by Jenn Young
“Thanks for the advice,” she said. “But I can manage.”
“Okay. You’re on your own from here on out.”
Alex went back to his friends. Still tense, Adrian watched out for Jason’s return. For the rest of that night, she had to lose herself in Jason. She had to.
He was the only thing she had left.
CHAPTER THREE
The school’s official name was Varner High School, but within five minutes of Alex’s arrival, Adrian knew it should have been named “Alex Montgomery’s Harem” instead.
First clue: the singsong “Alex!” that shattered her eardrums. The possessor of that voice was a stunning redhead poured into a tight outfit and sandals. She had it all: an ample chest, a pair of long legs that seemed to stretch forever, and a flowing, gorgeous mane. Not a hair was out of place, even when she planted a pouting kiss on Alex.
Second clue: the sheer size of the crowd gathering around them. Arizona was brutally hot, even at this early hour, but students were milling outside, just to watch Alex and the girl. How else could you explain the dozens and dozens of kids otherwise?
Third clue: the other girls staring at the redhead with varying expressions of disgust and resentment. The collective envy was so palpable that Adrian glanced around in surprise. Was Alex really this popular and desirable? That last thought gave her a queer feeling. They hadn’t exchanged a single word since Karen’s dinner party.
Fourth clue: Alex’s posse was hanging near him. They were the only ones bored as if they’d seen this exact scene reenacted before. Some of them she remembered from dinner the other night.
One of them lifted a hand in a tentative greeting when he saw her. Justin Latimer had a twin sister, Adrian remembered, and she was here too. Bri was watching the redhead with a narrow-eyed expression.
“Sweetie, who is she?” the redhead said. She’d wrapped herself around Alex like a second skin, practically slithering up his torso. “Why did she come to school with you? Doesn’t she have her own car?”
It took Adrian a few seconds to realize the girl was asking Alex about her. Why was she so suspicious—oh God. An incredulous snicker escaped Adrian before she could stop herself. She was not sleeping with Alex.
“You can ask me yourself,” Adrian said.
The redhead stiffened as if Adrian had slapped her. “Fine. Who are you? And why are you here with him?”
An excited murmur went through the crowd. Even the ones far in the back had given up the pretense they weren’t eavesdropping. Of course, Adrian thought. They were practically panting for a girl-on-girl confrontation. Any second now, and they’d start cheering for some hair-pulling, scratching, and name-calling.
A wintry smile curled her lips. God, how low had she fallen. She’d primarily hung out with her fellow cheerleaders and athletes at her old school, but people hadn’t really gossiped about her because she gave them nothing to gossip about.
Here, she was the latest freak show.
“I’m Adrian Blake,” she said. From the corner of her eye, she thought she saw Alex open his mouth as if he meant to step in. The last thing she needed was someone answering for her. “I will be Alex’s stepsister.”
She kept her shoulders straight as she said the last. No one would ever know how much it cost her to say that aloud. For so long, she’d always identified herself as “the oldest Blake girl” or “Nicky and Meg’s older sister.” Suddenly that didn’t mean a damn thing here. Now it was: “Karen’s soon-to-be stepdaughter” and other labels Adrian wanted no part of.
“Alex, you dog!” a guy shouted from the crowd. “I’d hit that!”
“Lucky bastard.”
“Baby, you want a real man, you call me.” That came from Quentin Maxwell who’d been at Karen’s party. Even from here, his leer was identifiable.
Adrian stared at him with all the ice she could muster. She’d quietly fumed over his earlier comments, trying to forget his “bang her like a screen door” insult, but now she saw it had been the wrong move. He would only keep coming back with more insults, trying to get a rise out of her because he was that pathetic. How he did it, she didn’t know, but his sleaze factor had actually increased.
“What man? I only see a little boy.”
The briefest of a pause ensued, a slight hitch in the conversations around them, just long enough that Adrian knew they were rapidly assessing her again.
His smirk never fading, Quentin absorbed the hit with good grace. “You’ve just been deprived of real men. Five minutes with me, and you’ll be going ‘oh oh, Quentin!’”
