by Eden O'Neill
“Eh, bitch? You’re in my fucking spot.”
I jerked around. A, I wanted to see who in the fuck called me bitch, and B, I needed to tell whoever off for claiming spots like an idiot.
I saw a beast.
Well, not an actual beast but close enough.
Bastard hung out of another expensive ride, a cobalt-blue Hummer truck with black interior. On the hood, an animal symbol stamped into the paint, a wolf scrolled in cool silver, and by the size of this guy, he could leap over the design in a single bound. He had himself angled out of the car, getting to his feet.
Yeah, he was big.
His stance easily leveled him well above his truck. He slammed the door, dark and shaggy hair breezing in the wind. It was also wet like the lazy ass couldn’t dry his hair before coming to school.
Not to mention dress properly.
His tie hung loose around his neck, his dress shirt open and his ribbed tank on full display. Yeah, this guy was definitely a lazy ass. He slammed a hand on the hood of his car. “Move, bitch. I said this spot is mine.”
Male laughter sounded from not far away, two dudes in particular. One was about the size of a Mack truck and was also quite pretty with dangly piercings in his ears and his dark hair slicked about in a messy fashion. He had his head turned toward an ultra-blond dude. Not like beach bottle blond, no.
The guy looked like he walked off the set of Game of Thrones without his dragons. Cuffing the sleeves of his uniform jacket, he wasn’t trying to hide the fact he found all this funny with the big dude. They had one other member of their male harem, and this particular dude wasn’t laughing at all.
He was smoking.
Thick white smoke curled richly from between his full lips. He licked one when he removed his joint, and tendrils of natural-blond hair breezed lazily over his eyes. He was completely devil-may-care from his military boots to the fact he had his jacket sleeves bunched up. I’d read the Windsor Prep handbook and both were against it.
Not that he cared.
Extremely good-looking, he had a chiseled jaw that just may well be sharp enough to cut polished crystal, his jawline clean shaven as he straddled the line between boy and man. His body told one thing, but his face another. He filled out his academy jacket to the point where it bulged around his big shoulders and thick arms, and his pants basically painted on his muscular thighs.
He stared at me with that boyish gaze, but the man beneath lingered there hot in the wings. Like the guy was just waiting to be tag-teamed in.
Like he was waiting to pounce.
He did neither. His beast of a friend was basically yelling at me in front of him. Blondie and his other two crew had already parked, convening between two Audis. A third Audi was there too and that let me know the three had probably traveled in a unit.
Beast boy, on the other hand, had obviously showed up late and, apparently, had jokes for me calling me out of my name. I crossed my arms in front of him, the guy still standing next to his hood. I tilted my head. “I don’t see your name on it.”
Dark eyes flared from beneath shaggy hair. He directed a finger toward me. “Use your fucking eyes, little girl.”
Um, no this bitch did not?
I was by no means little. I possibly might be considered shorter compared to his behemoth ass, but not little by any means. At five foot ten, I was lanky as hell, but clearly, this guy was just trying to place me beneath him.
It wouldn’t work, but I did decide to entertain the asshole when I turned around. Funny enough, I did spot a sign. It said “Student of the Month,” and I spotted it the moment Bru came around with our bags. Clearly missing my heated exchange, my brother handed me mine. I wasn’t surprised he missed it, I suppose. Bru had the trunk up when beast boy was yelling at me.
“What’s going on?” Bru asked, now seeing the big guy staring me down across the fool’s ride. Bru’s eyes twitched, going back and forth between me and the large boy, but I waved my brother off. I could handle this.
“What exactly did you do to achieve such an accomplishment?” I asked beast boy, goading him. I leaned back against my car. “Blow your history teacher?”
This set fire off in his eyes, and Bru grabbed me.
“What the fuck are you doing?” my brother gritted, as the beast of a man bounded around his car.
He got up in my face.
