Bad Seeds

One Year Ago - Krystal

“Hey, Daddy. You look good today.” I kissed his cheek properly and held on tightly to the man who gave

me the world. I had raced to be beside him as he stood up with his arms wide open. He’d told me to meet him at our favorite bistro, Avec Nous, it was a chic French bistro that we loved to dine in. Seeing mom comfortably seated beside him, I wondered if he wanted to talk about something or if he just wanted to catch up?

“You’re looking happy, baby girl. What have you been doing today?” Daddy sat back down at the glass-topped table he’d chosen and gave me his full attention, but his left hand reached out to take Mom’s perfectly manicured hand.

Mom just smiled at me, she was dressed in a sundress with a matching cardigan, but her outfit was a

light olive green that came down to her ankles.

I glanced at Mom and saw she had eyes only for Daddy. I admired that about my parents, they had such a strong relationship. Not like any of my friends and their parents. God, they were divorcing left, right and center all the time. Divorce seemed to be the new fashion in Beverly Hills, it had been that way ever since I could remember.

If Daddy had been here alone, then I would probably take my time instead of cutting to the chase, but not with Mom here. She always made me feel as if I was the third wheel, as if I was the uninvited guest. So, I decided

to spit it out and tell him exactly what was on my mind.

“I need another deposit in my account, Daddy. I need a new dress for the awards ceremony at school.” I attended the most prestigious high school in Santa Monica, and there was no f*ck*ng way that I was going to be wearing the same dress to another school function.

No f*ck*ng way.

My ticket to success was charm and a sweet smile for my daddy, a bit of cleavage to get out of assignments from the thirsty teachers at school, the mention of Daddy, one of the most respected film directors in the world, got my speeding tickets in the trash every

single time. As far as the cops were concerned, the same guy kept pulling me over because he liked my cleavage, I made sure to show him, or the glimpses of my smooth, tanned, and very taut thighs. I had a thing about older guys, watching them sweat over my innocence knowing that if they even came near to me, they would be in the can. It made me feel as if I had power over everyone and anyone that I wanted all the time.

“No problem, baby.” Daddy smiled at me and gestured to get the waiter's attention.

“You must be excited, Krystal.

You’ve almost finished with school, graduation’s a few months away.” Mom spoke up after they’d made their

drink and food orders. It was the first time that we’d exchanged words and the only thing she had to say was about me leaving home.

Typical.

I bet she begged Daddy not to invite me to lunch too. Just so that they could spend the weekend alone.

“I am, Mom,” I replied politely, a bit stung that Mom had yet again mentioned how close I was to graduating. Sometimes, I wondered if she had a countdown until I left, which stung like a bee. Daddy made it clear that he didn’t want me to leave home, not yet. But as for her, she talked about it nearly every day.

“Homecoming is next week, and then before we know it prom and final exams. Then, I’ll be all done.”

“Well, I know you’ll be glad to have it over with and to be on your way,” Mom nudged again. “But then again, if you’re so busy maybe it was best that you didn’t come out with us today. You could have just texted or called your father and asked him to put the money in your account. You didn’t need to show up.”

She sipped a glass of water and then smiled at Daddy.

I closed my eyes, glad that I’d chosen the sunglasses that made it impossible to see my eyes. The tinted glass hid the pain I tried to hide. A

quick glance over at Daddy showed that he wasn’t happy about Mom’s socalled observation about the days until I left home or even about me joining them for lunch.

“Honey, do you want a glass of wine?” Daddy asked Mom maybe thinking that with wine, she’d calm down and go easy on me. Without it, she was clearly on edge.

I didn’t care, I tried to dismiss her words out of my mind, so that I could leave as soon as possible.

Mom shook her head. “No, not today, darling. I’m on a cleanse.” She patted his hand and said nothing until the food came to the table at last. She must be really strict at the moment,

because she hardly refused to drink wine no matter the time of day.

“Daddy, I know it’s a Sunday, and I wasn’t sure if you wanted us to have lunch here for a reason….”

“Do I need a reason to spend time with my angel?”

I shook my head, feeling guilty about the suggestion. I ignored Mom’s glare I could almost feel her disappointment at my question. As if by asking Daddy, meant that I would put him in a mood, which would somehow have an effect on her too.

I continued to tell the lie, “I need to go over to Johanna’s to study tonight. We have a practice exam tomorrow and I want to be ready for it.”

I popped a cherry tomato in my mouth, part of the salad that came with my swordfish, and waited for his answer.

I knew he’d say yes, he always did, as long as I gave him some kind of excuse as to why I was going to be late or wouldn’t be home at all. Besides, it was clear that Mom was annoying me. She’d hardly spoken to me and when she did, it was about me leaving home.

