear. “Why not? Nothing can be worse than having the worst video ever of me singing posted online just so someone can make fun of me.”