Chapter 102

“Well, tell me what you have in mind,” I asked William.

“Trey, one of the guys on the football team, is having a party tomorrow evening,” William said. “You met him when we went for pizza, and I thought you and Victor might want to go.”

Yikes, a party with the Alpha kids from school? They had been treating me better lately, but I wasn’t sure if I should go.

William noticed my hesitation. “Victor can go. He knows Trey, too. You need something fun to do instead of all these high society parties where you network.”

Okay, let’s ask Victor when he comes back from talking to Mrs. Daley,” I agreed, even though I’d rather face a dozen stuffy Lunas than two stuck-up cheerleaders.

William and I drank another glass of juice before Victor returned to our side.

“How’s it going with Mrs. Daley?” William asked.

“Very well,” he replied. I could tell he was stifling a big grin. “She wants to sell me the company. I will be at her office while they inventory all the assets tomorrow.”

“Congratulations,” William said.

“How long do you think that will take you?” I asked.

Victor shrugged. “The inventory must be accurate, so I can’t rush it. I’ll be there all day and well into the evening.”

I wasn’t sure if I should be disappointed or not. As much as I didn’t want to let William down, the thought of attending a party with the kids from school made me nervous.

“If you’re going to be busy, do you mind if I take Daisy to Trey Brown’s party tomorrow evening?” William inquired.

Victor did a palms up. “If Daisy wants to go, it’s fine with me. Trey’s a good guy. I’d go if I could get away from work.”

“What do you think, Daisy?” William asked.

I tried to sound more enthusiastic than I felt when I said, “Sure. What time does it start?”

“I’ll pick you up at six,” William replied. “Trey’s getting some of those humongous hoagie sandwiches, so we can eat dinner at his house.”

“That sounds great,” I said.

“As good as you look in a cocktail dress, you can wear jeans to the party,” William said. “Trey likes to keep things casual.”

“I’ve got a long day tomorrow,” Victor said. “Daisy, are you ready to go home?”

“Yeah, I’m tired,” I replied. “See you tomorrow, William.”

“I’ll walk you out with you guys,” William said. “There’s no one else here I wanna talk to.”

The valets quickly brought the Mustang and the Lamborghini to the front of the townhouse, and we said good night.

I expected Victor to gloat a little over his business victory. Instead, he was silent most of the way to my home.

“Is there something wrong?” I asked as he pulled into my driveway.

“I’m just tired and have a lot on my mind,” he explained.

After he stopped the car at the mansion’s front entrance, he climbed out of the driver's seat and came around the car to open the door for me.

I got out of the car and looked into his gorgeous turquoise eyes.

“Is that all this bothering you?” I asked.

He hesitated for a long moment before nodding. “Have a good time with William at the party, and tell Trey I said hello.”

I squeezed his hand. “I will. Good luck with everything tomorrow. Text me and let me know how it’s going.”

He nodded again before escorting me to the door. “ Good night, Daisy.”

“Good night,” I said and went inside.

I climbed the stairs and went to my room.

After getting ready for bed, I climbed between the sheets, trying to think of the party tomorrow.

I didn’t want to disappoint William, but my experience at his pool party still haunted me. And it was probably the first time I went to a party without Victor.

“I’ll take Amy with me,” I whispered before turning off the bedside lamp. “We haven’t spent any time together lately, and I would feel braver with her at my side.”

But when I invited Amy the following day, she shook her head.

“Betas are not welcome at Trey’s party,” Amy said. “And I wouldn’t want to go to a party full of stuck-up Alphas.”

“But I want you to go with me,” I said. “I’ll have William ask Trey if you can come.”

“No, Daisy,” Amy said. “Even if he says it’s okay, I’m not going. I don’t want Justin to know I was at an Alpha party. Not even for you.”

My feelings were stung a little. I mumbled, “Okay, I just thought because we haven’t spent much time together lately that we could hang out at this party.”

“You can have William ask Trey, but I guarantee you he won’t want me there,” she insisted.

Amy was right. William told me there was no point in asking Trey if Amy could come. Trey’s mom and dad refused to have Betas in their house.”

I was shocked. I knew most Alphas looked down on the other classes, but this was over the top. “Wow, why are they so prejudiced against Betas?”

“A Beta killed Trey’s grandmother years ago,” William replied.

“So they hold the actions of one individual against all the rest? That’s terrible.”

But that happened often. And prejudices spread like a virus. That’s why I was trying to judge Alphas individually these days.

Many Alphas were generous with their donations to the foundation, while others sneered at the thought of helping others.

I was learning I couldn’t judge someone’s character solely by class or wealth. There is good in some Alphas. Yet, many were spoiled and greedy. They ruined the reputation of the rest of them.

I wore my designer jeans and a gorgeous blouse when William picked me up at six for the party. Jennifer had done my face in what she called ‘party makeup,’ and my hair was hanging past my shoulders in loose waves.

“You look incredible,” William raved as he helped me into the Mustang. “I can’t believe how different you look. You’re like a totally different person.”

“Thank you,” I said and smiled to myself as he walked around the car to the driver’s seat. Those words were something I thought I would never hear from William before I met Victor.

The other Alpha kids were surprised to see me enter the party with William. But they made me feel welcome even if they were curious and asked many questions about my life.

I was enjoying myself while talking to them, and I discovered the pleasures of a hoagie sandwich. They were delicious.

William saw me munching on a big bite and asked, “Better than a bunny, huh?”

“Much better,” I said, around a huge mouthful of lunchmeat, cheese, vegetables, and bun.”

He chuckled and got me a cold soda from a cooler.

After we finished eating, William was asked to play touch football in the yard. He asked me if I minded, and I said no, so he ran to join the other males in a friendly game.

As I watched them play, a tall, sandy-haired young male stood beside me. I didn’t recognize him from school, yet he was rooting for Trey’s team and seemed to know many players.

A strange feeling came over me. I had never seen the guy before, but I sensed he knew who I was because when he noticed I was looking at him, he started to move away from me.

But I spoke up. “Excuse me. Do I know you?”

“Nope, I’m not from around here,” he said.

As he tried to get away from me the second time, it struck me that he fit Amy’s description of her boyfriend perfectly.

I followed him to the corner of the yard. From behind him, I yelled, “Justin.”

He turned to see who was calling his name.

“That’s your name, right?”

“Yeah, so what?” he said with a frightened look on his face. “I told you, I don’t know you. I’m not from around here.”

I walked away from him and went to William, who was taking a water break from the game.

“Hey, William, do you see that guy watching the game from the far corner of the yard?”

“Yeah.” William gulped down half a bottle of water.

“What’s his name?”

“That’s Justin,” William replied. “He’s Trey’s cousin. He’s a little older than us and goes to the city college. Why?”

“He looked familiar to me,” I replied. I had to talk to Amy tomorrow. This had to be her Justin, and he was no Beta.