by Ivy Clyde
“I’m not staying at this stupid party,” said Zoya with a pout. “The food and drinks are great but it’s nowhere as fun as the parties the Kensington High kids threw. Come to think of it, I prefer beer kegs and uncontrollable puking jocks than these champagne-sipping pansies.”
The corners of my mouth lifted and a ghost of a smile flitted through my face.
She moved forward to give me a tight hug before leaving the room.
I crawled onto the bed and got under the covers. My body felt exhausted despite the hot shower and tea. Pulling the blanket over me, I hid under the darkness, letting my emotions come to the surface.
Living in my old neighborhood was never safe. There was always a chance of stepping into a scene at the wrong time and get hurt. I thought I was a tough girl but after coming face to face with death, I doubted my own strength.
The memory of me thrashing against the water rose up in my mind, making me go stiff with fear. Closing my eyes tightly, I tried to get rid of it but the suffocating feeling wouldn’t go away. A sob escaped me as I prayed for the sensation to go away.
A gentle hand came to rest on my shoulder.
“I’m fine, Ruben,” I said through the choke in my throat. “Go look after the guests.”
“It’s me.” That voice froze me. It was Liam. Had he come to hurt me again? I lay under the covers, stiff with fear.
“I’m sorry for what I did.” The hurt in his voice startled me. Slowly, I lowered the cover away from my face. His beautiful blue eyes looked deeper as tears gathered in them. “I lost my mind for a moment back there. It’s no excuse for what happened. Just know that I’m sorry.”
The fear building inside me flowed away, leaving my mind calm and clear. Liam’s expression tugged at my heart. He looked tired and grieved. Any minute, the tears would overflow and run down his cheeks.
“Why did you do it then?” I asked.
“It was that dress you wore and…you.”
“What?” He wasn’t making any sense.
“Where did you get that dress, Paris?”
“Brianna gave it to me.” And there it was. The dress she gave me and insisted I wear was the reason Liam got mad enough to push me away so hard, I fell into the water. I still had no idea how a dress could make someone behave like that but I was sure it was the culprit. Why else would the Evil Trinity be so bent on giving me a pretty dress like that?
He nodded. “Ruben saw her give it to you as you entered the restroom downstairs with the trio and Zoya.”
“What about the dress?” I asked. “Why would you lose your mind over it?”
“That dress belongs to someone I care about deeply. She’s the first girl I fell in love with.” A single tear streaked down his handsome face. A haunted look came into his eyes. The lump in his throat bobbed as he swallowed hard. “For a second you reminded me so much of her. And then, I thought you stole it. I hated you at that moment for bringing her memory back in such a cruel way.”
I sat up on my knees before him. “I am sorry, Liam. I had no idea.”
“I know,” he said. His eyes were so sad, it was beginning to ache my heart. “I should have given it a thought before reacting.” His hesitant gaze met mine. “Can you forgive me, Paris?”
I nodded. “It was Brianna, Holly, and Gianna. They forced the dress on me. I knew something was fishy when they were all acting so friendly. The dress was so beautiful I got tempted to wear it.”
“It’s not your fault.” His hand moved to gently caress the side of my face. “I’m so glad you’re all right.” I leaned into his touch, savoring the warmth that seeped into my skin from his. “I would have died if something happened to you.”
“What?”
“I was in shock, Paris. You resembled Vanessa too much at that moment. It was like seeing a ghost. For a minute, I didn’t even understand what I’d done to you. Gabrielle went in to save you in time or else…” He turned away from me at the moment, leaving me to watch his shoulders shudder as he sobbed silently. When he looked back at me again, there were red veins in the whites of his eyes.
I hated Brianna at that moment. She’d meant the prank to cause drama between me and Liam. She didn’t care whether it would hurt him or me.
I moved closer to him, wrapping my arms around him. He let me hold him as he leaned his head on my shoulder. In all this time, we’d never been this close. Never in my wildest imagination did I dream of comforting Liam this way.
I felt my heart beat in my chest. His grief was mine now and I let the tears flow from my eyes. There was nothing I knew about his old love but at that moment, there wasn’t a single shred of jealousy in me. My sole aim was to stop his pain and comfort him.
“I’m sorry about everything, Paris,” he said in a pained voice. “You don’t deserve any of the shit I’ve been throwing at you.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, squeezing him tighter. “I’m a strong girl.” A smile blossomed on my lips, driving away fear and every hateful thought in my head.
18
Paris
Next morning, I woke up early enough to see the gray light of dawn filtering through the curtains. Sometime in the night, Liam put me to bed and left the room. Sitting up against the pillows, I stretched my arms over my head.
Events from last evening had given me much to think about. Instead of reflecting on them, I decided to get dressed and go back to the academy. Even though it was the weekend, there was a lot of reading to do to catch up with all my classes.
After a quick shower, I got dressed in a demure pastel pink frock and headed downstairs to find Ruben. It was a few hours before breakfast but I was sure he would be up, supervising the cooking.
“Good morning, young miss,” he called me from the end of the ground floor corridor. The place was filled with maids who were cleaning up after last night’s party.