“Move your goddamn car,” he growled at me, like an actual beast. It seemed that the wolf on his hood was fitting, and the only reason he didn’t get too close to me was Bru.
My brother jerked me back, trying to keep me out of a clearly brewing fight, and I’d be lying if I said my brother hadn’t done something similar before. He often played the middleman when people started shit with me at our other schools. Bru pushed me back. “Stop it.”
“I’d listen to him, girlie.” Beast sneered and he nearly got a backhand for that one. This guy definitely had a limited vocabulary. Especially when it came to women.
I started to go in for round two with this guy, but at this point, his friend called him back.
Blondie.
He’d called him by the name “Wolf,” and I nearly laughed my ass off. The fact beast boy actually went about town with such a name just about sent me into hysterics. Either he was arrogant enough to go by it, or his parents were assholes.
Maybe a little bit of both.
I kept that last thought to myself, not really wanting to get in a fight on my first day. But mostly for Bru.
Beast boy listened to his friend, falling back and Blondie seemed more consumed with finishing his smoke than getting in the fight himself. He jerked his chin toward Wolf, an obvious gesture of retreat and that definitely told me something about their ranks. Beast boy wasn’t in charge.
Blondie was.
Blondie stared at me through narrowed eyes, so obviously trying to figure me out. He flicked his joint butt, then put it out with his boot before tapping the chest of the other two guys with him. All three boys grabbed their bags off the cars, and in their distraction, my keys were taken from me.
“I’ll move the car,” Bru growled at me, and I did feel bad. I hadn’t meant to embarrass him or anything, but someone needed to stand up for us. We couldn’t go around letting people think they could take advantage of us because we were new or unfamiliar.
Even still, I gave my brother his way, and after shooting me a look that could kill, Wolf got back into his ride. He waited for Bru to clear our Chevelle before peeling into the spot and nearly clipping both cars surrounding his Hummer. After that, Wolf slammed the door, heading over to his three waiting friends.
“Yo, bitch?”
Wolf jerked around, actually answering to what I’d called him. This had his friends in tears. Well, everyone but Blondie.
The big blond guy merely stared on, seemingly fascinated by the exchange. I pointed to him, this guy clearly Wolf’s handler. “Better go back to daddy.”
A feral growl boomed from Wolf’s lips, and he shot in my direction so fast I thought he might get a hold of me. Bru came between us, though, and Blondie, once again, called Wolf away.
“Let’s go,” Blondie called, almost lazy about it. He started to walk away whether Wolf was coming or not.
Biting back a curse, Wolf trailed after him. He caught up quick, but one of the guys lingered back.
The platinum blond who appeared like he belonged in Game of Thrones stared at me, his own curiosity to his gaze as he stared.
“Wells?”
But Blondie called him back too, clearly in charge here. Who he’d called Wells caught up, and my brother shouldered me.
“I can’t believe you,” he said, leaving my ass, and I sighed. He didn’t wait for me, getting the hell out of Dodge.
I guess we’re off to a great start.
Chapter Four
Sloane
Moments later, my younger brother and I sat in the headmaster’s office. Well, the lobby that led to her office. We were told to wait so she could han
d us our welcome packets and answer any questions we might have about attending the academy. This task was apparently something the headmaster did personally, and I was happy it was her since I’d actually already met her.
I looked forward to seeing Principal Mayberry again, but I had to say, the wait had been awkward as hell. Bru was still mad at me, obviously. He pretty much steamed beside me, and I’d already apologized.
Twice.
I really hadn’t meant to go off the handle. I never did, but it just happened. We moved a lot, and people tended to bully us because of that.
“I just don’t get why you can’t keep your mouth shut for once,” he huffed, folding his arms. His head touched the back of the wall in his chair. “You’re going to get me fucking killed. You’re going to make shit a nightmare once again.”
It was because I stood up for us that life at all these schools we went to weren’t nightmares. I crossed my legs, my heel bouncing. “You’re being melodramatic.”
