by Ruby Vincent
I held still as silence descended.
“Seriously, Airi.” Isabella was a cold witch normally so it was saying something to think that her voice had never sounded frostier. “You think we don’t all have shit to do?”
“I— I only meant—”
“Cade has to make valedictorian again. Natalie has a tournament coming up to defend her title as grand master. And Mother is pulling me out of school every weekend to practice for the Nutcracker audition. Getting Clara in a Broadway production will pretty much cement my future as principal.”
“I k-know. I—”
“No one wants to waste their time with Valentina Moon, but the Spades don’t take it any easier on the people who cut the marked slack. Would you rather be fucking with her or have them fucking with you?”
“First one. Definitely.” I had never heard Airi sound so small. “I was just kidding, Bella.”
I heard a sniff. “Whatever. Look, we’re about to be late for homeroom. We’ll have to corner her afterward.”
I let out a breath as I heard them file out. That was until the door slam was immediately followed by the bell.
I hoofed it the rest of the way, bursting through the doors and tearing off for Professor Wheeldon’s homeroom class.
The second floor of the academy was almost identical to the first. The same black-and-white marble floors. Heavy drapes covered the large windows and made the space darker than it needed to be. I once thought it made it look romantic.
I skidded to a stop in front of the door. Taking a minute to collect myself, I placed my hand over the button cam to make sure it was in place.
Okay. I’m ready.
I stepped through into the homeroom, and every eye snapped to me. I looked around for a free desk until my gaze met his... and his... and his.
I stopped dead. Jaxson Van Zandt, Ezra Lennox, and Maverick Beaumont gazed at me from the row they claimed at the back of the room. In the row directly in front of them, was Natalie, Airi, and Isabella Bruno.
Only thing needed to complete this hellish picture is—
A whoosh of air tickled my skirt, and I knew before I turned around who it was.
“I had hoped Jaxson was lying...”
I spun to face him.
“...but you actually were stupid enough to come back.”
A smile spread across my lips. “I’m sure he told you why, too.”
Ryder Shea smirked at me. Silver eyes looked me up and down in the same way I was sizing him up. I was wrong about no one looking good in yellow. It seemed Ryder’s special brand of devilishly handsome couldn’t be tamed by anything from hideous uniforms to the glint that lit in his otherwise cold eyes whenever he saw me. It was a glint I knew by now came before he dealt his next blow.
“Yes, he did.” He cocked his head. “You plan on taking us all down one by one. By yourself. No help. And everyone against you.”
“That’s right,” I said cheerily. “And the best part is”—I leaned in and lowered my voice—“I’m saving you for last. I’ve got something very special for you.”
Ryder’s eyes narrowed. “You really are a fucking idiot. There isn’t a single thing you can do against me. There is nothing you can do to stop me.” He lowered his voice too. “I could choke you in front of the entire school and no one would do a thing.”
Anger roiled in the pit of my stomach, boiling inside of me until it was everything I could do not to lunge. Be smart, Val. Use this anger to take him down.
“You’re wrong,” I said after a minute. “You have no idea the things I can do to you, but you’ll find out before the year is over.”
“You think I’m afraid of you?”
“No, you’re not afraid of me.” Words Ryder said to me only last year sprang to my lips. “But you should be.”
“Excuse me?” A clearly irritated voice broke through our bubble. I peered over my shoulder at Professor Wheeldon. “Are we interrupting?”
“Yes,” Ryder snapped.
If possible, Wheeldon turned redder. “Just who do you think you’re—! Sit down now!”
I didn’t need to be told twice. I turned my back on Ryder and took up a free desk in the middle of the room. I watched Ryder as he strolled past to the back with the rest of the Knights. It was actually a good thing to have them all in one place. They would get a front row seat as I tore every one of them down.
“Hey, Val.” Lola spun around in her seat and shot me a grin. “I had a great time at your party. Especially that bit at the end.”
A few people around us snickered.
“Half the class missed it,” she continued, “so I made sure to put up the video of you getting caked so everyone could see.”
No one tried to smother their laughter now.
“Quiet!” Professor Wheeldon heaved himself out of his chair and stared us all down. He was a big man—like bodybuilder big. His suit was neatly pressed and a stylish pair of glasses perched on his nose, but I couldn’t shake the impression this guy would look more at home in a gym.
“Thank you,” he began. He stepped in front of his desk and leaned against it. “Announcements will begin in a moment, so before they do, I would like to introduce myself. This will be my first year at Evergreen. I’m taking over for the former English II professor.”
Whispers broke out around me and my brows snapped together. Was a new teacher really that big of a deal?
“Rules for homeroom are as follows: No talking. No eating. No fighting. You will come in, work, and then you will leave. Is that understood?”
He got a resounding yes from the class.
“Good. Then first things first. Your seating assignments.”
Cue the groans. I might have groaned too if I thought it would do any good. Grudgingly, I got out of my seat when he called my name and moved to the third from the last row. Down the names he went until I learned exactly why having a new teacher was a bad thing.
Even though the staff wouldn’t admit it, I knew the entire school was aware I was marked. I would have thought an old teacher would have known not to sit me next to Maverick and Ezra, but sadly this guy was clueless.