“Morning,” I said, walking up to him. “I was wondering if anyone could be spared to give me a ride back to school.”
“School? You want to go back to the academy?” I could see the strain in his expression. Knowing he was probably thinking the reason to be related to last night, I added, “There’s a lot of homework I need to catch up on. I didn’t bring my books when I came here yesterday.”
“Ah, well,” he hesitated. “You should at least have some breakfast before you go.”
“That would take too long, Ruben. I’ve still got some of the cookies you sent me last week.”
“Hold still. I’ll be right back.” The elderly butler hurried away down the hallway and disappeared. I waited as he said, hoping he would bring someone who could drive me back. The Davenport mansion was located far from the main highway, making it difficult to get a bus or cab that would go to the academy.
Ruben returned within ten minutes. A man in a white uniform walked behind him.
“This is for you,” he said, handing me a wrapped basket. “There’s some sandwiches, muffins, and fruits. Have it on the way.”
“Thanks, Ruben. It’s really kind of you.”
“Glad to see you’re feeling better, young miss. George will drive you to the academy,” he said, gesturing at the middle-aged man behind him who gave me a small wave.
“See you soon, Ruben.” I smiled and gave him a quick hug, making him freeze up completely. “Bye!” Hurrying away, I headed to the main front entrance of the manor.
A car stood there. George climbed out to open the back door for me and motioned for me to get in.
The drive back to Knightswood Academy was a quick one. Even the city traffic was light that early in the morning.
Reaching the school, I headed back to my cabin. Over the past week, it had become a more familiar space than any other place. It felt like coming back home.
The first thing I did, however, was to send a quick, suspenseful text to Zoya so that she would have to call me as soon as she woke up. She’d been so worried for me last night. If she spoke to Aunty Cathy, then they would both be anxious about me. I had to
make it clear that whatever happened last night was an accident that was triggered by Brianna. She was the one who’d orchestrated the whole thing. I was the idiot who got lured by her.
My stomach grumbled. Apart from a few tiny canapés last night, I’d eaten nothing.
Carrying the basket that Ruben gave me to the desk, I opened it. There were at least half a dozen fat sandwiches nestled among carefully packed pastries and muffins. A smile rose on my lips at the sight of the food. Picking up a chocolate-chip muffin, I sat at my chair and looked out of the window. The woods had turned all shades of yellow, orange and pink.
Fall was here.
I breathed in the chilly air that came through the open window and started on the muffin. After the very real death scare last night, it made sense to savor the moment as I devoured the delicious cake.
The rest of the morning, I drowned myself in homework and additional reading, coming up for air only when Zoya called me. It was past noon.
“I knew they were up to something,” said Zoya after I explained what happened last night. “No way, they’d let you borrow a pretty dress like that.”
“I know! But we couldn’t see through the trap.”
Zoya muttered a string of curses in Russian.
“Did you tell Aunty Cathy?” I asked, cutting her off.
“Not yet,” she said in a small voice. “Mom wasn’t home when I got back. I thought I’d tell her today but I guess there’s no point in stressing her out.”
“No.”
“What about this Vanessa girl, though? Who is she?”
“I don’t know. Liam didn’t talk about her. The way he spoke of her was like he missed her a lot. At this point, I’m not even sure if she’s alive.”
“Hmm…an unfulfilled love. And he said you reminded him of her?”
“Yeah.”
“Could he have a thing for you, then?” said Zoya in a teasing voice.
“I’m not even going to think about that and just focus on getting good grades.”
Zoya’s laugh sounded from the other end. “And that’s Paris Johnson back in her body.”
“Hey!”
It was past one P.M. by the time we hung up. Not wanting to go all the way to the cafeteria for lunch, I ate the fruit and sandwiches Ruben gave me, plunging back into my assignments.
Darkness fell all around the cottage but I kept working on an assignment due next week. It had been a while since I was able to really focus on anything. With absolutely no distractions, I let the work pull in all my attention. Without Zoya or Lucas around, I skipped dinner as well, planning to eat whatever was left in Ruben’s basket.
A knock sounded at my door.
The tip of my pen paused over the workbook. My gaze fell on the watch at my wrist. It was past ten P.M.
The knock sounded again, louder and more desperate this time.
“Who is it?” I called out.
The loud knocking was the only answer to my question.
A thin tendril of fear snaked around my heart as I slowly headed towards the door, wondering who it could be at that time of night. So far, no one had ever bothered me in the cabin. I suddenly realized how isolated I was from the rest of the school and how dangerous it could be. Visions of masked axmen swarmed my head.
Stop imagining things, I chided myself. There are no serial killers in Knightswood Academy! Heart thudding in my chest, I gripped the knob and pulled open the door.
“You?” I whispered, staring up into Nikolai’s face. “What are you doing here?”
He pushed the door wider and swept past me to enter the cabin. His boots made a hard noise against the old wooden flooring as he went further inside, surveying the space with his pale silvery eyes. Reaching the bed, he turned around to face me. Dressed in a long gray overcoat with a rigid expression on his painfully handsome face, he looked like a hero out of an old World War II movie.
“So this is where he’s making you live,” he said in a low voice. “You’re living in worse condition than the janitors of the academy.”
