by Kat Cotton
I turned slightly to face her. “I definitely can’t afford super expensive parfaits.”
“That’s okay.” Her smile beamed brighter than the sun. “I’ll pay.”
I raised myself on my elbows. “You don’t understand. When I say super expensive, I mean it. Like a week’s wages for a normal person. The chocolate in the sauce is like handmade by nuns in some far-flung convent and the berries are hand tended or some crap. You probably don’t want to blow your whole semester’s allowance on one parfait. Well, two parfaits, since I assume you’ll want to eat one too.”
“It’s fine.” She smiled again. “My family give me a generous allowance. We aren’t exactly poor.”
“But you’re on a scholarship?”
“Cherry.” She picked up my hand and patted it. I pulled it away. I’m not a toucher. “I’m not on a scholarship because I need to be. My family want me to have the extra training that a scholarship at Edgewater provides. It’s much more valuable than the teaching at some crappy supernatural academy and I get to live with real humans.”
I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Her talking made my head swim. There were supernatural academies? And people took scholarships even though their parents were rich? I couldn’t figure this out.
“Supernatural academies? You mean like Hogwarts? Why are you here when you could be at Hogwarts?”
Britney sighed. “Those places are nothing like Hogwarts. They’re exactly like here, except the rich kids are even snootier. It’s not like they play Quidditch or have fun adventures. Now. Come on. Parfaits, Cherry. Parfaits.”
I rolled over, my body aching. “I can’t.”
“I know what you’re thinking,” she said. “You don’t want to take charity, but I’ve never understood that. People think Robin Hood is a hero for robbing the rich to give to the poor, but I’m rich and I want to give to the poor without any nasty stealing.”
“No, you’re wrong. I’m totally fine with charity. Robin Hood me as much as you like. But surely you have other friends to go with.”
Britney hung out in the common room every night. Well, I figured she did since she wasn’t around, but then Lucas and I had been training most of the time.
The way Britney’s lips quivered suggested things hadn’t gone so well for her. Damn it. Now I felt sorry for her, and usually that didn’t end well for me.
“Okay. I’ll go... wait. Is this one of those fae things?”
Her eyes widened and that innocence really kicked in my suspicions.
“What fae things?”
“Don’t act dumb with me. You offer me food and drink then I have a debt of obligation to pay back.”
She laughed, a sound that tinkled in the air. “Nope. You’re giving up your valuable time to be with me. You could be studying or having fun with Lucas doing whatever you do instead.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Shake on it.”
She shook and I jumped out of bed. Finally, I’d get one of those parfaits in my belly.
The two of us walked to town. I wondered if I should’ve asked Lucas along then remembered he had plans with Seth, learning to use a bow and arrow. And anyway, shopping and eating parfaits weren’t his thing.
“It’s such a nice day.” Britney practically skipped down the road.
“I noticed, when you sprung it upon me this morning.” I pulled my hat down tighter over my eyes and adjusted my sunglasses. I did not like the sun. In a totally human, non-vampire kind of way.
Edgewater Village was about twenty minutes’ walk from the school. For a small place, it had a heap of designer boutiques. I guess having rich kids with money to burn made that super profitable. Like the school, the village had protections around it that most people didn’t know about.
I lingered around stores while Britney shopped. We even got free cups of tea in one fancy place. I made the most of that.
I’d never enjoyed clothes shopping but mostly she held things up in front of her and I told her they looked fabulous. Which wasn’t a lie. Everything looked fabulous on Britney.
“What about this one?” She held out black dress with cherries on it. It was much more vintage looking than most of the things in the store and not her usual style.
“It’s great,” I said without much enthusiasm. I’d lost my will to shop about a hundred outfits ago.
“Not for me, silly. For you. Cherries for Cherry, it’s made for you.”
“Ah, Britney, here’s the thing. Buying me food is fine but...” I shook my head. “Clothes are a whole other matter. I’m really not comfortable with it. Anyway, I’m not sure that dress will fit me.”
Seriously, I’d only known her a few days and anything in this store would be so out of my price range, it’d be a joke. Also, that strappy dress showed a lot of arm and shoulder flesh. Not to mention cleavage. That went totally against my under the radar mantra.
Britney held the dress up and then looked at me. “It will totally fit you. I have an instinct for these kinds of things.”
I took it off her and checked the size tag. “It’s about three sizes smaller than anything I wear.”
“Because you normally wear clothes that are three sizes too big for you.”
I liked wearing baggy clothes. Even the clothes I recycled from the lost and found box were mostly guy clothes.
“I don’t want to break it. Then I’ll have to pay for it.”
“Just try it on. Trying on stuff won’t kill you. And when I’ve seen you in it, we’ll go get parfaits.”
That sounded like bribery to me, and bribery that suited me fine.
I ducked in the changing room and hung the dress on a hook. Then I stroked the fabric. Rich people clothes felt different to anything I’d ever worn. I never knew fabric could feel so lovely. I put my face closer to the dress. It smelled better than anything I ever owned, too.
Stripping out of my oversized t-shirt and stretch jeans, I tried not to look at my washed-out underwear in the mirror.
