BriarEdge Academy: September

by Kit Kyndall

  BriarEdge Academy

  September

  Kit Kyndall

  Amourisa Press

  Kit Tunstall, writing as Kit Kyndall, reserves all rights to BRIAREDGE ACADEMY. Any resemblance to people or places is a coincidence. Please respect the copyright by not sharing this work. Permission of the author or publisher is required to copy any part of this work.

  © Kit Kyndall, 2019

  Cover image: Depositphoto

  Cover design by Amourisa Designs

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  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Blurb

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  About Kit Kyndall

  Blurb

  They don’t want her there. She doesn’t care if they push her out until she finds good reasons to stay at BriarEdge Academy. It’s only September, and it’s going to be a wild year…

  Seven months ago, Candace was just a normal girl, living in a sketchy neighborhood with her single mother and going to a public school. Then her mother went and fell in love, marrying rich guy Ashton Westerly, and they want their kids to be one happy, blended family. Part of that plan is to send all three to the exclusive BriarEdge Academy. Candace isn’t happy to spend her senior year at the elite boarding school, and her stepsiblings aren’t happy to have her. Malone, the evil stepsister, goes out of her way to make life miserable. Her stepbrother, Dalton, seems to want to destroy her. If he’s not torturing her, he’s trying to kiss her, and she hates him as much as she wants him.

  The academy isn’t all bad. There’s Lex, her fellow student, who is sweet and protective, though she can take care of herself. There’s also Jonas, tasked with caring for the magnificent roses of BriarEdge, who finds her as beautiful as his beloved blooms. Professor Kip Stuart is completely forbidden, but that’s just a harmless crush—unless he feels the attraction too…

  This is a series intended for mature YA and adult readers. It includes some cursing, mild violence, a few darker elements, and sex. It is a contemporary reverse harem academy romance with some bullying, including from one of her love interests. When four is better than one, #whychoose?

  This is part-one of a five-part series. There could be cliffhangers ahead, but the installments will be released quickly.

  Chapter One

  “Did I tell you they have an Olympic-sized swimming pool?” asked Hannah.

  Candace Munroe turned her gaze from the tinted window of the long black car to look at her mother. “You mentioned it a few times.” She couldn’t keep the utter ennui out of her voice. Her mother kept trying to sell her on this place, but she couldn’t say anything that made Candace want to attend BriarEdge Academy. It was a fancy place for fancy, spoiled rich kids.

  Kids like the two sitting across from her. Malone and Dalton Westerly were technically her stepsiblings, but she barely knew them. For her mom’s sake, she’d made an effort when Hannah and Ashton first introduced their children to each other, but neither one had been receptive to her overtures, so she’d quickly stopped trying.

  Those two had gotten out of spending the last three months after their parents’ wedding playing happy family by staying with an aunt who lived in Paris and was married to some count guy. Or was it a Comte? She couldn’t remember and didn’t really care. All she knew was she’d had three blissful months of peace, other than having to deal with Ashton trying too hard to be a father-figure she didn’t want or need.

  The spoiled brats had returned just yesterday and then immediately locked themselves in their rooms. She hadn’t seen them until they all met downstairs to take the limo to the academy this morning. Neither one of them had looked up or spoken at all, being too engrossed in their phones.

  That suited her just fine, and the fancy iPhone she held in her hand drew her attention. There had been a time in her life with her mom when she could never imagine owning one, especially since it cost more than what her mom used to pay in rent for their tiny studio apartment they shared. Now, it was a common luxury, and it would be easy to take for granted, but she didn’t want to be that person.

  She didn’t want to be rich, spoiled, and snobby. She definitely didn’t want to go to an elite boarding school where the rich people sent their kids, so they were out of their hair and no longer their problems. If she hadn’t promised her mom, she wouldn’t be heading there right now for her senior year.

  Hannah had put forth a heavy dose of Mom Guilt, and she’d heavily played the “think about your future” card. Candace knew attending BriarEdge would be good for her college applications, but she dreaded it. She wasn’t going to fit in, though she now owned designer clothes every bit as expensive as the ones her stepsister Malone wore.

  Neither she nor Hannah had a clue on how to dress when they’d first entered Ashton’s household, so he’d set them up with a personal shopper. Candace now looked the part, but she certainly didn’t feel it. To her, she was still the same kid who went to public school and lived in a sketchy area of town while her mom worked two jobs to keep them going.

  That was before her mom had taken the business administration course while still waitressing and cleaning houses. That had been a long year, but it had proven good for Hannah’s future. That was what had brought them to this point, and as much as she hated many things about her new life, she couldn’t regret that Hannah had found happiness with Ashton, who had formerly been her boss after she was promoted to his executive assistant.

  “Oh, look at that. We must be here.” Hannah sounded excited.