“Sure, baby, do what you need to do. I know you will ace any exam you always do. You’re a smart girl.”

Mom’s blue eyes gleamed with pride behind the light brown tint of her vintage Chanel sunglasses. Sometimes, I had to remind myself that I didn’t hate Mom, she was just ready for the empty nest so many other women cried over. Okay, so she’d wanted that since I was sixteen and got my first car, that didn’t mean she hated me. Just that she was ready for her baby bird to fly.

I picked up my phone while I nibbled at my swordfish and sent a message to my two best friends. There was no practice exam; Johanna, Suzanna and I had a little party of our own planned. It included a little payback for that b*tch that tried to tempt my boyfriend, Ryder, away from me.

I had kept Ryder on a tight leash for months now, and Prom night would be the night I finally let him have what he really wanted. He’d get the bragging rights for taking my virginity, and I’d get to f*ck the most popular boy in school, earning my own kudos. That b*tch Charlotte had tried to tempt Ryder at a party they’d both been at last week. I went to a party with my parents that night and hadn’t been able to get out of it.

Johanna and Suzanna had been there, though, and caught Charlotte’s little twerking performance on video for me. They looked out for their girl, just like I did for them, and we’d all agreed, Charlotte would pay for what she did, but the question was how?

I put down my phone and tuned back into the conversation between my parents. They were discussing Daddy’s latest project.

“I have to go to England to shoot a few scenes over there, honey. I want you to go with me, if you have time,” Daddy explained, his dark blue eyes alight with excitement.

“I’ll have to check my schedule, which part of England?” Mom brushed the hair back away from her face with the pinky finger of her right hand, careful not to muss her locks.

“To a little town called Matlock, we haven’t been there before,” Daddy replied and sat back in his chair. “It’s supposed to be a beautiful little town, much different from London or Manchester. Chatsworth house is in the vicinity, we could go have a look at it while we’re there.”

“I like the sound of that.” Mom grinned softly, her teeth gleamed brightly in the afternoon sunlight.

“It’s too bad we can’t take Krystal, but she’ll get a chance to go over when she wants to.” Daddy looked over at me and I preened, as expected.

“She would be bored,” Mom dismissed the suggestion as if to say, Believe me honey, it’s best being the two of us.

I pushed my sunglasses up, in the shadows now that the sun had moved across the sky a little more. I wondered why she bothered having children. Ok, so I was an only child, but I really had to think about whether she did like me or not at times. No, I was being too generous, most of the time.

“Isn’t that where they filmed some famous television program?”

If it wasn’t about teens or a reality program, I didn’t watch it, but I’d picked up on things from my social media about the program.

“I think so, I’m not sure. I just know it’s famous.” Daddy flicked at a crumb of bread on his suit, equally as well dressed as the women in his life. He always wore suits, even on the sets he worked on.

“It sounds like fun, I hope you both enjoy it.” My phone buzzed and I picked it up to see two thumbs up from my best friends.

“You’ll have Ana around if you need anything, Krystal,” Mom spoke up and turned her face to me. “And I guess those boys of hers if you really get in a bind.”

I frowned.

Santiago and Fernando were not my kind of people. They drove motorcycles that I wouldn’t be caught dead on. I liked the versions BMW made. They had Harleys, noisy things that just made me cringe. But I did like to look at them, even if they weren’t up to my standards, they could both model for magazines. With a little cleaning up, a manicure, and a change of clothes, of course.

Still, they were poor, and I wouldn’t want anyone to see me with them, not anyone I knew anyway.

“Hey, listen, I have a meeting with the dress fitter to get to. Do you mind if I head out now, Daddy?” I asked when I saw the next text on my phone. I was in the running for homecoming queen and I wanted to make sure I had the dress that would blow everyone away, but that wasn’t where I was headed.

Ryder wanted to meet me at his secret place at the beach. It was an old building that his dad bought but hadn’t done anything with in over a decade.

Ryder used it as a secret getaway and had even brought in furniture and a few appliances.

“Sure, honey, I know how much your homecoming dress means to you. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He held his cheek up and I dutifully kissed it.

“Life is just perfect, isn’t it?” I added as I stood up and beamed down at him. “I love you, Daddy.”

I picked up my bag and pecked Mom’s cheek too before I headed out of the restaurant. I’d barely touched my lunch, but Mom was too busy glowing at my exit and Daddy was too busy hiding his disappointment at me leaving early. His eyes pinned at me, whilst Mom was doing the opposite.

This was one of the reasons I loved being in his company and detested being in hers.

***

I drove out to the beach and parked near the building and walked down to the building with my nose in the air. I passed a few buildings, filled with a variety of boutiques and specialty shops. I’d had a peek in all of them, so I passed them now without any curiosity. Right now, I needed to meet the hot quarterback who was the attainment of my final goal for my senior year.

