by A. J. Logan
Entering the oversize garage, I spot one of the four garage doors is lifted. I’d thought it was ridiculous to have four spaces in the garage, only to find out there’s a detached garage with four additional. My eyes reflexively roll to the back of my head. At least Candace was living well after she left us. Our house might not have been this extravagant mansion, but it was home. And Dad made sure we had plenty of happy memories in it to overshadow the sad ones.
Plopping into the passenger seat, I look over at Nathan, who has a big smile on his face. “What, no driver?”
“He has the day off.” Nathan winks, backing out of the garage.
“Seriously?”
“Nope. I prefer to be in control, so no one is driving my car except for me.”
I watch as the gate opens, allowing access to the private road lined with mansions just as extravagant as the one I’m being held prisoner in.
“How about you? Do you like driving? We can get you a vehicle if you’d prefer to drive yourself to school.”
I swallow the lump in my throat. “My dad bought me a car.”
“Good deal. I’ll make arrangements for it to be brought here. Or I can take you to get it if you are a control freak like me,” he chuckles, swerving down the winding road as picture-perfect homes pass in a blur.
“It doesn’t run.” Even though the 1960 Corvette clearly hadn’t revved to life since long before my existence, the look on my dad’s face when he surprised me with my dream car was more perfect as the gift itself. Being that I usually went everywhere with Haley or Mason, I’d never been in a hurry to get my own ride up and running. Plus, I enjoyed the hours Dad and I spent working on the Corvette together. “It was our project.”
“Oh.” The smile fades from his face. “Well, we can have it brought over in case you want to work on it someday. Maybe we can work on it together, if you need help.”
I know he’s being kind, and unlike Candace, hadn’t asked to be a part of this disaster. He’d just been unlucky enough to be roped in by her. “Thanks.”
“I was ten when my mom died.” Nathan stares ahead as his hand grips the steering wheel. “But I remember how I felt hearing the words like it was yesterday.”
“I’m sorry.” A pang of guilt hits me. Ten? It’s hard enough to lose my dad at seventeen, I couldn’t imagine losing him at ten.
“I meant what I said. One day it will be easier to breathe. The hole never goes away but you’ll learn how to live with it.” Nathan hesitantly looks over at me. “And your mom is right, even if you aren’t her biggest fan right now. Your dad would want you to be happy.”
Biggest fan? Psh … not even in the ballpark. “She’s not my mom.”
“Just give her a chance. Perhaps you two can find some common ground eventually.”
“Yep, and pigs might learn how to fly today too.” I cross my arms, watching out the window. Just when I think Nathan is going to be tolerable, he becomes Candace’s hype man. “Tanner is what, five now? I was seven when she left me, so hopefully you don’t mind being a single dad.”
“If that day were to come, I hope to measure up to Stanley because I know he was a great single dad,” Nathan says with such believable enthusiasm, I look over to see if he’s being for real. “Maybe don’t look at it as her leaving you but as her giving you a chance to get closer to your dad. Do you think the two of you would have the strong bond that you share if your mom hadn’t left?”
“That’s a screwed up way to look at it, but yeah … I’m glad she left.”
“How about a truce? I’ll make you a deal.”
I look over at him to see, once again, if he’s serious. “What?”
“It’s your senior year. How about you stay with us, enjoy what you can of your senior year, and when you graduate, I’ll get you a really great gift.”
Hmph. “There’s no gift worth living with Candace.”
“Not even your childhood home?”
My head snaps in his direction.
“That’s right. If you stay with us until graduation, I’ll purchase the house and give it to you. Free and clear. I’ll even throw in four mil for insurance, taxes, and repairs. Oh, and that pesky college tuition.”
“Four million dollars? Are you insane?”
“Yep. That’s, what, a mil for each year of high school. Not a bad deal if you ask me. And a house, don’t forget about the priceless house.” He smirks, knowing that the house is worth more than the money. “Take some time and think about it. You have a few days before you turn eighteen, so I guess that’s the deadline for a decision.”
