The Elites

by Ruby Vincent

  “Remember, you don’t have to do this,” she said. “I admit I still have doubts about sending you to that place.”

  “I have doubts too but it feels like the right decision.”

  She leveled a finger. “What did we agree on?”

  “I will report it immediately if anyone tries to harass or assault me. If the police try to speak to me again, I refuse, call you, and wait for you and our lawyer. I’ll keep my head down and focus on finishing my final year.”

  Mom nodded sharply. “Yes. If there is any trouble at all. If you so much as get a papercut, I will transfer you out of that school and I’ll hear no argument about it.”

  “Yes, Mom.”

  “Alright. Let’s go.”

  We piled into the car and set off to the academy. We didn’t speak much on the drive. Things were still a bit strange between us but the truce held through the end of summer and I didn’t want to break it now. Eventually, I would. My search for my father wouldn’t end until I found him, but that search had lasted eighteen years, it could wait a little while longer while I sorted out my life at Breakbattle.

  “I’m going to pick you up on Friday.”

  “Hmm?” I turned away from the window. “Friday?”

  She kept her attention fixed on the road. “I’m picking you up this Friday and every Friday after. You will come home on the weekends.”

  I was silent for a moment, thinking of last semester. “Okay,” I said. “But...”

  “But what?”

  “I was thinking that some weekends I might go to Evergreen.”

  “And spend time with your boyfriends.”

  “Is that okay?”

  “You can go for the day, but you sleep at home.”

  Honestly, that was more than I thought I would get. “Thanks, Mom.”

  Soon, the gates of Breakbattle loomed on the horizon. The iron glinted in the sun, drawing the eye to the BB emblazoned in gold on the gates. It was clear to see because the gates were closed.

  I sat up straighter. “Why are the gates closed? The senior packet said move-in started for the Elites early as usual.”

  “There are cars here. We must have gotten the time right.”

  It seemed like we did. We rolled into the parking lot and students streamed around us. They rolled heavy suitcases and hugged parents and younger siblings goodbye. Then they joined a growing line.

  Mom parked and got to help me unload my things. I hitched my duffle on my shoulder and leaned in to kiss her cheek.

  “Bye, Mom. See you Friday.”

  “Why are you saying bye? I’m going in to help you get settled. Also, I intend to have another discussion with your principal.”

  “You are? But I’m sure he’s busy—”

  “He won’t be too busy to speak with me.” She grabbed my suitcase handle and walked off.

  I followed at a slower pace. The line of students and parents led to the closed gates. Looking closer, I spotted Argyle walking down the pavement. She stopped to say something to each family individually. Mom and I were waiting awhile before she reached us.

  “Good morning, Miss Manning. Morning, Zela.”

  She said my real name as though she’s been using it for years. Argyle’s reaction to my big reveal was nothing like Whittaker’s. She was calm, but her disappointment leaked from her pores. She spoke of expulsion like it was inevitable. I was lucky it turned out a different way.

  “Morning,” I replied.

  “Forgive us for keeping you out here in the heat. In the wake of Cameron Dupre’s death, we instituted changes to ensure the safety of our students.” She gestured behind her. “One of those changes were new automatic locks on the gates. These were not supposed to go into effect until tomorrow morning, but there was a miscommunication. They will unlock on their own in”—she glanced at her watch—“twenty minutes. Please bear with us.”

  “I understand,” Mom said. “I’m pleased to hear you made changes. While I have you here, I’d like to know what you’ll be doing to keep my daughter safe.”

  Argyle shifted away like she was thinking of the rest of the people she needed to speak to. “Of course,” she said instead. “We’ve hired more security to monitor the halls and cafeteria following certain... incidents last year. The locks for the students’ rooms have been upgraded. Also, the door between campuses have been fitted with the same automatic locks. There is no danger of anyone crossing from one to the other in the night.”

  My ears perked up at the last statement.

