Chapter 2
Unsurprisingly, Lucas shot down every single girl.
His response was always the same words. "Fuck off."
A guy that good-looking was used to girls confessing to him. That was just par for the course.
But for more than ten days straight? All from the same class? That was just weird.
Chloe's plan was a smashing success.
No one was talking about her failed confession anymore. Now, the whole school was buzzing, trying to figure out the conspiracy behind the Great Confession Cascade.
By the time it finally rolled around to my turn, the grand finale.
It was my first time "confessing" to anyone, and even though I was getting paid, I was a nervous wreck.
To my shock, Lucas looked even more nervous than I did.
I had barely walked up to him and managed to squeak out his name when he shot to his feet, his face blazing red.
He nearly flipped his desk, sending books and a bag of snacks scattering across the floor.
"Don't do this! I'm begging you," he blurted out. "You date my brother. He will kill me if he finds out!"
Behind me, Chloe froze in place.
The crowd was stunned.
Stunned, I was speechless.
"I'm not. Absolutely not," I stammered. "I don't even know your brother."
"And I'm not dating anyone!" I added.
Honestly, I hadn't even talked to another human being besides my cat since I moved here. Where would I even get a boyfriend?
My denial was completely useless.
Lucas slapped a hand over his own mouth like he was trying to shove the words back in. "Right. You two haven't gone public yet," he mumbled between his fingers. "My bad. Sorry. You didn't hear that."
"What are you talking about? Who the hell is your brother?" I demanded, feeling like I had somehow wandered into the wrong script.
No matter how I pressed, he refused to say another word about it.
The gossipy crowd, obviously, wasn't brave enough to start grilling Lucas. So they all turned their attention on me instead.
Just like that, I was famous.
The days that followed were rough.
I was pretty sure this was his revenge.
But why me? Chloe was the one who came up with the plan. She was the director, producer, and sponsor of this little drama. And yet somehow, I was the one taking all the hits.
It was so unfair I could choke.
Because of that one stupid line from Lucas, I barely made it to the end of the last period before I was "requested" to go home.
Usually, the sleek black car only waited around for Lila. I was a bus-or-bike-share kind of girl. But today, when I walked out to the school gate, the car was still there, waiting for me.
I was so shocked that I almost felt special.
At the very least, I wouldn't have to pedal a city bike all the way back home.
As soon as I slid into the back seat, Lila, already inside, sneered, "Wow. So all that good-girl act was fake, huh?
"Sophia, don't think hooking up with someone from the Goodwin family means you can steal Mom and Dad's love. In their hearts, I'm their real daughter."
Arguing with Lila was like trying to have a rational conversation with a blender. So I stayed silent and buckled my seatbelt.
She huffed, clearly annoyed that I wasn't taking the bait, but eventually stopped talking.
Four wheels beat two. Before I knew it, we were home.
I wasn't surprised to walk straight into an in-house interrogation.
My father, Ian Linwood, asked, "So who are you dating? Tell us."
Rumor had it, the Goodwin family was even more powerful than the Linwood family, but that was about all I knew.