Dangerous or not, there was something about them that pulled at me and intrigued the hell out of me, but Tre’s strong words echoed in my ear.
If I wanted to get through these few months at Atherton until I could go home, I had to keep my head down, keep out of Pen’s way and most importantly: STAY AWAY FROM THE BOYS OF THE CREST CLUB no matter what.
Chapter 6
I was up bright and early the next day, early enough to spend a bit more time on my make-up and use Beth’s expensive hair straighteners on my hair. Any attempt to tame the frizz, but try as I might, I had my mother’s hair and that meant it was a lost cause.
Back home it didn’t matter. No one bothered if your hair was big or small, but here at Atherton everyone seemed as though they had a personal hairdresser in their dorm room.
My dad was loitering by the kitchen counter fiddling with his cafetière. He turned when he heard me come into the room.
“There she is,” he smiled, his laughter lines making his eyes light up.
I returned the smile and sat down at the place he’d set up for me.
“Morning. I was exhausted last night, sorry.”
He poured his coffee into his mug and blew on it.
“Don’t be ridiculous. We’re sorry we weren’t able to be home, but I see you saw your dinner.”
He gestured to the empty plate in the sink and I nodded.
“It was lovely, thank you. How’s Beth?”
The smile faded from both his face and his eyes.
“She’s…fine? They monitored the baby, and everything was okay, but she’s on edge…” He came to sit down with me. “I don’t want you to worry about all of that though. You go ahead and enjoy your second day. How did you find it?”
The image of Pen and her ugly hearted crew popped into my head and I blinked it away and turned to look at my Cornflakes instead. No, I wasn’t going to tell him how bad and humiliated I felt. He’d been so positive about me going that I didn’t want to disappoint him. Not when he’d gone so far out of his way to bring me into his world.
“Great,” I lied. “I mean, I’m still finding my feet, but I’m sure today I’ll make more friends.”
He poured the milk on my cereal until I told him to stop and handed me the spoon.
“I don’t doubt that you will. Us Hughes’ always land on top.” He gave me a wink as though he saw through the lie I’d just told him. “Just you remember that for today. We don’t let anyone dampen our sparkle.”
Atherton school was busy with activity by the time I made it up the sweeping drive to the building and after the incident yesterday with Pen and then Tre’s warning words, I made sure to keep my head down as I walked up the steps and through the corridors.
My dad’s words stayed with me as I weaved around the other students on the way to my form room. I was a Hughes and back in London, I wasn’t the type to cower away after a few harsh words. Certainly not from the likes of a pristine Barbie like Pen.
I made it to the form room early and went inside closing the door behind me. It was only then that I let out the breath I hadn’t realised I’d been holding.
I could see the faces of everyone as they walked past from behind the safety of the classroom door, peeking through the window at what I was hiding from.
How had I become the person who felt the need to hide away from the world? That wasn’t me and I was starting to dislike the timid person I was becoming.
“You must be the new girl.”
The voice behind me made me jump and I spun around to see a thin willowy girl with long black hair sitting at a desk at the back of the room.
She repeated her statement when I didn’t answer.
“Yes,” I answered. “I’m Ally.”
“Geri,” she shot back. “Short for Geraldine, but I hate it with a passion.” She rummaged around in her bag and I thought she was going to pull out a spliff, but instead she removed her earphones from their case and unravelled them.
“Pleased to meet you Geri,” I said keeping my distance. “I’m…”
“I know who you are,” she interrupted. “I think the whole of the school does. You’re Mr Hughes’ daughter, right?”
I nodded reluctantly. So that was how they were labelling me as. No wonder I didn’t stand a chance.
I was nothing more than the caretaker’s forgotten child.
Geri swiped her dyed raven black hair away from her face and lowered her voice.
“Don’t worry,” she whispered. “For what it’s worth, I’m another poor girl too.”
“You are?”
I looked over her immaculate school uniform and expensive bag and shoes. No. She couldn’t be. Was it that easy to fake it? I’d never have guessed that she was any different from the likes of Pen and Tre that I’d already come face to face with.
She gave me a light laugh.
“Of course, but to get by in this school you have to know who to side with. You have to know who wants you and what you want…” The expression on her face changed and her eyes narrowed, and I could tell she had something else she wanted to say. There was more to her statement than she was either allowed or wanted to say and the darkness of her eyes suddenly made me shudder just as the door behind me slammed open and the rest of our class filed in, talking loudly amongst themselves.
Geri and I’s stare remained until I found my seat a few spaces in front of her and then it was broken, and she popped her headphones in and looked back out towards the window.
Something wasn’t right. I could feel that much. Sense it. My mother had always said it when she was unsure of something, but now I understood fully.
Perhaps I’d find her at lunch where we’d be able to get a moment to discuss whatever it was that bothered her.
I turned my head to the front of the class as Pen walked in. Her head girl badge sparkling in a freak ray of sunlight through the window. It made her golden waves sparkle as they bounced along in time to her steps. She put her Prada bag down on the table (brushing the wood first, of course!) and tapped the space beside her for another equally perfect girl to sit.
