by B C Morgan
“Hey pretty girl,” I look up into Elijah’s smiling face with his bright eyes—is he ever miserable?
What can I say, I’m not all that keen on happy people. No one can be that happy all the time, it screams pretend to me, at least you know where you stand with the miserable ones.
“Are you ever off?” I ask whilst rolling my eyes.
“Where’s the fun in that? Come on little Hen, give me a chance. You never know, you might actually like me.”
“Don’t waste your breath Eli, she won’t be here for much longer,” says Octavia, the only one who hasn’t said a thing to me. So I don’t have a reason to dislike her, yet.
“Shove off hoebag and don’t even think about calling me that,” he replies, dropping down into the chair next to me.
I’m not going to smile as it will only encourage him, though the urge to smile is disappearing as Amias drops into the seat in front of me and Ivy claims the one behind me.
“Do you guys not have anything better to do?”
“Not yet,” replies Amias, his eyes are dark, and I don’t just mean the colour, there’s a depth to them that screams out to me but I’ll fight it with everything I have.
“I take it you’re all in year twelve as well then,” I mutter, and Amias smirks.
“Nope.”
I don’t have the chance to question him further as Miss Lewiston has come in the room. Her eyes narrow as she takes in Amias and a cocky smirk is spreading across his face.
“Amias Sallow, what are you doing in my classroom? Leave this instant.”
“Come on Maggie, you know I can’t leave these two alone. Who knows what trouble they’ll get up to,” he replies, and Elijah is laughing at me as I sit here with my mouth agape.
“That is Miss Lewiston to you, young man, and I am sure they are capable of keeping themselves out of trouble for the next few hours, now get out before I take this any further.”
“Yes ma’am, see you around Henleigh.” And then he’s strolling out of the door without a care in the world. Now he’s definitely pretending.
The class is over and I’m relieved. I mean it encourages us to research and determine fact from fiction which is good training for me. But it was still a pointless endeavour in my opinion.
I don’t even hesitate, pushing out of my chair and heading for the door, right as a shoulder shoves into me and knocks me to the side.
“Trash leaves last,” says Chelsea with a smirk before strutting out of the class.
“Yeah cheese girl, learn your place,” shoots Britney as she drags her boyfriend behind her, she has a vice grip on him.
“Enjoy your last day,” comes from Octavia as she flutters her lashes at Harrison. In return he barges his way past her almost knocking the silly little twerp off her feet.
I’m sniggering as I leave and I’m pretending that I don’t notice Elijah following on behind or how Ivy gives me a weird look right before she goes into her next class and I go into mine.
We don’t really have much of a requirement for a locker we’re issued one nevertheless, but I’m not sure what to make of it. I have one, great. I can store my laptop and books and whatever else I need inside. No, the thing I don’t understand is why mine has been painted grey when all the others are cream. It’s a hodgepodge of a job to be sure, I just don’t understand the symbolism behind it.
“Why is it grey?”
I spin around and smack my palm into Elijah’s chest, no doubt I definitely feel it more than him. He may as well be made out of granite.
“Jeez Louise you almost gave me a heart attack, wear a bell or something,” I say, feeling more frazzled than is warranted.
“Sorry little Hen, I was just wondering why you painted your locker. That’s not really allowed.”
“Really, I had no idea,” I deadpan before continuing, “I didn’t do this and for the life of me cannot figure out why it’s even been done. Why the colour grey? What’s it supposed to mean?”
“Hey it’s okay, just put your stuff away and we’ll grab some lunch together,” he says, bending at the knees so he can meet my eye level.
“I don’t want a friend Elijah,” I reply on a sigh, as I pull open the locker door and come face to face with yet another number one, written in red paint.
What am I missing? Is this supposed to mean something to me, I mean sure that Harrison dickwad keeps telling me one more day so it could just be that. By why use red and paint my locker grey, something else is going on here and I need to figure out what.
“Come on, canteen time,” I don’t even argue with him as he steers me towards our dining area.
He leads me to what I guess is now my table before disappearing over to the food prep area. I’m not feeling remotely hungry, but if he wants to waste time collecting me some food that’s his problem. Yet another reason I won’t have friends, I’m not nice enough, not anymore.
“You don’t eat your food anyway, so I got you a sarnie. That way you can take it with you and eat it when you’re hungry.”
“Why do you want to talk to me Elijah? I’m not exactly welcoming you with open arms,” I say, narrowing my eyes at him.
He drops down in the seat next to me, leaning as close as he can and laughing while I’m trying to push him away.
“Because you told the self-imposed rulers of the school where to go, without batting an eye. You haven’t fallen over yourself trying to make friends with every Tom, Dick and Harry you meet, and you don’t want to know me. It makes me like you even more.” He’s so arrogant, he may be hot as sin but his arrogance is an utter turn off in my book.
“Well, you’re just a glutton for punishment. I meant what I said. I don’t want anyone in my life right now, I just need to get through this year and then I’m free. At least that way the Shepherds will be long gone.” My tone is harsh, he needs to know I’m not messing around.
“Who are the Shepherds?" he asks, intrigue lighting his eyes up like a Christmas tree.
