Problem child blue ivy p.., p.1
Problem Child (Blue Ivy Prep Book 1), page 1
Problem Child
BLUE IVY PREP
BOOK ONE
HEATHER LONG
Copyright © 2022 by Heather Long
Cover: Vicious Desires Design
Photography: Michelle Lancaster
Model: Indi Woollard
Editing: Leavens Editing
Line Editing: D. Jackson
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it wasn’t purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite book retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademark status and trademark owners of various products referred to in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/ use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Contents
Problem Child
Series so Far
Foreword
Prologue
Chapter 1
Fan Mail
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Kissy Kats
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Tattler Blast
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Fan Mail
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Forever Fan
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Tattler Blast
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Mad Boys
Afterword
About Heather Long
Also by Heather Long
Problem Child
Enrollment begins this autumn.
Born into Hollywood royalty, I’ve been making the hot sheet and generating internet buzz since before I could even walk. Doesn’t matter that my parents divorced prior to my second birthday, I can’t escape the shadows—or scandals—of my movie star mother and my rock star father.
At least, I couldn’t until Aubrey, Yvette, and I formed Torched and went double platinum as we made a name for ourselves. Four years after taking the world by storm, I’m exhausted. We all are. I’m also ready to try and be a regular kid. Only problem is I’ve never been normal. I don’t actually know what that feels like. Accepted into the prestigious Blue Ivy Prep, I have a lot to prove to the students, the faculty, our fans, but most of all to myself.
Despite my tabloid reputation or maybe because of it, I don’t intend for anything to get in my way. Especially not anyone who decided I’m an empty-headed pampered partying princess before I even showed up. If they want a fight, I’ll bring them a war.
For Harley Quinn Zaler
Series so Far
Problem Child
Mad Boys
Foreword
Dear Reader,
Thank you for picking up this book, for taking a chance on a new series. If I’m a new to you author, welcome. If you’ve read my previous works, hello there, it’s good to see you. I wanted to take a minute to discuss a little history behind Problem Child. A little context, if you will.
If you’re reading this one for the triggers found in this book, go ahead and skip to the end of this letter where I will list them for you. If you don’t mind giving me a couple of minutes of your time, I’d like to share another story with you.
This story is the history behind Blue Ivy Prep, the concept of KC, and a young, talented woman named Harley (HarleyQuinnZaler on Facebook).
Harley was a devoted reader and a talented cover artist. During one of her pre-made sales, I grabbed a cover that just resonated with me. A girl in denim overalls, dancing like crazy, and her hair was teal. From the moment I saw that cover, KC aka Kaitlin Crosse was born.
It was January 2020 and I was only working on the third book of my 12 book series Untouchable. (The series is now complete). The girl on this cover was everything I pictured for Kaitlin, who along with Aubrey Miller and Yvette Chanteur, formed the girl band Torched.
They were one of Frankie’s favorite bands and they appeared on the page in book 5, Hangovers and Holidays. I’m not telling you all this to get you to pick up that series. Absolutely not. While KC and the girls do appear there, you do not have to read Untouchable to appreciate this series.
At the time, when I told Harley what I wanted to write, she was so stoked. We discussed cover concepts, art, the characters and more. She was so excited about the future books and the cover models I picked out. She couldn’t wait to do their covers.
Then in 2021, unexpectedly, Harley passed away. Her loss was devastating for her family, her husband, her mother, her daughter… I felt that loss keenly because losing anyone is hard. Losing someone so young with so much future in front of her was just not fair.
Her family offered the covers already purchased and her team was working to get all of this sorted, but with three more covers needed, I made a different call.
Working with Stephanie at Vicious Desires Designs, we used the inspiration of the cover to go in a different direction. The cover that Harley made me for this first book, originally titled Party Girl, remains an inspiration and I wrote Harley into this book because she was so excited and I want her to remain a part of it.
As you can see by the dedication, this book… this whole series is for her and for the joy she brought into our lives with a light that was far too soon extinguished.
Thank you, Harley and I miss you.
If you have read this far, thank you as well. Problem Child is the first in a four book series following Kaitlin Crosse as she attends Blue Ivy Prep, an exclusive boarding, prep, and college school for the wealthy and the privileged.
