Princess: Ridgeview Prep Book 2

by Quinn, Londyn

  “Our arrangement?” I scoff. “Give me a fucking break. You like your place here at this school,” I seethe. “That’s why you’re always hanging off my dick. Your father lost everything when his company imploded, and you know that without me, you’d be at the fucking bottom of the food chain. I don’t need you or the network you think you have. In fact, I can destroy that network as fast as I helped you create it if you’re not careful. So you’re gonna take your threats and swallow them, Melina. My dick has free reign to fuck whoever I want…and what I want sure ain’t you.”

  The look of shock is priceless, and I’d like to take a picture but I don’t have time to stand here for a second longer.

  I smile at her and put my hands on her shoulders. “If you so much as look at Charlotte when she’s back, I’ll make you wish you were going to Oak Hurst High with the derelicts instead of Ridgeview Prep.” I sweep a strand of hair behind her ear, seeing a vein throb in her neck. She wants to lash out, to claw out my eyes right now, but she won’t dare. She knows what she’s got to lose. And yeah, she was a good lay to pass the time, and she helped me claim my place here before her father buried himself. But I’m not that forgiving, and until I can figure out who I’m up against, everyone is the fucking enemy. I lean close, my breath against her ear. “This place can be vicious, and I’m sure you don’t want to find out firsthand how very horrible your life will become if you cross me, Melina.”

  She visibly shakes, and my smile widens.

  I don’t have control over much, but here?

  I’m the fucking king.

  Chapter 6

  Charlotte

  “What the hell?”

  The light streaming in through the blinds stings my eyes as a nurse comes into my room. She banged her rolling nurse station computer thing right into the end of the bed, jolting me awake. Why do they have to do rounds so damn early in the morning?

  “Sorry about that. I don’t think I will ever get used to these stupid things. How’re we doing this morning, miss?” the older woman tuts down at me with my chart gripped in her hand. Her features are blurry as I blink my eyes rapidly a couple of times, trying to get them to focus.

  “Better, I guess,” I groan, trying to shift into a more comfortable position.

  “Looks like you’ll be getting out of here pretty soon.” She smiles at me before writing a few notes onto the clipboard and putting it back into its holster at the foot of my bed.

  “What? How can I be going home the day after being in an accident? The doctor said I had a really bad brain injury. I don’t understand.” I don’t fucking get it. It’s not like my insurance company is refusing to pay for me to be here. The Hawthornes wouldn’t stand for that.

  “I talked to your doctor and he has agreed to discharge you as long as we have someone check on you at the house,” my mother’s voice breaks free as my eyes dart to the corner of the room where she is perched.

  Has she been there this entire time?

  Did she stay here all night?

  Why does she want me home so fucking quickly?

  Figured my folks would have been enjoying the time away from me and my antics.

  “All right.” I don’t know what else to say. My brain is still wrapped in a daze, filled with missing pieces and complete confusion.

  “I’ll leave the two of you. Take care.” The nurse offers a tight-lipped grin, backing out of the room slowly with her rolling workstation in tow.

  “Rolland is on his way here now to get us. We’ll have you home and in your own bed before you know it, honey. You’ll feel much better once we get you out of this cold, sterile place.” She comes up beside me, grabbing my hand firmly, and I realize she is still in the clothes she had on the night before. “I am so thankful you weren’t seriously injured. I don’t know what I would have done.”

  My mother chokes on her words as her fingers release mine before her hand flies up to cover her trembling lips.

  I slowly cock my head to the side, overwhelmed by her genuine emotion. “I am really glad you’re here. Thank you.”

  “Wild horses, sweetheart. Wild horses.” She blinks back tears, swallowing hard. “I’m going to hunt down your doctor for those prescriptions he promised me hours ago.”

  She really had been here all night.

  I am completely shocked.

  I really wish that I wasn’t so surprised, but my parents are the way they are. I could have never seen this one-eighty coming from a mile away.

  * * *

  My bed has never felt so damn comfortable in my entire life. Rolland had to carry me up the stairs to get here, but it was totally worth it. My mother was right, I did feel better being home. Which was overly strange. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt relief being back at Hawthorne Manor. Guess there is a first time for everything.

  On the nightstand there is a gorgeous blue and purple orchid arrangement with a gaudy, get-well-soon balloon hovering over it.

  Moira. I smile, eyeing the beautiful arrangement that she had put together. It was one of her finer skills that she loved to put to work.

  “Miss?” Moira’s voice chirps from my open bedroom door.

  “Yes?” I lazily smile at her as she walks in with a tray clutched in her hands.

  “The doctor said that you need to eat when you take your medication. I brought some tea and a croissant for you.”

  I breathe in the clean scent of her lilac shampoo as she sets the tray down on the end table.

  “Thank you.”

  Descending onto the bed, she pats my arm. “Of course, Miss.”

  Her eyes look tired, even under her perfectly done makeup.

  “I really am all right, you know.” I try to offer a shred of comfort to her.

  “I know. I’m just so relieved.” Her head falls a little. “After you brother, I just don’t know how we would have managed. You know I think of you like my own, right?”