  “We can’t leave campus?” I repeated. “I thought girls had the code to open the door.”

  “Not anymore.”

  “But isn’t it dangerous for us to be trapped inside like that?”

  She shook her head. “You will not be trapped. If you press on the handle and hold, it will set off the emergency release. This, of course, triggers an alarm.”

  “But—”

  Argyle held up a hand. “I’m sorry, Miss Manning. I need to speak to the other parents. All of this will be explained further during the assembly tomorrow.”

  I let her go without a fight. I was busy thinking of what this meant for me and the boys. They were a huge part of why I wanted to come back and now it was going to be even harder for us to see each other.

  I can’t blame Argyle and Whittaker though. A student was murdered on campus and they still haven’t found the killer. They have to do something to protect us and making it harder for people to roam about in the dark makes sense.

  My sigh rattled my depths and pinched my heart. How could this be our reality? A person dead. A killer on the loose. A fog of suspicion blanketed the school. I remember when my biggest worry was juggling battles. A few extra tests and running around a field is not so bad in comparison.

  Eventually, the gates clicked open and we were allowed inside. Mom trailed me up the stairs and into the main entrance. I paused just before the threshold.

  Two doors. Two campuses. One I had never set foot on.

  “Cooeee. Over here, Miss Manning.”

  A chirpy voice drew our attention. A woman in an ankle-length brown dress, sensible shoes, and cat-eye glasses emerged from the crowd.

  “Good morning.” She grasped my hand in a surprisingly strong grip and shook warmly. “I knew it was you. I know all my girls and you’re the first fresh face.” She tittered.

  “Hi,” I said slowly.

  “I’m Matron West,” she announced. “I look after the girls in the dorm and I’m going to start by taking you up to your new room.” She turned to Mom. “Miss Manning, I’m sure you have a lot of questions for me in the wake of our recent tragedy and I’m happy to answer them all. Your daughter’s safety is my first priority.”

  “Thank you. Please lead the way.” Mom handed me the suitcase and fell in step with Matron West. “I’d like to start with the new locks on the doors. How do we know these are any safer?”

  “Great question. These locks...”

  I trailed them in silence, listening with only half an ear. Matron opened the door to the girls’ campus and together we stepped inside.

  Wow. I don’t know what I was expecting... but this should have been it.

  The hallway we walked into was identical to the boys’ side in almost every way except for one. The portraits of famous alumni were all women.

  Mom and Matron chattered the whole way through the main building and into the dorms. Girls passed us up and down the stairs. I knew most of them by sight after years of sharing a cafeteria with them, but the girls who passed me looked at me like they had never seen me before.

  We topped the sixth-floor landing. “Zela is still an Elite student, so this will be her floor. I’m sorry, Zela, but you won’t have your own room. There are exactly forty Elite dorms and exactly forty Elite girls. Thankfully, one of the girls was happy to share.”

  I nodded. “I understand. It was cool having my own room for a while but I don’t mind sharing. I just feel bad someone has to give up their space
.”

  She waved that away. “Don’t feel bad. She was truly happy to do it.”

  There was only one person I could think of who would be happy to have me as their surprise roommate. My suspicions were confirmed when we knocked on the third door on the right of the entrance. Melody burst out of the room and seized me in a hug.

  “Can I just say you’re a legend?”

  I grunted in her hold. Melody wasn’t the touchy type. The male and female masses fawned all over her, and she didn’t give the satisfaction of rewarding their sycophancy with attention. She liked me, and I liked her, but she never hugged me before.

  Turns out I was lucky for it. This girl is about to break my ribs.

  “Why am I legendary?”

  She freed me. “Are you kidding? Sneaking in undercover, flouting this school’s sexist rules, rising to the highest class, turning the system on its head, getting the lower classes to fight back, and then revealing all the time you were a girl. Was this your plan the whole time?” She shook her head in amazement. “You’re incredible, Zee.”

  “Was this your plan the whole time?” asked Mom.