  Candace rolled her eyes and looked as an ornate pair of iron gate adorned with a fancy “B” swung open. It was about time they reached this place. They’d had to drive three hours from Portland up into the wilds of the Maine coastline. The last town, Farley, had been half-an-hour ago, and she already knew from reading the handbook that students weren’t allowed to have vehicles at BriarEdge Academy.

  She was well and truly stuck there, with the only bright spot being she could sign up for weekend passes to leave campus since her mother had authorized her to have that ability. It was only Monday, and she was already looking forward to getting away from this place for the weekend.

  Her nose wrinkled as they drove up the long the drive, which must’ve been another three or four miles of winding turns before she got her first glimpse of BriarEdge. “It’s so ugly.” She couldn’t help the statement bursting forth.

  “It’s not ugly,” said Hannah. “It’s classic. Gothic, maybe?”

  She shrugged a shoulder. “Maybe.” Whatever it was, the sprawling monstrosity of brick with a gabled roof and multiple building surrounding it was ugly. The outer buildings were clearly late add-ons, but they still matched the same style of the architecture. In the daylight, it was hideous. At night, it probably looked like a Gothic mansion out of someone’s nightmare. She had to resist the urge to ask if it was haunted, though she knew it wouldn’t be. It just looked like the sort of place where one shot a horror movie—the kind where no one made it out alive.
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  The car stopped a few moments later and joined a line of several others. There was a mix of luxury automobiles, along with other limousines, but certainly nothing so base as a Honda or Buick to break the monotony of wealth.

  The driver appeared at the door a moment later, holding it open for them. The five of them stepped out. The driver walked around to the back of the limousine and began unloading their luggage. Candace’s lips pursed in censure when Malone and Dalton both grabbed their luggage and took off without a word to either their dad or her mom. She shook her head in disapproval as she turned to Hannah. “Are you really going to make me do this?”

  Hannah sighed. “Just give it a chance, honey. I know it’s different, but different isn’t always bad.” Her gaze cut to her husband, and it was clear she had trouble looking away to face Candace again. “Sometimes change is really good for us, right?” As she asked, she lightly pinched Candace’s cheek before brushing back a long strand of dark hair out of her face. “I thought you were going to cut your hair before you came?”

  Candace shrugged. She’d briefly thought about it but decided she wasn’t ready to lose the heavy swath of black hair that shone almost blue in the light. It was part of her identity, and more importantly, it was great for hiding her face and eyes when she didn’t want to deal with the world.

  She turned Ashton. “Thanks for the ride.” She held out her hand, hoping to stave off the hug, but it was useless. He was a hugger, much to her chagrin.

  Ashton was a tall and fit man, and he barely looked forty, let alone his true age of fifty. He wasn’t really what anyone thought of when they imagined the word dad, but she knew he wanted her to call him that. She just wasn’t ready. There was no way in heck she was going to call him Dad after only knowing him for six months, and her mother being married to him for three. He could keep trying all he wanted, but she couldn’t imagine ever feeling that comfortable with him.

  His tall frame engulfed her medium-sized one in a big hug. She felt like she was suffocating, though that was all emotional. He wasn’t hugging her that tightly. She managed an awkward pat on his back and then wriggled free before turning to her mom. She gave Hannah a real hug, and Hannah reciprocated.

  Candace held tightly to her mom for a moment, suddenly realizing she had truly lost her in some ways. Not that Hannah loved her any less, but now it was no longer Hannah and Candace against the world. Hannah saw her marriage to Ashton Westerly as beneficial to them all, while Candace viewed it differently. She’d had months to come to terms with the idea, but here was when it hit her that things would never be the same again.

  She sniffed, refusing to cry about that. Maybe her mom was right, and these changes would be good for all of them. Taking a step back, she plastered on a bright smile. “I guess I should get in there. If this doesn’t work, you promise I can come home?”

  “I promise, but I expect you to give it a real effort.” Hannah seemed to have trouble letting her go, and her hand grazed Candace’s for a moment before Ashton took her other one to tug her gently toward the car.

  Hannah seemed on the verge of tears as she raised her hand. Candace waved quickly and turned away, not wanting to catch the tears that might be contagious. As she rushed toward the front, she scooped up her bags and ran up the infinite marble stairs. Seriously, how many steps did one place need? She counted as she ran, finding they had twenty-four that led to the grand entrance.

  She hoped the interior would be less gothic horror show, and it was slightly. Someone had painted the brick walls eggshell white, which seemed like putting lipstick on a pig, but at least it softened some of the cold atmosphere. Signs led her easily to the housing office, and she joined the line.

  There were a few people in front of her who seemed anxious or nervous, but most of them just looked bored. That was the same expression she’d seen Malone and Dalton wear all the time in the brief time she’d known them. She hoped she didn’t pick up that skill from this place. It might be cool to pretend like everything around her was boring, but that wasn’t her.

