Ever After (East Raven Academy Book 1)

by Scarlett Haven

  I laugh. “Oh, Bryce doesn’t like me. He found out that I’m a hacker. I was telling Estaine and Jason the other day how I hacked into this girl’s cell records, for her boyfriend, and he found out that she was cheating on him. After that, he’s kind of stayed away from me. Actually, that was the day he encouraged you to join the dance team.”

  Emma gasps. “Do you think he’s cheating on me?”

  “Yes,” Teagan and I say in unison.

  “It wouldn’t be the first time,” Teagan says. “Or the fifth.”

  “Should I dump him?” Emma asks.

  “Yes!” Teagan and I once again say together.

  “I really should, shouldn’t I,” Emma says, smiling. “I’m going to do it. Right now.”

  She pulls out her phone.

  Ouch.

  Break up via text.

  Normally, I would stop her and tell her to go to his dorm. But Bryce doesn’t deserve to be dumped to his face. He deserves to be dumped via text message.

  While she is texting him, I pull out my own phone to see if I have any messages. I almost expect to have one from Brooks, but maybe he’s still asleep. I’m surprised to see that Estaine texted me. We were out late last night. I’d probably still be asleep if it wasn’t for Emma.

  ESTAINE: Hey.

  Hey?

  Just hey?

  ME: Hi. I’m doing laundry. Also, Emma is texting Bryce a break-up text. Expect lots of drama today ;)

  ESTAINE: I’m doing laundry, too. And maybe we should just skip the lunchroom and order pizza.

  ME: YES, PLEASE.

  ESTAINE: Haha, okay. Come to my dorm later.

  ME: Okay. See you later!

  My phone vibrates in my hand, this time with a text from Brooks.

  BROOKS: Hello extremely beautiful girl with whom I had an epic first date.

  I smile at his text.

  But then, I think about what Estaine said yesterday about Brooks. About how he was a really crappy boyfriend to River.

  Do I care?

  Kind of.

  But also, I realize that River was in his past. He made mistakes, yes, but I’m sure he has grown from those mistakes. He’s become a better person. I shouldn’t compare our relationship to his past one. Especially, considering Brooks hasn’t told me about River. We definitely have not gotten to the place in our relationship where he tells me about his ex-girlfriends. And he didn’t just break up with his ex. She died. How do you get over something like that?

  I push the thoughts to the back of my mind.

  ME: Hi.

  BROOKS: What are you up to?

  ME: Laundry. Listening to Emma’s relationship drama. She just broke up with her bf via text.

  BROOKS: Harsh...

  ME: The dudes a jerk and deserves it.

  BROOKS: Ah... sounds fun.

  BROOKS: We should hang out again today.

  ME: I can’t. I already told Estaine I’d hang out with him. We are going to spend the afternoon in his dorm eating pizza and avoiding our friends.

  BROOKS: I’m not sure if I should be jealous that you’re hanging out with another guy, or happy that you’re not trying to hide it from me.

  ME: I already told you that Estaine is my best friend. Nothing more.

  ME: He told me last night why you and he don’t get along...

  BROOKS: Last night? You guys hung out last night?

  ME: Yeah. Teagan wanted to make out with Jason, so I went with her and hung out with Estaine.

  “Hey, no boys,” Teagan says, just now noticing I’m on my phone. Her own phone is in her hand.

  I roll my eyes and lock my phone. A few seconds later, when it vibrates, both Emma and she are using their phones, so I have no guilt reading the text.

  BROOKS: I am incredibly jealous, right now.

  BROOKS: I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I am contemplating calling my dad and seeing if he will let me transfer to East Raven.

  ME: DO. IT.

  ME: And don’t be jealous. Estaine and I just talked. We even talked some about you.

  BROOKS: What else did you talk about?

  “Who are you texting?” Teagan asks me.

  “First, I was texting Estaine, but now Brooks,” I answer. “He’s being all jealous because I hung out with Estaine last night. I kind of like that I have this kind of power over him.”

  “I’m still team Estaine,” she says.

  “I’m hanging out with Estaine later today.”

  “What happened to girls’ day?” Emma asks.

  “You and Teagan will have so much more fun without me,” I say.

  Teagan glares at me, but I just smile, and go back to texting Brooks.

  ME: Well, first I told him about hanging out with you. And then he told me about River. Which, don’t worry... nothing too bad. And don’t feel like you have to talk to me about your ex gf. It’s too early for that...

  BROOKS: Agree.

  BROOKS: What else did you talk about?

  I think back to all the conversations we had.

  ME: Um... love at first sight.

  BROOKS: Do you believe in love at first sight?

  ME: Nope.

  ME: Do you?

  BROOKS: Yes. Definitely, yes. What did Estaine say?

  ME: You really want a play by play of our entire conversation?

  ME: Estaine said that he used to not believe in love at first sight, but he does now.

  BROOKS: Because of you?

  ME: He said no such thing.

  BROOKS: What else?