“I’m not.”
I started to give a retort, to check him. I was the older sibling. I was in charge and needed to take care of him.
So why did I feel socked in the gut when I looked at him?
He sat there completely locked up, looking at everything but me in the wide office. I think he really had wanted a fresh start here, to be normal. I dropped my leg and turned to him. “I’m sorry.” I really was. I shook my head. “We have to draw first blood. Otherwise, our blood will be the ones that coat these pretty walls.”
It was the simple “get them first before they got us” mentality, and I didn’t understand why he didn’t get that.
“You’re so goddamn negative,” he said, facing me. “Maybe if we came at people right, they won’t handle us.”
“You don’t know that.”
“You never gave us a chance to try. Always flying off the handle.” He leaned back. “It’s like you’re doing everything you can to be the opposite of Dad.”
Our dad who hadn’t fought. Our dad who had stood back. He used to get so mad when he’d gotten calls about me. His stance had been to stay out of things first and definitely not my approach.
I cuffed my arms. “I’m really sorry, Bruno.”
“Say you’re sorry by staying out of shit,” he said, then we both sat up when the secretary said the headmaster was ready for us. Bru and I stood, grabbing our bags, but before we could go anywhere, we were met in the lobby by a familiar face.
“Noa Sloane,” Principal Mayberry said, certainly different today when she stood in the center of the Windsor Prep crest donning the cherrywood panels. She wore pressed pants and a white blouse, her hair pinned back like a disciplinarian. She pointed at me. “I mean, Sloane. I haven’t forgotten that.”
And I appreciated that, smiling when I took her hand. “Good to see you again.”
“And you,” she said, studying me. I was different today too, I supposed. I mean, I wore a fucking pleated skirt, and that didn’t happen. I even rocked the heels with dark knee-highs, wanting to really put an effort into this. My navy jacket lined with orange trim was ironed and crisp, and though I didn’t pin my hair back like the headmaster, I’d braided it down. Currently, my dark hair sat at my butt, and though I’d have to avoid sitting on it all day, it was a far cry better than my normal messy bun.
Bru had even worked mousse into his chestnut-brown locks, trying to empress too, and the fact the headmaster and I knew each other clearly threw him for a loop.
I think the headmaster picked up on that after she introduced herself to him because after, she waved a hand in my direction.
“Met your sister last night,” she said, Bru’s eyes twitching wide. “She saved me from a thug. The guy tried to rob me blind.”
Bru’s brown eyes expanded. Not two seconds ago he’d gotten onto me for being the first to jump into battle, but at this, he smiled.
I supposed the circumstances had been different.
“She’s good for that,” he said, with a smile in my direction. He pocketed his hands. “She’s always taken care of me.”
And I had, but somewhere along the way, I think I had forgotten that he’d gotten older. That he probably could take care of himself.
If you let him.
“She is very brave,” Principal Mayberry said, then waved her secretary over. The headmaster’s digs were quite frankly ridiculous just like the rest of this place. The administration building was lined with dark oak in the interior, the building wide and all brick on the outside. A handsome garden led up to the whole thing, and we were only on the main point of the campus.
Bru and I watched as the secretary handed Principal Mayberry two packets. The headmaster gave us each one.
“Your welcome packets,” she informed, smiling. “They have your schedules, maps, and everything else you need. All that’s left now is, I suppose, the tour.” The woman angled around to her secretary, who had returned to her desk. “Diane, I’ll be back in an hour. I’m going to escort these students around campus, then to their first classes.”
Floored, I simply stared at here. “You’re giving us a tour?”
The woman was already putting her suit jacket on, the Windsor Prep crest on her chest. “Of course, I am,” she said, passing me a smile. “It’s the least I can do. You saved my life after all.”
She waved us out, and I exchanged a glance with Bru. It seemed maybe I was doing well at starting to get some of those brownie points back.
I guess that was a start.
