Scholarship Girl

by Kat Cotton

  That made me wonder just exactly what Ren had in his room — a torture chamber, a bunch of porn or maybe a wall full of Justin Bieber posters?

  I read through the papers carefully. I didn’t trust rich people and their contracts.

  Mr. Worthington reopened his newspaper and kept reading as though none of this concerned him. I tried to get a good look at the man.

  Principal Murphy cleared his throat and pointed at a paragraph. “Cherry, you must’ve read this but it’s of particular note. Ren is not to find out about your powers or the deal is off. You’ll be out of the school and all the money will be paid back.”

  I nodded. “I have a condition of my own. None of those boys, not Oscar or Blake and especially not Ren, will lay a hand on me. One touch and I’ll knock their lights out.”

  Principal Murphy glared, not agreeing or disagreeing, but like he didn’t want to make that decision.

  I wrote the condition into the contract, trying to keep my handwriting neat and official looking.

  A strange sound made me spin to face Mr. Worthington, the kind of sound someone would make if they hadn’t laughed for a long time and had almost forgotten how.

  “Trust me, girl, Ren will not lay a hand on you.” Mr. Worthington stood up, folding his newspaper. “As for those other two, take whatever measures you need. You look like you can look after yourself.”

  He walked out of the office before I could ask what he meant. Why wouldn’t Ren lay a hand on me? Did he mean I was far too low-rent for his precious son or that Ren was gay? Damn it, I needed to know.

  I signed the contracts and handed the pen back to the principal.

  “I guess I’ll get back to class.” I wanted to get out of here quick smart.

  “It’s Sunday, remember.” Mr. Norton grinned. I bet he’d get big bonus points for convincing me to do this.

  Principal Murphy handed me a swipe card to get upstairs and into my room. Seemed you can’t let just anyone into the elite section of the school. He also handed me another card.

  “Do not lose that card. Don’t let it out of your sight.”

  I turned it over in my hand, wondering what secret delights this card held the key to.

  “It’s Ren’s door key. Only use it in dire emergencies.”

  Yikes. I almost dropped the thing. The thought of going into Ren’s room made me vomit a little in my mouth.

  “Hey, it says Blackstone on these cards.” My fingers traced the embossed lettering on the top of the card.

  “Yes, Angela’s family owns a security company. The best in the world.”

  “Is it a smart idea to give Angela access to the whole school?”

  Principal Murphy laughed. “I really doubt she has that. It’s her parents’ company and all above board.”

  They probably gave the school a hefty discount, too.

  Then the principal handed me a schedule of tutoring sessions. “It’d be nice if that boy’s marks improved while you protect him.”

  I nodded, not sure how much smarts I could get into his thick head.

  “Can I move tomorrow?” Tomorrow when everyone was in class and I could sneak in through the shadows.

  “Today is fine. You’ll have the room next to Ren’s. Oscar already moved his stuff out.”

  As if I wasn’t on Oscar’s shit list enough. And, wait, my room was next to Ren?

  “The elite rooms are co-ed?” I hadn’t expected that.

  “Since everyone has their own en-suite, we don’t feel the need to segregate. Of course, we monitor for after-hours movement but it’s not like we have a boys’ wing and a girls’ wing or any of that nonsense. If you need help, just ask one of the students. Angela should be around and she’s a lovely girl.”

  That showed how much he knew. Angela Blackstone was about as nice as an enema.

  I’d rate this decision as being worth five thousand points, but I wasn’t sure if I should add them or deduct them. All I knew is that this would not end well.

  Chapter 10

  “Come and visit sometime,” Lucas said.

  “Make sure you write.” Britney’s eyes sparkled with tears.

  I punched them both on the arms. “I’m only moving upstairs, not to a foreign country. We’ll still be in classes together, and have scholarship training and all that kind of thing.

  “I’m not even in classes with you,” Britney said. “But we’ll grow apart. You’ll get all high and mighty.”

  I scoffed. More like I’d get kicked out of this school.

