Darkly Sweet

by Juliann Whicker

  I turned to the driver. “Do you know who ordered the limo?”

  He nodded and pulled out his phone. “One limo from the airport to Rosewood Academy, ordered by Stoneburrow and Lane.”

  “I’m Lane,” I offered but cocked my head, hesitating and widening my eyes at Zach adorably. “But who is Stoneburrow?”

  “I’m Zachary Stoneburrow.” He stared at me while he ran a hand through his brown hair, longish, like it needed a trim.

  I beamed at him and grabbed his hand, shaking it while his eyes went big and he blinked at me in shock and mild terror, echoing how my own heart pounded. I’d never touched a mage before.

  “I’m Penny Lane. It’s so nice to meet you. Do you go to Rosewood? It’s my school now and I’m so excited to get to know everyone.”

  He pulled away and nudged the girl who looked about half as scary and morbid as I had a week before. Her hair was dyed black, her eyes lined with layers of black eyeliner and smudged into her lashes over her high quality base that evened her skin tone. Her makeup was very subtle, giving the impression that she’d carelessly rolled out of bed looking like that. My makeup was more, of course, because I had color, pink lips and cheeks with high gloss lips and sparkly eye shadow. So much sparkle and bubbly color.

  I bounced and caught her hands. “Do you go to Rosewood too? I’m Penny Lane. It’s so nice to meet you.”

  She glared at me, her lips curling while her nails would have cut my palms if they hadn’t been bitten to the quick. I hadn’t chewed on my thumb since I’d thrown myself into becoming Penny Lane resident macaroon, and therefore my nails were in better shape. When I accidentally squeezed her hands back she winced before jerking away.

  “That’s Viney,” Zach said after a long pause. “So, you go to Rosewood?”

  I nodded and sucked on my lollipop, trying to look seductively at him while also looking perky and cute. I’d practiced in my full-length mirror for hours, but it felt utterly ridiculous, particularly when I swished my super short skirt. His eyes widened as they darted down to my naked legs, tortuously waxed and polished with my best-selling lotion.

  “Deal with it,” Viney said shoving between us and climbing into the back seat of the limo.

  Zach looked at me apologetically. “Don’t mind Viney. She doesn’t deal very well with surprises. I think she’s a little stressed.”

  I blinked at him. Viney was perfectly fine as far as I could tell. I sucked on my lollipop before taking one last lick and cocking my head to study him. “Your girlfriend does seem a little bit tense. You should give her a back rub. I have the perfect lotion…”

  He shook his blond hair and backed away. “Viney’s not my girlfriend. We’re friends.

  More or less.”

  “I’m sorry.” I grimaced and bit my lower lip adorably. “This is kind of awkward. That is so strange that the same limo got scheduled for two different people, even if they are going to the same place… Why don’t I take a taxi, or a bus? They have those here, don’t they?”

  He shrugged and frowned at me before he gave me a slight smile. “Don’t worry about it. If you don’t mind riding with Viney, it doesn’t make sense for you to take the bus to Fairfield and then the shuttle up to the school.” With that, he ducked inside the limo while the limo driver finished putting stacks of luggage into the enormous trunk.

  I stood on the sidewalk pretending to think about it before I swished my skirt one last time in case he was watching me out the window, picked up my bag and my cage then ducked into the black interior.

  “Black and white, like a checkerboard,” I said as I settled across from Viney on the same bench Zach sat on.

  She sneered at me before looking out the window.

  Zach cleared his throat. “So, you’re new at Rosewood? What year are you?”

  “I’m a senior. I did homeschool and had private tutors, you know the whole crazy rich person thing, but for my last year I wanted to try something new, so here I am.” Lie. “I’m so excited! It’s going to be so fun to meet all the fabulous people.” Double lie.

  He gave me a tight smile and a small nod before he leaned over his knees and kind of studied the floor.

  “What’s the school like?”

  “Don’t worry, Penny, you’ll fit in just right with all the crazy rich people.” Viney glared at me, showing her teeth beneath her curled lips.