Principal Mayberry had a golf cart set up outside the administration building for our tour with another staff member driving it.
That was how big this fucking campus was.
She directed the driver, and he took us where she wanted, which was as much of the campus as she could show us in an hour. She mentioned she had another meeting to attend after, but in the meantime, proceeded to show us all she could before class. Bru and I got to skip first period, which was apparently typically homeroom anyway.
With classes in session, we stayed on pathways usually filled with walking students but were currently clear for our tour. She pointed out the academy’s greenhouse, as well as the various sport pitches and buildings reserved for classes. Apparently, each year held classes in their own buildings, so the juniors, where Bru’s classes would be held, were separate from mine since I was a senior.
I wasn’t sure about how good I felt about being separated from him, but he was a big boy I guess and could take care of himself. I needed to start giving him a chance to start doing that, and I supposed the distance was good for both of us. We dropped him off at his building first, where he was to be handed off to another student. The student hadn’t arrived yet, but Principal Mayberry said he would be there soon. He’d be Bru’s guide for as long as he needed him, a junior like himself.
“His name is Wells Ambrose,” she said, smiling at Bru from the cart. “He’ll be around to help you with anything you need, but if you ever need anything else, please feel free to stop by my office anytime.”
Principal Mayberry was super accommodating, and I really was confident Bru would be okay. I left him via the cart with a wave, one he gave back as he waited for his guide.
He’ll be fine, and you will too.
I hoped we would. I wasn’t one of those people to say life constantly kicked me in the ass, but my brother and I held our fair share of traumas. I mean, we were orphans at seventeen and eighteen.
I supposed others had it worse, and I tried to remind myself of that as the tour concluded and Principal Mayberry dropped me off at the buildings reserved for senior classes. I thought she’d leave me to wait for my guide like Bru, but she physically escorted me inside to the first class.
Again, she said it was the least she could do.
I really appreciated that. This transition would be hard enough, and it’d be nice to have someone in my brother’s and my corner. I shook her hand outside of the class, and while I did, I noticed a set of eyes on us.
<
br /> He passed us.
The blond guy from outside, the boss dog.
Daddy himself.
He was sans Wolf and his other friends at the present, and where his gaze had casually passed over me before, it didn’t now.
If anything, it blazed.
Seriously, his expression cut in my direction, but through further observation, I noticed it more so laid on Principal Mayberry beside me.
Noticing my attention had shifted, Principal Mayberry shifted hers in the same direction. And I noticed she stood taller in front of the guy. Like he was the headmaster and she was the student. I found that weird as fuck, and she didn’t look at me again until the boy passed and turned a corner down the hallway. I had no idea where he was going, but I still felt that heated gaze well after he’d disappeared around the corner.
“So your guide will meet you inside once next period starts,” she said, but I noticed her attention still at that corner. This possibly could be in my head, though. I mean, he was just a boy, a student. Even still, she obviously noticed the look. She pressed a hand down her jacket before facing me. “Her name is Bow Reed. She’ll help you.”
“Thank you.”
“Of course, and if you need anything…”
She didn’t finish, instead nodding before heading in the opposite direction of the boy. Again, that felt weird, but I’d had a rather exciting morning, so I passed it off. Instead, I headed inside the classroom, and since second period classes hadn’t started yet, the room was empty.
Not for long. The bell rang, and seconds later, the room’s activity started.
I took a seat, watching as the room filled up and students milled about in their academy uniforms. Many of the girls had designer handbags, labels I’d only seen knockoffs for where I came from.
The culture here was most certainly different.
I waited, feeling awkward. I wondered if I’d need to tell the teacher I was the new kid so my guide could find me. I stood, starting to do that.
“Holy crap, you’re tall.”
I directed a look down, way down to what looked like a little girl, but then again, I was tall. The girl had dark hair, wavy and long, and so much fire red in her cheeks one would have thought she ran all the way here.