  Even though I had next to no stuff, I’d taken the entire morning to pack. Anything to delay going upstairs. Despite what I’d said, it did seem like moving to a foreign country.

  Everything I owned fitted in my backpack and a couple of shopping bags. I hauled the backpack on my shoulder.

  “I guess I’m off.” I grimaced, hoping I’d survive upstairs.

  “Oh, you forgot something.” Britney grabbed the cherry dress I’d left on her bed.

  Lucas raised his eyebrows. I hadn’t had a chance to tell him about the dress yet.

  “Seriously, Britney, I’m grateful but I don’t need it. Take it back for a refund.”

  She put her head to the side. “I didn’t buy it.”

  “She’s telling the truth,” Lucas said. “I can smell it on her.”

  “Well, that’s not gross at all,” I said.

  But, since Lucas had been acting kind of cool around Britney, I didn’t want to tease him too much. He actually managed to talk to her in full sentences.

  I stuffed the dress in a bag. I’d deal with it later.

  Waiting for the elevator, I almost turned and ran back to the dorm about three times. But I straightened my shoulders. I’d lived in complete hell holes so I could deal with this. I’d deal with it like a champion.

  When the elevator doors opened at the top floor, I gazed around. I’d had horrible visions of the doors opening to a fancy common room with rich kids sitting around glaring at me, maybe throwing things and telling me to get out. But there was no common room, just a hallway stretching out with doors each side, like a fancy hotel. Then I flinched. Lights shone so brightly down that hallway. There were no shadows to hide in. I’d always be exposed.

  Well, unless some of those light bulbs “accidentally” got broken.

  There was something different about the air up here. Not only did it smell better but something else.

  Heat. That’s what it was.

  The upper floors had central heating. Already, I wanted to peel my hoodie off. This would be life changing. Like if I needed to pee in the middle of the night, I wouldn’t have to spend ages debating the horrors of the cold outside my bed versus the needs of my bladder. I wouldn’t have to sleep in three pairs of socks, either. I could walk dressed in a bikini, if I actually owned one.

  I found my room and opened the door, gasping in shock. I’d expected it to be much like the dorms downstairs. They’d been the epitome of luxury when I arrived but jeez, this room... was the whole room just for me? I’d get lost.

  This room didn’t have the luxurious rich smell of the rest of the floor, though. Before unpacking, I opened the window to get out the lingering traces of Oscar.

  Oh my, the bed looked like a cloud of happiness. I pressed my nose to the sheets. Freshly made and thankfully no trace of Oscar there, just something faintly floral.

  Then I stroked the fabric. I’d heard about luxurious bed linen before but it’d just seemed like a total crock marketed to get money out of people. Now, I understood. I totally understood.

  “Hey bed, you and I are going to become best friends over the next few weeks.”

  I put my books on the massive desk built along one wall then sat in the computer chair, twirling around. That was some high-quality chair.

  Oh my gosh, the television set was bigger than any I’d ever seen before.

  A door opened into my own private bathroom. En suite, Principal Murphy had said but that bathroom was no en suite. Not with a hu
ge shower plus a bathtub. I picked up one of the jars sitting on the shelf and opened it. More delicious floral smells. I dipped my finger, wondering if it tasted as good as it smelled.

  It didn’t.

  My few meager clothes took up no room in the wardrobe. Other than my uniform, I owned two pairs of jeans, three t-shirts and a hoodie. I placed my trusty boots on the bottom shelf. Someone had left them behind when they moved out after graduation and Mr. Norton had passed them on to me. I had to give him that, he always looked out for me when it came to hand me downs. What kind of a wasteful idiot would just leave an expensive pair of biker boots behind anyway?

  Then I got out that dress. I didn’t want to hang it up because that would make it seem like mine. Instead, I set it on the bookcase too.

  I flopped myself on the bed, wallowing in the softness. I had ten minutes before I had to hunt Ren down for his tutoring session. That gave me plenty of time for a nap. I bet he wouldn’t even care if we skipped the tutoring altogether. I’m sure an hour together would be just as painful for him as it was for me. He had important bully work to do.