  I beamed at her and leaned forward, brushing Zach’s pants leg with my own bare knee while I covered Viney’s hands in mine. “That is so sweet of you to say. Thank you, Viney. I’m so glad that I met you guys.” I turned to Zach and gave him an enormous smile, close enough that I could smell his aftershave and he certainly smelled my subtle floral perfume that was a natural mood enhancer. I stayed there for the count of three before I slid back into my seat so my short skirt flipped up higher on my thighs before I smoothed it back down.

  Did they notice my hands shaking? I was envious of Viney’s black boots, so much like the boots I’d left behind. She wore them below her navy pants and a skull t-shirt with argyle vest and navy jacket, sleeves rolled up to show various bracelets with spikes and leather up her arm. The spikes went with her short hair that she’d moussed artfully.

  “I love your hair, Viney. It’s so authentic.” I turned to Zach and put my hand on his knee. “Do you know if there’s a pet store in Fairfield? I’m not sure how long my supplies will last for Señor Mort.”

  He blinked at me and I pulled away my hand before he could push it off.

  “A pet store? I think so.”

  I bounced, flipping my skirt. I sucked on my lollipop because I needed a lot more sugar if I was going to keep this up for the entire ride to school. It should take forty-five minutes.

  “Pets aren’t allowed at Rosewood.” That was Viney.

  I felt the rock in my stomach I’d been trying to ignore get harder and bigger. “No pets?”

  Zach nodded. “It’s a school rule.”

  “But Señor is more of a… service animal than a pet.” That was true. I had him sample suspicious goods to make sure that they weren’t poisoned. Didn’t that count?

  “The dorm lady doesn’t mind so long as it doesn’t smell and doesn’t make noise.

  They had to make the rule a few years ago when some senior decided she wanted to breed alligators.”

  I blinked at him and felt my actual real smile for a second before I replaced it with my macaroon face. “That’s crazy. What happened?”

  He spent a long time telling the story about the alligators getting out and causing a stampede while a few made it into the testing hall and disrupted the Chem exam. He took a break to talk about the horrors of exam week, and the dreadful Chem exam in particular before he went back to the story of the alligators.

  It wasn’t too much work to laugh a few times. He told a good story and after he forgot to be self-conscious and stopped looking at Viney where she sat with her phone, he actually showed some personality that had been impossible to see from the photos.

  All in all, not bad.

  Finally, we got to a small town at the base of the hills, Fairfield, with a lot of cute shops, one with a dog bone under the sign. All the shops looked like they were from one of those happy movie sets, immaculate sidewalks, clear vibrant colors, and people who smiled as they went about their work.

  It wasn’t anything like the closest small town to the old lady. That had a ratty thrift store that made the big box store look high class in comparison. All the same, I’d loved that thrift store and the discount fabric store thirty miles away.

  I shook my head and smiled at Zach. “This town is adorable. Does it have a candy shop?”

  “You’d be right at home in the gum ball dispenser,” Viney sneered.

  I smiled back at her because she was trying to be edgy. It was cute.

  “I do like lollipops too much. My mother is always trying to get me to stop sucking on them.” Lie. Like my mother cared. “Do you want one?” I pulled two out of my jacket and held th
em out to Viney and Zach.

  He took one while she sneered and turned away with her nose in the air. Her nose was really cute, kind of perky at the end. That nose would have helped my own look although it didn’t do much for hers. I had the urge to offer to switch noses, but she wouldn’t get it.

  I unwrapped another lollipop and stuck it in my mouth.

  He made a weird face. “Is this coffee flavored?” He took it out and studied the dark color.

  “Tiramisu. It’s my favorite dessert.” Truth. “Is it too weird?”

  He studied it for a few more seconds before he shrugged and stuck it back in his mouth before he turned to me and gave me a slight smile around his white lollipop stick.

  He was nice. The rock in my stomach softened a little bit as we went to the base of the hills and through an elaborate arch over the road with Rosewood in ironwork over the top. The trees grew close to the road, woods that seemed to beckon me to come and play, to have a picnic. I forgot to chat for most of the trip until I got the first view of Rosewood. The online picture didn’t show the enormous structure that I saw a flicker of through the trees.