When I put the dress on, it fit so tight that I removed my bra. There was enough going on to hold up the girls without it and I wouldn’t have dingy bra straps showing.
Yikes. It made me look like boob city. Everything hoisted up and squished together. I did not like flaunting my boobs.
I poked my head around the dressing room door.
“Ah, I’m not sure about this...”
“Come out strutting. You own the dress. Well, figuratively.”
Yeah, there was no being a shrinking violet in this dress, that’s for sure. I dug around in the bottom of my backpack. There was a tube of lipstick in there somewhere. The only makeup I owned, well it’d been an unopened tube left behind in one of the rooms, and I’d never had an occasion to use it. I smeared it on my lips then I took my hair out of the elastic, letting it flow onto my shoulders. It might only be for a minute or two but I wanted the illusion that my lifestyle supported a dress like this.
When I stepped out of the change room, Britney clapped and cheered.
I paraded down the aisle of the store.
“Twirl,” she called.
Twirl I did. The skirt of the dress floated up around me. Then I stopped and giggled, flicking my hair. Being a girlie girl could be fun sometimes.
Until... holy shit. I saw him.
Ren Worthington, standing on the other side of the store, watching me with that smirk on his face. Creep. That smirk judged me. It said I shouldn’t even be trying this dress on.
I’d given him all the bullying ammunition he needed. Stupid poor girl thinking she could wear a designer dress. Not to mention flashing my boobs around. He’d be calling me a future stripper now.
I rushed into the change room and pulled the dress off. I had to get out of this store. Stat.
When I got changed, I grabbed Britney. “Let’s get to the cafe.”
“Not before I pay for this stuff.”
With the pile of clothes in her basket, we’d be here forever.
“I’ll wait for you outside the cafe th
en. I’m getting a headache. I need fresh air.” With that, I rushed outside. I went into the bookstore near the cafe. That’s one place Ren wouldn’t go and I could watch out for Britney.
By the time she turned up at the cafe, my heart rate had gone back to normal and my cheeks stopped burning. Why the hell had he been in that store? Sure, they sold guys’ clothes as well but still...
“What are you having?” Britney handed me the menu but I didn’t need it.
“The chocolate raspberry parfait.”
Just the thought of all that goodness cleared my mind. Who needed meditation when you had parfaits?
“You’ve been here before?”
I shook my head but didn’t tell her about pressing my nose to the window, just trying to imagine what the parfaits tasted like.
When the desserts arrived, they were more heavenly than I’d ever imagined. The chocolate layers weren’t sweet but a dark, bitter chocolate that matched perfectly with the tartness of the raspberries. In between, tiny meringue chips accentuated the fluffy cream, adding a buzz of sweetness. The world faded away, to nothing but my taste buds and that parfait. A match made in heaven.
I only looked up when a flash of light alerted me that Britney had taken a photo.
“I need it for my Instagram. You look so happy.”
“Students aren’t allowed to use social media. You know that.”
One of the rules of Edgewater Academy. If students posted photos on social media, the secret location of the school could be found out, and that would compromise security.
“A stupid rule.” Britney giggled. “But I guess I should stay out of trouble. Do you want a bite of my salted caramel?”
Hell yeah I did.
I never wanted to finish my parfait. I scrapped my spoon along the sides of the glass until there wasn’t a drop remaining.
“We can come back another time.”
We could? I’d come back every night in my dreams.
The two of us walked back to the school the long way and Britney told me stories about her boyfriends at her old school.
“Edgewater has the best guys,” she said. “Everyone knows that.”
“Have you made friends?” That didn’t sound right. I guess Britney and I could be classed as friends. “Other friends, I mean.”
Her head drooped.
“Don’t feel bad. There are some snotty bitches in this place.”
“I’ve tried, and normally I made friends easily but every time I go to the common room, everyone ignores me.”
I’d spent so much time around guys, I didn’t know what to say. Punching her in the stomach wasn’t a girl thing, right?
“Probably jealous because you’re so much prettier than them.” That sounded like the kind of thing girls said to their friends to make them feel better. Maybe I was better at this friend thing than I thought.
Britney smiled. It worked.
“True. Most of those girls are a bit... meh. Like they all want to look and dress the same.”
That was true.
“So, Cherry, since we’re friends, spill it. You’ve got to have someone you like.”
I shook my head. I didn’t have time to think about romance.
“Come on. Friends tell friends secrets. Like... umm... Lucas?”
“Hardly.” I shook my head vigorously. “He’s like a brother, or a pet.”
She didn’t look up but she smiled as though she wanted to hear that.
“What about Oscar?” I needed to find out her feelings about him if I was going to encourage Lucas to make a move. I didn’t want him getting hurt.
She shook her head. “He looks cute but he’s such a jerk. You only have to talk to him for like two minutes to figure that out. So, if it’s not Lucas, who do you like? There must be someone.”
There was one thing, not a romance not even close to it, but something I hadn’t told anyone. Not because it was a dark secret but because I’d never had a girl friend before. I didn’t think Lucas would care and, if I told him he’d laugh at me.
