“Lucy, didn’t your plane land hours ago?” Mom’s pitchy tone bordered on shrill, and just like that Poof! the peace was shattered. “Why haven’t you called yet? Is everything okay?”
“Sure, I guess.” I bit into my tongue. She definitely didn’t want to hear all my doubts about Nexis. I tucked myself into the cubby of brick around my window, drawing my knees up to my chin. “Sorry, Mom, but orientation was out of control. By the way, it’s nice to talk to you, too.”
“You should’ve called sooner.” Her voice shot up to the stratosphere. “How’s your dorm? Are you making friends with your roommate?”
“Yeah, she’s from New York and promised to show me around. I can’t wait.” A school-sponsored bus ride from the airport didn’t count as my first trip to the city. Not that Riverdale and the school didn’t have their charms, as in far away from Indiana.
“You’ll love New York in September. It’s beautiful.” Mom’s worried tone evaporated. What a relief. “Once you get into Nexis, you’ll be all set.”
She sounded more like a game show host, always pushing her own agenda on me, than a mother chatting with her daughter.
I gritted my teeth. “What if I don’t want to join Nexis?”
“Now’s not the time to be unreasonable.” Her voice switched straight into Mom Mode. “We’re talking about your future here. Don’t you want to get into Yale?”
All the fight left me at the mention of Yale. Both she and Dad graduated from Yale, and James was supposed to go, too. We were all heartbroken when he disappeared to Europe and cut off contact with us. All we got was a postcard every few months. How could I disappoint them now? Especially when I had a chance to find out why he ran away.
“I’m sorry, Mom. It’s strange being at the same school James was. It’s like his shadow is everywhere.”
“I know, honey.” The sugar returned to her melodic voice, and my jaw relaxed. “From what I hear, Nexis has a great leader this year. Did you look up the Stanton boy like I told you to?”
“No, not yet.” I huffed into the phone. “So don’t get any ideas about fixing me up. I don’t need any more drama, please.”
Sometimes she could be so clueless. I swiveled on the windowsill. As the sun lowered, a golden tint highlighted the tiny wave crests, muddying the rest of the Hudson.
“You’re right.” She sighed through the phone. We both had a hard time apologizing. “Want to talk to Dad?”
I braced my arm against the brick. Ready for impact in T minus ten seconds. “Sure, put him on.”
“Hi, honey.” Dad’s soft tone threw me off. No more grilling me about college? He’d asked about it all summer, if he was home. Why stop now? “Glad you made it there in one piece. You put any more thought into a major?” Goody, the impatient tone I expected all along.
“I’m not even in college yet. Give it time. I’ll figure it all out soon, you’ll see.” Unacceptable by Dad standards. I only had two years to get into Yale. What did I get myself into? I banged my head on the glass. Maybe the river could tell me what to do.
“You’re right, sweetie, but now’s the time to start preparing. That’s why we sent you to Montrose.” Did he mean that for real or as in, don’t waste our money young lady? Bring on the guilt trip.
“And I thought you sent me away to avoid any more scandals.” An edge of bitterness crept into my voice. My scar tingled at my temple, as if it could read my mind. As if it could remember the accident that brought me to this place, a thousand miles from home.
“On the contrary, we sent you to Montrose for your own protection. Not to mention a good education.” His calm monotone meant more than what he actually said. At least to me.
“Any word from James?” Even my sister, Paige, and her incessant beauty tips would be a welcome distraction right about now.
“James found his calling painting the Venice canals.” A crisp edge sliced through his voice.
“Funny, I didn’t know he could paint.”
“Me, either.” That familiar baritone laugh rumbled from the phone. How I wished I could reach out and hug him, tell him I wouldn’t turn out like James. “Paige is out with her friends somewhere.”
Mom yelled in the background. Snippets of garbled conversation filtered in snatches.
“Okay, Natalie, I’ll tell her,” Dad practically huffed into the phone. “Your sister’s at the movies, okay? Now don’t you listen to your mother. You stay away from boys, even that Stanton one.”
