Hillcrest Academy

by Cassie Pierce

  Who knows? Maybe it’s my superpower.

  My eyes connect with his impressive mid-section first since I am sitting, and he is standing. It is with great effort that I slowly trail my eyes up the lines of his muscular physique. My aqua gaze collides with his icy blue one, and for a moment I forget how to speak.

  I mean damn....the boy that stands before me is absolutely fine. He is carved muscle wrapped perfectly in smooth golden-brown skin. Man. Man is the word that comes to mind as I openly gawk at the newcomer. Something tells me he passed boyhood a long time ago.

  His hair is the color of corn silk, and cropped close to his scalp. He is rocking the whole military bad boy vibe, and I already find myself wishing that I could run away.

  I won’t though. The one thing that I have learned is that it’s cool to have a big mouth, as long as your balls are big enough to back it up.

  Or well...in my case ovaries.

  Looking at the mystery Lux brother with sinful blue eyes does something to my ovaries alright, but it does absolutely nothing to inspire courage.

  C.J. clears her throat, and my cheeks flame a deep red as I realize that I was totally checking him out.

  “So. You must be the third Lux brother,” I say with a slight bite to my tone. I don’t mean to be a smart ass.... not really. It is just sort of my go to defense mechanism.

  His eyes shine with humor as a hearty laugh tumbles from between his pink pouty lips. Lips that do nothing to dampen the red color of my flaming cheeks.

  “Actually, new girl,” he says with a sneer. “I am the first Lux brother, at least by two minutes. The name is Braxton, and why yes....I am deliciously single.” He winks and bites that perfect pouty lip of his before turning around and walking away.

  I stare after him in stunned disbelief. The nerve.....I have never met such a bunch of rude, cocky boys before, but the Lux brothers take the cake. Well...except for Ryker. He didn’t hit on me. At least....I don’t think he did.

  It isn’t until he is safely out of sight that I dare to speak. I bang my head against the hard wood of the table as I release a groan. “Uuuuhhhh.....” I grumble in my most whiny tone. “Please tell me that did not just happen.”

  I peek up at C.J. through a curtain of my hair, frowning when I notice that she is trying her best to contain her laughter. I don’t find anything about this funny, and she shouldn’t either.

  “Ggggiiirrrllll,” she drawls in that southern accent that is all C.J. “That was better than reality T.V. I don’t know what it is about you Maci Madison, but you have got the Lux brothers all kinds of riled up. That girlfriend, that is something that I have never seen before.”

  “Oh come on,” I say sitting up and pushing my hair out of my face.

  “Seriously,” she says, and something in her tone tells me that she is. “I have known those boys forever, and the only thing they have ever cared about before is each other. Until now,” she whispers going to the other side of the cafeteria and dumping her empty tray into a pile with all the other dirty trays. I follow her, placing my mostly untouched food into the pile. We walk in silence, not speaking again until we stop outside of the dining hall doors.

  “Anyhow. Enough about the brothers. We need to stop by the head mistress’s office and get your schedule. Class starts in thirty minutes and trust me. You do not want to be late.”

  Together we walk in the direction of the head mistress’s office, a feeling of dread settling deep in my stomach. Here is to hoping that Wanda Worthington is less scary in the light of the day.

  ~Chapter 5~

  1st block. (8- 9:30) Origins and Ancestry.

  Mr. Rothe. C-tower Room 2.

  2nd block. (9:45- 11:00) Basic principles in immortality. Mrs. Abner. C-tower Room 1.

  Lunch (11:15- 12:00) Common Dining Hall

  3rd Block (12:15- 1:30) Ethics and Religion.

  Mrs. Lopez. B-tower Room 4.

  4th Block. (1:45- 3:00) Fight and battle training

  Mr. Cash. Gymnasium.

  Free time (3:00 – 6:00)

  Dinner is at 6:00 p.m. sharp. Miss it and be hungry.

  Curfew for all students is at dark. There will be no exceptions. Any student found out after dark will be punished severely.