“There is something...”
Britney looked up. “Yeah?”
“It’s stupid and even worth mentioning. But when I was a kid, when my parents were alive, there was a boy. I told you this was stupid, we were little kids. But one of the few things I remember is my parents saying we were promised to each other. I guess parents say that kind of thing if their friends have kids around the same age.”
Britney’s eyes widened. “It’s not stupid. It’s a promise. For humans, that might mean nothing but your parents must’ve been paranormal. A promise like that means something. Have you ever looked for him?”
“They died when I was five-years-old. I got thrown into a bunch of orphanages and foster care. I don’t even remember what he looked like or who his parents were. Finding a needle in a hay stack would be easier.”
Britney put her head to the side, studying me.
“You’ll find him,” she said. “Promises like that hold a lot of weight. When the time is right, he’ll turn up.”
But Britney would say that. I’d known her well enough to realize she was a hopeless romantic. I guess if anyone was going to believe in fairy tales, it’d be a fae.
Chapter 7
We reached the fork in the road back to school and we could either take the usual road or a path going through the woods.
“Let’s go back the long way. There are a few plants growing in this area I want to check out.”
I didn’t mind the woods during the day and I was in no hurry to get back. Britney stopped a few times to investigate flowers, telling me all about their special properties.
“How do you know all this?” I asked, my mind boggling with the information.
“I’ve been learning since... well as long as I can remember. My mother took me into the woods to gather plants ever since I could walk.”
Intense envy burned through me. Britney might be prettier than me, she might be more popular and she was definitely richer. I didn’t care about any of that stuff, but the way she lit up when she talked about her family was something I’d never have.
“Can you hear something?” she asked.
We both stood for a moment, listening, but heard nothing. Still, as we walked along the secluded path, I had a prickling at the back of my neck.
We turned a corner and the school came into view, taking my breath away. On a sunny day like this, Edgewater looked so impressive. Most of the time I took the place for granted, moaning about the lack of heating and the huge distances between classes. It wasn’t like I had time to sit around gazing at the majestic facade. The stone building on top of the rise seemed more like a castle than a school with the two stone towers at the front of the school reflected in the moat.
A scrambling noise behind us made us both spin around.
“Probably some animal.” Britney grinned. “We’re a bit jumpy.”
I grinned back, hoping it wasn’t some dangerous kind of animal.
“You’re not wrong, especially after that drill the other night. I thought I was going to die.”
“The drills are an important part of our training.” She would say that, since she’d done brilliantly.
A gatehouse marked the edge of the school grounds. Back in the olden days, this had been the main road into the school. Way, way back before cars and stuff. The gatehouse stood neglected now that we had a fancy paved road and high-tech security. It’d have been a lonely job way down here, far from the main building. I guess the guard could’ve bought a book with him. There was a grate for a fire in the little house and room for a comfy chair. I’d explored it once when I first started at the school. Actually, sitting in a warm little house like that without having to talk to a soul sounded like my perfect job.
The scrambling behind us grew louder. I exchanged glances with Britney. She’d heard it too.
It wasn’t animals and very few students came this way.
Nope. It was worse.
A scream die
d in my throat as Oscar and Blake rushed us.
They circled around us, trapping us near the gatehouse.
“Well, hello.” Oscar grinned as though he chatted to us every day. “Been shopping?”
Like that wasn’t obvious from the bags in Britney’s hands.
She giggled. “Just a few things.”
I tried to walk away, not wanting to talk to either of them but Blake blocked my way.
“Look out.” I pushed him aside but he grabbed my wrists.
“We just want be friendly. What are you rushing off for?”
The way he held me and his hot breath on my skin made me sick. Blood pounded in my ears and memories rose up inside me, memories that I needed to clamp down tight. I tried to slow down my breathing, to hold it together. Maybe, if I didn’t provoke him, we could get away.
I flashed him an apologetic smile. “I’m in a hurry. Got to study and stuff.”
He didn’t let go.
Oscar had Britney backed up against the wall but she didn’t struggle. Did she still like Oscar?
“Don’t worry about them. If they want to have a bit of fun, let them.”
“Let me go.” I gritted my teeth. If I punched Blake, all hell would break loose but I had to defend myself. The pounding in my ears got louder as his body pressed against mine. I wouldn’t let him touch me. No one touched me without my permission.
I stomped on his foot, hard, with the full force of my boots. He yelped and loosened his grip on my wrists so I twisted and broke free. Instinct urged me to run but I couldn’t. Not without Britney.
I grabbed her hand, urging her to run with me back to school.
Except Oscar grabbed hold of her, his arm circling her waist.
“Get off her,” I screamed, letting go of her hand. My vision turned black and my ears buzzed.
I wanted to kill. That familiar pressure started in my temples, my ineffectual powers rising up inside me.
Blake knocked me so that I fell to the ground. I got up and rushed for him. I’d learned a trick or two in foster care, mostly about fighting dirty. I barreled into his side, knocking him down.
Then I spun and smashed my fist into Oscar. Hard.
He reeled, hollering in pain.