The series is reverse harem/why choose. This means the female main character will not have to choose between the guys in her life. This series is also slow burn, and begins with bullying, secrets, lies, and complicated family ties.
There is some stalking, and I will give a warning for a severe health diagnosis for a side character. This book is also told exclusively from Kaitlin’s viewpoint except for the prologue. Future books in this series will contain multiple points of view.
Thank you again for taking a chance on this series, I can’t wait to hear what you think of KC and the girls. Be sure to join us in my reader group on Facebook where we talk books, book loving, some spoilers, teasers for the future, and bonus scene. Don’t forget to sign up for news and updates on my website to get all the latest news, releases and more emailed right to you.
xoxo
Heather
Prologue
When they handed out the new year packets, I wasn’t expecting it to be quite so full of new student data, protocols, and security measures. The email blast we’d gotten earlier in the summer indicated Blue Ivy would be employing a number of new measures to crack down on all visitors traveling to and from the campus. There would be increased patrols. They’d also added new hires to the main administration to handle all publicity calls and public relations.
“Good morning everyone,” Mr. Black said as he made his way around the large table in one of the executive conference rooms of the administrative building. The oversized cherrywood gleamed, as did everything else in the Victorian-style room that boasted a large fireplace they even lit when the winter months buried us in snow. Like all the other RAs and TAs present, I’d dressed for the occasion. Even administrative meetings required a suit and tie.
“If you can all sit down,” Mr. Black continued as he circled the table, handing out stacks of paper clipped together as one group but with five separate stacks in each set broken out by colored paper. “We need to go over the nondisclosures first. The school legal team has been in touch with each of you, and you should have copies of your updated signed agreements for your records. We’re going to go over this together before our new students arrive because legal wants there to be no mistakes. Mistakes can lead to immediate dismissal, so I need all of you to be sharp and focused.”
“Dismissal?” Harley said as she leaned forward. “Just from being an RA and TA or from the school entirely?” Not an unfair question; this was our education, too.
I spared a glance at the names on the blue sheets of paper. M edia darlings were coming to the school, and there had already been an uptick in trespassing and press calls. It wouldn’t be long before money changed hands to get the right photos and videos. Kaitlin Crosse. Aubrey Miller. Celebrities brought their own form of notoriety and problems. Celebutantes like Crosse and Miller brought even more issues because they craved attention. Didn’t matter who they hurt along the way.
“First on our list is the son of the U.S. attorney general. He’s coming in with the junior class…” Mr. Black went down the list of dignitaries. While the school wouldn’t make any official announcement about the identities of the students attending here, residential advisors and teaching assistants were informed as well as the faculty because additional measures needed to be taken for both residential and academic halls.
Not that it was all that unusual for there to be special circumstances that impacted students and faculty for that matter. I’d been one such student once upon a time. We had students now, and we’d have students later, that all needed special handling. None of those required a meeting like this. While this was my first year as an RA, it was not my first as a TA.
We didn’t even make it through the first half-dozen special cases before my phone went off. Granted, I had it set to vibrate, but two of the TAs closest to me flipped open their messages.
“How is having this girl band here not an insurance risk?” the guy closest to me asked, and I just shrugged. I didn’t even know why she’d insisted on enrolling in this school. Of all of the schools out there, she chose ours. As annoying as I found her from a distance, I could ignore her. Frankly, I really couldn’t imagine having to endure her presence all year. More than endure, I’d already seen her name on one of my class rosters. I was going to have to handle her attitude every damn day.
I really didn’t want to have an opinion on this topic. Not about the politics of what their enrollment meant or the optics of having the hottest “it” girls in attendance. It was just asking for trouble, especially when you threw in the volatile mix of competitive academics and gossip. I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t have an opinion, which started and ended with: pick another school and be their problem.
“People,” Mr. Black said. “I know some of you are excited, but we will be expected to set the tone for our new arrivals. That means whether you’re fans or not, you make them feel welcome and treat them with respect and generosity while they are here.”