“Why are you here?” I asked. “I’m kind of busy at the moment.”
His gaze swept around the cabin and paused over the desk in the corner which had my laptop along with two open textbooks.
“You’re doing homework after nearly dying last night?” he asked, his tone incredulous.
“It was an accident,” I mumbled, remembering the suffocating black veil pressing at me from every angle as I sunk deeper into the pool. A shudder ran through my body as cold sweat beaded my forehead. Biting my lower lip, I willed the memory to fade away.
“You can still feel the trauma, can’t you, Paris?”
My hand gripped the backrest of my chair. “It doesn’t matter. Why are you here anyway?”
“I came to see how you were doing. The video showed you were in the water for more than a minute. My flight was scheduled for tomorrow but I took my father’s helicopter to get here tonight to see you.”
“Video? What video?”
He cursed in Russian as he pulled out his phone. “Look.”
I took the phone from him just as a video started playing. It took only a few seconds to recognize the poolside of the Davenport’s manor where the academy students had gathered. The lens focused on a figure walking towards Liam. With a throb of my heart, I realized it was me in the blue dress. The whole scene of the fight between me and Liam was played out, ending with him pushing me into the water.
My hands gripped the phone tightly. No one made a move to get me or call for help. Liam stared at the water, frozen, his chest rising and falling in an erratic pattern. He’d gone still as a statue. No one cared that he’d gone into shock himself.
People started muttering between themselves. Someone shouted in the back, asking people to call for help. I recognized the voice as Gabrielle’s. He ran to Liam and shook him out of his stupor, asking what he’d done. Liam mutely pointed at the pool.
Taking his shoes off, Gabrielle plunged into the water. People rushed forward to gather around the sides of the pool. And all this happened, while I was desperately trying to claw against the water, sinking further into the pool’s depth.
“I can’t watch anymore,” I said, handing the phone to Nikolai. “They all just stood there doing nothing…”
“It was just entertainment for them all,” said Nikolai in a cold voice as he switched off the video. “Brianna must have already played out the scene in her mind before it happened and told everyone to just enjoy the charity case being drowned in the pool.”
“How do you know it was her?”
“That dress you wore…almost everyone at Knightswood would recognize it.”
“I don’t understand.” My whole body shook with cold shivers as I realized how nobody cared about someone drowning right before their eyes. Did they do so out of spite or fear?
“That dress was designed and worn by Vanessa Black. It won a competition which sent her to the School of Fashion Design in Paris. She was up against Brianna Dumas and just like you, she almost died competing against her. Everyone thinks it was the sole reason she left Davenport manor and Liam that year.”
“You knew Vanessa?” The mere memory of the girl caused Liam to go into such shock he hadn’t even noticed what he’d done to me. The pain and sadness in his voice as he spoke of her nearly broke my own heart. Just…who was she?
Nikolai shrugged a shoulder and sat down at the edge of my bed. “She was in the same year as us.”
Something heavy weighed down my chest. “What was so special about her?” I asked, unable to control myself.
“She was Mrs. Davenport’s ward. Just like you.”
“What?”
“Forget about Vanessa,” said Nikolai as he got to his feet. “You’re the one I am worried about. And Zoya. She’s too close to you, Paris. Don’t think the bitch squad will spare her for siding with you.”
“So, what now?” I asked, feeling anger rising within me through a haze of panic and uncontrolled jea
lousy over a stranger. “You can tell Zoya the things you told me and get her back to Kensington High.”
“It won’t matter. She’ll follow you wherever you go.”
I glared up at him. He towered over me, forcing me against the desk behind me. “Zoya wants to hear all this from you. She thinks of you as her real brother. Did you know that? She’s always trying to get your attention but you keep ignoring her. If you tell her to go back to Kensington High, she will listen to you.”
Nikolai was pressed against me now. The hem of his coat brushed against my knees as he leaned in close, his breath fanning my face. “I want you to go too.”
“I am not going, Nik,” I said through gritted teeth. “Why does everyone give so much power to Brianna and her two friends? So, they’re rich folk. So is everyone else in this damned place!”
“Listen to me, Paris. Get out before shit gets out of hand.” His cold blue eyes bored into mine.
“No.”
“Why are you so stubborn about this?” He leaned into me, forcing me to bend backward and support my body by placing my hands on the desk. “I am trying to keep you safe.”
“What?”
Without a word, he pressed his lips to my slightly parted mouth. My eyes widened at the contact and for a second, I froze completely as Nik mashed his lips with mine. My heart pounded in my chest as heat coursed through me, warming me to the tips of my toes.
Before I could truly lean into the kiss, he pulled away, staring at me with wild, silver eyes.
“Stay away from me,” he spat, stepping away. The cold, expressionless mask was pulled back over his face.
“You’re the one who kissed me!” I shouted, feeling frustrated at losing the sudden spark that he’d flared inside me. I wanted to feel the heat of his body against mine once more, our lips joined together in a fiery kiss.
“Forget it happened,” he muttered, walking across the room to reach the door. Wrenching it open, he glanced back at me. “Rethink your decisions before it’s too late.” With that, he marched out into the night, leaving the door open.