Oh, to be them. Oh, to have the whole of Atherton at your fingertips. But as class started and I thought about it more, I realised none of that was important in the real world.
The moment she turned into a bitch was the moment any kind of awe for her disappeared. My dad was right, and I had to get his words etched in my memory.
I was a Hughes. And for the most part, that was all that mattered.
After our form registration, most of us moved over to English and it was there that I found myself seated next to Geri with her sweet perfume wafting over to my desk every time she moved.
I couldn’t really work her out. Was she a bit rock? Punk? Grunge? Or, Emo?
Her heavy black eyeliner and dark hair would normally have been a dead giveaway, but there was something that made her different. I could see that. She had an air of grace about her, as though she oozed royalty, which was why I was surprised that she claimed to be poor too.
She looked up and caught me staring, a brief smile crossed her elfin features as our eyes met but within a moment it was lost as for the second time we were interrupted by the door, only this time it was a tame knock.
“Come in,” Mrs Bews called from her position perched on the edge of her desk.
It was Rupert. He waltzed into the room breezily, his presence carrying a charm with every step.
I glanced towards the back of the room where Tre was sitting and she gave me a look, before turning back to her book.
There was definitely something about him. Something that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Obviously, there was no denying how beautifully handsome he was, his dark hair in contrast to his amber eyes had me captivated. As much as the first time I saw him
From what I’d been told, the Crest Club boys were out of bounds and best to keep away from, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t admire them.
He mumbled something to Mrs Bews, an
d she sighed exasperatedly, probably used to the Cresties pulling their weight around and she looked in our direction.
“Geraldine?” she called.
Her body visibly bristled beside me and she stood up immediately, scooping her bag over her shoulder.
Where she was going, I didn’t know, but even Pen seemed slightly on edge with her leaving.
“In the middle of class?” she hissed at Rupert and he nodded without looking at her.
“She’ll be back,” he said shortly and with that Geri followed him out of the room obediently, throwing me one last look over her shoulder before the door closed behind her.
The room settled into an uneasy silence and I reached over to the window beside me to open it and get some air circulating.
Something about that whole exchange had seemed weird. Off. And I couldn’t help but wonder if she’d gone reluctantly. I tried to replay it in my head. The way her body tensed when her name was called and the look she gave me before she left.
No. I was reading too much into it. She was probably Rupert’s girlfriend for all I knew and whatever went on in their relationship was none of my business, but had I known the end result, I would never have let her go.
Chapter 7
Determined not to let the Hughes family name down, I decided to put my big girl knickers on and brave lunch time in the dining hall.
Pen and her posse were at what I was starting to realise was their usual table. Her arm was draped casually on Harry’s shoulder as she laughed breezily to the group. Her golden locks bounced effortlessly against her back.
The group of girls around her echoed their laughter and I felt a pang of anger. Anger that yesterday that laughter had been directed at me. They’d sat around me with my tray in my hand and laughed at my expense. At my loneliness and the humiliation, I’d felt.
Pen may have been flawlessly pretty on the outside, but her personality and had turned her ugly in my eyes and the more I glared at her, the worse I felt until I realised I was clenching my fists.
Harry glanced in my direction and our eyes met. I felt his stare throughout my body, right through my core and he gave me the briefest of smiles.
From where I stood, I saw the curve of his pink lips as he raised an eyebrow at me. Had he really noticed me? Still not repulsed by the fact that my dad got his hands dirty in the school gardens. I felt transfixed to the spot, unable to move. Despite the fact that he was sitting with my now arch enemy, there was something about him that I couldn’t look away from. Something that felt strangely warm and familiar.
Boldly, I mouthed the word ‘hi’ at him causing his smile to broaden, but that wasn’t the only consequence. At that exact moment Pen whipped her head back in my direction, following Harry’s stare and I ducked behind one of the pillars out of sight.
After getting my lunch, a simple curry with a helping of salad on the side, I found myself a nice seat between the empty tray stack and the exit and sat down and allowed my mind to wander. I thought about Geri in class. Her long dark hair against her pale face and I thought about the way she reacted when Rupert had come for her. Was it excitement? Anticipation? Fear?
A dark figure stepped into the refection of the light behind me, casting myself and my lunch into darkness before they cleared their throat.
I looked up.
It was Pen. Her mouth set into a thin straight line and her once friendly eyes horrible and beady against her porcelain skin.
She glared down at me.
“You’re back,” she hissed, lowering herself down into the chair beside me. “I thought I said this seat was taken? And when I say ‘this’ I mean ALL the seats in this hall”
I tried to ignore her and instead think of my dad’s welcoming smiling face when he’d seen me in my Atherton uniform, but she tilted her face into my view.
“Pen,” I sighed finally giving her the satisfaction of looking at her. “I didn’t exactly come in here for any trouble. I just want to eat in peace.”
Her eyes widened slightly, probably at the fact that I didn’t immediately jump up and vacate my seat in the wake of her words.