  I flicked from her to Melody. I wasn’t entirely sure what the correct answer was here. Mom was spitting mad about my lies and what I kept from her over the years, I had no delusions about that. Even so, she was an activist at heart and knowing I did this for a cause might set me a few notches higher in her esteem.

  Or it might get me grounded every weekend until I graduated.

  “I wasn’t planning on revealing myself,” I finally replied. “The police did it for me. I do want people to see the system for what it really is. I’ve always wanted that. My motives for becoming Zeke were...” I trailed off as I caught Mom’s look.

  “They were my own, but if any part of it made people see we have to merge the campuses, end the targeting, and change the system, then I’m glad of it.”

  Melody shook her head. “I’ve been working to prove this school is wrong for how they treat and separate us, and all this time, you were the one truly getting something done. You’ve shaken things up, Zela. Whittaker can’t ignore it any longer.”

  “There is a lot that man will no longer be able to ignore from this point,” my mom cut in. “Go in and get settled, Zela. He’ll be expecting me.” She snagged my collar and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “Goodbye. Call if you need anything.”

  “I will.”

  Mom and Matron left and it was just me and Melody. I looked around my new home. The room was big enough to fit two Elite/queen-sized beds. It meant the couches had to be moved to beneath the windows and the television pushed to the space between my new desk and the wall. It was a tight fit but we’d hardly be uncomfortable.

  Melody tossed my suitcase on my bare mattress and dragged me over to the couch.

  “What do you have planned for this year? I want to know everything.”

  I shook my head. “If I had a plan, it’d be tossed in the air now that I’m on the girls’ side. I knew the boys. I knew playing the Battle Doctor would get them riled up.” I looked away. “And in a lot of ways, it went too far. It got violent last year and Cameron’s response to me becoming Elite and threatening the expansion landed me as a murder suspect.”

  Melody put her arm around me. “None of that was your fault. You couldn’t have predicted they’d start a schoolwide fight, and no one believes you hurt Cameron. Anyone could have done it. I dated the guy and he was far from a good person. His list of enemies must wrap around the entire campus.” She gave me a supportive squeeze. “Don’t stress about any of that. The police will find the true killer.”

  A knot of tension began to ease. Everyone might not feel the way she did. All the same, it was nice to have Melody’s support.

  “As for the girls’ side,” she continued, “you have the right idea for how to push buttons. They are crazy competitive over here and pretty much no one is friends with anyone outside their class. If you played Battle Doctor over here, the upper classes would lose their shit. The problem is getting the lower classes to trust that we want to help.”

  I nodded. “After last year, I can’t play innocent like I don’t know it’ll piss the upper classes off. Whittaker praised me before. Now he won’t look so kindly if I stir up more trouble.”

  Melody looked me right in the eyes and said, “Screw him. We’re in our final year and I’m done playing nice. Right now, the classes are on the edge. Stopping you from helping other students says to everyone that the administration wants to keep the lower classes in their place, and letting you go ahead rattles the upper classes’ sense of entitlement. It’s a win-win either way because it exposes the problems with the battle system.”

  She leaned in, getting in my face. “This is the time to do something big and you can help me. They can’t ignore us right now. No one can.”

  “Happy to help. Just tell me how.”

  Melody beamed and it was a sharp reminder of why Adam couldn’t quit her. She was beautiful in every sense of the word, but her passion made her otherworldly. It was hard to believe this goddess walked amongst us mere mortals, determined to right the wrongs we made for ourselves.

  “We need to make a move that won’t get us suspended or Stand Up shut down.” Melody hopped off and grabbed a notebook off her desk. She was scribbling in it before she sat back down. “Another silent protest obviously, but with a bigger impact than the flyers.”

  “What if we got people outside of school involved? I told the school board how I felt about the battle system. We could spread the message to parents, government, and the media. The world thinks Breakbattle is this amazing place because we let them.”