  A knock interrupted me.

  I opened the door to Ren. Huh? Ten minutes early, what was with the enthusiasm?

  “There’s a study room down the hallway.” He looked past me, into my room. “I figured you wouldn’t know that so I came to get you. But if you haven’t finished unpacking, I’ll return later.”

  “Nope, this is pretty much everything I own.”

  His eyes widened but he didn’t say a word.

  This new polite Ren shocked me. I’d play along but I wouldn’t let my guard down.

  I followed him around the corner of the hallway, shocked at how much bigger this floor was than I’d initially thought. The hallway continued around a corner with a huge study room at the end.

  He opened the door and it blew my mind. To me, a study room meant a room with some tables and chairs, maybe study carousels. But this was like a bunch of private offices all glassed off from each other. Each room had computers, projectors, everything you could think of. Some things I wouldn’t even think of because I had no idea what they were.

  And, in the middle of the offices, there was a chill out area with a bunch of comfy sofas and a coffee table topped with glossy magazines.

  Ren walked over to a huge refrigerator. “You can help yourself to drinks and snacks, but don’t go nuts and hoard a ton of food in your room.”

  “As if.”

  Damn, was he a mind reader? I’d intended to do exactly that. My time here was limited and I needed to make the most of these freebies. That fridge had a huge range of drinks. Not just regular sodas but freshly squeezed juices, smoothies, all kinds of fancy stuff. There seemed to be a bunch of snacks too but Ren blocked my view of them.

  “I just figured that was what poor kids did when they got free food. I think I saw it in a movie. But hoarding food encourages vermin.”

  “Hey, the vermin just moved out of my room.”

  I covered my mouth. Wrong thing to say. Totally wrong thing. Even if Oscar was a total jerk, he and Ren were friends. But Ren’s mouth twitched as though he wanted to smile.

  “Is there any fancy pudding in that fridge?” I’d asked as a joke but Ren pulled out a jar with a custardy pudding in it, one of those fancy hipster mason jars at that. Then he handed me a spoon.

  “Don’t steal the spoon either. Oh crap, I didn’t mean that. Just forget I said it.”

  I scowled, pushing down the things I wanted to say. Taking free food was one thing but I didn’t steal. Oh well, I wasn’t here to make friends. I just had to make sure he didn’t die.

  “If you want something else, a latte or whatever, just let me know and I’ll order one up for you.”

  “You can do that?” I carried my smoothie and pudding into one of the rooms. “Like room service? You don’t get anything like that down in the dorms.”

  Ren threw his bag on the table, a fancy leather satchel with his initials embossed on the side. Nothing like my ratty old backpack.

  “Of course you don’t.” Ren got his books out. “How could they justify charging us thousands of dollars more unless they gave us extras?”

  “Are these lattes included or do you like get a bill for them?” I didn’t want to order a bunch of stuff only to find out I’d accumulated a massive debt.

  “I guess my father is paying for all this so just order what you want. It’s no biggie.”

  For him maybe.

  “What about meals?”

  “Most of us eat in the main dining room. But you know that. Surely you aren’t so oblivious to not notice other students.”

  Yeah, what he really meant was that no one would not notice him. I got it.

  “But why would you when you could eat in your room, in private?”

  Ren sighed and leaned his hands on the table, then looked up at me as though studying a strange bug.

  “There’s this thing called social skills. You should try them out some time. Not everybody wants to hole up in their room. Anyway, the school likes me to be seen. It’s good for morale.”

  I itched to call him out on that totally egoistical comment but, to be fair, he wasn’t wrong. Most of the girls in this school were more interested in a glimpse of Ren than their food.

  “Before we start, give me your phone number.” Ren picked up his phone. “I might need it if I have to change tutoring times or something.”

  “Ah, yeah, that might be difficult but I can give you my email address.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Why email?”

  Did I have to explain this to him? I guess I did since he couldn’t take a hint.

