Wicked Lies

by Mae Doyle

  “Hey!” My voice got lost in the chatter of other students, so I tried again. “Hey! Wait up!” I hated having to ask him to wait on me, but I knew that I didn’t have a choice. If I wanted to make sure that I knew where I was going and didn’t lose my backpack then I needed him to slow down. My legs already burned, but I tried to ignore it and push on faster after him. There was no way that I was going to get left out here in the middle of the quad while he strolled off with my stuff.

  His head whipped around and he slowed, waiting for me to catch up. “Sorry about that. Move-in day is fast-paced, and you have to make sure you can keep up.” He let his eyes rake down my body again, and I felt my muscles stiffen as he looked at me. “I didn’t realize you’d be going so slow.”

  Surprised, I glanced up into his face. His bright eyes were locked on mine but now they seemed cooler and more distant. Where was the nice guy who was so friendly at the car? “I’m sorry, I’m coming as fast as I can, but I just need a little more time than some other people. If you slow down a little, I’m sure I can keep up.” Flashing him a winning, smile, I hope that that will smooth it over.

  His face darkens a little. “We don’t slow down at Taylor Prep, did you not read the info on the website?” When I shook my head, he frowned and continued. “You have to pick it up, Rose, if you think that you’re going to make it here, or you’ll be one of the first cut.”

  “Cut? What do you mean?” Thinking hard, I try to remember if I saw anything on the website or in the information packet that the school sent about students being cut. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  He scoffs and turns away, clearly finished with the conversation. I hoped that he would say more, but he started walking again, so I struggled to keep up.

  Even as we walked, I made sure to look around. Most of the students here seemed to know exactly where they were going and had staff following them with their luggage. A few, like me, looked a little lost, but their school guides seemed to be a bit friendlier. I knew that they were mostly freshmen. Taylor Prep didn’t usually accept students in their junior year, like me, but they’d made an exception. Only because I could pay their ridiculous fees.

  Shaking my head, I resolve to figure out what this guy was talking about later. Right then, though, all I could do was keep my head on a swivel and keep looking around me as we walked. The building was impressive, but the gardens and quad around it school itself were meticulously kept and gorgeous. We walked along a path through a flowerbed and under a huge black iron arch before we got into the main quad. Above us were the words Ab Ordine Libertas.

  “What does that mean?” Even though I knew that I would regret it later, I spurred myself on, finally managing to catch up with the guy and my backpack. “On the arch up there. What’s that Latin mean?”

  “You don’t know Latin?” He slowed down and glanced at me, wrinkling his nose. “How in the world did you get in here, anyway? What are you good at?”

  Good at? “Good at?” I think fast, and hard. “Well, I used to be amazing at tennis, but I haven’t been on the courts in a while.” His blue eyes are locked on me, making it hard for me to think. Students swell and push around us on their way to the dorm. “I sing,” I tell him, finally. “I had to sing for my application here, and the headmaster said that when I finish therapy that I can try out for the tennis team.”

  For a while, he doesn’t speak. “I’ll see you on the courts, then.” Without another word, he turns away, but I suddenly remember where I’ve seen him before.

  Of course! He was all over the Taylor Prep website for being captain of the tennis team. I’d definitely spent more time than was necessary staring at his picture and drooling over the way he looked, but tennis garb and what he had on now were so different that I just didn’t recognize him.

  Even though I knew that I probably wouldn’t be able to remember, I spent the rest of the walk to the dorm trying to come up with his name. He swerved at the elevator and started up the stairs, so I bit my lower lip and followed him.

  I didn’t know what he thought of me or why we seemed to be off to such a rocky start, but I was determined that I wasn’t going to stick out here. Not for the wrong reasons, anyway, and if that meant climbing these damn stairs every single day, then I would. My therapist would be proud, if nothing else, and maybe I’d get back on the court again faster.

  The thought of facing him on the tennis court made me shiver, but at least it was a goal worth working towards. By the time I made it to my room, he’d already dropped my backpack inside the door and the staff member with my bags was waiting inside.

