Empire High Elite

by Ivy Smoak

  “I can’t say,” he said. “It doesn’t just involve me.”

  Mr. Pruitt clasped his hands together and sighed. “But you can confirm that my other daughter is doing what Brooklyn said? Blackmailing you? Trying to ruin both your lives?”

  “She’s certainly not making my life any easier,” Matt said.

  Mr. Pruitt sighed. “Interesting. Well, I will have to look into that for you as discretely as possible. I’m assuming she threatened you with my assets?”

  Assets? What is he talking about?

  “Yes,” Matt said. “But I wasn’t worried about that. I’ve only ever been concerned about Brooklyn’s safety.”

  Mr. Pruitt sighed. “I’m sorry. I’ve had this conversation with Isabella before and I guess I need to have it again. Go ahead and sign the papers and Isabella won’t know. And I’ll make sure to look into this inconvenience without putting either of you in danger. Isabella knows better.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked. “My safety? Danger? What else did Isabella threaten you with, Matt?” I asked.

  Matt didn’t respond.

  “Oh, she threatened to have him killed,” Mr. Pruitt said like it was nothing. “You too I presume. But she knows the rules. She’s not allowed to escalate anything to homicide. It’s actually in that document there,” he said and nodded toward one of the stacks of papers. “I expect you to have that signed and back to me by the morning,” he said and started to eat again.

  “She was going to kill me?” I asked. I remembered her friend Charlotte saying how easy it would be for them to make me disappear. She’d been freaking serious.

  “No. She’s not allowed to use my assets like that. Another thing in the rules. An amendment specifically added for her.”

  “So not murdering people is in the house rules? Why the hell does that have to be in the rules? And why did it have to be added because of Isabella? Has she already killed someone?”

  “Mind your language at the table.” Mr. Pruitt seemed so calm as he took a sip of his wine. “Keeping family secrets is one of the rules. And I can’t discuss anything further with you until you sign the papers.”

  “I’m not signing this.” I shoved the stack of papers away.

  “If you want my protection, you’ll sign the rules,” he said.

  “I don’t want your protection. I’ve told you, I don’t want anything from you. I…”

  “It doesn’t matter what you do or don’t want from me. You need my protection.”

  “Why? I was perfectly safe before.”

  “But you aren’t now,” he said firmly. “So please sign the papers and don’t disobey me again.”

  “I need to know why I’m not safe now. What am I not safe from?” I thought about Miller checking everything so thoroughly in Felix’s apartment. What exactly had he been looking for?

  “Because you’re a Pruitt,” Matt said, like that was explanation enough.

  I just stared at him. “I don’t know why that changes anything.”

  Mr. Pruitt looked exhausted as he pushed his salad to the side. “Because there are a lot more people that want you dead besides Isabella now. Let’s have the main course, shall we?” He snapped his fingers.

  I wasn’t sure if it was to signal the server or to show that it was the end of the conversation. But I was too stunned to speak anyway.

  Chapter 17

  Monday

  I walked up the steps of Empire High in my new uniform. It didn’t feel like students were staring at me anymore. Whatever rumors had been circulating had died down, probably thanks to some other rich-person scandal. I made my way through the big wooden doors and down the crowded hallway.

  The rest of my weekend passed in an awkward blur. Mr. Pruitt wasn’t how I’d imagined him. He was protective of me, despite the fact that he swore he only just found out about me. He treated me like I belonged. And he was trying hard to get to know me. But when he presented me with a contract bigger than any of my textbooks, it made me wary.

  I’d signed the relationship agreement as soon as Matt had. I didn’t even really get a chance to look at it. If Matt trusted it, so did I. But as for the house rules? I hadn’t signed those yet. Mr. Pruitt had given me a stern look when I didn’t have it signed and ready yesterday morning like he’d requested. But instead of chastising me, he handed me a section of the Sunday paper to read. Instead of reading anything, I just stared at the crossword puzzle and missed my uncle.

  I spotted Kennedy by her locker and hurried over to her. She hadn’t answered any of my calls yesterday. Or the night before. And I was dying to talk to her. “Hey, are you okay?” I asked.