“A real man wouldn’t need five minutes.”
To her surprise, Alex laughed. “She’s got you there.”
She eyed him sideways. He was smiling, almost as if in approval, but she hadn’t meant to be funny. It hadn’t escaped her notice that he hadn’t told Quentin to show her more respect.
Shaking her head slightly, she shifted her backpack higher on her shoulder. The school entrance was just a short distance away, but she’d have to run the gauntlet. Hell, she was running it now.
The redhead finally let go of Alex and stepped in front of Adrian. She didn’t stomp her foot or anything, but her mouth was sulky. The look in her eyes told Adrian that she’d unknowingly made an enemy of this girl.
“I’m Mandy Fitzpatrick,” the redhead said.
“Good for you,” Adrian said.
She moved toward the school entrance, but the other girl stepped in front of her again. “Alex and I have been seeing each other on and off,” Mandy said.
Adrian’s fingers itched from the impulse to slap her. Why exactly was Mandy telling her this? She was going to be Alex’s stepsister and that should have settled everything, but no, Mandy was sizing her up like a competitor and unsubtly telling her to back off. Well, this was a competition Adrian had no intention of participating in.
Alex drew Mandy out of the way. He did it so smoothly that Adrian didn’t notice it at first, but he’d wrapped Mandy around him, so the path was now clear. “I don’t think Adrian really cares,” he said. “Let her go.”
Walk away now, Adrian, her common sense screamed. Walk away.
This was the right moment to leave. People were now turning their attention back to Alex and Mandy, so she could disappear. Like it or not, Alex had done her a favor, and she was grateful—no. That last thought brought her up short. She was not grateful to him. She didn’t owe him anything and if it wasn’t for his stupid mother who’d conned her father into moving here, she wouldn’t be dying in the heat.
“You’re right, I don’t really care for that girl’s attitude,” she said to Alex. “If she’s the best you can do, it doesn’t say much about your judgment.”
Now that was definitely a pause. She would have said it was the verbal equivalent of cars screeching to a halt. All right, maybe that was taking the metaphor too far, but she hadn’t imagined the shock she now saw in people’s faces. Apparently she’d violated the greatest commandment.
Thou Shalt Always Accept Alex Montgomery As Thy Savior.
A corner of Alex’s mouth tipped. Like other people, he’d glanced away from her, but now his eyes never left her face. “I could say the same about your boyfriend, but we’ll call it a draw. Mandy and I have an understanding.”
For now.
That last part hung in the air, unspoken, but all the same it was there. Even though Mandy was currently hanging off his arm, he’d never returned her kisses or caresses. Oh yes, Adrian could practically see the shadow of an hourglass hovering above Mandy’s head. It was just a matter of weeks.
A frown set in between Adrian’s eyes, one that she could feel. Jason hadn’t returned her kisses during his brief visit. Well, that wasn’t technically true. He’d kissed her and he’d even suggested they pop over to her room before he left for the airport, but she’d demurred because it would have been the height of rudeness to sneak out of the party for a quickie. Jason hadn’t been happy about that …
“Yeah!”
Mandy Fitzpatrick said. Glaring at Adrian, she gripped Alex tighter. “What, you jealous or something?”
All thoughts of Jason vanished. “I’m not arguing with you. It’s an exercise in futility. Good luck, and I mean that sincerely.”
Mandy’s brow furrowed as Adrian made her escape. “Alex, what did she mean?” she said, tugging on his shirt.
Even though Adrian didn’t turn around, she could still hear his response. “It’s just a guess, but I’m pretty sure she said you’re stupid,” he said.
Mandy’s screech hurried her inside the school. A bit of deafness was setting in, or was that a pounding headache? Either way, it was the same thing. Adrian mentally shrugged her shoulders. It was a good thing that she hadn’t planned on hanging out with Alex and his posse. Now she had eleven minutes to get to Advanced Placement English.