“You’re insane,” I mumble, crossing my arms over my chest as the stiff material of my blazer restricts me. Can I really live under the same roof as Candace until May?
“Possibly a smidgen, but I want you to stay. If not for Candace, for Tanner. He has really enjoyed having his big sister around.”
Now he’s playing the adorable little brother card. Another victim weaved into Candace’s web without a choice in the matter. I hate to admit it, but having Tanner around has been nice. I’d always wanted a sibling after being an only child, but Dad hardly dated, much less let another woman into his life again. “I’ll consider it.”
“Awesome,” Nathan says with delight in his voice, like I’ve already caved to his absurd offer.
While I’m gazing out the window, the car comes to a stop in front of a brick structure that looks more like a castle than a high school. My hand rests on the door handle as I watch a sea of maroon pour through the enormous wooden doors of Golden Olympus Academy.
I should be looking at the weathered sign outside of Edgewood High School right now. I’d give anything and everything to have my old life back at this moment. I’d even live with Candace if there was a chance my dad would be waiting on me at the end of it.
“Give ’em hell, Quinn.” Nathan’s encouraging voice breaks me out of my thoughts. Hell is what it feels like, so it shouldn’t be that hard to dish it back to them.
“Thanks.” I turn, giving him a half-smile. So far, he’s the only person who hasn’t treated me like a fragile crazy person or sugarcoated the reality and suckage of the situation—and it really couldn’t suck much more. At least, that’s what I’m thinking as I step out of the car to face my second prison sentence.
4
I join the crowd walking through the front doors of the school. Stepping into the foyer, I notice a lot of students rubbing a statue of a bulldog as they walk by it. The dog’s butt to be exact. It’s not surprising they have traditions. Even though Edgewood was small, we had stupid rituals that didn’t make sense, but we did them anyway.
Guilt stabs at my insides as I glance at the missed calls and texts on my phone. A few from Mason, some random ones from friends, but most of them are from Haley. I can’t bring myself to answer any of them. It’s not that I don’t want to. The pain gets worse when I contemplate putting words together to say to any of them—the people who have been my entire world. The people I should be walking into Edgewood High with this morning. Instead, I’m stuck with complete strangers who rub a dog’s ass.
Walking through the halls, I find the front office. A woman with gray hair and glasses attached to a beaded string stands behind the desk, speaking to a nervous student. I stand back until the other victim leaves and the office lady summons me forward.
“I’m a new student. My name is Quinn Caine.”
“Ah-ha. Caine-Bennett. Yes, your mother called this morning to make sure we had everything ready. Here’s your schedule. Here’s a pamphlet with a map of the school. Your locker assignment is on the back. If you have any questions, just pop into the office anytime.” Tilting her head down, she looks over her glasses at me. “I’m always here.”
“Um, thanks.” I’m sure she meant it in a nice way but something about her statement made me uneasy. Or maybe it was just the fact that her bizarre manner is a part of my new normal. I glance at my schedule and see my stepdad’s name written in pen behind my name.
>
The secretary snaps her fingers, beckoning a student who’s leaning on the end of the counter, speaking with another student. “Elliot. I need you to show Quinn around. Give her the grand tour.”
He tilts his head glancing in my direction as the secretary beckons the next student to her desk. “Grand tour, huh? You must really be important.”
“I’m not.” The words leave my lips just as flatly as they feel in my chest.
“I don’t believe you,” he smirks, grabbing my messenger bag before slinging it over his shoulder.
“I don’t give a shit what you believe.”
He chuckles, taking the schedule from my hand as we enter the hallway. He stops suddenly, turning with wide eyes, shocked. The smirk nowhere to be found on his face. “Bennett? As in Barker Bennett?”
The name somewhat rings a bell. It takes me a moment to recall that it’s Nathan’s dad. “Yes, he’s my stepdad’s dad.”
“Ah, so you are important, Quinn Caine-Bennett.”