  I tangle my fingers with hers, beaming up at her. “We’re family. And besides, I have to stick around. Someone has to be here to keep you on your toes.”

  She laughed a little, rubbing her thumb under her eyes.

  “Eat up. Your medication is in the small dish.” She runs her free hand over her face before pushing up from the bed.

  Once Moira exits my room, I flip the TV on for some background noise as I peel apart the flaky pastry. I could tell it was from my favorite bakery. Moira really pulled out all of the stops.

  Flipping through the channels, I finally land on a Criminal Minds rerun that I have seen five times, at least. I’m able to get most of the tea down and all of the croissant before my pain level starts to creep from a five to an eleven. It damn near takes all of my strength just to choke down the pills before my head falls back onto my plush pillow. It feels like it weighs a million pounds. This is not fun at all.

  * * *

  Gentle tapping clicks in my brain as I groggily come to again.

  “Charlotte?” Blaine is standing in the doorway with a bouquet of white roses. The bottom of his chin has a bandage, but other than that he looks completely fine. Lucky bastard.

  “Hi,” I cough.

  “Char, I hope this is all right. I tried to visit you at the hospital and the nurse told me that they sent you home already. Your mom was nice enough to let me come up.” He rapidly spits out the words, taking a few steps into me room.

  “Thanks for coming to check on me. Those are beautiful.”

  “It was the least I could do.” Blaine sets the flowers down next to my other ones. “I feel horrible.”

  “They’re called accidents for a reason. It wasn’t your fault. How could it be?” I point to the armchair a few feet away from my bed. “Sit. Relax. You look like you need to take a load off.”

  Rubbing the back of his neck, Blaine nods. “Yeah. Okay.”

  “How are you?” I asked, twisting a little so I could look at my guest.

  “Fine,” he mutters. “Don’t worry about me.”

  His ey
es start darting around the room. He looks nervous and on edge. But it could be all the meds making me paranoid.

  “What is it?” I force out.

  “I just feel like absolute shit that you’re laid up like this because of me.” His head falls into his hands. “I don’t know if I will ever be able to forgive myself. This is all my fault. Look at you. You wouldn’t be all banged up if it wasn’t for me. You’re too beautiful, too perfect to be hurt like this.”

  Well, that was a little dramatic.

  Blaine’s words stain the air. What in the world? Blaine has always been a little flirty with me, but never this outright. It feels off. Something is going on but I can’t piece it together. I can’t piece anything together. Stupid meds. Stupid head trauma. I need to figure out a way to get my head back on straight.

  “Honestly, Blaine. I am going to be right as rain in no time. This is nothing to beat yourself up over.” I don’t know what else to say. It’s true, right? I am going to be fine eventually.

  “Thank you for that. I needed to hear it. Char, can I ask you something?”

  I cock my head to the side as Blaine’s eyes dart to the floor. “Sure.”

  “Would you consider letting me take you out to dinner when you’re up to it?” he stammers.

  Well, that came out of left field.

  “Blaine,” I breathe out, not entirely sure how to let the guy down easy. “You’re so sweet, but I don’t know if that is a good idea.”

  His face twists as he grips the arms of the chair.

  “I like Xander,” I continue, letting my admission swarm around in the still air.

  “He’s not good for you,” Blaine growls low through gritted teeth. “You deserve someone better.”

  “Someone like you?” I ask, not sure where the hell this conversation is going.

  “I didn’t say that, just someone better.”

  “Knock, knock,” a familiar voice sings out. “Oh, you already have company.”

  My eyes break away from Blaine to Ellie ambling in, still in her school uniform. Saved by the fucking bell.

  “Hi,” I breathe over, excited to see my friend. Especially since she just interrupted the most awkward conversation in history.

  “I should go,” Blaine rises from the chair. “I’ll come back to check on you soon.”

  “Thanks for stopping by.” I wave goodbye to Blaine as Ellie plops down in the seat he just vacated.

  Blaine stands in the doorway for a second, looking like he wants to say something else. After a few long seconds, he purses his lips and waves quickly before shutting the door behind him.

  Once Blaine leaves, Ellie turns to me. “Wasn’t he the driver? How is he not all fucked up and shit?”

  I force a shrug. “I don’t really know. I can’t remember. Everyone just keeps telling me that we’re lucky it wasn’t worse.”

  “You’re telling me. It’s all anyone has been able to talk about around school. I saw the pictures of his car. It looks like a crushed soda can.”

  “Really?”

  Ellie nods. “There was a rumor going around that you had died and that Blaine did it on purpose.”

  I gasp. “What the fuck?”

  “You know how kids are. Their lives are too boring so they make shit up to get a little bit of attention.” Ellie giggles. “But at least I can put that stupid gossip to bed now that I have seen you’re all right with my own two eyes.”

  “I’m glad at least one person at that school has my back.” I smile over to her as she pulls a binder out of her backpack.

  “Always. Speaking of having your back, I got all of your assignments and bribed kids from your classes that I am not in to let me photocopy their notes for you. I’ll try to stay on top of it until you’re back on your feet.”