“Relax, Dad, I think guys are scum, too.” I hugged my knees and pressed my cheek against the cool glass. If he were here, he’d reach out and ruffle my hair.
“Good, that’s what I wanted to hear. Don’t forget that we love you, Lucy.” His voice cracked when he said my name. Dads could be so silly sometimes.
“Love you guys. Tell Mom. Bye now.” I hung up the phone. Only a few days on my own and I missed them already. So much for independence.
The door swung open with a bang. I jumped from my window perch.
Shanda scurried in with a tower of boxes and dropped them on the floor. Her boxes and suitcases formed a mountain of stuff in front of her closet, dwarfing my tiny pile of luggage. She peeled back the accordion doors and hung up armfuls of clothing.
“I’m just going to set up the room.” Her designer clothes belonged in a celebrity closet, not a prep school dorm room.
I gasped, reaching for the gorgeous fabrics. “Is that cashmere?”
“You bet.” Shanda draped the green sweater over my arm. “It’s so soft.”
I scrunched the silky wool between my fingers. “Heavenly. Maybe I should unpack my stuff, too.”
With a flourish I went to work dressing up the bulletin board over my desk with bright fuchsia polka-dot paper and my family photos. What a cute, scrapbook kind of window into my life back home.
Something scraped against the wood floor behind me and I whirled around. “What in the world?”
She had the whole room laid out. Our beds pushed against the far brick wall, a white fuzzy rug in the center, flanked by black butterfly chairs. Posters hung all over the white cinder-block walls. Mostly bare-chested boys, but some pictures of Paris or New York.
“Silly putty.” Shanda hoisted the package like a trophy.
My gaze flicked to the pinups. Heat curled up my neck. “That’s not what I’m worried about.”
Was she really one of those girls, the pop star obsessed, boy-crazy kind of girl? Because her rocker tee and faded jeans said she had more edge than that.
“You don’t like it?” Her almond eyes batted at me, those bronze-glossed lips curving into a cute frown that probably worked on Daddy.
I shook my head. No pouting princess would change my mind. “Those have to go.”
“My boys?” She rushed to the nearest one, tracing his smile with her finger.
Why didn’t she get it? A muscle in my jaw twitched out of control. How could I forget about guys if they were everywhere? “Listen, I love the chairs, the rug is fine, but there’s no way I’ll put up with half-naked boys staring at me 24-7. Buhbye.”
“What are you, a prude or something?” She twisted her lips and laughed in my face. The nerve.
“That’s ridiculous.” Every muscle in my body tensed. In the last six months only Becca and Jake ever made me this mad, and they turned the whole school against me.
I forced my eyes shut. Calm down. They were only posters, but they reminded me of Jake. And not in a good way. “They make me uncomfortable. Can you take down the guy posters? The rest are fine.”
“That’s fair, I guess.” She yanked them down one by one, firing a glare at me each time. She arranged the pinups in her closet like a shrine. Gimme a break.
“Thank you.” My heartbeat still thundered in my ears. So much for roommate bonding. Can we hold the drama, please?
Pacing back and forth, I wrung my hands in a vain attempt to shake off the sparks of lingering anger. Because an even bigger question blared through my brain. Wou
ld she hold a grudge, or would she find a way to let it go?
For some reason I didn’t want to set foot at this Nexis meeting alone. I couldn’t even explain why. But one thing I knew for sure. It was worth apologizing to my roommate.
After all, Shanda was the one who wanted a crack at the observatory tower. So why did the mere thought of it freak me out?
Chapter 2
I had to make it to the top, or Mom would kill me. I jogged up the cement steps to the tower, my flats pounding louder than my heartbeat. The observatory rose from the top of the hill like a steeple. A domed pillar of brick watching over the whole campus. Night wind whipped my hair into my eyes, darkness closing in. I tossed the strands back, glimpsing moonlight once again.
Shanda’s braids flapped in front of me as we booked it up the wide steps. “C’mon. We’re missing all the fun.”
My heart thundered, still two beats behind her. “We’re never going to make it on time.” The path dimmed with each step. Even the moonglow faded. Only a glint of gold pricked through the darkness.