His eyes are sparking with more interest when I tell him what I named the rulers and why. He’s clapping his hands with joy and gaining a raised eyebrow from Amias, Ivy and Noah, as they make their way over.
“What have I got to do so you will all just go away?”
“Stop being interesting, Amias loves a mystery and he hasn’t cracked you. Noah is a sweetheart and loves that he gets your food when you walk away. As for myself, if you hate the twats then I don’t hate you,” says Ivy, as she takes a bite of her omelette.
“They’re the Shepherds now,” Elijah informs them, and they love the reasoning behind it as well. These are very weird people, I don’t know how to handle them.
“You stole my seat.” That voice is husky, like fingers trailing down your spine and making you squirm in all the best ways.
I can’t recall if I heard Noah speak yesterday but I’d gladly listen to him talk all damn day.
“You can’t monopolise a chair, just because it happens to be next to little Hen.”
“Enough,” I snap as I slam my hands down on the table, “I am not little Hen or pretty girl, I don’t do nicknames, and my name is Henleigh so either use it or go away.”
“I agree you’re not a pretty girl, you remind me of the backside of a horse. But you do have a nickname, cheese girl,” says Octavia, as she saunters on over.
She’s fluttering her lashes at all of the guys, reeking of desperation. I could have sworn she had a boyfriend already.
“Look darling, you can insult me all you like and clutch at straws when it comes to ridiculous nicknames, but I’m not ugly. Now unlike you, I don’t live for the validation of guys and I don’t really care what you think about me but at least hit me where it hurts.”
“Leave her alone Avi, Harrison said she could at least have today,” says Britney pulling Octavia away whilst glaring at me. Teenage drama, I cannot wait to be an adult and leave all this nonsense behind me.
“This is why we like you, you’re going to keep things interesting,
” says Ivy and I remind her that I’m only here until this year ends.
“You realise that we have to stay here until year 13 right, we won’t graduate until we get our A-levels. Not unless your parents have given you permission to doss it at college,” comes from Amias, seeming to enjoy the conflict his words are causing me.
I jump out of my seat and I’m hightailing it out of this damn canteen, I’m not paying a lick of attention as I go crashing into green eyes.
His stare is burning through me as he lays his hands on my shoulders, he’s grinning like a maniac and I am in lust overload.
“Why don’t we put those plump lips of yours to good use,” he says as he drops his head down to mine and I’m instantly pushing him away.
“Never going to happen.”
“Shame, would have been fun to get a sample before you leave. Don’t ignore Harrison, girl, if he wants you out, you best be packing your bags.”
He drops a kiss to my cheek before walking over to the rest of the Shepherds, Chelsea is already going mental at him and he’s just smiling away. The one thing I have noticed is that I’ve never seen Harrison with them, but it seems as though he’s a fellow Shepherd, if not the one in charge.
My door has been painted grey as well, with an R painted on the left-hand side in red. I was expecting another one or at least something a little more telling than an R. I don’t even know what to make of this.
“An interesting choice.”
“Oh for crying out loud, before I waste my time asking what you want let me just ask you this. For all the fancy cameras around this damn school what’s the chance anyone will be able to tell me who did this?”
Ivy is looking at me, but she certainly isn’t smiling. She’s calculating and weighing something up, I just don’t know if it will work out in my favour.
“If the Shepherds as you call them, are responsible then I think you’ll find the headmaster will suddenly lose the connection to the cameras on this side. But I know someone who could find out, I guess you’ll need to decide if you’ve changed your mind.”
“Changed my mind about what?” I ask, and her smile tells me I’m going to hate the answer.
“Whether or not you need friends like me and mine. I’d suggest being a little less hostile towards us and you may realise just how valuable we can be.”
She pats me on my cheeks, so condescending, before turning around and walking away.
I think I’m just going to go into my room and wait for tomorrow, it can’t come soon enough.
Three
The school is a combination of two mansions and loads of other ridiculously large buildings that span over a hundred acres of land.
The main mansion houses our living quarters, the canteen, form rooms and a few classrooms.
We’re a privileged lot, but unlike the rest of the prep or boarding schools around, money doesn’t rule this place I just haven’t figured out what does.
I’m not doing the standard full day of lessons yet, but that’s only because of the assessment. Apparently public school opinions don’t mean a lot in places like this. I just need to get through this week and then they’ll know what I'm capable of academic wise.
Today, I have science and I can’t wait. Luckily the science building is right next to the dorms, along with the DT classes. DT basically teaches us to cope on the outside; cooking, art and design and even making clothes. The cooking is a handy one, but I don’t need to be able to make clothes, I’ll just buy them.
Part of me wonders if I should look into becoming a doctor but my people skills are seriously lacking. I haven’t been to the science building yet and Noah is in my class and somehow got chosen to be the one to escort me.
I doubt it’s a coincidence but how did he get it to fall in his favour?
I head over to my door and open it and he’s just standing there, mouth agape.
“What’s wrong,” I ask, as I grab my laptop bag and school planner and get ready to leave.
“When did this happen?”