  “It’s huge.”

  Viney made a rude sound. “What did you expect?”

  I blinked at her and kind of stammered. “Not Pemberly. I shall expect to find Mr.

  Darcy in a place like this.”

  Her eyes widened and we stared at each other, kind of uncertain before I looked away and flashed a smile at Zach. He was studying me, his eyebrows slightly close together, almost concerned. “So, you’ve been homeschooled your whole life?”

  I nodded.

  “You’ve never been in the company of peers before?”

  I cocked my head like I had to think about it before I shook my head.

  He shifted uncomfortably. “They can be difficult to get along with, sometimes impossible. If you get on the wrong side of one of the popular kids you can have a really horrible experience.”

  He sounded so passive, not like ‘they will torture you,’ but like it was your fault somehow for other people being jerks, hanging you in a tree and then beating the crap out of you when you have the nerve to fall out. I shrugged. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Lie. “I mean, I already have two tentative friends so how bad could it be? Are you one of the popular kids at school, Zach?”

  He looked horrified before he laughed and shook his head. “No. I’m not interested in that kind of thing. It’s a balancing act. It takes a lot of concentration to stay on the top of a stack of volcanoes.”

  “Popularity is a waste of time. It turns people who would otherwise be worth something into worthless non-people.”

  I kind of winced at Viney before I forced a smile. It was just such a bad use of English.

  “That’s so true. Those non-people are the worst. Are you sure you don’t want a lolly Viney? I have some mulled cider ones that you might like.”

  “I want one of those,” Zach said and I dug in my bag for one.

  Viney studied me for a long time before she shrugged and rolled her eyes. “I don’t hate tiramisu. I’ll try one.”

  I handed her one and unwrapped my own special calming brew flavored like Lavender, St. John’s wart, Melissa, and dirt. The rock reformed in my stomach as the limo pulled up in front of a brick building separated from the main structure by an enormous field where people milled around in their school uniforms holding bags and glittering with fancy jewelry.

  I wanted to light the limo on fire as a diversion before I skulked to my room and hid there for the rest of the year. Instead, I took a deep, calming breath and smiled at Zach.

  “I guess we’re here. Do you know where Lilac dorm is?”

  “You’re kidding me.” Viney’s snarl practically dripped venom.

  I gave her my most innocent and sweet look. Okay, it wasn’t even my look; it was completely somebody else’s, because I didn’t have an innocent and sweet anything. “I’m in Lilac wing, room One-Oh-Eight.”

  “That’s the haunted wing.” Viney’s eyes glinted with anticipation as she leaned forward. “No one lasts very long in Lilac Stories.”

  Zach cleared his throat. “That’s where our rooms are, actually. Ghosts don’t bother us very much.”

  I looked from him to her and then burst out laughing. “Very funny, guys. Are you serious about being in the Lilac wing? What a crazy coincidence! This is going to be so much fun!”

  I opened the limo door and got out, stretching before I grabbed Señor Mort’s cage and my bag. I smiled at Zach while he sat there, hesitating. “Would you show me the way to my room? I’m sorry if that’s too much, I mean you were willing to share a ride, but…”

  “Of course, we’ll take you to the room.” Viney slid over and I had to back up quickly to keep from being knocked over by her. She was shorter than me, but kind of like a cannonball.

  I smiled and followed the two, Zach seeming to get more and more uncomfortable the closer we got to the building where more people stared at us. Zach didn’t meet anyone’s gaze but I was bubblegum, so I sucked on my lolly and waved and smiled at absolutely everyone who met my eyes, plus some who didn’t. I was so busy smiling and waving that I didn’t quite realize that I had broken an unspoken circle of popularity until the crowd became silent in an ominous way.

  I glanced around, but Zach and Viney had stopped walking, letting me wander into the middle of the most beautiful and well-manicured set of people I’d ever seen. It was like they were all movie stars carefully prepped for the red carpet. I couldn’t help but

  stare at them kind of fascinated, at the tall and muscular blond guy who had two girls hanging on his every word, but his words from what I could tell were eloquent and clever, if tinged with a touch of the sardonic.