  Wanda Worthington

  I eye my new schedule like it is some alien transcript and not a list of classes that I will be forced to take for the next year. My brows crinkle in confusion as my eyes scan the page.

  What the hell is this? Someone’s sick idea of a joke?

  Origins and ancestry......basic principles of immortality.....fucking battle training? Yeah right! I mean really? They could have at least made it believable. No science? No math? All American, and I am fairly certain non-American high schools teach math. Don’t get me wrong. I hate math, but I am pretty sure that unless I have fallen into an alternate universe, math is a necessary evil.

  At least if you want to graduate high school.

  I look up from my schedule, intending to ask the portly secretary with horn rimmed glasses who rudely shoved it into my hands without so much as a word moments ago if this is for real.

  I mean it can’t be..... I know this is the south, but it isn’t that different from where I grew up. Besides, battle and fight training with these nails? Yeah...I think not.

  I look up, scanning the now empty office with a frown. What in the hell is it with people just disappearing around here?

  I would ask C.J., except the minute that we walked into the office the rude secretary lady basically pushed her out of the door. Her eyes told me that she was sorry to leave me, but her feet still carried her away. It’s odd really. How serious everyone here is about following rules. I hope that they don’t expect me to be the same. I have never met a rule that I didn’t at least want to break.

  What can I say? Pushing limits is in my DNA.

  “Uhhhh!!!!!” I groan in frustration as I crumble the useless class list into a tight ball. I am swearing under my breath as I turn, preparing to leave this joke of a school and hitch hike my high-class ass all the way back to New York. Instead I slam into a wall of immovable muscle.

  “Easy Princess,” he whispers in that smoky voice of his that lights a fire in my lower abdomen. A husky laugh escapes him as his large hands come up to steady me. Too bad that nothing about him touching me makes me feel steady.

  I swallow whatever smartass remark that I am about to say as everything that is Jaxon Lux steals my next breath.

  Sweet Lord. That boy redefines sexy.

  I just thought that he was handsome last night, but in the light of the day his rugged beauty is unmatched. His muscles ripple under the soft fabric of his baby blue t-shirt, and I have to squeeze my fist together tightly to fight the urge to reach out and touch him. He is sporting dark wash jeans that are faded at the knees, and loosely tucked into black combat boots.

  For about half of a second, I wonder why he isn’t in uniform, but that thought is lost when those steel grey eyes capture mine.

  Jaxon Lux is sex on legs, and based on the hungry way he is looking at me... I am dessert.

  “Sor-ry,” I stammer, forcing the word out of my suddenly dry mouth. I try to take a shaky step away from him, hoping that some distance will help clear the sudden fog of desire that has overtaken me. He isn’t having it though. For every step back I take, he takes one forward. He doesn’t stop until the rough wood of the secretary’s desk digs painfully into my lower back. Several very vivid images of all the very X-rated things that Jaxon and I could do on this desk cause my respiratory rate to triple.

  His thundercloud eyes watch me carefully as he leans into my space. I close my eyes. Too frozen to do anything but give in to this insane attraction between us. An attraction that I am not even going to pretend to understand.

  I don’t even like him, but someone needs to tell my body that. She is a total traitor, because she likes him....a lot!

  His lips approach mine, and a small chuckle escapes as he darts the other way a
t the last minute. He uses my distraction to his advantage, reaching around me and prying the crumpled schedule from my shaking hand.

  Asshole! That was just wrong!

  I look on with annoyance, and a hint of embarrassment as he unfolds the paper and puts a much safer distance between us. After a few seconds his stormy eyes lift to mine, a smirk tilting his mouth up on one side.

  Help me! Help me now! The only thing sexier than a broody Jaxon Lux....is a smiling Jaxon Lux.

  “Looks like we have first and last together,” he says totally ignoring the fact that he almost kissed me. I don’t know whether to be grateful for that or pissed off. I am going to go with pissed off though. I am much better at pissed off. It is an emotion that I have grown really good at over the last few months.

  “Come on. I will walk you,” he says as he turns in the direction of the door. When I make no effort to follow him, he looks back at me with a frown. Something about that bothers me, and I decide that I don’t like it when he frowns. Even if he is an asshole.