  “Hm?” She looked up at me. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”

  I just stared at her. There were dark circles under her eyes. One of the times I’d called, her mom had said she was taking a nap. If that were true, wouldn’t she look a little more rested? “I’m fine. I was worried about you after you ran off.”

  “That was nothing.”

  It wasn’t nothing. She’d confessed that she loves Felix. Well, kind of. She hadn’t actually said his name. But I knew. She knew that I knew, right?

  Kennedy started playing with her camera instead of looking back up at me. “How was the rest of your weekend?” she asked.

  Should I push this? I stared at the way her bangs hid her face when she was fidgeting with her camera display. If she wanted to talk about it, she would. I couldn’t force it. “Um. It was okay. Mr. Pruitt gave me some weird house rules document to sign. I’ve only read about half of it, but it’s all pretty insane.”

  She finally looked back up and she was smiling. “Did you expect anything less than crazy from him?”

  I laughed. “Not really.”

  “I’m sure it only gets weirder. I’d just sign it and get it over with.”

  “Fair point.” She was probably right. I couldn’t memorize all the rules anyway. I thought about the contract sitting on my bed. Signing it would make Mr. Pruitt happy. And he was significantly more pleasant when he was in a good mood. “Oh, and Matt and I made up.”

  “Well that’s good. How did Felix take it?”

  Oh balls. I’d been so happy that Matt and I had gotten back together that I hadn’t even thought to tell Felix. “Um…I haven’t told him. Felix and I got into a pretty bad argument after you left.” It wasn’t much of an argument. He’d pretty much just said I was the worst and walked away. And I was. I’d treated him awfully. I hadn’t even meant to.

  “So you and Felix are done?” she asked.

  It was a weird question. I’d just told her I was back with Matt. But it was less weird if she was secretly in love with Felix. “Mhm. I’ll try to talk to him today though. I really want to be friends.”

  “Do you think he’ll still sit with us at lunch?”

  “I don’t know.” Kennedy and Felix were my only friends at Empire High. I didn’t even want to think about the fact that there was a chance I’d lost that. He’d forgive me, right? I hadn’t intentionally led him on like he believed. I was trying to protect Matt. I was dealing with other things. But it didn’t matter what I told myself. I still felt guilty. “At least I won’t have to sit with Isabella at lunch today.”

  “Are you sure about that?” Kennedy asked.

  “Yeah. She didn’t come home. I guess she’s still in the Hamptons.”

  “Are you sure about that?” Kennedy asked again and looked over my shoulder.

  Isabella and her minions were walking down the hall, their high heels clicking on the linoleum.

  “What are the odds that she’ll just ignore me?” I whispered.

  “Based on the fact that she’s coming this way? Slim to none.” Kennedy slammed her locker shut. “Come on.” She grabbed my arm. “Let’s just get out of her way.”

  But before I even took two steps, Isabella called my name.

  Kennedy and I both froze.

  “Sissy, whatever are you doing?” Isabella said and stopped beside me.
“It’s like you’re trying to avoid me.”

  That’s exactly what I’m doing. “Of course not,” I said. God, when had she gotten back? Just seeing her made my stomach roll. Her fake smile made me nervous. And the nickname Sissy? Come on. She wasn’t fooling anyone.

  Isabella flipped her hair over her shoulder. “You’ll sit with me at lunch again today, yes?”

  I couldn’t even fake being nice this time. “No. Absolutely not.”

  She looked surprised by my answer. “But I talked to Daddy.”

  Ew, stop calling Mr. Pruitt that. “Great.”

  “And I know I messed up and I’m…sorry.” It was like the apology pained her because her fake smile faltered for just a moment.

  Apology not accepted. “Okay. But I’m still not eating lunch with you.”

  “Please, Brooklyn,” she said, her voice lowered. “I said I was sorry. Truly I am. And if Daddy thinks we’re not getting along, he’ll send me away again.”

  She was acting like a trip to the Hamptons was a punishment. It sounded pretty glamorous to me. Especially if that house wasn’t haunted too. “I’ll just tell him I sat with you. He doesn’t have to know.”