With a gentle push at the glass door, I walked into the small shop, through the empty showroom, and through a door that went to the storage area in the back. That’s where Ryder set up his home away from home.

There was a bed, a couch, a fridge, a two-burner electric stove on a table, and a microwave. There was an industrial sink in the building and a toilet but no bathing facilities. I was surprised Ryder hadn’t installed a shower as well.

His 6-foot three-inch frame was sprawled on the bed, a very dirty grin on his face. We both knew why I was there.

“I was starting to think you’d flaked out on me.” He patted the side of the bed, not an invitation but a direction.

I bit at the left side of my bottom lip because it always caught his eyes and crawled onto the bed. “Missed me, did you?”

“A little yeah.” He pulled me up to his chest and kissed me with a passion I wouldn’t mind exploring, but I pulled away and stood up.

“Down boy, you know I have to wait until my birth control kicks in.” I’d only had it for a few weeks and was trying to put him off until homecoming night. It was a bit cliché, but I wanted to make the night memorable. Special, because that’s what I deserved.

He clutched the ridge of his hard c*ck in his black running pants so I could see just what he had waiting on me. “You don’t have to f*ck me, baby, there are other ways to…relieve me.”

“Not today, Ryder, please.”

I saw his light green eyes tense, but he nodded his head. “Yeah, whatever, Krystal.”

He pulled out a vape pen and took a puff. It wasn’t tobacco in the pen. I rolled my eyes and sat down in the recliner he’d dragged into the building. “You’re the quarterback and you’re getting high again, Ryder?”

“So what? It helps with the sore muscles and sh*t. It’s not like they’re going to drug test me anyway. Not for pot anyway.”

I waved the vapor away as it floated toward me. His dad used to play pro-football and had money coming out of his ears. His dad couldn’t afford a better place than this rathole for his son to play in?

One of Ryder’s friends, Tay came in at that point and I was glad that I hadn’t given in to his hints for a blowjob. Tay had walked in on us before and Ryder hadn’t wanted to stop. He’d pushed his hand down on my head until I punched his leg and he let me up.

Ryder got up, put a shirt on, and offered Tay a drink, something he still hadn’t done for me. I blew out of my pursed lips, annoyed. If he wasn’t so popular, and the biggest male star in their school, I’d just walk out and leave right now.

“You coming to the party tonight?” Ryder asked me.

I shook my head. “Nah, I’m bored with Petra’s parties. It’s always the same thing, a quick devolution to an orgy and puking. Not tonight.” I waved my hand, crossed my legs to reveal a sparkling diamond anklet on my right ankle, and stared at the drink in Tay’s hand.

Ryder still didn’t get the hint, so I got up and got my own d*mn drink.

What the hell was wrong with him? It was as if I was punishing myself for wanting to be treated like a lady by him. It was as if it wasn’t possible and I should know better, but I knew the real reason, I was annoyed.

My mom.

As much as she treated me like an inconvenience, it cut like a knife each and every time. I sat down and half-listened as they talked about their college football plans, both had scholarships to Stanford.

I had chosen UCLA, but I didn’t have a scholarship. Not that either one of them needed the scholarships, Tay’s dad was a plastic surgeon to the stars and had money coming out of his ears too.

We all went to the same private school, so we’d known each other forever, but what none of them really knew, not even my BFFs, was that once high school was over, I was going to leave this place behind. I had my own dreams and they didn’t include marrying a guy that was going to be so concussed in ten years that he’d have to retire.

“I gotta go, guys, see you later,” I said as I got up, grabbed my bag, and made to leave.

“See ya, Krys,” Ryder called without even looking away from Tay.

Whatever!

My plans tonight included more fun than getting so blitzed I’d puke for days. No, I had revenge in mind, and it was going to be sweet.

Krystal

“He gets on my nerves….” I whined to Johanna as I threw my bag down on Johanna’s bed and waved at Suzanna.

“He’s a football player, girl, what do you expect?” Suzanna asked and flicked her long, black braids behind her back. Her mom was a supermodel from Senegal, so beautiful that she was still getting jobs at forty-three, and her dad was a famous rock star from the 90s, part of some boy band that I still hadn’t heard. Suzanna was beautiful, with her dad’s pale skin and green eyes, but her mom’s dark hair.

Johanna was the daughter of a German supermodel, now in hiding after an accident left her scarred, but she was still raking in the cash from her past work. Johanna’s dad was the surgeon that tried to repair her mom’s scars, but he’d been unable to do much about the extent of the injuries. She was rarely seen out now.

Johanna had her mom’s red hair and her dad’s gray eyes and I hid my true jealously of her. It wasn’t her stunning looks, but her relat