Matthews - The Fixes

For Shan,
who took me to the wild side
and brought me back safe

CONTENTS

This is a story about a boys first crush , and how it blew up in his face .

And all of its explosive consequences.

(You know what? Forget it.)

Lets start over.

Let me tell you why E set off that bomb.

Its the first day of summer vacation. Schools out. Schools over. Everyone in Capilano is at the beach, on a boat, or up in the mountains on a lake somewhere. Everyone except Eric Connelly.

Eric Connelly is in a hurry. Eric doesnt notice that its a beautiful day. Eric sure as hell doesnt have any plans to go to the beach. Eric is running late.

(Give him a minute.)

Erics the kid parking his moms Mercedes G-Wagen in the near-empty sprawl of the Cap High parking lot. Hes the tall, blandly handsome kid climbing out onto the sun-scorched pavement, checking the time on that fancy Omega diving watch and swearing. Walkingfastacross the lot to the school, wondering how hes going to make it to his new internship on time.

Erics the hero of this story. And Eric has places to be.

On a normal day, Cap High is a microcosm of Capilano itself. The building is beautiful, all steel and glass and reclaimed timber. It looks right at home amid Capilanos towering mountains and endless beaches. And its populated by the best of the best. The elite.

Film directors kids. Hedge fund managers offspring. The broods of rock stars, Fortune 500 CEOs, real-estate moguls, athletes, and white-collar criminals. They all call Capilano home.

On a normal day, you couldnt throw a stone around here without hitting, like, four or five Birkin bags. The school parking lot practically screams for a valet. The kids at Cap High are glamorous and gorgeous and they DGAF.

(Theyre better than you, and they know it.)

(And honestly, so do you.)

Today, though, the halls are empty. Its only Eric Connelly, hurrying toward the office. And if youre thinking our hero looks a little out of place amid these glamorous surroundings, youre not entirely wrong.

See, Eric never fit in at Cap. Four years in the place and even now, his senior year finished, he still feels like an alien walking these halls. Sure, he has the Mercedes and the flashy Swiss timepiece. He dresses like the crowd, and his parents have money. Hes your typical Cap kid, a poster boy for the school

(in fact, hes Student of the Year)

but Erics different. If you look close, you can see it. Its the sweat on his face as he hurries down the hall. Its the way he keeps checking that Omega. Its the way he looks worried, like the world doesnt revolve around him, like hes actually late and that actually matters.

People dont hurry in Capilano. They dont get worried. They pay people to worry for them, and if theyre late, the world waits. Its not cool to be stressed, and Erics stressed all the time.

Ergo, hes not really of Capilano.

You know?

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

Q: Why is Eric stressed?

A: Eric is stressed because hes late for the VERY PRESTIGIOUS internship he landed at his dads old law office. He forgot to put gas in the G-Wagen this morning, and now he has to swing by Cap High to pick up his Student of the Year plaque

(they spelled his name wrong the first time)

but he got caught in beach traffic getting over here, and he has to be at his internship in, like, fifteen minutes, and its all the way on the other side of Capilano.

Q: Why does a rich kid care about some stupid internship? Its the first day of summer.

A: Right. And for normal people, summer means vacation. Parties, beaches, regrettable hookups. Two glorious months of freedom before college starts. For Eric, summer = work. Erics headed to law school. Gotta pad those extracurriculars to make sure he gets in.

Q: This guy sounds like a nerd.

A: Thats not a question.

Q: Okay, why are you making me read about some dork who cant have any fun?

A: I promise you, Erics going to have fun. He just doesnt know it yet.

Q: You just said hes rich. Cant he buy his way into law school?

A: Good question. If Eric were anyone else at Cap High, the answer would be yes. But Eric isnt anyone else. Erics a Connelly, and Erics dad believes Connelly men work for what they get. Hes riding Eric hard to get into Stanford. Hence the internship. Hence Erics nerd-like countenance.

Q: What happens at the end?

A: You really want to know? Eric kills the love of his life and goes to jail. His family disowns him. The end.

Q: Great. And whats Erics heros journey?

A: Uh, what? Youre totally trying to crib for some essay or something, arent you? Just read the book, dude. Its not even that long.

Anyway.

The point is, Erics stressed. Partially because hes late for the VERY PRESTIGIOUS internship, and partially because hes afraid his dad will find out he was late on his first day, and that would be VERY BAD for everyone.

But were not going to talk about Erics dad yet.

(Youll hear plenty about him soon enough.)

This book is fundamentally a love story, and love stories need two things:

1. A love interest.

2. A cheesy meet cute.

Lucky for us, were about to get both.

Erics footsteps echo down the hall. He passes his old locker, the lunchroom, the computer lab. He makes it to the front of the school, the administration office. There are two people already inside the office when Eric walks in. One is Mrs. Adams, the secretary. The other is Jordan Grant.

Jordan Grant is Harrison Grants only child. And that makes him **IMPORTANT**.

Jordan Grant was is a senior at Cap High.

(Well get to that.)

Hes pretty well Erics opposite in every respect. I mean, he looks like an Abercrombie modeltall, built, perpetually tannedbut its not like Erics ugly. Its more than that. Its more the way Jordan carries himself. Its the way Jordan looks like hes never had a care in the world.

Jordans dad is Harrison Grant, one of the most IMPORTANT people in Capilano. He used to be a development executive at Lionsgate, but he quit recently to start his own company. He just sold a TV series about baby geniuses, and Cap High rumor is that he walked away from the deal with, like, low eight figures.

Whatever the truth is, Harrison Grant is obscenely rich. And Jordan Grant is his only kid.

Something else you should know: This last year was Jordans first year in Capilano. He was living in L.A. with his mom before the school year started. He moved up here with his dad. Nobody at Cap Highs really sure what the deal is. Eric heard a rumor Jordan punched out, like, Wiz Khalifa, and thats why he had to get out of townbut nobodys been able to corroborate.

Whatever, though. Jordans up here now. And since his dad is rich and powerful and important, and Jordan looks like an Abercrombie model and even pops up now and then on TMZ and Defamer, well, he pretty much became king of the school the moment he walked through the front doors.

And Jordan lives like a king. His Instagram is like a magazine spread: Jordan on a speedboat with a couple of smoking-hot Cap High girls. Jordan at some movie premiere with Chris Pine. Jordan skydiving. Surfing. Jordan with his shirt off.

(Jordan has a six-pack, obvi.)

If Cap High is full of A-listers, Jordan Grant is A-double-plus. He does what he wants, when he wants, with whoever he wantsguy or girllike hes some kind of god who doesnt give a shit about ordinary peoples rules.

Jordan Grant is the Man.