“I think it’s in here.” In the shadows she pointed out an engraved plaque etched with the words, Stanton Observatory, established 1847.
“Figures.” Mom’s voice danced in my head, cheering me on. Now I knew why she wanted me to “look up that nice Stanton boy.” For once I had actually listened, though not on purpose.
Something sank in the pit of my stomach and shot down to my knees. I wanted to run back into the moonlight, but I followed Shanda into a wood-paneled foyer. A familiar damp smell clawed my nose.
“Welcome, ladies.” A brassy blonde ushered us toward a spiral staircase that snaked up the tower. She swept her hand over a tag on her shirt, Colleen. “I’ll get you all set up.”
She handed me a nametag and I plastered it below the sequins of my black t-shirt. Wouldn’t want to trash Mom’s expensive back-to-school gift.
“This better be good.” I whispered to Shanda.
“You’re telling me.” Her stilettos clicked against the metal treads as she spiraled up the tower at a steady pace, like the height didn’t faze her one bit.
I gripped the sleek wrought-iron railing until my knuckles went white. Under my feet, the steps groaned and squeaked like an out-of-control carnival ride. Butterflies on caffeine flocked to my stomach. So I focused on Shanda’s concert t-shirt. Phoenix, Denver, Shreveport. The name of each city numbed my swirling brain all the way up. At the top my feet found the hardwood floor and practically squealed their thanks.
Somehow the white-domed room felt airy and dark all at the same time. Moonlight slanted in from a giant panel propped open for the telescope. “What kind of club meets in an observatory?”
“The really cool kind, obviously.” She pulled me over to a cluster of folding chairs.
“Obviously.” My knees wobbled as I plunked down in the metal chair.
He stood at the center of the room. That so-messy-it’s-cool sandy hair and those gunmetal grays flashing at me like they had this afternoon. “Welcome to the Nexis induction meeting. I’m Will Stanton, club president.”
No, that couldn’t be him. The whole room faded into darkness, refocusing around him. I curled my fingers under the cool metal seat until the world stilled back to normal. Mom’s choice might be a tough one to turn down. Warning sirens blared in my head. It’s too soon. Remember what happened last time? But Will’s velvety voice lulled them into silence.
“We’re an elite social club of gifted students. All of our graduating members have been able to attend the Ivy League college of their choice.” The cleft in his chin waved at me as he looked around the room. “That’s because we only recruit the best of the best. Each of you has been invited because of your academic or family status. If you decide to join, you’ll meet the rest of the members during initiations.”
He continued with his spiel, but I lost myself in those eyes. They sparked silver, right in my direction. Like he’d actually pick me over the Barbie dolls in the crowd. How could a girl concentrate on anything else? The patter of clapping jolted me back to reality.
How had I missed the whole speech? Wow, I must be losing it.
“You got it bad.” A trademark cackle escaped Shanda’s throat as the applause died down.
“Do not.” But I couldn’t help stalking him with my eyes across the room as the Barbies circled. Then I caught Shanda’s expression, like she could probably read my mind. “Why, is it obvious?”
She snorted, yet somehow glided like a swan to the enormous telescope. I followed close on her heels. Anything to escape the strange feelings flocking around some guy I didn’t even know.
Her fingers slid down the white cylinder, caressing the eye piece. She gazed up at the night sky, then moved the scope with a swift flick of her wrist. “Take a look at this.”
I pressed the viewfinder against my eye socket. Three bright dots formed a glowing triangle. “Pretty. What stars are they?”
“One star, two planets.” She counted it out on three fingers. “Saturn and Mars with a star called Spica. I’m calling this formation the August trifecta. They’ll be in different orbits by next week when September comes. Enjoy it while you can.”
“We aren’t talking about stars here, are we?”
Her back arched over the telescope. “Don’t get your hopes up about these guys. You’ve got to be loaded or a genius to get accepted with this crowd.” She lowered her voice a notch. “And I don’t think they’re just trying to get into Ivy League schools.”