  “What’s wrong Princess?” he questions, and for once I don’t hear any teasing in his tone. He sounds worried....about me. Which is stupid. Why would a boy like Jaxon Lux worry about someone like me? A nobody from New York who kills everyone who is dumb enough to love her?

  Jaxon’s face changes then, a shadow of pain replacing his normally cocky grin. “Seriously Maci. What is it?” he says, and I can’t help but notice that he used my name. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t like it. Something about my name coming from his lips just seems ....right.

  I search his face, wondering if he is safe, but quickly throwing that thought away. Safe is not an adjective that I would use to describe Jaxon Lux. Nothing about him seems safe, yet at the same time everything about him makes me feel that way. I can’t explain it. Perhaps because there is no explanation, but since the moment that I first laid eyes on Jaxon I knew that I could trust him. That even when he is being an ass, that he would never hurt me. It’s just something that I know.

  I want more than anything to put a voice to the fears that have plagued me since I stepped foot onto the grounds of Hillcrest Academy. I want to know if he can feel it too. How off this place is, and I am not just talking about my crazy class schedule? There is a darkness here, and it is everywhere that I look. Waiting...always waiting for the moment that I stop looking. Then let’s not forget the fact that I dreamed of him while I was dying.

  Weeks before I ever met him.

  I study him closely as he waits patiently for me to tell him what has me so freaked out. His face is open, and his eyes are honest. I see no deceit there....just confusion. Well. Welcome to the party Jaxon. Confusion is my new bestie.

  It is that confusion. That concern, that helps me make my decision. Do I trust Jaxon Lux? Not really, but I don’t not trust him either, and for me that is huge. I haven’t trusted anyone...with anything.....since Ashlee.

  Nothing about him should make me feel safe, but the heart is rarely ever rational. So, I go with the safest of my questions, that way if I am wrong...no harm done.

  “Is this your idea of a joke?” I ask, snatching the crumpled paper from him and waving it in his face. I try to keep my voice down. I really do, but anger seeps into my tone anyway.

  His lips turn down into another frown as he gently grabs my hand in an attempt to keep me from smacking him in the face with my schedule. The confusion that I see in his eyes just pisses me off more.

  I know...I know... I need anger management.

  “Is what a joke Princess?” he questions as he wisely takes a healthy step away from me.

  Smart boy. He learns fast.

  “THIS....THIS SHIT!” I explode taking a step forward and shoving the now ruined piece of paper into his muscular chest.

  “BASIC PRINCIPLES IN IMMORTALITY? FUCKING FIGHT TRAINING?”

  “What is this Jaxon, because I promise you it is not funny.” I say as I lower my voice.

  I am so angry that I am shaking. Angry at my mom for sending me here when I needed her the most. For once I needed her to just be my mom, and she couldn’t even do that. Angry at my dead-beat dad, who I have never met because he split the second he found out about me. Angry at this place, for scaring the shit out of me, and making me question everything that I thought that I knew. Angry at Ashlee for dying, when she promised that she would never leave me. Mostly, I am angry at myself. Angry that I get to live when she doesn’t, and that I am too weak and pathetic to get over it.

  She would want me to. She would never want me to feel this way, but everything in me is broken and tired. I know that I should get it together. Honor her memory by making a million more of my own, but grief. Grief is not that simple. It takes all the good, and leaves you with only the bad. When the sadness ended, anger was all I had left. It is all I know.

  I am one hundred percent helpless to do anything but watch as it slowly consumes me. I hate it. That feeling of having no control. Maybe that’s why I am so pissed off about a little prank. I can control this.....even if I can’t control anything else in my shit show of a life.

  “Holy shit.” He whispers so softly that I almost miss it. His hand comes up, raking through his golden-brown waves. “You don’t know?”

  “Of course I don’t know smartass. That is why I asked!” I yell.

  I am full on yelling now, and I kind of feel shitty about it. It isn’t Jaxon’s fault that I am pissed. He just sort of walked in during the middle of my melt down.