  ME: Hmm... well, he talked about why he doesn’t have a girlfriend. And that’s pretty much it.

  BROOKS: Okay.

  BROOKS: You’re for real not interested in him, right?

  Uh.

  Why is he asking me this?

  ME: Brooks, ESTAINE AND I ARE JUST FRIENDS.

  “I’ve decided that jealousy is no longer cute,” I tell Teagan.

  She looks up from her phone and smiles. “Good. ’Cause I’m totally team Estaine.”

  I roll my eyes at her.

  “Which guy do you like better?” Emma asks. “Because, that’s all that matters.”

  “I don’t know,” I answer. “To be honest, I’m not ready to be in a relationship with either one of them. I literally just met them both, like, nine or ten days ago. After I get to know them, then I will decide. But Brooks is acting like we’re in a relationship already. I guess I just want to slowly get to know each one of them, and then decide.”

  “Which one makes your heart go pitter patter?” Teagan asks.

  I just grin, not knowing what to say.

  Brooks has made my heart race from day one. Since the moment I laid eyes on him. And I guess that had more to do with me being attracted to his physical appearance, than anything else.

  But Estaine... I was always attracted to him, but I didn’t even start to think of him in more than a friendly way until Teagan started teasing me about it. Or maybe, it was when I started talking to him and got to know him. But I don’t even know if Estaine is interested in me.

  Either way, I’m not ready for a committed relationship. I’m only sixteen and I have plenty of time to find a boyfriend. Estaine is right. High school relationships do have too much drama, and I hate drama. When the time is right, I’ll know it. Until then, I will enjoy every second of being single.

  12pm.

  A thing.

  “What do you like on your pizza?” Estaine asks, as he sits at his computer. I am currently lying on his bed, looking at the ceiling. He has some kind of projector thing that projects the solar system onto his ceiling. It’s too light outside to truly enjoy it, but I still like it.

  “Everything but pepperoni and anchovies,” I say.

  I mean, who likes anchovies on pizzas? Gross.

  “You don’t like pepperoni?”

  “Nope.”

  “Why not? That’s just... weird,” he says. “Everybody likes pepperoni.”

  I sit up and look at him.
“I don’t like pepperoni because it’s gross and greasy. Something about how it curls up and has a pool of grease in each round pepperoni grosses me out.”

  “The grease is what makes it delicious,” he says. “But fine. No pepperoni. I can live with that. We can get a meat lovers without pepperoni.”

  “Sure,” I say.

  What is it with guys and meat? If this were Teagan and I ordering pizza, we’d probably just get a veggie pizza. Charlie always ordered a meat lovers without pepperoni on Friday nights when we would hang out.

  “Do you want breadsticks?” he asks.

  “YES. That’s my favorite part,” I answer. “Extra marinara sauce, please.”

  He looks over at me and smiles. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen somebody get so excited over breadsticks.”

  I just shrug. “I love carbs.”

  “You’re so cute,” he says.

  I fall back onto the bed and cover my face with his pillow. “I am not.”

  His pillow smells like him.

  I move the pillow.

  Seriously, how do I know how he smells?

  “Ordered,” he says, shutting his laptop. “It’ll be here in thirty minutes.”

  “Awesome.”

  Because I’m hungry.

  I avoided the dining hall and skipped breakfast. I was glad that I chose to skip, after Teagan came back looking very stressed. Apparently Emma and Bryce got into a screaming match that bought them both after school detention for the month. Separated detention. Obviously, they can’t handle being in the same room together.

  “Scoot over,” Estaine says to me.

  I do, and put the pillow behind my head so I can sit up slightly as he sits beside me.

  “What movie do you want to watch?” he asks.

  “Why don’t we watch a TV show?”

  “What TV show do you want to watch?”

  “It’s been forever since I watched Smallville,” I say. “And, in case you didn’t know, I love Superman.”

  “We can do Smallville,” he says, smiling at me. “Did I ever tell you that you are the coolest chick, ever? Because you are.”

  “Thanks. I think,” I say.

  He gets up and goes through something in his dresser drawers. I laugh when he pulls out the complete ten series discs of Smallville.

  “You like Smallville enough that you brought the entire series with you to school?” I ask.

  He nods.

  “I own it on digital,” I say. “Okay, but if we start this, you have to promise not to watch it with anybody else. This can be our thing.”

  “Okay,” he says. “Every Sunday afternoon.”

  “Okay,” I say.

  Estaine and I have a thing.

  As he pops in the disc, I can’t help but wonder if Brooks would be jealous. I mean, he’s already acted so jealous towards Estaine.

  Would I be jealous if he was hanging out with a girl this afternoon?

  To be honest, I don’t know. I don’t think I would. But, maybe. I won’t know until I’m in that situation.

  I hear my phone vibrate on Estaine’s nightstand and I figure it’s Brooks, but I choose to ignore it as the episode starts. I’ll text him later tonight, because even if I do decide that I want Brooks to be my boyfriend, I don’t want to be one of those girls whose whole life revolves around a guy. I’m stronger than that.