“You don’t get peace here,” she spat. “This school is steeped in hundreds of years of history. My family practically built this place, our family emblem hangs in this very hall…” she pointed upwards and I followed her painted fingernail to the archway above our heads where a large gold plaque was emblazoned with the words:
‘Ashridge Dining hall kindly opened by the Brevan-Ashridges’ in September 1996’
She smiled almost proudly when I looked back at her before her face changed and she stiffened.
“My parents donated heavily to have this hall renovated into the place you see now and that means that a Hughes will never be able to set foot in here as long as I’m breathing.”
I took a deep breath and tried to stay calm. I tried to remember the reason I was here and how much reconnecting with the father I never knew was important to me. I didn’t want to disappoint and humiliate him by starting a fight with the head girl but everything about her, her face, her voice and the way her fingers drummed against the table annoyed me.
She was treading on thin ice.
“Did you hear me?” she asked, and I could hear the irritation in her voice. She hated that I wasn’t afraid of her.
She leaned in close to me, so close that I could feel her breath on my skin.
“If you don’t leave this hall on your own, I’ll make you.”
I turned to her, my face right up against hers. I might not have been from her privileged world where people spoke to those beneath them like shit, but I was from a rough area of London. I’d seen things she wouldn’t even know or believe existed. Little Princesses born with silver spoons in their mouths didn’t scare me.
Our eyes met and I saw the sheer venom in hers.
“I’d love to see you try!” I hissed back and just as she wrapped her long fingers around my blazered arm, Harry was by our side, his hand on her shoulder pushing her back.
“Pen!” he growled. “What the hell are you doing? You’re making a scene.” She let go immediately, aware of her audience and her reputation as the head girl.
Harry looked down at me, and I felt my stomach flutter under his stare. Did he blame me for what was happening here?
Pen stood up, putting some distance between us and some of her table posse had joined her side. I couldn’t hear what they were saying but they chattered like a coven of witches.
I watched them for a moment before turning back to my plate.
A large part of me wanted to get up and walk out, walk back to my safe spot on the courtyard steps but the proudness in me didn’t want to give up. Once I did, I’d be an easy target for the rest of my time at Atherton.
It didn’t matter how many of Pen’s ostentatious family members paid their blood, sweat, money and tears to fix the dining hall, I had every right to eat in there as she did.
I carried on eating under the curious eyes of several other people in the hall, aware that they were most probably speculating on what had just happened between us.
I wanted to shout at them that the pretty bitch behind me, their head girl was nothing more than a rich bully. The worst kind.
“Excuse me?”
It was her voice again, but this time, I already knew what was different. She’d got a platform. A couple dozen people stood around watching us that were also scared of her and would cheer her on no matter how nasty she became. Great. Welcome to Atherton.
I put my fork back down and turned half left towards her, raising my eyebrow instead of opening my mouth to respond.
It didn’t sit well with her.
“You think because you’re a Hughes, that you can come here with a fowl city attitude, well I’ve got a little lesson for you.”
“A lesson?” I glanced at Harry who watched me intently. Whose side was he on? Most probably hers. Especially if he was her boyfriend and I decided I hated him again.
Instead o
f just stare at me, he could have talked his hideous girlfriend down and given me a break. I got the impression she would have listened to him. I was almost certain of it.
“That’s right, a lesson,” she almost sang. “You know, I’ve given you more than enough time to pack up and go.”
“Go where?” I asked. “This dining hall is for everyone and the last time I checked, your parents’ flashing the cash and showing off didn’t count as you owning dinner time. Get over yourself.”
Some idiot behind me gasped, amplifying the drama of what I just said and the anger that crossed Pen’s face would have been comical had it not been directed at me.
Harry’s eyes widened at my words and I saw him hold back a laugh. Yes. No one was used to seeing people stand up to her, but they didn’t know me. They didn’t know about my life.
“Get over myself?” Pen echoed. “Seriously? You’re telling me to get over myself?”
She walked up to me, the sound of her Mary-jane shoes clicking on the buffed tile floor.
She reached over the table and in one quick move, quicker than my own reaction time or that of Harry, she picked up the full jug of ice-cold Lemon water and threw every last drop of it into my face.
It soaked me and my clothes in an instant and I stood gasping for air as the liquid invaded my nostrils and the coldness took my breath way.
I heard a chorus of laughter around me, but with water in my eyes I could barely see anyone or anything and I reached out to feel for my bag, flinging it over my shoulder.
Despite my persistence to stay, standing there in front of everyone in my soaking uniform and running makeup wasn’t worth the humiliation.
I turned to leave but a firm hand grabbed hold of me and pulled me against them. It was Pen again. What more did she want from me?
“See,” she whispered against my ear. “I told you, you were finished here. Oh, and you might want to get a towel.” She let go of me aggressively almost pushing me forwards and I wiped the makeup out of my eyes as I made my way towards the exit. Thank god I sat beside it.
Diamond - A British Academy Rich Boy Bully Romance (Atherton School Crest Club Book 1) Page 4
