“Let’s try this one more time in case you’re hard of hearing.” Gabby leaned over the office desk, then said, “Your scholarship has been revoked,” enunciating the words like I was stupid, and I wondered if maybe she was crueler than usual because of her supposed breakup with Topher.
Not that I cared. I had zero interest in Royal news, but it’s not like Topher and Gabby’s dating status was a secret. Every time they broke up and got back together again, it was all anyone could talk about, which was more than just a little annoying.
Newsflash people: They’ll do it all over again in a few months.
I took a moment to process the information she’d given me, hoping it wasn’t true, while she sighed and flicked her long blond locks over her shoulder, batting those cool green eyes of hers framed by a fan of artificial lashes.
She smiled slyly and twisted a lock of hair around her finger while I stood there like a mute, waiting for Principal Bell to call me back into his dungeon.
“Trust me, I know everything, darling,” she said like it was nothing. Like it wouldn’t completely crush me if what she said was true. “I wasn’t even supposed to say anything. It’s not like I take pleasure in bringing people bad news.”
Sure you don’t.
I absorbed the happy glow on her face and her bright eyes and remembered all the times I’d seen her cut a girl down just for breathing the same air.
“But,” she continued, undeterred by my silence, “I thought I’d give you a heads up, do you a favor.” She placed a hand over her chest like the admission pained her, when, in reality, she looked super pleased at being the one to inform me.
“Yeah, thanks,” I mumbled.
“You’re welcome,” she preened, as if my gratitude were genuine, then turned away from me and went back to whatever it was she did to “help” in the office.
I paced, unable to relax enough to sit while I waited.
She could have her facts wrong, I told myself. How would she know if my scholarship dried up? After all, wasn’t that kind of information confidential? Then again, Gabby Haines was Queen, which meant, along with Topher, she ruled the school, and her charm wasn’t limited to her peers. Even the teachers were caught under her spell. It always amazed me how the faculty and staff weren’t supposed to be biased, yet somehow the royalty of Lakeview held their favor.
Regardless, I was sure Gabby was wrong. I mean, what kind of scholarship program dropped a student at the start of their senior year after years of hard work and dedication?
I sucked in a breath as Principal Bell poked his head out of his office and met my eye. “Oh, Gabby, you found her. Good. Penelope, can you come in here for a moment?”
My chest tightened as I passed Gabby who flashed me a smug grin, and I hoped in vain the anxiety tightening my chest wasn’t written all over my face.
“Good luck,” she trilled, her voice sharp as nails.
I gritted my teeth as I followed Principal Bell, taking a seat as he closed the door and joined me by perching himself on the edge of his desk. He clasped his hands around one of his knees, and his eyes crinkled in concern underneath his bushy gray brows.
I swallowed, a cloud of doom descending upon me at his grim expression.
“I have some bad news,” he said. “Due to budget cuts, as you’re well aware, we had to cancel a couple AP courses this year, both of which you were supposed to enroll in to maintain the stipulations of your scholarship.”
Panic swelled in my chest. “But that’s not my fault. So, I’m fine, right?”
“I’m afraid not.” Bell steepled his hands in front of him. “Your scholarship has been revoked.”
I stared at him in disbelief, wondering when he’d get to the punch line, but the joke never came.
“You can’t do this to me. I would be in those classes if I could. That’s not my fault.”
“I’m sorry, Penelope, I really am.”
“You’re sorry?” I gaped, my normally quiet demeanor dissolving in a pit of despair. My hands fluttered uselessly in front of me, the anxiety in my chest, a living, breathing thing. “What am I supposed to do?”
This couldn’t be happening. My mind reeled, searching for a solution. There was no way my father could come up with the tuition on this short of notice.
A lump formed in the back of my throat, but I forced it down. Now was not the time for tears, but, boy, if this wasn’t a kick in the crotch. Day one of my senior year and I might get booted from Lakeview. All because of a technicality and the inability to fork over the ridiculous sums of cash they called private school tuition.