  “Would you like help unpacking, Miss Bennett?” He looked nice enough, but the thought of him searching through my suitcase and pulling out my underwear was too much.

  “No, I’ve got it, thank you. Do you know where…um, that guy went?” He raised an eyebrow at me before answering.

  “Mr. Broylin? I imagine he went to help another student to their room. It’s part of his job here this morning. Now, if there’s nothing else that you need, I’ll do the same.” He turned and walked to the door, but I interrupted him leaving.

  “I’m sorry, I’m just a little overwhelmed.” The smile that I gave him always seemed to make people warm up to me, but he doesn’t seem fazed. Okay, maybe people here are immune to my charm. “Do you know if I have a schedule or anything that I should be following?”

  “It’s on your bed.” He pointed and then left, shutting the door behind him, before I could ask him anything else. Turning, I saw that he was right. There was a packet of information and a bottle of water on my bed. Hobbling over to it, I sat down and picked up the packet to start leafing through it. In the very back was a schedule of events for the day. Running my finger down it, I saw that I was free for a few hours, which meant that I would have time to unpack and maybe even take a shower. The thought of hot water running over my sore legs sounded like heaven, but I stretched out, enjoying my soft mattress.

  Maybe just a nap, I thought, and that was the last thing I remembered for a while.

  Chapter 2

  A knocking on my door jolted me away. Panicking, I sat up, my heart pounding and a thin layer of sweat forming over my body. It took me a moment to remember exactly where I was, but even then, I didn’t feel a lot calmer. I should have spent this time unpacking and getting familiar with Taylor Prep, and now I didn’t have any idea who would be banging on my door.

  “I’m coming,” I croaked out, carefully swinging my legs off of the bed. It took me a moment to get my weight evenly distributed, and by the time I made it to the door, someone had knocked again. “Hang on! I’m getting the door!”

  Giggling outside the door made me pause with my hand on the knob. I’d never really spent a lot of time around other kids my own age, so I was a little nervous hearing someone laugh. Open the door, Rose, and get it over with.

  Taking a deep breath, I swung open the door. The girl standing on the other side didn’t look nearly as scary as I had built her up in my mind. She was taller than me, and thinner, with chestnut brown hair that hung in waves to her waist. Locking eyes with me, she grinned. “There you are! I was beginning to think that you had died in there.”

  A jolt of panic coursed through my body, but she had no way of knowing the effect her words had on me, so I forced myself to smile. “I’m Rose – ”

  “I know who you are! I’m Harper, your school guide. The headmaster said that you may need someone to help you get around at first, so I’m here. Juniors never get school guides, but then again, they never move in during the middle of the year! You ready to grab something to eat?” In answer, my stomach rumbled, and she grinned. “We’ll get along just fine.” Looping her arm through mine, she pulled me out of the door. I barely had time to slam it shut behind me before she started down the hall. “Just let me know if I’m going too fast, okay, Rose?”

  “Sure,” I said, trying to keep up with her and slip my room key into my pocket at the same time. I ke
pt tripping a little, and tried to hide it, but she turned to me, concern on her face.

  “I’m going too fast, aren’t I? I’m so sorry. We’ll slow down a bit.” She kept up a steady stream of chatter as we made our way down the hall, past the stairs, and to the elevator. “Would this be easier for you?”

  I grinned at her and nodded. “Yeah, I had to take the stairs coming up and it…wasn’t fun.”

  She scowled, twisting her pretty face into a grimace. “Yeah, I’d always heard that move-in day was kinda rough, but even I was surprised to see how crazy it got here as a freshman. I was lucky enough to get to move in a month ago to work with Mrs. Tate.” She must have seen the confused look on my face, because she continued. “The dance teacher? You must not be here because you dance.”

  “I have two left feet on a good day,” I tell her, and she laughs. “No, I’m here because I sing and I used to play tennis, but that’s been put on the back burner, so, yeah.” I shrugged, and could tell that she was going to say more, but before she could the words out, the elevator door opened and someone called her name.