I snuck a peek at Maverick through my lashes. The taller boy was stoic as usual, not a smirk, smile, or frown graced his handsome, angular face. No more buzz cut for him. His coarse, brown hair had grown in thick and perfect, making him look even cuter than he already did.
It was everything I could do not to bare my teeth. Maverick was cute, but stupid me, I thought that just because he was introverted that meant he didn’t know how cute he was. The guy played my attraction for him like a harp and one afternoon playing grabass with him almost got me kicked out of school.
I have something special for him. I have something special for all of them.
I cut eyes to Ezra as he sat straight-backed in his chair and dutifully pulled out his homework. He was still the most well-groomed boy I had ever seen in my life—nails perfect, hair slicked back, blazer buttoned up to the collar.
The boy who stole my first real kiss... and came for my mother in front of the whole school.
I wonder if they really thought they would get away with what they did to me.
The class door opened and I looked up as the AV club wheeled in the television. With a flick of the remote, Headmaster Evergreen was on the screen welcoming everyone to a new year.
We were thrown right in for all of our morning classes. No let’s-get-to-know-each-other games. No going over the syllabus. I had moved up to Spanish II, English II, Advanced World History, and another semester of art, and those were just my Monday, Wednesday, and Friday classes.
Despite how fast my professors went, I felt good about this year. Last year had proven I could hold my own among geniuses, prodigies, and kids who went to private school their whole life.
I left World History with my head stuck in my textbook. Can’t believe the guy assigns a paper on the first day. I’m not sure I can spell Etruscan—
“Val, where you runnin
g off to?” A shadow fell over my textbook and I pulled up quick. A kid I didn’t know, but had seen around school last year, stood in front of me.
Dean? Darren? Who cares.
I gave him a filthy look. “Can I help you?”
“Yes, you can.” He grinned wide enough to show off all his teeth. “The secret’s out. You sell that ass for change and I’m happy to buy.” He shrugged. “As long as you’ve taken care of that STD of course. So how about it? I was thinking five— No, four dollars for a fuck.”
I raised a brow. “Are you offering to pay me for sex?”
He screwed up his face at the people watching like “Can you believe this girl?”
“Yes, I thought that was obvious.”
“Alright. Just checking.” Then I sidestepped him and kept walking.
“Hey! What time we hooking up?”
I didn’t slow my stride. I rounded the corner and spotted my locker right away. Someone had been kind enough to cover it with joker cards, just in case I forgot for a solitary second that I was marked.
I ignored the cards as I tossed my new textbooks in my locker. They didn’t faze me. My mind was on what was coming next: lunch.
There was a new lunchroom this year, but it would be filled with the same kids, and this time, they weren’t driving me out.
I walked in and spared a glance around. This space looked exactly the same as the freshman cafeteria from the vaulted ceilings to the dais with a single table sitting upon it. The Knights had yet to make their appearance so I joined the lunch line, got my food tray, and found an empty table next to the window.
The taunts started up the moment I sat down, but I ignored it, focusing on my food. Sofia walked in a bit later with my old friends, Eric, Paisley, and Claire. Right behind them, were the Knights.
The boys sauntered inside single file with Ryder at the front, then Ezra, Jaxson, and Maverick taking the back. As usual, they skipped the line and went straight to their table. Four girls were right behind them with their lunch trays.
I shook my head. Of course they expect to get away with everything. People cater to them like they have their whole lives. Nothing worse than giving a bunch of rich assholes more power.
Dropping my eyes, I went back to my food as they pelted me with insults, not letting up until I finally tossed my tray and left.
MY BAGS WERE PACKED and ready to go the minute the bell rang ending classes. I shot up and bolted out the door while the rest of the class was still unzipping their backpacks. The reason why shouted for me when they stepped into the hall.
“Val, where are you running off to?” Isabella called. “We haven’t had a chance to say hi yet.”
I picked up the pace, and behind me I could hear the Diamonds doing the same. Those assholes were not going to make me late.
I took the stairs two at a time and raced out into the quad.
“Hey!”
They were seriously following me, and they were gaining—or one of them was. Axel pulled out ahead of the others and zeroed in on me, showing off just how he became Evergreen’s track star.
I spun my head around and put on a burst of speed. Almost ther—
A hand grabbed my collar just as I yanked open the door. Axel and I tripped over the threshold and fell smack on the floor of the gym.
“Goodness, are you alright?”
I elbowed the idiot off me and scrambled to my feet. “I’m fine. I hope I’m not late. I can go right now.”
A petite woman with a butterfly tat on her neck and hair in a multitude of braids blinked owlishly at me. “You’re not late, but why don’t you take a minute and catch your breath?”
The woman was bending to help Axel up when the rest of the Diamonds burst in.
“Valen— Oh.” Natalie’s shout was cut short by all of the eyes on her. A dozen people gathered on the floor of the gym, watching our little show.
The woman put Axel on his feet and then planted her hands on her hips. “Are you all here to try out?”
“Try out?” asked Airi. “Try out for what?”