  “I am going to kill her. I can’t believe that she did this,” he fumes as he steps into my personal space. A move that I both like and hate in equal measures.

  “Believe who? Jaxon? Do you know who did this?” I demand.

  He looks like he is in pain, closing his eyes slowly before reopening them and trapping me in his gaze. His voice is softer than I have ever heard it. Almost a plea.

  “Do you trust me Princess?” he asks, and a laugh escapes before I can contain it.

  “Hell no,” I say, but he barely blinks.

  “Good,” he whispers. “Don’t trust anyone here Maci. Not even me, but know this. I would never harm you. I couldn’t....” he cuts himself off. I open my mouth to ask him what that means, but his words rush out, effectively cutting off whatever I was about to say.

  “I’m sorry. I am so fucking sorry that you have to find out this way. I wish....”

  “Jaxon!” I demand, growing more nervous the longer that he talks. I can feel it, deep in my bones. I know that whatever he says next will change everything.

  “Right.....crap. Ok. Hillcrest isn’t a normal school Maci.”

  I roll my eyes, shaking my schedule at him. The schedule that I thought was fake, but am starting to think might be very real. “No shit! What gave that away?”

  His shakes his head, frustration and perhaps a hint of sadness playing across his handsome face before he tucks it back in. Ahhh. The mask is back. That mask of indifference that he wears so well. Too bad that I can already see right through it.

  “No Princess. You aren’t getting it,” he says in the same cutting voice that he addressed me with the first time we met. “Hillcrest is very selective in who they let in.”

  Ok. Now he is pissing me off. I step into his personal space, lining our bodies up so that all of my soft places touch all of his hard ones. I am so close that I can feel his warm breath against my cheek, but I don’t back away.

  “What in the hell does that mean? Is it a money thing, because I have.....”

  “It isn’t about money Angel,” he laughs. “All the money in the world can’t buy your way in here.”

  “Then what? What does any of that mean?” I ask, refusing to be intimidated by his closeness. I am...but I would rather die than let him know that.

  “It means that you aren’t human Maci. No one here is.”

  My eyes snap to his as I push away from him, pissed at myself for thinking that he would be honest with me. As if he is desperate to prove his point, h
is grey eyes flash golden, like the sun somehow got sucked into them. All around him a soft white light shines, so bright that I have to look away, but so beautiful that I never want to.

  Jaxon reaches up, his finger softly tracing the line of my cheek. His thumb traces over my bottom lip, and I shiver as he pulls away.

  “Please Maci. Don’t be afraid of me,” he pleads, and some of the carefully built wall around my heart tumbles down. No one has ever spoken to me like that before....with such reverence. It almost steals my breath.

  Afraid? Am I afraid of him? No....I don’t think so. I don’t think that I could be afraid of him. Maybe of what he represents, but not of him. I step closer, my body craving the warmth of his touch. His eyes cloud over as a haze of lust swallows us both.

  Then we are drowning in it.

  I lean forward at the same moment that he does, our lips inches apart but it feels like miles. Some rational part of me knows that this isn’t me. That I do not kiss guys that I barely know.

  I tell that part to shut up. After all, rationality is way over-rated.

  His lips feather softly across mine, sending heat to places that I did not know could catch fire. The moment that our skin connects a thousand feelings slam into me, but I don’t get a chance to explore any of them. Within seconds my world explodes, and darkness drags me under. For the second time in less than twenty-four hours I am pulled into oblivion.

  Jaxon’s arms catch me right as I start to fall.

  ∞

  ~ Chapter 6 ~

  “What was I supposed to do Brax? My power was too much for her. She passed out. I didn’t know where else to go, and I couldn’t let the spawn of hell see her.”

  “And your genius solution was to bring her here! Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?” the voice that I am fairly certain belongs to Braxton booms back.

  “It was the only place that I knew she would be safe.”

  Even half-conscious, I can easily recognize the smoky timbre of Jaxon’s voice. I lay still and do my best to clear the fog from my mind. I know that the best chance I have of finding out anything about the Lux brothers is right now. While they think I am not listening.