  Plus, I do not want to be like Emma.

  Heck, Emma doesn’t want to be like Emma.

  I know Emma doesn’t want to be in the relationship she’s in, but it’s hard. She loved Bryce, and she literally can’t get away from him at school. I think it’s good that they’re both choosing to go to different colleges, because it will help them. Distance is what those two desperately need.

  Or to date other people.

  Well, it sounds like Bryce is dating lots of other people.

  I put my head over on Estaine’s shoulder as we watch the show, just because it’s comfortable there. He puts his arm around me, and I’m thinking that I just fit there perfectly.

  “This is nice,” he says quietly.

  “It is.”

  Really nice.

  In a way, Estaine reminds me of Charlie. Not in the brotherly sense, because that is not the case. It’s just... I’m so comfortable with Estaine. Even though I just met him, I feel like I can be myself around him and I feel like I can tell him anything.

  I already have told him everything. He knows the truth about who I am, and nobody else in the school knows. Not Teagan. Not even Brooks. Though, to be fair, I haven’t got to spend as much time with Brooks, because he goes to West Raven.

  About thirty minutes into the show, Estaine gets a call. Our pizza is here. He pauses the show and goes to grab our pizza. He says we can eat on the bed, but I insist we eat on the floor. I can’t stand for there to be crumbs in the bed. It’s, like, my number one pet peeve in life. When I told him that, he laughed and told me I was weird, which I already knew.

  I have no idea what is going on with Estaine and me, but what I do know is that I enjoy hanging out with him.

  I’m glad I told him the truth.

  Monday, August 28

  Something happened.

  I wake up in an extra-good mood, which is weird for a Monday morning.

  Yesterday, I hung out in Estaine’s dorm until curfew. Thankfully, I was not late. So, no more added detention.

  At least I get to do detention with Estaine. It won’t be so bad with him.

  Today, I am wearing a white fitted shirt that says, ‘Hello Monday You Jerk.’

  The dress code at this school is weird.

  All the girls have to wear skirts, which is normal for private schools. The skirts have to be black, khaki, or plaid. Since I hate khaki, I own a ton of black and plaid skirts. But we can wear whatever t-shirts with sayings on them.

  The skirt lengths are weird though. We follow the fingertip rule, which means some of the girls wear their skirts really short. But the guys at school can’t wear shorts any shorter than their knees. Shouldn’t both girls and guys have the same rule on the length of their clothes?

  I put my Converse on and see Teagan shaking her head at me.

  “What?” I ask.

  “Every day, I spend an hour getting ready and you throw on the first thing you can grab, and you still look cuter than me,” she says.

  Teagan is pretty.

  Way prettier than me.

  “You’re crazy,” I say.

  “The guys here like you.”

  “Only because they didn’t see me go through puberty, like they did you,” I say.

  “Valid point,” she says.

  “And guys here like you, too.”

  “Not the one I want to like me.”

  “Who?” I ask.

  “That’s not important,” she says.

  “That’s not fair. You know all about my crush on Brooks and Estaine.”

  “So, you admit you have a crush on Estaine?” she asks.

  “No. I admit nothing,” I say.

  She just smiles. “Too late. You already said it. Can’t take it back, now.”

  “Whatever,” I say. She basically already knew it, anyway. Like, I think she knew it before I knew it.

  A moment of panic hits me.

  “Wait, you don’t like Estaine, do you?” I ask.

  “What? No. No way,” she answers. “I promise you that the guy I have a crush on is not Estaine or Brooks.”

  “Okay, good,” I say, letting out a breath.

  Nothing can ruin a friendship more than friends crushing on the same guy. That would be bad. Teagan is the only girl friend I’ve had since I was in middle school, and I do not want to ruin it.

  We walk to the dining hall together and grab some coffee and food. We join our friends, and I am glad to see that Bryce is not sitting there. He’s sitting on the other side of the cafeteria with some of the guys from the football team.

  Phew.

  No drama this morning.

&n
bsp; “Nice shirt,” Jason says to me.

  “Thanks,” I say, taking a seat by Estaine. It seems to be my designated seat. Everybody kind of sits in the same spot every day.

  “Hey,” Estaine says.

  “Hi,” I say.

  “How was your MMA training this morning?” he asks.

  “Good,” I answer. “Except Uncl... umm...” I cough. “My trainer got a little rough and accidentally punched me in the arm.” I lift up my sleeve and show him the purplish bruise that is starting to form on my forearm.

  “Ouch,” he says.

  “Yep,” I say, pulling the sleeve back in place. I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. “I whined about it and he pretty much told me to quit being such a girl, and suck it up.”

  “Harsh,” Estaine says.

  I laugh, pulling out my phone. “He’s not nice. He says that it’s better to be tortured by him than...”

  My voice cuts off as I read the text.

  UNCLE MATTY: This is not a test. Run, don’t walk. Get here as fast as you can. Something happened.