  “But, Brooky, we’re sisters now. It’s okay if I call you Brooky, right?”

  I just stared at her. “I prefer Brooklyn.”

  “Okay, great, I’ll just call you Sissy then. So we’re on for lunch then?”

  How were either of those things the conclusions that she came to? But just then Matt walked past us. Our eyes locked for a second and he ran his index finger against his nose and then winked. I was pretty sure I melted right there. It wouldn’t be as bad now that we had a signal, right? Maybe it would be nice to sit with him this time. I quickly looked away before Isabella could notice. “I’ll think about it,” I said.

  Her smile grew, and for the first time I wasn’t sure if it was fake. She actually looked relieved. “Daddy will be so pleased with this news. I know it’s his wish for us to become close. And now I can tell him we’re doing just that. See you later, Sissy.” She blew me a kiss and her and her posse clicked off, everyone in the hallway parting for them to pass.

  “Sissy?” Kennedy said under her breath. “Could she be any more manipulative?”

  “It’s fine,” I said. “I’m not actually going to sit with her. But I don’t think she’s planning anything sinister today.”

  “Oh yeah?” Kennedy raised her eyebrows. “What makes you say that?”

  “Because Mr. Pruitt has my back.” He’d kicked her out of the house after the milk incident. And he was keeping my relationship with Matt a secret. He wasn’t even going to let Isabella kill me anymore. Although, I still wasn’t sure of the specifics on that. Mr. Pruitt refused to elaborate and I hadn’t seen the amendment in the document yet. Either way, Isabella was scared. I could tell. She wouldn’t pull anything like that again at lunch.

  “So you’re coming around to him?” Kennedy asked. “Is it the new clothes?” She looked down at the blue tights I was wearing. There wasn’t a single hole in them.

  “You know my love can’t be bought,” I said.

  “It certainly can’t hurt.” She stopped outside her homeroom. “I’ll see you later.”

  “Kennedy, wait,” I said. “Did I do something wrong?”

  She hugged her books to her chest. “No. Nothing. I just didn’t feel well yesterday, and I think I still have whatever bug it was.”

  I could tell she was lying, but I didn’t know what to say. I’d already told her I was worried about her. But she just brushed it off. “Are you sure that’s all?”

  “Yeah. I gotta go. The bell’s gonna ring.” She turned around and hurried into the classroom.

  I just stood there for a moment. Felix hated me. And now I was pretty sure Kennedy was mad at me too. In the course of one weekend I’d gone from two best friends to none. It didn’t matter if I had Matt back. I wasn’t going to survive going to Empire High without my friends. I needed to find a way to fix it.

  “Everything okay, Sissy?”

  I almost screamed. I hadn’t seen Isabella sneak up behind me. “What? Yeah.”

  “I rushed over because it looked like you were distressed.”

  “I’m not distressed.”

  “Oh. I think I know what’s going on. Let me give you a piece of sisterly advice. It’s better to cut off ties from your lesser associates sooner rather than later, don’t you think? Your little friend will never belong in our world. And she’s clearly bitter about your new status. You don’t need that kind of resentment and negative energy in your life. It’ll just give you worry lines. And Daddy won’t allow us to get Botox until we’re 18. See you at lunch.” She turned on her heel and left as quickly as she’d come.

  Isabella was the negative energy in my life, not Kennedy. And I didn’t care about worry lines, I was just worried that I was losing my best friend. The bell rang and I hurried toward homeroom. But what if Isabella was right? It did seem like Kennedy was bitter about my new clothes. I tried to dismiss the thought. Anything Isabella said was toxic. But I couldn’t shake it. Did Kennedy really resent me?

  Chapter 18

  Monday

  All I wanted to do was talk to Felix. But when he chose to play basketball with Cupcake instead of heading outside to run, I knew he wasn’t going to give me a chance to explain. He was ghosting me. A part of me knew I deserved it, but it still stung. No, students weren’t staring at me and whispering behind my back today. But I still felt isolated. I thought running would clear my mind. But I was no closer to figuring out why Kennedy was mad at me, and I had no plan on how to make Felix stop hating me.