Transferring was unfathomable. It was like leaving a game in the last inning when you played for the best team in the league and the score was tied. It meant having to start over.
My thoughts drifted to this morning with Topher and his friends. Some might think leaving Lakeview would be a reprieve, but to me, it meant the possibility of being ridiculed by a whole new set of students for my name. At least here, I’d grown used to the Topher Elliot’s of Lakeview. Transferring elsewhere meant wading through the chaff of jerks to find one good bit of wheat in the form of friends. And it had taken me months just to talk to Scarlett, my best friend. The thought of not graduating with her was devastating. I may as well kiss my top Tier schools goodbye.
Principal Bell rubbed a weathered hand over his forehead. “I can help you get into a great alternative—”
“No,” I yelled as I slammed my fist on his desk.
Bell flinched, startled by my uncharacteristic outburst, but there was no way I’d back down now. If there was ever a time to find my voice and stop being so afraid to speak my mind, it was now.
“Lakeview is the best, and this is where I’m getting my diploma,” I said, stabbing a finger toward the ground. “I’d have to leave my friends. This could affect my college applications. It could change everything. I’ve already written Stanford and Brown preemptively and received promising responses. I won’t let my life get sidetracked because of a couple stupid AP classes.”
I shook my head, refusing to give in to the tears stinging the back of my eyes. “There must be something you can do. Some way I can earn the tuition money.”
“You want to work it off?” Bell asked like this notion never occurred to him. Probably because most of the Lakeview prima-donnas had never heard of such a thing as hard work.
I nodded, biting my lip against the rise of emotions. I was winging it, but it sounded like as good a plan as any. “Sure. Maybe I can do something after school to pay my debts.”
An image of me scrubbing the profanities from the bathroom stalls and mopping floors came to mind. Taking on janitorial duties wouldn’t exactly garner bonus points for my social standing, but it was something.
“Actually,” Principal Bell’s eyes brightened as he stood and rounded his desk, then shuffled through the paperwork in front of him. “Something crossed my desk this morning, and it just may be a solution.”
He set a couple folders aside and thumbed through a few papers before he paused, his gaze flickering over the text.
“Yes!” He snapped the paper with his fingers, and I jumped. “We just had a tutoring position open up. It’s paid. If you work as a tutor, it might not be quite enough to pay the tuition, but I can find a way to work the rest out. Does that sound like something you could do?”
Tutoring? Easy.
“Yeah, definitely. Yes.” Hope squeezed my chest. This was far better than scrubbing toilets.
“But there are stipulations. You’re replacing our current tutor, which means you’ll be helping several students each week and need to accommodate their schedules.”
Um, did I look like a person with a hopping social life?
I carefully concealed my pleasure with a wan smile and a perfunctory nod of the head. “I can make some sacrifices.”
“Okay, then.” Principal Bell clapped his hands. “Here’s the list of students you’d be tutoring. I’ll be in touch with them today to get t
heir schedules. . .”
Bell handed me the paper, droning on about how happy he was that he managed to kill two birds with one stone. Or something like that. I wasn’t sure, because I was no longer listening. Instead, my eyes had scanned the names on the list, the paper suddenly heavy in my hands as I zeroed in on one in particular.
There, at the bottom, was Topher Elliot. It was probably the first time in his life he’d ever been at the bottom of anything.
“Penelope?”
Bell’s voice broke my trance, and I glanced up to his frown and his laser-sharp gaze.
“Uh, sorry,” I said, wondering what I missed.
“I asked if everything was okay.”
“Oh.”
Was everything okay? It was a good question. One I didn’t have an answer to.
I glanced back down at the names. I’d rather choke on my own spit than tutor a Royal, let alone the king himself. Besides, if he was so special, why’d he need help anyway? The whole school, teachers included, acted like he pooped rainbows. Didn’t royalty get a free pass? It sure seemed like it.
“I uh . . . yeah. It’s just . . . ” I scratched my head, then dropped my hand again. “Topher Elliot is on here.”