  “You’re too good to me.” My chest tightens. It’s been far too long since I had a real friend like Ellie. An overwhelming sense of love for her floods in. Damn, I am all types of fucked up and emotional right now.

  “It’s what friends are for.” She gets up, coming to sit next to me. “I haven’t seen Xander around school, but I could have just missed him. There’s talk going around about him, too.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “People are saying that he flew off the rails when he heard about your wreck. Like completely went off the deep end.”

  “I’m sure that is all just idle gossip, too. It’s not like Xander and I are together or anything. He’s probably just cutting class or getting to school late like he always does.”

  The mere mention of Xander’s name makes my skin prickle with heat. He really loves me. The realization of what those words actually mean ping pong between my ears for a second before my brain buzzes with question after question.

  What in the hell is going on? What is Xander actually doing? His last few declarations to me buzz in my mind. He told me he loved me. That he would prove it to me. What could he be planning to make that happen?

  I shake out of my paranoia. He’s just being Xander, ditching school to be the lackey for his jerk of a brother or something like that.

  That has to be it.

  “Charlotte?” Ellie quirks her brow. “What are you thinking?”

  I shake my head. “Nothing. These drugs have me all loopy. That’s all.”

  “Lucky.” She lets out a little giggle. “I should probably go. I’m still on house arrest. If I get home too late, my father will stack time onto my sentence.”

  “Sorry for getting you in trouble.”

  Ellie leans over to give me a very gentle hug. “Don’t be, I had a blast. Being grounded is totally worth it.”

  “We’ll have to do it again after all of this clears up.”

  “It’s a date.”

  Right when I am alone again, Xander floods my thoughts all over again.

  He loves me.

  He said it.

  He meant it.

  But where is he?

  Why hasn’t he checked in again?

  He seemed so concerned about me when he was in the hospital. And now he is completely MIA? What is going on?

  I try to force it out of my brain, but it’s futile. Even though there aren’t answers for the questions I have. Well, there are, but no one is going to give them to me. Especially not Xander. He is a complete mystery, still. After everything. I still have no idea where I stand with him. That’s the hardest part.

  Chapter 7

  Xander

  I run down the court, my sneakers slapping against the concrete, my fingers expertly dribbling the ball. I twist around Chase and dart through the human wall he and Asher tried to make. They thought it would prevent me from taking the shot.

  They always underestimate me.

  I always take the hardest shots.

  And I usually sink them.

  It’s pretty much the story of my life.

  I don’t win all the time, but I never run away from a challenge.

  And challenges in my life are very fucking brutal and often bloody.

  And sometimes, they can be deadly, not that I’ve experienced that personally.

  Yet.

  Being out here with my friends, schooling them at a sport I’ve played practically since birth, it doesn’t do much to further my business goals but my head is in a million places right now, and basketball doesn’t require me to think about any of the shit plaguing me.

  It’s not really a death-defying feat to score on Chase and Asher, and because they’re more accustomed to playing tennis than basketball, I have the obvious advantage, although they’re tall enough to give me a good run for my money.

  That’s the thing about being the teacher. You need to develop your students so they can be useful to you someday.

  I jump into the air, shoot out my arms, and send the ball rocketing toward the hoop where it lands with a clean swish.

  It’s one of my favorite sounds.

  I like it a lot better than the screams I hear when I need to take a box cutter to a body part.


  I run a hand through my hair and wipe my face with the bottom of my t-shirt.

  Chase lets out a groan. “Dude, you’re such a show-off.”

  I snicker. “Come on, you guys have like four inches on me! You could be destroying me every time we play!”

  Asher lifts an eyebrow. “Is this supposed to be some Jedi-in-training drill? Do you want us to try and channel the Force while we’re playing you? Is that the only way we get an advantage over you?”

  “Ah, silly Padawan. You’ll need much more than the Force to score on me,” I say with a snicker, taking a gulp of water from my bottle.

  “Hey, what happened with you and Melina today at school?” Chase asks. “She looked pretty pissed off.”

  “She doesn’t know when to quit,” I grumble. “I told her we’re through, but she doesn’t want to hear it.”

  “Is it true her father really lost everything? How the hell can he pay for her to stay at Ridgeview Prep?” Asher asks, grabbing a towel.

  I shrug. “I’m not his accountant. But I can tell you this…if I had control over a multi-million-dollar business, I might not have wanted to risk everything by sleeping with the wife of my biggest investor and risking my board seat and controlling interest in my company, that’s all I’m saying.”

  “Yeah, not one of his better decisions.” Chase shakes his head. “For such a smart guy with a hot piece of ass for a wife, he made a real dumbass choice with that one.”

  “People like him don’t usually think about consequences. They think about the immediate pleasure of having a former runway model on her knees sucking their dicks, and once they shoot their loads, bam! All control is gone and they’re stuck with their thumbs up their asses because they gave everything away.” I smirk. “I hope that pussy was worth it since he ain’t getting his wife’s anymore.”

  “Speaking of pussy,” Asher says, exchanging a look with Chase. “Is there another reason why you kicked Melina to the curb?”