  Melody bobbed her head, writing everything down. “You’re right, we do let them think it. We could organize a walkout or a sit-in.”

  I snapped my fingers, warming to the idea. “What if we all went down to breakfast and refused to leave the cafeteria until Whittaker and Argyle say they’ll sit with us and discuss how to improve the battle system?”

  “I love it. Do you think we can get enough people on board?”

  My pocket vibrated.

  “Definitely among the lower classes,” I replied as I pulled it out. “The boys are spoiling for a fight. Let’s channel it into protests that won’t get us all suspended and our privileges taken away.”

  Melody shook her head. “Would it be so bad if they were taken away again? The Elites and As bitched themselves sick over losing their precious televisions and all-access passes, but, for once, we were all treated the same. It should be like that all of the time. Above all, I believe our end game should be getting rid of the battle system entirely. Without it, there is no reason to separate the genders. Targeting won’t be a problem and students can’t treat others like shit because of the letter on their chest.”

  “We might be able to get them to listen to changes, but getting rid of the system entirely? Whittaker would never go for it.” I glanced at my phone. “And the school board...” I trailed off.

  On my screen were five letters I’d been waiting months to see.

  Derek.

  “It’d be a disaster if the school board voted to adopt the system.” Melody’s voice sounded far off. “We can’t stop fighting though.”

  “You’re right,” I whispered. “We can’t stop.”

  Derek: I’m sorry it’s been so long. I wanted to see you every single day of summer. I’m at the place where we first became friends. Come to me.

  I rose as though I’d been lassoed and Derek was on the other end, pulling me to where I belonged.

  “I have to go, Melody,” I said. “We’ll talk more when I come back.”

  “Oh. Okay.” Surprise colored her response. “I’ll think of ways to get the media to take notice while you’re gone.”

  “Sounds good.”

  My feet carried me downstairs and through the halls without a thought. I knew exactly where he was. Every single moment I spent with Derek Grayson was burned into my brain. Every
word he spoke, every laugh, every moment, every time he touched me.

  Maybe Derek was right. My obsession with him was always more than it should have been.

  I stepped into the clearing. Derek leaned against the boulder. Wind played with his hair, flitting in from his eyes, but yet we stayed locked on one another. He appeared wholly at peace in the place where he faced off with Cameron and lay at his behest in a pool of blood. The memories that clung to this clearing were more awful than the last, but one thing was true, this is where we were bound—for better or worse.

  Derek’s lips quirked up in a grin and I swallowed hard. I once thought of his smiles as gifts bestowed on the younger sister he let into his heart. Why didn’t I see the fierce need behind them?

  Pressure built between my legs. I clenched my thighs as I neared him. The same need was pulsing through my veins, wild and untamed. Not for a second did I think sexually about him when I believed he was my brother, but the thoughts going through my head now...

  We’re the most screwed-up couple on the planet, and I’m in love with three other guys who had me beaten into a bloody heap on a locker room floor.

  I stopped a few feet from him. “Derek—”

  “No. Come to me.”

  I couldn’t have fought the command even if I wanted to. I molded my body to his, burying my face in his chest. The last of my pain, tension, and stress leaked away as he enfolded me in his arms.

  “Did you miss me?”

  “You know I did. I can’t stay away from you, remember?”

  I felt his chuckle against my cheek. “You wouldn’t have been away from me if there was anything I could have done about it.”

  “Adam said they put you on lockdown.”

  “Dad was actually understanding about us running away.” Derek slipped under my dress. My eyes fluttered shut as he gently stroked the soft, tender skin of my thighs. There was no hesitation. Derek knew I was his as assuredly as I did. “He said he got that I needed space after having a bomb dropped on me. Mom not so much.

  “They never planned to tell me Dad wasn’t my father or about that horrible period of their marriage. Coming home to find out I not only knew everything but I ran away put Mom in a spiral. She was a mess by the time I came back. I think part of her feared I wasn’t going to.”