“Everyone loves Mr. Elliot.”
Everyone except me. Just because the rest of the school were sheep that worshiped the ground he walked on didn’t mean I did.
The hand on my thigh twitched restlessly as I drummed my fingers. Topher’s beautiful smile flickered through my head, followed by the sight of him standing in front of my things as if he might help while his friends laughed at my expense.
“About this list . . .” I drawled. “How concrete is it? I mean, is there any wiggle room to swap with another tutor, or—”
Bell’s mouth tightened, his eyes hard on my face. And I couldn’t blame him. He just handed me a golden ticket, and I threw it back in his face.
“It’s final. You start tomorrow. See if the schedule works out, and if it doesn’t, or you change your mind, let me know. You have until the end of the week to make a final decision or we need to find someone else.”
“Of course,” I said.
Bell eyed me like he wasn’t so sure, like he was disappointed in my less than enthused response. I literally just begged him for a solution to my problem, and when he handed me one, I all but shoved in his face.
I shook my head. I was being an idiot. Of course I couldn’t turn this down.
“Forget what I said, I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Then I stood and left his office, even though the churning in my gut said otherwise.
Chapter 4
PENELOPE
One glance in the mirror taped to the inside of my locker door confirmed I looked as awful as I felt. My thick, dark hair hung lifelessly around my face, despite taking the time to style it that morning, and my eyes were bloodshot, a sure indicator of stress.
With a sigh, I yanked the hair tie off my wrist and pulled my hair up into a sloppy ponytail.
“Boo!”
I yelped and jumped.
A hand flew to my chest as my best friend, Scarlett, popped out from behind me.
“What the heck? You scared the crap out of me.” I swatted at her, annoyed, but she merely laughed in return.
I grabbed my lunch off the top shelf, then slammed my locker door shut and turned to see her with a compact out, meticulously applying powder to her freckled nose. If it were anyone but Scarlett, I’d be jealous. With sandy brown locks that spilled over her shoulders like a waterfall in beachy waves, bright green eyes, and a trendy jacket overtop a flowy blouse and a cute patterned skirt, she looked like she just stepped off the cover of Teen Vogue, whereas I looked as though I snagged my ensemble from the sale rack at Goodwill (which I kind of did).
With a click, she snapped her compact shut, then stared at me with shrewd eyes. “Uh oh, what’s wrong?”
“What makes you think something’s wrong?” I crossed my arms over my chest, feeling unusually defensive.
She waved a finger in my face. “Your eyes. They don’t lie. Either that or you’re stoned, and since you don’t do drugs, I’m guessing something’s bothering you.”
I screwed up my face because as much as I needed to vent, I dreaded recounting econ class. Despite being best friends, it was still embarrassing when I got made fun of. But as it turned out, there was no need to explain because just as I opened my mouth to speak, Topher, Luca, JT, and Mikey walked by, and when my traitorous eyes shifted to them, my face said it all.
“Okay . . .” She glanced from them back to me again. “Let’s count the mounting evidence. You’re stressed and clearly upset about something. It’s the first day. Topher and his crew just walked by and you looked like you wanted to melt into the floor and die. Or punch something. Or both. I’m guessing whatever happened has to do with them?”
“Is it ever anyone else terrorizing me?”
“Want me to take care of it?” she asked, turning a glare in their direction, teeth bared like a bulldog, looking like she wanted to rip them limb from limb. Meanwhile, at 4’1” and skinny as a rake, she’d be lucky to fight off a stiff wind.
One by one, she cracked her knuckles, ready to defend my honor.
Laughter bubbled inside my chest and my spirits instantly lifted. I smiled and looped my arm through hers, tugging her toward the cafeteria. “No. That’s okay. It was just the stupid name thing.”
“Again?” Scarlett asked, shaking her head in disgust. “You would think by now that would’ve gotten old. I mean, what are we, ten?”