  “Hold the door, Harper!” Two more girls came running down the hall towards us. They both looked like models and they jumped into the elevator at the last second before the door closed. “I didn’t think you were going to wait on us!” The first girl, a tall redhead with a smattering of freckles on her face grinned at us.

  “Of course I would.” Harper smiled back and made the introductions. The redhead was Maggie and the girl with her was Amelia. Maggie grinned at me while Amelia scowled from behind her.

  “You know, Rose, Amelia is a singer, too.” Harper was clearly trying to help me make friends, so I turned and smiled at the new girl. Before I could say anything to her, though, she started talking.

  “I heard that you’re a singer, Rose.” She arched a perfectly tweezed brow and tilted her head to look at me. “You must not be looking to perform on stage.” It was obvious that she was talking about my outfit, and my face flamed, again. Amelia was dressed in tight jeans and heels and had a gorgeous string of pearls resting on her cream sweater. We couldn’t be more different if we’d tried.

  “I actually thought that I would be comfy for move-in. And besides, don’t we get uniforms assigned to us?” If I’d been paying attention in my room I would have noticed whether or not there were clothes there for me to wear, but I was so exhausted that I passed out without paying attention to my space.

  “Yeah, there are, Rose, don’t worry.” Harper looped her arm through mine and shot Amelia a look. “Some of us are just more concerned with how we look than others. You’re fine, especially for move-in day. Now, tomorrow is another story, you know.” She bumped me with her hip and I smiled at her.

  Tomorrow. The first day of class. If today is any indication then I really need to figure out how to make friends with people, since I didn’t have the best track record so far. Amelia twirled her blonde hair around a finger and stared at the doors, willing them to open, while we finished our ride down.

  “The cafeteria is this way.” Harper linked her arm through mine and guided me down the hall. Maggie stuck with us while Amelia ran ahead to join other people.

  “Hey, Rose, don’t worry about Amelia.” I looked at Maggie with surprise. She hadn’t said anything to me in the elevator, but now she leaned close like she had a secret to share. “She’s just feeling uptight because she’s here with her cousin and they have a little bit of a power play going on. I thought they were going to try to work things out over the summer, but that must not have happened.” She rolled her eyes and flipped her hair over her shoulder like she’d heard it all before and was tired of it.

  “Her cousin?” I never knew my cousins growing up, so not getting along with them was as foreign to me as being their best friend. “Do they fight a lot or something?”

  Harper grinned and pointed. “Jackie can be…difficult, at best. Over there, with the dark hair.”

  I follow where her finger is pointed, but I don’t know who she’s talking about. “The girl in the mini skirt?” There’s a girl with an impossibly tight and tiny skirt on, and she’s grabbing the arm of the guy who walked me in earlier. He looks bored, but she’s obviously laying on the charm. I mean, honestly, if her top was any lower cut then her boobs would be on full display. If that’s Jackie, then I could see how she might rub people the wrong way.

  “No,” corrected Maggie. “The guy she’s leaning on. Jackie Broylin. Tennis star extraordinaire. Taylor Prep apparently courted him for years even when he was just getting into middle school and they finally got him. He’s played for Taylor Prep for two years. Nobody’s that good. Rumor has it that Amelia hates that he’s here because she thought that she’d be the only one from their family to get in.”

  “His name is Jackie?” I heard what Maggie said, but I got caught up on looking at the guy who walked me in this morning. He draped his arm around the girl leaning on him and looked up, locking eyes with me. I swear, time stood still. His blue eyes bored into mine and a slow smile spread across his face. He winked and I shivered, ripping my eyes away.

  “Yeah, and he seems to have taken a liking to you. What did you do to catch his eye?” Harper didn’t sound jealous, which is how most girls would sound when a hot guy like Jackie checked out their friends. She sounded worried, and that made me uncomfortable.

  “Nothing. He carried my backpack up to my room when I moved in, that’s all, but I’m pretty sure he hates me.”