  He saw me staring at him and a flash of predator came over his features before he glanced down at the blond he’d been entertaining then walked over to me, the few steps before we were a foot apart, too close for a casual meeting, and the way he looked down his nose at me, the way he studied me, like he was analyzing every piece of me to see how well I’d been put together, well, I really wanted to light his perfectly tailored coat on fire and watch him run around the green screaming.

  The image made me smile as I took out the lolly. “Hi, I’m Penny. Let me see if I can remember your name from the website. Drake?” Somehow I was certain that me comparing him to the incomparable would really irritate him. I have instincts like that sometimes.

  His eyes narrowed while the blond girl tittered and then slapped her hand over her mouth while the guy studied me up and down like I was a pretty piece of pie. I returned the favor, glancing up and down his body the way he did mine. Was this normal? It felt weird.

  “You have nice legs,” he said moving a little bit closer.

  I struggled to stand my ground without shoving the end of my lollipop through his eye socket. I licked my lips. “Thanks. They’re super long. You have really nice hair. It’s as yellow as dandelions.” I stuck my lollipop back in my mouth and stared at him with my most charming look.

  “How dare you!” The girl’s hiss came right before someone shoved me from the side.

  It wasn’t a docile girly push, but a serious rugby player shove and I went over while my back whiplashed. I hit someone’s legs, bony knees and shins, and then I was lying on the ground, well he was on the ground and I was on his legs with my head on his thigh area pressed against his extremely nice wool pants, seasonless wool, you know, the good stuff. I blinked up past his crotch to the face beyond, an exquisite face of pale creamy skin, dark glittering green eyes framed by a crown of fire that fell over his forehead like a tumble of volcano stuff. Lava. Right. There were words for things. The rock in my stomach exploded and shattered my whole body with volcano shrapnel.

  I froze there in that incredibly awkward position, staring at the most beautiful and evil mage in the entire universe. It took me a second to find words. “Hi. I’m Penny.”

  He quirked an arched eyebrow that he had to
tweeze to get so perfect. “I’m Drake.

  Jackson doesn’t like being mistaken for me. It’s the red hair. He’d hate people to think that he had a temper.” His voice was as beautiful as the rest of him, smooth and silky, like his skin and hair, but beneath the silk was a layer of steel, the kind used for medieval

  racks and other implements of torture. His voice was torture, all of him the most cruel trick played on women since the beginning of time. Someone that beautiful should be thrown into a lake of bubbling hot lava.

  “Or a volcano.” What? I’d said that out loud?

  He blinked, narrowed his dark eyes then nodded. Oh, good, because he’d said something about having a temper, and that was practically like a volcano. Macaroons and bonbons. Truffles and pecan strudel. lollipops and ding dongs.

  “Or a volcano. You’re new to our school.” It wasn’t a question and it wasn’t an accusation, I wasn’t sure what it was. A challenge?

  No challenges. Ice cream cones, petit fours, not volcanoes or anything else explosive.

  I smiled and nodded while my heart pounded and fluttered and my stomach tried to recover from the shrapnel thing. While I tried to catch my breath I caught his scent, musk and grass with a dash of something sweet and dark.

  “You’re on top of me. Are you going to stay there all day?” His voice was amused and full of something mocking that sent a flush of pure unadulterated shame through me.

  I gasped and scrambled off him while my cheeks burned. I was supposed to avod Drake and every other mage like him. I was here to find a husband, not get involved

  with the king of wicked mages, the guy who tormented Zach who I was going to marry. I was still mixed up. I should want to stab his eye with the end of my lolly, not loiter on his trousers. I glanced down and there was mused my long arms to my advantage, quickly snagged the lolly, and stuck it in my mouth. He froze while I backed off, gave him as much of a smile as I could with something shoved in my face. It was supposed to calm me down, but if I didn’t get out of there very, very soon, I was going to find out who had pushed me and I would rip off their face and terrify absolutely everyone, including Zach, who I was going to marry.