“Are you always this ludicrous? I just said he’s my stepdad’s dad. I haven’t even met the man. I just met my stepdad two weeks ago.” My anger boils over as I say a lot more than planned to a complete stranger in front of me. And that smirk has returned to his face.
He doesn’t say a word as I follow him down the hallway. Stopping in middle of the corridor, I look around, waiting to see my first class when he points to a wall lined with oil paintings of gray-haired men and woman. Each portrait is at least eight feet tall.
It takes me a moment to realize that the one he’s pointing to has a polished gold plate at the bottom of the painting that reads Barker Bennett.
“Well, that’s just flippin’ fantastic,” I mumble under my breath, irritated that Candace or Nathan hadn’t mentioned this latest development ahead of time.
“Oh, yes. He is magnificent!” Elliot says, raising his voice on the last word as his arms rise in the air, hailing or worshipping the painting. I’m not sure which would be worse, but either prospect creeps me out all the same.
“You can’t tell anyone,” I whisper-yell as I pull his arms down from their still-saluting position.
“What?” his disbelief is evident in his high-pitched tone as I continue walking down the hall, noticing a few curious eyes already watching us. “Your grandpa built the south wing. You are totally royalty level.”
Letting out a sigh, I snatch my schedule from his hand. “He’s not my grandpa. I don’t even know the man and even if I did, I don’t want to be anyone at this school. Hopefully, I won’t even be here long enough for anyone to remember my name.”
“You’ve already missed out on that pipe dream, Quinn Caine-Bennett.”
“Stop calling me that. My name is Quinn Caine. That’s it. Quinn. Caine.”
“Fine, Quinn Caine,” he laughs, mocking me as we walk down the hallway, “have it your way, but that golden ticket might come in handy during your brief stay here.”
His good-natured charm is really pissing me off, mainly because it’s making me actually like him. I don’t want to like anyone here. Elliot is exactly the type of friend I’d hope to surround myself with if I wasn’t currently living an endless nightmare. I don’t want to get attached to anyone or anything ever again. The thought of my house comes to mind … my home with my dad. The one place I may be able to make some sense out of what happened.
“I don’t know how long I’ll be here yet.” Am I really considering Nathan’s offer?
Elliot throws his arm over my shoulder as we continue our misguided tour. “Well, I think you should stick around for a while. It’s been extremely boring around here and I have a feeling that’s about to change.”
“So, you are always ludicrous.” My aggravation is lost on him as he points out a few things that will not help me find my way around at all. The school seems even larger on the inside. There’s no way I’ll ever learn my way. “Can you please just show me enough so that I’m not lost for days?”
“Sure, milady.” He curtsies as I roll my eyes.
“Shouldn’t that be a bow instead of a curtsy?” Why am I even bothering with him? He’s like a kid in a candy store, there’s no telling him to act right.
Finally, he focuses on something I want to hear about as he explains the different hallways and points in so many directions, I’m getting dizzy. The map will probably be more beneficial because my navigator has once again lost his train of thought as we step onto a stone patio lined with fancier tables and chairs than we have in my house. Beyond the courtyard is a lake bigger than most schools I’ve seen.
Elliot points to a group of students sitting along on the edge of the patio, nearest the water where the best view of the lake is. “There are your fellow titans.”
Tilting my head, I scowl at him. Is he ever going to move on from the “royal” BS?
“Sorry, sorry,” he says, holding his hands to me as a smirk covers his face, “forgive me peasant.”
A loud whistle pulls us out of our absurd battle.
“Hey, Bass!” one of the guys calls. Elliot nods their way before extending his arm in their direction, holding it out as he says we’ve been summoned.
“Bass?”
“Last name and much better than Elliot.”
“I’m pretty sure I saw a Bass on that shrine back in the hallway.”
His grin answers my question before his words do. “No return curtsy?”
It’s interesting that he made no mention of his royal status.
“No.” Avoiding his extended arm, I move to walk away, insisting on getting to class, but Elliot snakes his arm around my waist, leading us to a situation that I somehow know isn’t going to end well.