“Tell me about it.” I rolled my eyes. “And,” I took a deep breath, watching her out of the corner of my eye, because I knew she’d flip at the next piece of news, “I might lose my scholarship.”
Scarlett stopped dead in her tracks. Her hand shot out, gripping my arm as if I might disappear right in front of her very eyes. The boy behind her nearly plowed into her back before he cursed and went around us.
Scarlett’s brows rose to her hairline. “Shut. Up.”
“I’m serious.”
“No. Just, no. They can’t do that. Can they?”
I nodded mournfully and began walking again as she followed beside me. “Apparently they can. Since my scholarship is academic, it relies on me enrolling in certain programs, and due to budget cuts, two of the AP classes I was supposed to take have been cancelled.”
Her mouth gaped a moment before she snapped it shut. “But it’s your senior year. That is wildly unfair. What are you gonna do?”
“Well, Principal Bell did give me one option,” I said, biting my lip.
“Yes! Anything. You had me worried. Why didn’t you just start with that? I thought I’d have to go our final year without you. And a year without P is not something I want to contemplate. Not to mention, you’d be leaving me with all of these rich snobs to cope alone.”
“You are one of those rich snobs,” I pointed out.
“We’re not that rich. And I’m not a snob.”
“True.”
“So what’s the deal? What do you have to do? Sell an organ? Promise them your firstborn? Become Bell's personal love slave?”
“Um, ew.” I cringed and held up a hand for her to stop.
Scarlett grimaced. “Sorry, I got carried away.”
“Well, you’re not too far off-base.”
She gasped. “Really?”
“I have to be a tutor.”
Scarlett frowned. Obviously that wasn’t what she was expecting.
“Okay, where’s the part where this is as bad as being Bell’s love slave?” she asked.
“It’s more on par with selling my soul.”
“I’m not following.”
“Topher Elliot,” I said, dropping the name like an atomic bomb.
“Oh.” Then her eyes widened as she understood. “Ohhh. You hate Topher.”
“Exactly.”
“Maybe it won’t be so bad.”
I guffawed. “He’s King, remember? I’ll proba
bly have to endure an hour of him yammering on about how amazing he is, followed by him making fun of my name. Or how I buy my clothes at thrift shops. Or how I can’t even afford to go here and my dad works for his father as a lowly lawn and pool guy. Or one of the many other things they think about me that’s hilarious. And to top it off, he’s probably dumb as a box of rocks, which is why he needs a tutor in the first place, so teaching him anything will be like teaching a monkey to do tricks.”
“Actually, monkeys are pretty smart. I don’t think it’s that hard—”
“Scarlett,” I said exasperated, “follow along.”
“Right. Sorry.”
We entered the cafeteria, and I scoped our surroundings for the best seats. Once again, I was reminded how unlike Lakeview was to other schools. Pendant lights hung above display cases filled with sandwiches and other premade lunches while the scent of food wafted from the hot lunch line, which boasted everything from all-American school lunches like hot dogs, to carefully curated items like roasted chicken with balsamic reduction and fresh mozzarella. Vases of freshly cut flowers adorned each . Upholstered chairs replaced the hard plastic ones I had been used to at my old school, and in the back, a lounge with a set of plush leather sofas and several armchairs, like something you’d see in a trendy coffee shop was occupied with its usual tenants.
My mouth flattened into a thin, hard line as I watched Topher settle into one of the chairs, not a care in the world as his friends joined him.
Typical. Students were supposed to use the lounge area before school and after hours, but the rules never seemed to apply to Royals.
Disgusted, I turned my gaze away from them and headed for an empty table off to the side and as far away from them as possible.
I sank down into a chair so my back was to them and began to unpack my lunch while Scarlett took the seat across from me. Every so often, her gaze flickered in their direction, and I had to fight the urge to look and see what was so interesting.
“I don’t know,” Scarlett said after a while, “Topher doesn’t seem that bad.”
Hate Notes: A Sweet Enemies to Lovers Young Adult Romance (Lakeview Prep Book 1) Page 2