The school was a confusing maze of endless hallways and classrooms. She’d memorized the school map last night, but somehow she’d ended up in what looked like the locker area for freshmen. Sighing, she retraced her steps until she found the math section. From there, she stumbled onto the English wing. The posters of famous writers and poets were plastered all over the walls, so this was it.
Her heart beating hard, she scanned the classroom numbers until she found the right one. Squaring her shoulders, she pushed the door open and went inside. Still plenty of seats unclaimed, so she picked the one in the corner. It gave her a strategic view of the door, the teacher’s desk, and the view outside.
She took a fresh notebook out of her bag and opened to the first page. Her pencil was already sharpened, her folders all labeled. It was a bit of a joke in the family how everyone was so organized, Nicky being the lone exception.
Alex sauntered into the classroom just a couple minutes before the bell. There was that collective response, one that was predictable by now, but it never failed to amaze Adrian how girls straightened in their seats and pretended they weren’t primping. The guys greeted him with “hey man” and “how ya doing?” even though they’d seen him outside. When would this constant adoration of Alex stop? As far as she could tell, he hadn’t really done anything to earn it.
The teacher entered with a cup of coffee in hand and a pile of papers tucked in the crook of his arm. Nodding a greeting to the students, he went straight to his desk and started taking attendance right away.
“Abdullah al-Hassan,” he called out. Even before Abdullah answered, the teacher marked him present and said the next name. He evidently knew most of them, so this was a mere formality. “Philippa Atherton.”
Then it came, the moment that Adrian had dreaded. “Marissa Blake?” the teacher said.
She raised her hand. “I’d rather be called Adrian, sir. That’s my middle name.”
It was one of her sore spots. Marissa was a beautiful name, but not when one’s mother, the first Marissa, had died in a car accident driving with a man explicitly not her husband. She’d died when Adrian was only seven, but even so, Adrian couldn’t stop wincing whenever someone called her Marissa. She’d instantly known they were mentally comparing her to her mother. Oh, they didn’t say it aloud, but it had been there in their eyes. Even here, they would—
No one knew about her mother here.
Her lips parted in surprise. She hadn’t thought about that angle, but that part was true, wasn’t it? Her father had probably told his fiancée, but Adrian doubted the kids at her new school knew. Here, they judged her on the merits of being related to Alex instead.
The teacher was speaking again. “I don’t think I’ve seen you here before. Did you just transfer?”
“Yes sir. I moved from Chicago.”
“Big city.” He glanced at his attendance list, and Adrian thought that was the end of it, but his attention snapped back to her. “Wait. Are you related to Alex Montgomery?”
She willed herself not to let her surprise show. The kids here had acted as if Alex had significant social status, but now she had actual proof. Even the teacher had heard of her.
“I will be,” she said.
The man’s face darkened. It was a change so perceptible that Adrian was startled once again. He drew himself up straight.
“Maybe you aren’t aware, but I have my students sit in alphabetical order. That seat up here is yours.” He pointed to a seat in the front row, the one right before his desk. It was empty because everyone had sequestered in the back.
Her eyes narrowed. “Yes sir.”
Just another reason to dislike her ‘stepbrother’, she thought bitterly as she gathered her things. Who knew what Alex had done to make the teacher hate him so? Whatever it was, it was exactly why the teacher hated her now.
Even after she’d sat down, the teacher didn’t let it go. “It’s customary for new students to introduce themselves to the class, Marissa.”
Marissa.
She gritted her teeth. Hadn’t she stated she preferred to be called Adrian? Even as she opened her mouth to protest, she saw how small the teacher’s eyes were, and she knew it would do no good.
“Yes sir.” She turned around in her seat. “My name is—”
“Stand up, so everyone can see you.”
Her face felt hot, but thank God, no one would ever know because she never blushed easily. It was a useless talent usually, but here, it was her saving grace. She rose to her full height and stood next to the teacher. It gave her a small satisfaction to realize she was taller than him.
They were all watching her.