His voice is still doing glorious things to me, but I’m soon forgetting all about it as I take in my door. It’s still got the R but now it’s surrounded by a strange looking rectangle, it reminds me of something, but I must be wrong, surely. Otherwise, someone has drawn a gravestone on my door, and I can easily guess what the next two letters are going to be.
“It was just the colour and the R yesterday, Ivy said if I started being a little nicer to you guys then I may be able to find out who's doing it,” I reply and he’s rubbing the back of his neck.
“You dislike us that much huh.”
“It’s not as clear cut as that, honestly out of all of you. You’re the one who I don’t mind being around, but it’s only been two days so there’s still time, I guess. I’m not trying to hate on your buddies but Ivy is a bitch, and hey, so am I. The way she’s changed her tune makes me suspicious. Then there’s Elijah and his stupid bloody nicknames, the only reason he’s interested is cause he’s taken in by a pretty face. As for Amias, I get the impression he gets off on turmoil and chaos and I have enough of that without him adding to it.”
Great, now I’ve got myself all worked up, fuck the escort I’ll find my own way there. I try to close my door but Noah puts his foot in the way, staring at me with unreadable eyes.
“You’ve known us for two days, and that’s your assumption.” I try to cut him off but he’s laying his hand over my mouth, it’s gentle but it’s still pissing me off. “You’re not wrong, not in everything. Ivy does have an ulterior motive for suddenly warming to you, but you’re not the one who needs to worry. Elijah is an incorrigible flirt but he rarely goes with a girl just because she has a pretty face, and Amias; is a dark mother fucker. We’d be good people to have on your side, especially as it seems that the Shepherds are declaring war on you. And if you don’t stop licking my hand, I will have to get my own back.”
He pulls away from me and waits for me to make up my mind, I guess I better follow him, at least I won’t get lost.
“Just to point out, I was trying to bite you,” I state, and he lets loose a beautiful smile.
“How did you get such a good read of them in two days?” he asks, and I shrug my shoulders as he turns back around and leads me to our class.
He doesn’t need to know that I’ve perfected the art of reading people, I still get it wrong occasionally but I’m getting better. I know that I can’t trust the Shepherds, Amias is another person I need to watch and Noah, he’s the only one I haven't got a good read on yet. I think I may need to spend a little time with him, if I have to play at being nice, I might as well figure him out whilst I’m doing it.
We get paired together for chemistry and he’s back to being a man of few words. He collects our materials and gets on with his portion, we don’t even discuss what we’ll be doing. How can we when he doesn’t talk all that much? I’m wondering if that little chat we had before we came here is the most I’ll ever hear slipping past his lips, and now I’m wondering why his hand tasted so nice?
We have to show our understanding of filtration and evaporation processes, and the teacher has chosen the method of making us separate salt from sand.
Noah already has the beaker, filter funnel and paper, Bunsen burner, and the other required pieces of equipment. It’s an easy process to be fair and Noah is standing back and watching as I curl the filter paper into a cone and place it into the funnel.
“Have you done this before?” he asks.
“No, but I read about it a few months back and it explained the process and the correct way of preparing the equipment. It’s not difficult,” I reply, rather absentmindedly for me.
I mean to tell him what to do with the salt and sand mixture, but he’s already got it in one of the test tubes and has it submerged within water. Only the sand remains visible and as we pour the mixture through the paper, only the salty water passes through onto the evaporating basin.
“You’ve done this before?” I ask as w
e wait for the water to disappear and I know he’s not going to reply.
“You shouldn’t be here.” I turn my head to see Octavia staring at Noah.
“I’m here to help the newbie, go away,” he replies, not even looking at her.
“Come on Noah, I’m sure I can convince Ms. Dove to let you switch partners and work with me. I know we could have a lot of fun together.” Why is she licking her lips like that? it’s definitely not having the effect she’s hoping for.
“Try it, still won’t happen.” His tone is cold and so at odds with the quiet but sweet smiling guy I see at lunch.
“Go back to your table, your boyfriend’s eyes are wandering again,” I say as I jerk my thumb in his direction.
“Don’t you dare talk to me you little cretin, Harrison knows you’re still here and he won’t play nice for long. Just you wait, we are going to have so much fun at your expense.” She smiles viciously and laughs with glee. Clearly, she’s excited to try tormenting me.
She goes back to her table and Noah has a slight tick in his jaw, but he just finishes off the experiment before Ms. Dove comes over and gives us a nod of her head before going to check on the others.
According to Noah a nod from Ms. Dove is the highest accolade you can get other than an A on your work. I don’t know if I believe him, but I do enjoy watching as she drags Octavia to the front of the class and proceeds to make her demonstrate to the whole class, how not to do it. The smile on my face is threatening to make my jaw hurt but it’s worth it, the first genuine feels I’ve had since I got here.
The next class on the agenda is English and nothing can ruin this one for me. No matter how many dirty looks I get from Harrison or Britney, it’s like water off a duck's back. Instead of having to follow the curriculum like the others, I get to sit a couple more assessment exams and Mr. Dott has already hinted that I won’t be back to see him when the start of next week comes around.