  “He hates everyone,” Maggie corrected. “Please don’t think that you’re special in that way. Him, Brett, and Kaleb – they all hate everyone.”

  “I don’t know them.” Craning my neck, I looked around the cafeteria, trying to catch a glimpse of the other guys she’d mentioned, but there were so many people that it was impossible. “Are they all really good friends or something?”

  “Yeah, you could say that. They’re all on the tennis team together, so they’re pretty close.” Harper turned around, looking for them, then pointed over my shoulder. “There are the other two. They’ve all been here for a few weeks practicing so when they start going to events, they’ll cream the other schools.” She lowered her voice to whisper, although nobody could have possibly heard her over the din of the other students. “Although, honestly, Kaleb isn’t that great. He’s a computer nerd, so I have no idea why they let him on the team, but I bet it has to do with the new tennis courts that were installed over the summer.”

  Before I turned around to look where she pointed, I had to think about something that she’d said that was ringing a bell. There’s a guy named Brett on the tennis team? I knew a Brett who played tennis a long time ago, but the chances of both us getting into Taylor Prep are slim to none, to say the least. And wouldn’t I have heard that he’d been here for two years already? Maybe not. Things had changed a lot since I knew him years ago. Taking a deep breath, I turned around, and my already weak legs almost gave way under me.

  The two guys walking in the door looked nothing alike. One had on glasses that he pushed up as he walked in the door and a short crew-cut, but besides that, he looked nothing like the typical nerds that I’d seen in magazines and books. First of all, he had a chiselled body that obviously wasn’t due to sitting behind a computer coding all day long. He also had on khakis and a button-up shirt that was open halfway to his navel, showing off his abs.

  I practically had to wipe drool from my chin, but then my eyes fell on the other guy. Brett. Holy crap, I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own two eyes, but my old neighbor had grown up and filled out. The last time I saw him, he was a knobby-kneed kid who dared me to jump out of the tree that grew between our houses.

  But now? Now he fit in here where all of the students looked like they walked straight out of a fashion magazine. His dark hair was pushed back from his face, showing off his sharp cheekbones and dark mocha skin. If I remembered correctly, he was adopted as a baby and looked nothing like his parents, but I h
onestly thought that was a blessing. They were pasty and pale, and he was a dark-skinned god walking among us. Unlike his friends, Jackie and Kaleb, Brett had on a tight t-shirt that showed off all of his muscles. He looked the most casual out of all three of them, but unless something had really changed since the last time I saw him, I knew that that wasn’t true.

  Brett Cox was one of the most high-strung perfectionists that I’ve ever met in my life. He also loved to take out his anxiety on other people, which is how I ended up breaking my arm when I jumped from the tree. What I remembered the most about that incident was how he had watched me fall at his feet, no expression on his face. It hadn’t been until his mom came out to see why I was screaming that he bent down to pick me up.

  Maybe things changed, but I watched him sweep his eyes across the room, shivering when he raked them over me. A lot of people can change, but I don’t think that Brett was one of them.

  Chapter 4

  Breakfast was delicious, although probably the healthiest thing I’ve ever eaten. I shot off a quick text to my mom to tell her that I had pear coconut baked oatmeal with maple syrup on it for breakfast along with a huge cup of black coffee to let her know that I was doing okay.

  Maggie and Harper helped me into the cafeteria and carried my tray for me, making it easy for me to look around on my way to our table. Everyone looked a little more subdued than they were last night, probably because nobody really wanted to head to class this morning after such a fun afternoon.

  While I waited for Harper to finish her breakfast and carry our trays away, I tugged at my skirt and jacket. I was always more of a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl, so wearing this outfit definitely put me out of my comfort zone. Maggie noticed me yanking on it and grinned, reaching over and taking my hand from the bottom of my jacket.

  “You can’t yank on it and make it magically longer, Rose. Don’t worry though, you look great.” I looked up and locked eyes with her, relieved to see that she was serious and not joking with me. The last thing I wanted was to make friends with someone who would tease me about how I looked.