  I sighed as I headed toward lunch. I just wanted things to go back to normal. Normal. I tried to push the thought aside. I didn’t even know what normal was anymore. And I certainly didn’t want today to be my new normal. The only person that had been nice to me all day was Isabella. What twisted reality was I living in?

  “Not sitting with Isabella?” Kennedy asked but didn’t look up from her chicken sandwich.

  “No, I’m sitting with you. Like always. Where’s Cupcake?”

  She shrugged.

  I tried to spot Felix and Cupcake in one of the lines for food. But I didn’t see either of them. I knew Cupcake would sit with us whenever he got here. And that should draw Felix over too, right? I just needed five minutes to explain what happened. He’d listen about the blackmail. He’d understand that I just didn’t want anyone to get hurt. Except I hurt him.

  I swallowed hard. I needed to focus on fixing one relationship at a time. And since Felix wasn’t here…I needed to figure out why Kennedy was giving me the cold shoulder.

  “Do you want to come over after school?” I asked. I hadn’t gotten Kennedy on Mr. Pruitt’s list yet, but I had a feeling Miller would let me sneak her in. Maybe I could force her to take half the clothes that the stylist had given to me. Kennedy was taller than me, but we’d swapped clothes before. Besides, she liked her skirts and dresses shorter than I did.

  “I’m still not really feeling that well. I think I’ll just head straight home after school.”

  “Could I come over to your place then?” I asked.

  She pushed around some applesauce with her spoon and didn’t look up.

  “What are you doing, Sissy?” Isabella said from behind me.

  Couldn’t she see that my best friend was distressed? Of course she couldn’t. Isabella only cared about herself. “Eating lunch,” I said.

  “But you promised to eat with me and my friends, sillykins. I saved a seat for your bffl too this time. Come, ladies.” She turned on her heel and walked over to the Untouchables’ table. I saw the two seats beside Matt were empty. I could finally sit right next to him at lunch for the first time since Isabella had started blackmailing him. Or threatening to kill me. Or whatever the hell she was doing.

  I pressed my lips together. But I couldn’t go over there. Not when Kennedy was mad at me. God, why had I even considered it? Is
abella was a monster. I could hang out with Matt some other time. Today I was solely focused on making sure Kennedy was alright. “We don’t have to,” I said, but Kennedy was already grabbing her tray.

  “No, I want to,” she said.

  “You do? But there isn’t a seat for Cupcake.”

  She laughed. “It’s fine, I can’t pass up the opportunity to watch Isabella in her natural habitat.”

  At least she’d laughed. “If you’re sure it’s alright?” I said and stood up too.

  “Absolutely. Plus, you’ll get to sit with Matt.”

  I couldn’t even hide my smile as we walked over to their table. Matt looked up at me as I approached. He rubbed his nose and I’m pretty sure my smile grew. I sat down next to him and I realized I was holding my breath. I quickly exhaled and tried to pretend this wasn’t momentous.

  “Hey,” James said. He was the first person to acknowledge my presence and I was grateful. “How was your weekend?”

  Awful. Wonderful. “Weird,” I said.

  He smiled.

  “I heard you got into Harvard. Congrats.”

  His smile faltered. “Thanks.”

  “Congratulations are in order for me too,” Mason said as he lightly punched James’ shoulder. “He’s not the only one that got his letter.”

  “Wow, that’s awesome,” I said.

  Mason gave me his signature smile that had the whole female student body kneeling at his feet at parties. It didn’t have the same effect on me. It just made me feel uncomfortable. And reminded me that Mason didn’t know that I was dating his little brother.

  “You seem surprised,” Mason said. “What, you don’t think I’m as smart as this guy?” He pointed to James.

  “What? No. I…”

  “He’s just messing with you,” Rob said. He leaned forward so he could see me from his seat on the other side of Matt. “What’s it like living with Isabella?” he asked.

  “It’s so fun,” Isabella said, before I had a chance to say I didn’t really know because she’d been banished to the Hamptons. “Brooky’s the long-lost sister I’ve always wanted.”