40: If You Get In

This night screams one word. Rich.

I feel like I'm at the Walmart version of the Met Gala as we arrive to Oliver's mansion. And I mean that in the best way possible. It's the small town version of the fanciest night of the year.

We all shuffle out of the car. I stand there for a second, mainly in shock at what's around me. Everyone that's shown up is somebody. The house is decorated from top to bottom in New Year's decor and shining lights.

Oliver brushes my arm with his and intertwines our fingers. I look up to him, he's looking out to the front door with that stone cold face of his.

"Are you ready?" He asks me.

I tug his arm slightly to pull his attention away from the house. His eyes struggle to leave the mansion but they move to me.

"Are you ready?" I ask him.

He sighs and puts on a fake happy tone, "Time to play family with dad."

I give him a halfhearted chuckle, "Fuck, let's do it then," I pull him towards the door.

"Slow down, Hazel, we have to look rich," Grayson laughs, catching up to us.

"Grayson, I hate to be the one to tell you, but you are rich," I turn to him, stopping in my tracks.

Oliver chuckles, I can feel his chest rise and fall against my side. I stay facing Grayson, his face is priceless. His jaw falls and he sputters a little, mumbling a 'No way'. His hand is on his chest in fake shock. I roll my eyes at his exaggerated reaction.

I turn to Oliver, "He's always like this?"

Oliver smirks, "Always."

The rest of the group falls in line. Everybody looking glamorous in their fancy attire. We look like a group of bad bitches ready to crash a wedding. People around us are staring. Probably because they recognize Oliver Grey, the son of the man of the house.

"Half as fast as normal people, rich people don't believe in rushing," He says to me and then looks front, "Onwards Ho!" And points towards the open double doors that make up Oliver's front door.

Oliver gives my hand that's intertwined with his a squeeze before he starts walking. The six of us walk in one long line to the front doors. Once we're in several people in tuxes come up to us and ask for our coats. Others come up and hand us drinks. In less than thirty seconds we look like we've been here for hours, mingling and drinking.

"I need to go find my father," Oliver whispers to me.

I look up to him and nod. He looks down to our hands and I realize I was holding onto his quite tightly. I let go and then look back up to him. It was weird getting back into the elite high status scene. My nerves were acting up and decided to squeeze the circulation out of Oliver's hand.

"My bad, you might need that hand."

He shrugs, "I use my right," And then he's lost in the crowd.

My cheeks go red at his comment. Always one to throw in a little sexual tension in the mix of emotions. I always assumed his right side was stronger because of football, not because of his sexual habits. Another side of my brain is completely fine with his sexual comment. He wouldn't be the Oliver Grey that sleeps on my couch if he didn't take up any and all opportunities to make a sex joke.

"Hazel, this way," Grayson shakes me away from my thoughts.

I'd been staring off into space, my eyes still locked on where Oliver had disappeared. I blink a couple of times to get the moisture back into my eyes. I turn to face Grayson who's smiling at me.

"He'll be back, but appearances," He shrugs with that last word.

I give him a small smile, not completely understanding. I knew something was wrong with the relationship between Oliver and his father, it was broken and torn. That much had been obvious from the time we snuck in, and the fact that he lives on my couch. But how their relationship got so torn apart, why Oliver doesn't want to be found by his father, I'm still confused about. All I truly know is that it started happening a year ago, when his mom died.

"Alright gang, you know the drill," Grayson faces everybody, "Go say hi to your parents, mingle with that one old guy that gets you into college, and then meet back at the spot in an hour, tops."

Everybody nods, apparently used to this drill. They look ready to get this over with, and are searching around trying to find their parents. I, on the other hand, look like a lost puppy. The last time I was at an Grey Family extravaganza, I was still designated to the little kids section. I didn't have to worry about my parents or college or even looking presentable. I just had to show up because my parents came. This is a whole new ball game.

"Hazel, you can come with me," Grayson locks our arms together and starts leading me away from the group.

"Oh, thank god."

Grayson smiles to me, his bubbly goofy personality surfacing just a little. I can tell he's trying to keep his cool, trying to act like the perfect little Adams golden child everyone claims him to be. It looks hard to fake who you are like that.

"My parents," He presents when we reach an elegant couple in matching reds, "Doctor and Doctor Adams."

"Hello, I'm Hazel Kindler," I put my hand out.

Grayson's father, Doctor Adams, takes it and shakes my hand before smiling. He has the same eyes as Grayson but his smile is one of cocky power. He knows he's rich.

"Hazel Kindler?" Grayson's mom, also Doctor Adams, says, "I haven't seen you in years, you've grown up!"

I give her a small smile and nod, "Yeah, it's been a while. How are you?"

"I'm great! How are those cute twin brothers of yours?"

I smile, glad that she didn't ask me about myself, "They're doing well."

"Wonderful, wonderful," She sighs with a smile, "Are you Grayson's date? Did he finally manage to get a girlfriend?"

I laugh a lightly and shake my head, a little shocked that Grayson's mother would think he can't get a girlfriend, let alone a date. Any girl in the whole school would die for Grayson.

"No, mom," Grayson speaks up, "She's here with Oliver."

His mother's eyes go wide when she hears Oliver's name. She looks between us a couple of times, clearly in some sort of shock. I have to hold myself back from laughing at the sight.

"You mean to tell me Oliver Grey brought a date?"

"I'm just his friend," I speak up, suddenly self conscious at my being here.

It seems I wasn't exactly expected here. And especially not as a plus one to Oliver Grey. The shock in Grayson's mom's voice was not soothing to my uneasiness. I felt the urge to grab Oliver's hand, be safe in his shadow, but he wasn't here.

"Oh, sure honey," Grayson's mom smiles to me.

Then, his father speaks up, "The man from Yale is here, go talk to him."