Everywhere Adrian looked, she saw guarded expressions. She’d seen most of them outside, hanging near Alex. And even if they hadn’t been there, self-preservation united these students. No one wanted to associate with the girl who’d insulted Alex Montgomery’s on-and-off girlfriend and who’d drawn the teacher’s ire.
Alex had his head tipped back. Even from here, Adrian saw amusement in his eyes. He was the only one smiling, and that made things worse.
“Hello. I’m Adrian Blake, and I’ve just moved here from Chicago. As you already know, I will be Alex Montgomery’s stepsister.” Now she put on a smile that felt natural. “I usually like English. But I hate English when it’s mauled by small-minded teachers who abuse their positions because it’s how they get off. Thank you.”
Someone barked out a laugh before burying his head in his arms. One of the female students, a pretty Asian girl, exchanged incredulous glances with an Asian guy as if confirming they’d heard what she’d just said. Even Alex’s friends looked surprised, but in the end, they all stared at the teacher.
The man quivered from head to toe. That was the only way to describe what was happening to him. “Detention,” he snarled.
“Yes sir.” She lifted her chin. “I’d like some fries too.”
“Detention for one week.”
“Yes sir. Are you going to make it two?”
“Are you mocking me, Ms. Blake?”
“That would be pretty hard to do, sir, when you’re doing a good job, yourself.”
More gasps and more snorts of laughter from the students. They’d abandoned the pretense they weren’t amused.
The teacher stomped toward her. His face was so dark that Adrian almost feared for his health, but he just pointed to the door.
“Dean’s office,” he spat, still trembling. Even his finger bobbed up and down in the air. “Consider yourself an honored guest of the detention room for a month. I want a ten-page essay about why insubordination is not allowed, on my desk tomorrow. I look forward to teaching you, Ms. Blake.”
Adrian grabbed her things. “I look forward to being taught by a man who is so threatened by his students that he has to resort to bullying.”
She walked out of the room with people’s whispers filling her ears.
Once she was outside in the hallway, she closed her eyes and sagged against a locker. “Oh my God,” she whispered. What had just happened back in that room? She had never talked back to her teachers in Chicago. Never.
The last half hour fla
shed in her mind like a film projector. The gauntlet of harassment she’d faced from Mandy Fitzpatrick, Quentin Maxwell, and now this teacher. Had she been too harsh, too confrontational? Sure, she’d mouthed off to the teacher, but it wasn’t her fault he hated her just because he hated Alex.
Unhappy, Adrian trudged to the main office. One of the secretaries directed her to one of the deans’ offices. Apparently the deans dealt with disciplinary problems while the principal dealt with administrative problems.
A guy was already sitting outside Dean Efken’s office. His spiky hair extended a full three inches, his light brown hair dark from so much hairspray. The sweet incense smell emanating from his blue shirt and khaki shorts told Adrian why he was here, but since he beamed at her, she smiled back. It was quite possibly the only nice smile she’d had today.
“What’re you in for?” he said.
“I talked back to an English teacher.” She took the seat opposite from him. He seemed decent, but she didn’t want to reek of incense. “What did you do?”
“They think I smoke.” He glanced around cagily, even though the hallway was empty. He sketched a smoking motion. “Well, you know.”
“Yeah, I figured.”
“You’re new, aren’t you? I’m Travis Cates. What’s your name?”
“Adrian.”
Those blue eyes fixed on her. “Huh. You don’t look like a guy. Don’t think there’s anybody here with that name …” His voice trailed off. “Oh. Adrian Blake?”
Resigned, she nodded. “Yes. Alex Montgomery’s soon-to-be stepsister.”
“Dude!” He bolted upright, his head bouncing off against the wall. “Ow! Ow! It hit me! Montgomery’s stepsister … shit.”
And that was the last word he said.
A dull, burning sensation settled in behind her eyes. Not tears, just pure exhaustion. Great, now even the school’s undesirables ostracized her too.
The dean still hadn’t seen her when the bell rang. He just stuck his head outside his office and told her and Travis to go, so she left for AP Spanish and then Economics. Both classes passed without incident, and she began to relax. Even gym wasn’t bad.