  When it was nearly her turn, the person in front of her caused a disturbance. “I requested to be with Daniel Foster,” he said harshly.

  The clerk, who looked around Candace’s age, was clearly flustered. “I don’t see it in the records, and he’s already been assigned a roommate, as I said. Your only option is to talk to the roommate to see if he’ll trade. If so, he can come back here, and we can update the files.”

  “Frigging eskie. You can’t can even do this job right. How the hell did you ever get a scholarship to this place?” He shook his head at her. Then he turned to look at Candace, obviously trying to share a look of camaraderie. “Can you believe they let these people in our school?”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Are you done? I want to get my room number.” She kept her voice and expression frosty.

  With a sigh of disgust, the jerk stepped out of line and strode out of the room. With a shake of her head, Candace moved forward. She could see the girl cringing, as though prepared for another interaction with someone like that guy. Candace wasn’t normally rude or hostile to start with, but she made an extra effort to give a friendly smile and keep her tone warm when she said, “My name is Candace Munroe. Do you have my dorm assignment?”

  “Sure.” She gave her a relieved smile and turned her attention to the computer. Seconds later, the printer beside her hummed, and she took it, her hands busy on the counter. After a pause, she handed Candace a sheet of paper with a keycard paperclipped to it. “You’re in dorm building A, on the third floor, and in room twelve. Your roommate is Isis Radworth.” She smiled. “She’s one of the nice ones,” she whispered softly as she slipped the paper to Hannah.

  “Thanks. Where can I get my schedule?”

  “Just across the hall.” The girl turned her attention to the person behind Candace, tense again.

  Candace took her paper and left the office, going across the hall to Registration. She knew her classes had already been preassigned, though she’d had some input on choosing her electives. She also knew she had a couple of extra academic classes compared to most of the students, because her public-school education hadn’t been deemed quite worthy of BriarEdge Academy standards. She groaned when she saw the list, stuffing it and the paper in her backpack. She took time to remove the keycard from the front of the printout to slip in her pocket.

  As she left the administration building, she saw a stack of maps, and she grabbed one. She paused outside on the steps, out of the way of the door, and stared around her before looking down at the map again so she could orient herself. When she was confident she knew where she was going, she walked down the twenty-four steps and turned to the right, following the paved path that cut through the perfectly manicured grass.

  There were rosebushes every few feet, along with high hedges of roses that defined the boundary of the property. This place didn’t have a fence to keep people in. Just massive rose bushes taller than her. From what she could see from the distance separating her from the bushes, they also had wicked thorns. No wonder they called this place BriarEdge Academy.

  It didn’t take long to reach her dorm, with more of the ostentatious steps, but only twelve this time. She walked up them and entered through the ornate double doors that were currently propped open.

  Within seconds of stepping inside, noise and loud voices assailed her. Their origin was a large rec room just a few steps to the left after the entry. The right side of the room held several couches and chairs, along with bookshelves. It appeared to be intended to be a study nook, and she questioned the brain of whomever had placed it across from the rec room, which was lively with people talking over each other.

  As she walked past, she noticed there were boys and girls mingling in there and recalled the dorms were coed. The floors were separated by gender though, and with a resident advisor on every floor, it was supposedly impossible for boys and girls to sneak into each other’s rooms. If they were caught, it was definitely
a big deal and could lead to expulsion.

  Briefly, she toyed with the idea of sneaking in a boy to her room just to get caught and expelled, but she let go of the fantasy quickly. She couldn’t imagine finding anybody at BriarEdge that she’d have anything in common with to begin with, and deliberately trying to get expelled wasn’t honoring the spirit of the promise she’d made her mother.

  There was an elevator, but she chose the grand staircase instead. It was wide enough to allow six people to walk up standing side-by-side and still have room to avoid the banisters. The gleaming white marble stairs only showed on the sides, due to the long gold rug draped down them.

  At least the inside of this building was more attractive than the administration building, which was clearly the original house that had been donated along with the land by someone whose name she’d seen in the handbook but had already forgotten.

  She climbed the three flights of stairs and walked down the hallway, seeing a plaque for Edna Grimley, Resident Advisor, on the first door to her right as she did so. No wonder they considered it too difficult for someone to sneak past. She was the guardian of the stairway. She grinned at that thought, imagining a troll slipping out from under a rock to guard the passageway to the staircase.

  Letting go of the fanciful thought, she kept walking and found room twelve halfway down the hallway. It was on the left, and she used her keycard to slip in.

  The dorm room was everything the rest of the college thus far had not been. It had soothing light-blue walls and black hardwood flooring underneath her feet. Whoever had designed it hadn’t skimped. This was real wood, not the fake laminate she and her mom had put down in their old apartment one weekend a few years ago after Hannah had given up on the superintendent actually getting around to fixing the water damage.