“Then I’ll take that as a no.” The woman leveled a finger at the door. “These tryouts are closed. Leave now.” She turned her back on them and gave me a smile at odds with her previous sharp tone. “But you can stay. Go get changed and then warm up. Dance team auditions start in five minutes.”
“Dance?” Isabella’s hiss brought a smile to my lips as I headed for the locker room. If she thought she was pissed now.
I changed quickly and then joined the group. The Diamonds were long gone so I was able to focus on warming up.
“Alright, everyone. For those who don’t know, my name is Yvette, and should you make the team, I will be your coach. We do step, freestyle, hip-hop, and other forms of dance when we have guest instructors. We enter at least two competitions a semester as a group, more if I feel any of you can handle solo competitions.”
I was bouncing on the heels of my feet. I was feeling everything she was saying and couldn’t wait to show her what I could do. I would have been all over this team last year if I hadn’t started school late, but going back and forth two hours to breastfeed Adam wasn’t possible.
“So one by one you will show me your routines and then those who make the cut will find out tomorrow. Sound good?”
“Yes,” I said along with the others.
“Let’s get started then.”
The first person stepped up and the rest of us moved to the bleachers. Most of the people here were juniors. The only people from my class were Tracy, Penelope, and... Eric.
I caught Eric looking at me from the corner of my eye, but his eyes slid away when I looked at him head-on. He took one end of the bleachers with the other sophomores while I took the other side. Thankfully, no one was any more interested in messing around than I was. We all focused on the tryouts and nailing our routines.
I took a break from mumbling steps to myself when Eric stood up.
Wow. He’s good.
Good was putting it lightly. I had never seen Eric dance before but two minutes into his routine I knew he would be in. His moves were tight, inventive, and I caught a smile on Yvette’s face. I knew there was more than a good chance that I would be on the team with people from my class, but I hadn’t considered how I would handle being on the team with one of my old friends.
Eric sat down to applause and then I was next. I stood up and handed Yvette my music. She gave me a supportive smile as I backed up and got into position.
I had chosen an instrumental song of one of the Undisturbed’s tracks. They had done a special collaboration with a reggae artist that resulted in a killer rhythm perfect for dancing. As soon as the music kicked off, I did.
I spun, dipped, shook, and even threw in a few flips I practiced in Sofia’s guest room. I nailed every move, and when the song faded, I struck my final pose and fought to keep the grin off of my face.
“Very nice, Valentina,” said Yvette. She lowered her clipboard to give me a smile. “You can get changed. I’ll post the results tomorrow.”
I nodded and set off for the changing rooms. I didn’t stick around to watch the rest of tryouts. Stepping outside, I was relieved to see the Diamonds hadn’t stuck around either. The quad was practically deserted, except for a few students laid out on the grass, soaking up the sun.
I pulled out my phone and texted Sofia on the way.
Me: Do you know the room numbers for the Knights and Diamonds?
She didn’t text me back until I was in my room, shutting the door behind me.
Sofia: Why? What are you going to do?
Me: Not much without their passcodes. Just want to know where my enemies are.
Sofia: Okay. The boys are on the second floor. They have rooms next to each other. 202, 204, 206, 208. Natalie is 506. Isabella is 300. Airi is 112.
Right away I went to my desk and pulled out the list. I jotted their room numbers down next to their names.
Me: Thanks. You’re the best.
&
nbsp; Sofia: That is true.
I set aside my phone and picked up the list.
Time to get started.
I FINISHED MY HOMEWORK in record time—as in, I finished before dinner. Among the many things I didn’t miss was how heavy our workload was.
I wanted a top-notch education with a side of privileged jackasses, I thought as I headed for the cafeteria. And I got it.
Dinner at Evergreen wasn’t as intense as lunch. Students were allowed to pop in anytime from six to nine, and I usually avoided everyone by being there at six on the dot. I arrived at my usual time, but didn’t go back to my room after picking up my tray.
My new spot next to the window was waiting for me, and I sat down and got comfortable. The zucchini pasta with stuffed bell peppers went down my throat fast. Sofia complained about how healthy we had to eat, but I couldn’t get enough of this stuff.
I paused with my fork halfway to my mouth.
She’s here.
Airi strode into the cafeteria with her head bent over her phone. She was alone.
I scarfed the rest of my food down while she got her tray and was up by the time she reached the door. Slowing down, I hung back as she walked down the hall and out into the quad. It wasn’t until she reached the doors that I sped up.
I slipped inside and called for her. “Airi.”
Airi stopped to peer over her shoulder. She scowled when she laid eyes on me. “What do you want?”
“I wanted to talk about last year.” I tried for a smile and was lucky it didn’t come across as a grimace. “Look, I know you guys didn’t want to do the things you did to me.”
The corner of her mouth rose with her grin. “Who says I didn’t want to do it? You were so funny running off that stage bawling your eyes out.”
With that, she gave me her back and kept walking. I jogged to catch up.
“We didn’t have any problems before I was marked,” I said as I fell in beside her. “Because we both had our own shit and couldn’t be bothered.”
Airi picked up the pace, passing my dorm to get to hers.
“I know you have better things to do than make my life miserable, so why don’t we call a truce?”