“Don’t tell Mom and Dad that.” I shuffled toward the open slat in the dome to check out the night. So many stars dimpled the sky. They always made me feel small, but also kind of important. Like I might actually be on this planet to do something really cool. “My parents insist we have some inside family connection. If I joined Nexis they’d do a backflip. You have nothing to worry about. Your dad’s loaded, right?”
“Yeah, but we’re new money kind of people.” She fiddled with the silver knobs on the side. “Sure, Dad wants me to be an Ivy Leaguer like your parents. It’s the uppercrust breed of people that go there, that revolve around clubs like this. They’re pretentious, not anything I want to be a part of.”
Someone knew what they were doing when they paired us as roommates. I nudged my shoulder into hers. “Maybe that’s why Nexis needs people like you. To burst their bubble.”
“Good one.” Her lips curved into the tiniest smile. It faded fast. “I still don’t know.”
“Honestly, this isn’t really me, either. Just following in my family’s footsteps.” I chewed on my bottom lip. Could a posh prep school group be my only ticket to happiness? Probably not, but my parents would disagree. So let them. “I want to make my own mark.”
Shanda’s face lit up in the moonlight. “Maybe we’re more alike than I thought.”
Will and a blond guy muscled a path toward us in the dwindling crowd. “Hey, Lucy.”
He said my name. The room wobbled like the rickety staircase all over again.
“How’d you know my name?” My voice came out froggy. How embarrassing.
“James was my mentor freshman year. You look a little like him, only much cuter.” His white teeth were bright against the shadows.
Petals of heat crept up my neck, my cheeks. The darkness became my new best friend.
“You got a second? There’s something I want to show you.” His shining eyes made me wonder if I could ever be ready for what he had to offer. “Wait here. Kevin will entertain you.” With that odd command he disappeared back into the shadows.
Kevin offered his hand to Shanda. “Where are you from?”
She shook his hand and angled toward him. “I’m from the city.”
He crossed his biceps over his chest. “How cool. I’m from L.A.”
She bobbed her head and moved to the scope. “Let’s test the range on this baby. Wanna see Saturn’s rings?”
“Sweet.” He spiked up his hair and bent over the eyepiece.
I inched as close to the open slat as I dared and sat down, dangling my feet over the side. The moon bathed me in her silvery light. As the glow washed over me, the sky looked surprisingly normal. Almost like it did back home. What would my family be doing this Saturday night? Paige was probably still out with her friends, Mom and Dad at some generic charity function.
A bulky form plopped down right next to me, legs dangling dangerously close.
“Check this out.” Will’s deep voice sent a shiver down my neck.
I jerked back. With strong hands he steadied my shoulders.
“Careful now.” He crossed his legs over the edge. Between us he opened a leather book with a symbol on it, an embossed circle of raised lines, like flames around a cross. “This is the history of our group. Since the beginning of Nexis, anyway.”
I watched him turn the thin parchment pages, filled with strange words. “Is that Latin?”
“Very good.” He flipped the pages, quicker and quicker each time, finally pausing on a picture of a woman with a halo around her face. Her eyes were dark and shadowed.
I leaned in to get a closer look. There were three jewels above the haloed woman—a sapphire, an amethyst, and a ruby. Were the gemstones glowing. I blinked and rubbed my eyes. The amethyst was about the same color as the amethysts on the ring my dad gave me as a graduation present.
When I glanced up, Will was staring at me. Had he been watching me the whole time? Creepy.
“Isn’t it cool? This book is all about the founding tenets of our group.” But he wasn’t looking at the book anymore. His gaze flew to the ring on my finger.
I kicked the side of the tower. Folding my hands behind my back, I shifted my focus back to the book. “The girl with the halo. She’s a saint, right? Is she the founder of Nexis?”
He narrowed his eyes like I was under a magnifying glass. “Only members are supposed to see this book. Since you’re practically one already, I’ll give you an overview.”
He would break the rules for me? I lifted my gaze from the ancient book and found him watching me again—his lips curled into a crescent, a slight dimple in his tan cheek.
The Nexis Secret Page 2