Approaching the group, Elliot removes his hand long enough to greet a few of the guys sitting on the stone wall with a hand-slap-knuckle-bump thing that all the dudes did at Edgewood. Some things are truly universal in the guy world.
The fool who’d summoned us runs his fingers through his blond hair as his eyes lazily travel from my shoes back up my body, lingering way too long before meeting my eyes. “Who’s your new friend, Bass?”
“Wade, meet Quinn. Quinn, stay away from Wade. He hides nothing but despair behind those baby blues.”
“Damn. That hurts, Bass. Give a guy a chance,” Wade says as he continues bickering with Elliot—aka the shittiest tour guide in the world—when I notice a set of emerald-green eyes fixated on me. I guess I should feel happy there’s one person in the group who didn’t feel the need to do a full-body assessment as Wade had. With the way he glowers at me, I’m more than certain he doesn’t want anything to do with me. Fine by me because the feeling is mutual—in fact, it’s a blanket statement that goes for the entirety of the royal court.
Breaking his gaze, my eyes are drawn to the muscle tightening in his chiseled jaw as he leans back, tilting his head up as a smug smile spreads across his beautiful face. Ugh, I’ll admit it. He’s not bad to look at—really nice to look at, actually, if it weren’t for the arrogance oozing off his confident stature. Shit. It dawns on me that he’s noticed me checking him out. I feel the heat in my cheeks flare up as his grin grows bigger, and I want to yank out every strand of his perfectly placed dark-brown hair.
“Ugh, move out of the way.”
I’m suddenly jolted to the side as platinum-blonde hair flings into my face, attached to a girl stomping past, halting as she suddenly rotates to stand in front of me. Her eyes travel down me as her nose scrunches in disapproval, so I wait until her eyes meet mine again before I say, “Same, bitch.”
Her eyes widen in a look of astonishment when Elliot laughs, draping his arm over my shoulder as he says, “I knew you’d liven up the scene. This my pal, Quinn. Quinn, bitch’s name is Allison. You really should watch where you’re going, Allison, and be nice to our new guest.”
My blood boils as I just want to get to my damn class. I don’t want to make friends. I don’t want to be a part of a group—especially this one. Egotistical guys and bitchy gi
rls. Yeah, don’t sign me up.
“I’m going to class.” I attempt to snatch my bag off Elliot’s shoulder when Wade clasps my hand, pulling me towards him.
“What’s the rush?”
The creepy look on his face tells me I really don’t want to be alone with him or even in a group of people with him. Ever.
Attempting to pull away from his harsh grasp, I tell him to let me go, but his hand tightens, igniting my anger. Shoving him away, he doesn’t budge until a deep voice speaks up from behind me. “Let her go.”
My hand is immediately released from the unwanted grip, and I turn to find myself nose to nose with emerald-green eyes. Hades. I won’t be fooled by the angelic face hiding an unseen evil. Something lurking beneath the surface tells me he’s just as wicked as the god of the underworld. And I don’t need rescuing. That’s for dainty damsels in distress, not me.
“Move out of my way.” The urge to punch him in his perfect face gets stronger as I want to kick Elliot’s ass for bringing me over here.
A slight smile peaks at his lips, but I can still feel hostility exuding from his rigid posture. I don’t know what I could’ve possibly done to infuriate him, but he sure as hell deserves my rage more than I deserve his. He’s probably only four or five inches taller than me but it feels more like ten feet. And I’m aware of every powerful inch of his solid, muscular body as he unnervingly looms over me. This is one of the few moments I can recall feeling fragile. It’s not something I’m accustomed to because while my physique is lean, it’s also toned and strong from the countless hours of hauling my body up the side of a mountain.
“Move,” I say sternly as he leans closer without touching me, even though I didn’t think there was any space remaining between us. There’s no way I’ll succumb to his pathetic attempt of intimidation. My universe disintegrated around me two weeks ago. This asshat is an insignificant molehill compared to the immense mountain I’m still trying to get a steady grasp on. “Don’t touch me.”
