Summer kills

CANNONBALL!”

Shrieks ripped through the air as Jaxon leaped off the Bennett’s waterfall.

With his knees tucked into his chiseled jawline, he roared a cry for battle as

he hurdled nearly twenty feet to Ruby’s pool.

SPLASH!

His ocean-blue eyes glimmered with mischief when he hit the water—unlike his daredevil

leap, this was when the real fun began. He sent a wave double his size across the pool, showering

everyone—and everything, including Evelyn’s thousand-dollar sunbathing setup—in cold, aqua

water.

“Ugh, so NOT cool!” Maddie scowled. The lone heir to the Chase name rubbed her eyelids.

She was one splash away from needing to shut her bloodshot eyes for the rest of the day.

Jaxon smirked,slowly swimming to where Maddie floated. Her Zimmerman bikini, golden

like her hip-length waves, shined under the midday sun. Jason savored an eyeful of her tropical-print

push up. The two had been friends since childhood—he’d seen her so many times that he knew hew

shape like the back of his hand. His younger sister used to joke that if she ever disappeared, Maddie

would fill right in as her substitute.

Yeah, no, Jaxon mused. He might’ve gravitated to Maddie more than the other high-schoolers

in their flock, but she was still Maddie. Whatever that was supposed to mean.

Waiting for Maddie to open her eyes, he teased, “At least you got those beachy waves you’ve

been moaning about all morning.”

Maddie reddened like a ripe tomato. She hadn’t taken that long to figure out how to do her

hair. Sure, she wasn’t the best at styling her long locks, but that was the struggle of toeing the limbo

between wavy and straight hair. She just couldn’t predict when she was going to pull off a sleek or

casual look.

But she wouldn’t hand Jaxon the satisfaction of having one over her. While he clutched his

abs in laughter, she swatted him like a fly. He was a pest, whose muscles also felt weirdly hard

underneath her touch—maybe it’s all the flexing he’s doing to make fun of me, she thought, but the

scarlet in her cheeks intensified.

Ruby grinned at her friends’ little back-and-forth. She was another junior from the same

Connecticut neighborhood, albeit a newer addition to the clique. Her silky, auburn tresses burned

bright like her fiery personality—which she was intent on using to fluster Jaxon. “How about the two

hours you spent nagging me about what’d be the best shade of sun tan?” She chimed in, eying the

buff blond. His cheeks flared up immediately.

“Hey, that is not the same thing! You know I’m used to going au naturel,” he huffed. He

proceeded to cross his arms over his chest like a child on the verge of a tantrum. A chuckle escaped

Ruby’s lips.

“Sure,” she snarked while drifting to the pool ladder. Olivia was perched on the ledge. Her

brunette waves spiralled down one shoulder; both her arms were vigorous at work, tapping through

her phone. “I’m amazed that survived Jaxon’s tsunami,” Ruby remarked while peeping the screen.

Olivia appeared startled to meet Ruby’s green eyes. In an effortless sway of interest, Ruby had

already propped her chin up on her palms, gently kicking the pool water behind her. The attorney’s

daughter was completely unfazed by the grandness of her “backyard”—the lush, centenarian trees

that secluded her from the prying eyes of the tabloids—the swinging hammock that’d been specially

woven by Le Corbusier (perhaps, longer ago than many of these trees were rooted). Even her bikini

straps were sewn from more jewels than most would ever grasp in their lifetime.

She, Olivia, and the rest of the 6 mischiefs were in the Elysian Fields of New York. With double

the tequilas and a never-ending stash of cash to blow through.

The only thing they couldn’t own was the voucher of uttering 18—being 16 made it harder to

slip into places where the average guest was rich enough to buy a small country and still have some

left over. Unlike Olivia’s one or two trips to a resort in Dubai, New York was engraved into the elites’

textbook. Whether you were nouveau riche or one of the blue-blooded oldies, you followed a specific

hierarchy and knew where the line could be bent. Which was unsurprisingly harder in the state home

to high society’s billionaire row.

Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, Olivia responded, “Yeah, it’s the perk of upgrading to a

limited-edition iPhone.” Her weak smile softened the bluntness of her brag.

Across the pool, Liam’s eyes popped open. “Crap, Liv—how many limited-edition phones do

you own?” He smoothed his dirty blonde tresses back. Clad in nothing but his Ralph Lauren briefs,

his hazel eyes reflected a warmer hue as he waded towards Olivia.

Ruby cut in ahead of her answer; “C’mon, Liv’s the richest one out of all of us. Heck, sshe’s

gotta be the most stacked outta all the private school kids in those Swiss private schools. You don’t get

invited to brunch with the president’s son just because you’ve gone to a few galas.”

Liam laughed, “Most ‘stacked’? I thought we were talking about money here, not booties.”

Olivia blushed as Liam’s gaze trailed down her body—maybe it was a trick of the sunlight, but she

could’ve sworn his gaze lingered extra long on her curves. Or, lack thereof, she thought. She was way

too gangly and awkward for him to see her as anything but a pin in the backdrop.

She didn’t even need to glance up to tell Ruby was giving her the signature “you gotta get more

confidence, girl!” look she always directed at her. Unlike Olivia, Ruby didn’t need to think to be bold.