  “I don’t have a phone plan. I just use the school Wi-Fi.” I got out my phone to add his email address. “You can Skype me if you really need to get in touch, or use a messenger app.”

  He lifted my phone out of my hands. “I know this phone. It used to belong to that Polly chick. She always has cat stickers on things.”

  I bet Polly would squeal if she found out Ren knew that much about her.

  “Yeah, she gave it to me when she upgraded.”

  I didn’t want to have this conversation. I’d been given three iPhones when the new model came out. I’d sold two on eBay. It blew my mind that people could just chuck out an old phone when you could get hundreds of dollars for it. I got myself a sweet Sonic the Hedgehog t-shirt and a bunch of brand-new underwear, because that’s something I couldn’t scrounge from other students. Even I drew the line somewhere.

  I grabbed Ren’s latest test paper from his pile of papers and checked out his mark. “Wow, you really do need a tutor.”

  He snatched it back off me. “You’re here to tutor, not judge.”

  “Give it back,” I said. “I have to know where to start. And if you don’t want people to judge, try getting a passing score at least.”

  I expected an angry comeback or a glaring look at least but Ren picked up one of the texts and flipped through it, ignoring me. Maybe his bad marks weren’t caused by laziness or arrogance. Maybe he had learning difficulties.

  I took some notes. I might be doing this under sufferance but that didn’t mean I’d do a half-assed job. I hated failing.

  “Okay, I’ve made a list of your strengths and weaknesses.” I pushed the paper toward him.

  “Which side is ‘I hate math’ on?”

  “No side, because whether you hate it or love it doesn’t matter, you need to pass. I’m not even sure how you got this far without having to repeat.”

  He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, and locking me in his gaze. I didn’t like how that gaze warmed my body, like laser beams boring into my skin. The intensity of his gaze was not natural.

  “Because my father paid good money for teachers to pass me.”

  I gasped. You could do that? But that was just wrong.

  “Well, rich boy, your father is sick of footing the bill for his slacker son so listen up.”

  He laugh
ed. “Okay, poor girl, tutor away.”

  That didn’t annoy me as much as it should. Maybe because he’d lost the snarly attitude, maybe because there was something about the way he drawled out the words ‘paaaaw guuurl’ that hit me right in the belly, and not in a wanting to throw up kind of way.

  Anyway, it wasn’t untrue. I most definitely was a poor girl. I had no shame in that.

  I talked him through one of the exercises in the text, confirming he understood each step. Then I marked some of the similar exercises do him to do on his own.

  I sipped my smoothie, waiting for him to complete the work. When he concentrated, Ren’s tongue poked out the corner of his mouth. He looked so goofy that I had to keep shouting in my head, “Ren is evil”. I wouldn’t get sucked in, I wouldn’t be one of those losers sitting around arguing over Ren’s most attractive feature.

  As well as Farran, he’d forced other three students to drop out of school last year. Although, thinking back, he hadn’t actually done anything. Well, at least one had been beaten up by Oscar. Using minions only made him more evil.

  He slid the notebook across the table. “Done.”

  I got out my red pen. While I did, he stretched his arm across the table, resting his head on it. He peered up at me through his ridiculously long eyelashes. I wouldn’t look at him, I wouldn’t even glance. And my stupid face could stop blushing already. I swiveled my body away from him, focusing on correcting his work.

  He did that on purpose. Like he suddenly wanted to charm me.

  “Nice work. You got them all right.”

  So, I could rule out learning difficulty. It was definitely laziness or bad attitude holding him back.

  “Now we’re finished with that, tell me about yourself, poor girl.”

  I scoffed. “Finished? We’ve barely begun.” I flicked through the book and found more exercises for him.

  That idiot laid his head down again, watching me. I undid my hair tie, letting my hair fall down over my face. I hated people looking at me.

  If I focused really hard, I could fight the urge to check if he still gazed at me.

  Thankfully, voices outside our room broke the tension. Not so thankfully, one of those voices belonged to Angela Blackstone.