Kept

“Enough with the phone, Ashton! You’re going to be late for school!” Mom stood watching CNN with her arms crossed.

Lucas showed up out of nowhere and said, “Thank you for letting me go with the car, Mrs. Brandenburg.”

“You’re welcome, young man,” Mom said, her gaze never leaving the giant screen. “I like his manners, Ashton.”

“Morning, Ash,” he said cheerfully.

“Nobody calls me Ash!”

“Now someone does,” he said, typing something into his…what the fuck was that thing?

“We don’t want to be late,” he said, tapping his screen. Seriously, could that even be considered a phone?

“Fuck! You sound like my mother!” I fumed, grabbing my black Vero tote.

“I heard that, Ashton!” Mom yelled as we walked toward the elevator.

***

“I’ve never been in one of these before!” Lucas said in awe. “It’s like we’re going to a red-carpet event!”

“That can be arranged,” I said, staring out at the traffic.

“You’re kidding me!” he said, staring at me in awe.

“Why would I joke about that?” I said calmly. “Actually, now that Dad is gone, I’m not sure if they automatically invite us. Remind me to ask my Mom.”

“What’s wrong with you today?” Lucas asked with genuine concern.

“Nothing,” I mumbled.

“C’mon,” he urged.

Fuck, he was so annoying! Why was I tolerating him?

“If you must know, I skipped my usual breakfast!” I said, tapping the side of my nose.

“Oh,” he mumbled, trying to figure out what that meant for me.

“Is it hard?”

I looked at him blankly.

“Suppressing the need for more,” he asked.

“Yes and no,” I said, returning my gaze to the window. “Right now, I just feel like shit. But maybe that’s precisely how I should be feeling.”

“Did you ever give yourself time to grieve without self-medicating?” Lucas asked very delicately.

Seriously? This felt like talking to my therapist! I shook my head in reply.

“I know what it’s like to suppress an irresistible urge,” he said quietly.

How did we get back here?

“I can promise you it’s nothing like what I’m going through right now!”

“No, it’s not. Yours is a bad habit. Mine is part of who I am,” he said mysteriously.

What the fuck was that supposed to mean?!

***

“Why are you talking to him, Lucas?” Priscilla tried to smile, whilst she tapped her foot in fury.

“Apparently, our mothers know each other,” I said with a casual shrug.

Priscilla didn’t react, which meant that Lucas hadn’t explained his circumstances.

Yesterday, she’d probably been too self-absorbed to ask and at this school, everyone automatically presumed you were rich until proven otherwise.

Some students never even discussed where their parents’ wealth came from, and we honestly didn’t care as long as they could keep up with the rest.

Speaking of keeping up, I made a mental note to take Lucas shopping for a real phone. Nobody should notice that thing even if it had its own fucking origin story!

“Don’t forget that I warned you!” she spewed menacingly and left.

“Who’s your friend?” Frankie said, waving at Lucas. Frankie hated physical contact.

“Lucas,” he said, holding out his hand.

“I’m Frankie, the only one that tolerates this asshole’s bullshit,” she said, ignoring Lucas’s hand and pointing at me. “Welcome to our cesspit of a school.”

“Thanks,” Lucas said, stifling a laugh.

***

“Victor, can you drop us off here?” I asked, tapping the glass.

“Why? I have homework to do.” Lucas looked panicked.

What the fuck! Was he actually stressed over school?

“We need to buy you a real phone or you’ll start attracting negative attention.”

“I thought you didn’t care about my status,” he said, eyeing me sideways.

“I don’t, but others will judge and dismiss you before giving you a chance. Besides, I’m paying with my own money,” I said, showing him my secret credit card.

“Why would you spend all your money on a phone?!” he cried.

Was this one of those principle things?

“Relax. I don’t think anyone sells a three-million-dollar phone,” I said, needing him to know that he shouldn’t worry.

There was a hell of a lot more on my private account, but I didn’t want to come across as spoiled. He stared at me in horror, unable to judge whether I was serious or not.

“Here, this is the latest model CuffPhone,” I said, pointing at the display. “What color do you want?”

“Fifteen hundred dollars? Are you crazy?”

Lucas seemed to be in a state of despair. He clearly liked pretty things, but his conscience was blocking him. Is this what they call a scarcity mentality?

“Lucas!” I said, grabbing him by the shoulders. “Your mother and my mother have put you in a very difficult position. The people that go to my school have expectations far beyond your means!”

He looked at me in suspicion and said, “Is Priscilla right? Is this your way of showing me that I don’t belong there?”

“What? No, you idiot! Can you please stop overanalyzing everything!” I cried in frustration.

“Then why are you doing this?” he asked.

“Because I can! It’s just money and I have plenty of it. What I don’t have is someone to share it with!”

“Okay, but please don’t get the most expensive one!” he said, looking like I was about to pull teeth.

“Whilst we’re here, do you have a laptop? You’ll need one for schoolwork.”

“No, Ashton! You’re not buying me a computer.”

“How about an AcuTab?” I asked, running a finger over the extra-large-screen version.

“Can I use your computer for schoolwork?” he asked, winking at me.

That caught me off guard! Was that a flirtatious wink?

“I’ll need to delete my browser history first,” I said casually.

That definitely caught his attention.

***

We walked home through the Park.

I’d forced Lucas to calm the fuck down about his homework jitters. Being outdoors was nice. The nature, the people—they made me forget my sorrows for a moment.

Lucas bought me a pretzel and a bottle of water. The gesture caught me by surprise because it was so…mundane. But in a good way!

I suddenly felt like any other person, instead of Ashton Brandenburg, son of the late Herzog Karl Brandenburg.

My dad had rebelled against family tradition and given me an English name, instead of a German one. My grandmother still called me by my second name, Frederick.

Suddenly, my brain screamed at me again for not giving it what it wanted. I was enjoying the moment too much, so I told it to shut up.

“Do you ever run here?” Lucas asked, watching a pair of joggers pass by.

“Do I look like I run?” I asked disdainfully.

“Shall we run together?” he asked enthusiastically. “In the morning or after school.”

Fuck, no!

Actually, wait… Nobody had asked me to do things with them, except for Dad. Not even Frankie had time, Papa Manieri made her assist in the “family business” after school.

“Sure,” I said with a shrug. “But we’d better get you a Helix music streaming subscription then.”

“You’re not paying for it!” Lucas said, slapping my arm.

Was he being coy? Fuck, why did I always think that the people I liked were the same as I was?

***

“Whatcha doin’?” I asked, leaning against the door frame.

Lucas looked up from his work wearing a pair of glasses with a hideous red frame. Why did my hands itch to give him my own version of a Fab Five makeover?

“I don’t want to fall behind,” he said.

“Fall behind? We just started for fucks sake!” I said incredulously.

“You have no idea what this school means to my mom! It’s like we won the lottery. She claims this education will open doors that we didn’t even know existed.”

“Not all of those doors go to pretty places,” I said.

“Can I help you with something?” Lucas asked. He carefully took off his glasses like a hot, strict teacher.

Damn!

“Just wanted to ask you what time we’re waking up for our run,” I said, strolling into his room with my hands in my pockets.

His eyes sparkled at the mention of it.

“Well, let’s try to be in the Park when it opens at six. That way we have time for a shower and breakfast before school. Is that okay?”

“Shit, you really thought this through!” I said.

“Is that a yes?”

“Sure, why the fuck not,” I said. Most of the time, I couldn’t sleep anyway.

“Excellent!” he replied, all hyped up.