“And if their tour bus follows them? Every single story involving them usually involves some form of recreational narcotics or worse… We’re all aware of her background. Let’s not pretend she’s anything other than what her reputation has always been, a problem child. We can’t afford to let that kind of disruption interfere with the academic atmosphere,” Waldham said from the other side of the table, where he studied his nails like he hadn’t gotten quite the right manicure. The prick probably didn’t even possess a single callus because he was born with a ten-figure bank account. “It wouldn’t be fair to our real students.”
“They are real students. We will do no more and no less than we would for any other member of Blue Ivy Prep’s student body. Is that understood?” Mr. Black’s expression was implacable. He really did subscribe to the theory that who you were outside of school should have no influence on who you were inside of it.
Not all of us could live in that delusion.
“Yeah, but since when did the student body here come with a rap sheet? Or a smoking hot bod. Is she really sixteen?” the guy next to me muttered, and I shook my head. We did not need to be discussing her looks.
“Just remember,” I cautioned him. “Hot or not, she’s a problem.”
The photos for each student would need to be updated. Blue hair was not exactly in the dress code. Neither were tattoos. I checked my watch and adjusted it to hide the tattoo around my wrist. Most students who had tattoos or piercings knew better than to flaunt them on campus. They dressed conservatively, kept their heads down, and followed the rules. At least, they made a show of it. It was how it should be. But I didn’t think Kaitlin Crosse had ever done a single quiet thing in her life.
“In order to make things easier, we’ve moved them to one of the renovated buildings…”
I wasn’t the only one who made a face. A headache pulsed behind my eyes. I could hear the complaints now. This wasn’t going to make their immersion into the school year any easier. The new renovations were in high demand, and the school worked on a system of meritocracy and seniority. The fact the new students got the coveted space over students who’d been enrolled longer was already going to poison the waters.
Dammit, couldn’t she have picked some other place to park her real-life reality show? I had plans, and none of them involved an entitled, self-important rock princess who wouldn’t know hard work or dedication if it bit her in the ass.
One
KC
Nothing said “good luck on your new adventure” like being the subject of an email blast. Especially one that read like a burn book from a mean girl who got jilted at prom to a few million of our closest fans and haters. Haters are going to hate only goes so far to soften the blow. I was used to the biting, clawing, and stinging statements. Right?
“Hey little Kissy Kats, did you hear that Torched’s lead singer is going back to school? A little birdie told me that this isn’t about education so much as leashing the problem child while she gets a certain bad habit under control. The prep school, of course, has no comment. They wouldn’t. They can’t even confirm she’s enrolled. Who wants to get a picture for us so we can see where our favorite problem child is? Kiss. Kiss. More soon.”
Aubrey made a face as she read the blast out loud. Somehow, despite years of exposure, she could still manage to be shocked by the tabloidesque commentary on our lives. At least they hadn’t discussed the state of her virginity at twelve. Mine, apparently, vanished long before in a clearance sale, but hey, what did I know about my own sexual exploits?
“What a cunt,” she muttered. “Why does this bitch hate you so much?”
I laughed as I held up a finger for each item. “Daddy. Mommy. Mom’s big-dick boyfriend. Then there is my drama when I’m the so-called lucky one with the blessed life. I’m clearly a stuck-up, pampered bitch because I can’t even be bothered to give her an interview.”
Rolling her eyes, Aubrey slumped into the seat. “You realize she’s just set, like, everyone and their brother out to take photos of you.”
“Yep,” I said with a shrug. “Nothing I can do about it.”
“Stay on the grounds of the school,” Dix said over his shoulder. I’d almost forgotten he was driving us. Rude, KC, rude. “Any press that trespasses, or fan for that matter, can be arrested. You should consider the bodyguard, K. I know you want normal, but I can stay. We arranged it with the school so you could have someone there to run interference.”
Fuck, no. “Dix, I adore you for wanting to protect me.” I did. “But the whole point of this is to be normal. Normal kids don’t have bodyguards.”
“Normal kids don’t have drivers, million-dollar contracts, and platinum albums,” he countered and Aubrey laughed.
I shot her a dirty look, but she looked less than impressed. “Can’t hurt to have some backup,” she coaxed, and I shook my head.