"At least a please would be nice, dad," Grayson give his dad a hard time.

His dad lifts his eyebrows, but a smile tugs at his lips, "You're hilarious, Grayson. Just go talk to the man."

"Please," I whisper.

Grayson looks to me and smiles. He puts his hand on my back to lead me through the crowd. He turns to his parents right before we leave, "Happy New Years."

I can't help but think it's weird that they didn't even mention my parents durning our albeit short conversation. I couldn't help but wonder what they thought happened with them. My mom committing suicide was on the news, but my father? No one really knew what had happened there. To my knowledge, everyone thought he was on never ending business trips. Too bad they didn't know he was dead to me and 'business trip' is just another word for 'affair'. My father, ever so classy.

We're walking through the crowd trying to find this man from Yale Grayson is supposed to talk to. Everyone looks the same to me though. What does a man from Yale even look like? I doubt he has a big sign over his head that reads 'Yale'. Although, that's be cool. Maybe a future investment.

"There he is!" Grayson points, "Act smart."

"Hey," I hit his arm, "I'm smart."

"Sorry, I'm nervous."

"Grayson Adams is nervous?" I smirk to him.

He looks to me then back at this man from Yale. I follow his gaze to see a man that definitely reads Shakespeare for fun and watches Dead Poets Society every night.

"Professor Raymond," Grayson tells me, "My ticket to Yale, as my parents put it."

I smile to him, "Everyone loves you, Grayson," I try to be inspirational and encouraging, "He will too."

"Help me look good?" Grayson asks, still clearly nervous at having to talk to this nerd he class a professor.

"Just this once," I lock my elbow with his, "I can't lose my reputation of being a bitch like Oliver."

"Even Oliver has his moments," Grayson smiles and leads us to the man from Yale, Professor Raymond.

"Hello, Professor Raymond," Grayson grabs the attention of the man, "I'm Grayson Adams."

His voice doesn't sound his own. Grayson's normal goofiness and lightheartedness isn't in his tone. He looks all formal and prestigious. It's weird to see him this way, like a shell of Grayson Adams. And as someone that's met the real Grayson, it's easy to tell he's trying his hardest to not let his goofy smile grace his features.

"Grayson Adams, I've heard great things. And this is?" The professor greets us.

"Oh, my apologies, this is Hazel Kindler," Grayson presents me.

"Professor Raymond, I've heard great things," I smile and extend my hand for a shake.

"Is this your girlfriend, Grayson?"

"Oh, no," Grayson shakes his head, "I didn't bring a date."

I give the professor a small smile and step back a little so that Grayson is the center of attention. I give Grayson's arm a pat as I unhook our arms. He smiles down to me and then looks back up at the professor. A charming smile is on his face and I know he's about to knock the socks off of this Raymond guy from Yale. If he can do it to the ladies, he can do it to this nerd.

"So, Grayson Adams, why do I have the honor?" Professor Raymond directs his full attention to Grayson.

Grayson smiles, "Well, to be perfectly blunt, Yale."

Professor Raymond raises his eyebrows at Grayson but lets him continue, intrigued by the response. I wanted to give Grayson a thumbs up, but I withheld. I didn't see professor fancy school taking that too well.

"I want to play football, but I also want to major in pre-law, to take over my father's firm. Yale offers me that."

"If you get in," The professor points out.

God, I want to roll my eyes at this guy. So pretentious and stuck up. I bet he didn't even go to Yale, and if he did, he definitely didn't get as many girls as Grayson. Beat that, nerd. But I stay mute beside Grayson.

Grayson chuckles, "Yeah, hence the talking to you. I think I could bring a lot to Yale."

"Other than money?" The professor asks.

"Well," Grayson looks to me in fear and then back to the professor.

"Grayson has the most personality in this town. He goes from pranking the teachers to being the captain of the football team to acing all his tests to even being the pianist for our jazz band. I think he more than perfectly fits the Yale image you desire," I suddenly speak up.

Professor Raymond looks at me in surprise, but returns his attention to Grayson, "If your friend here is telling the truth, I wouldn't be surprised to see you at Yale next fall," He reaches into his jacket and pulls out his card, "Give me a call."

Grayson accepts the card and lets his goofy smile slip. There's pure excitement on his face. The professor nods to the both of us and walks off. He's lost to the crowd in a second. Grayson turns to me and grabs my arms.

"I officially like you better."

I laugh and hit his chest playfully, "Oliver's gonna kick your ass if he hears you."

He shrugs, "Let him."

Grayson starts leading me through the crowd again. We push through the crowd to the back of the large room. I assume this must be the illusive spot Grayson had talked about before. Tyler is laying against the wall and I spot Ryder and Maddy making their way towards us that spot too.

"We all make our rounds?" Tyler laughs when we're all close enough.

Everybody nods.

"Torture complete," Maddy shakes her head.

Grayson smiles, "I got Yale's number."

They all turn to Grayson in shock. Tyler hits Grayson shoulder and mumbles a 'No way'. They all look beyond excited to hear this. Grayson must have been trying for a while to get a step closer to getting into Yale.

"How?"  Maddy asks.

"Hazel helped a bit."

I shrug, but smile at the mention of my little

outburst that got Grayson Professor Raymond's card. I'd been scared that he'd snap at me and yell that I wasn't being proper.

"It was nothing," I smile, "Where's Oliver?"

Maddy gives me a halfhearted smile, her eyes filled with sympathy. Something I hated to see. She turns and nods her head. I follow her gaze and find it leads to a couple, one hanging off the other. The girl is in a revealing silver dress and the male is in an all black suit. My jaw drops slightly when I connect the dots that it's Oliver with none other than Ally hanging off of him.

"Oh," Is all I say as something ugly bubbles up inside of me.