“Where did you get these?” I mumble, staring at her confused.
“What do you mean? You must have left them on the table last night. I was in no state to even worry about your glasses. No offence.”
I’m vaguely aware of her ducking past me out her door, but what I very clearly remember is that my glasses were taken from me the other night from none other than Amber at that party. And after she left with Paxton to do god-knows-what, Tucker was kind enough to drive me back to the dorms, and I haven’t laid eyes on either of them since.
Which begs the question, how in the hell did they end up here?
We finally make the trek outside, after I let Lucy re-tie my longer shirt again today. I have to admit, I kind of liked it with my docs, but I’d reached my limit when she attempted to shorten my skirt too. That, I was not tampering with right now.
“Well look who’s here?” Lucy goads, causing me to glance up at Tucker waiting at the bottom of the stairs.
“Morning Luce. Hendrix,” he adds a little more suggestively. I smile in reply as we make our way across the grounds, as Lucy types away on her phone, whining about how basic the party was last night.
“And how would you know how basic it was Luce? You spent the night in the bathroom throwing up again,” Tucker replies, chuckling away.
“I was not! Okay, maybe I was… But so, what? So, I was a little sick, but I would have been more than capable to go back to the party if someone hadn’t come and demanded he take me home. I swear, it would be nice if that testosterone would show it’s face when it’s actually wanted.” I’m too intrigued now not to ask what’s going on, when I feel Tucker lean toward my ear. “Lucy problems. Everything is always way more dramatic than it actually is.”
I’m not sure how I felt about that comment from Tucker, when he was supposed to be her friend, and cousin no less.
“And I already owe Hendrix after I dragged her out again last night, when I promised I wouldn’t. You forgive me, though right?”
“Luce it’s fine. You didn’t have to babysit me. We’re good.”
Before I can comprehend it, I’m engulfed in Lucy’s arms, as she squeezes me into a tight hug. “That’s the first time you’ve called me Luce. About time girl.”
“Okay, cutting off circulation.”
When she pulls back, she mutters something about getting to her professor early before leaving me alone with Tucker. I continue on toward the main building when I feel his hand on my arm.
“Hey wait,” he says, pulling me to a stop at the bottom of the entrance stairs. His fingers taking my wrists in his grasp. “So, I’ve wanted to talk to you about something the last couple of days, and before we are interrupted or I lose my nerve, I just… I wanted to ask if you’d want to go out with me sometime?”
I raise my brow in response as I say, “There’s no skirting around anything with you people is there?” My fingers twitch, uncomfortable with the way he’s so confident in touching me. It might feel natural to him, but to me it was more than foreign.
“You people?” he asks, narrowing his eyes with more agitation than I’ve seen from him before. “You know I’m more like you, than any one of them right? Luce may be my cousin, but I wasn’t raised on the same hand-out platter that they were.” I could swear his teeth grinded over that comment, but before I could reply, a pair of blazing brown eyes came into view above Tuckers head, causing my heart to stop completely.
Paxton Reed.
It had been a few days since he dared come near me, after our strange altercation the other night. And he not only towered over little five feet of me, but over Tucker too; in both width and height.
“Everything okay here new girl?” he asks cockily, rolling his tongue over his lip like it’s the most natural thing in the world for him to do so. At the sound of his voice, Tucker squeezes my wrist a little harder reluctant to let go.
“And what do we peasants owe the pleasure?
“I wasn’t asking you.” Paxton barely glanced at Tucker when he replied, as that intense stare was burning a hole right through me again. Or more importantly, on the wrist Tucker was starting to cut off the circulation to. I could barely get my head around being in his presence especially after what Lucy was talking about this morning, so I muttered an uneasy, “Peachy.”
When his eyes continued their leisurely roam over me from top to toe, I could feel the steam radiating off Tucker as he finally let my wrist go and balled his fists beside him. It’s obvious this divide between the hierarchy and the scholarships was huge, but it’s a side to Tucker I haven’t yet noticed until now. I wondered what the deal was between these two…. When one of the other Arthur Elite swaggers toward us, Banks I think his name is, all but leaps on top of Tucker, wrapping his arms around his shoulders loosely.
“So, Tucker my man. I wanted to ask you about your friend. She hooked up with my bro here right, but I can’t help but wonder if she would be keen to experience another one of the elite. I have to say my skills are definitely the best in that area. What dya’ think? Do I have a shot?” The repulse on my face at what I heard is obvious as my eyes stray from the receding back of Banks who was pulling away an unwilling Tucker - to Paxton and now Austin - who were left beside me. And whilst Austin looks like he wants to throw up, Paxton looks as smug as ever.
“Did you want something?” I snap, at the same time he says, “Are you jealous?”
“What?” I ask, hearing his words. “Why in the world would I be jealous? To clarify, I don’t find anyones sex-lives that interesting thank-you. I don’t care who you think you are.”
His smile only increases, and sometime during my mini-outburst, Austin appears to have taken off too. “I like this side to you. I bet you’d be as possessive as all hell wouldn’t you?” He takes another step closer.
“What?” I stutter, before regaining my composure. “I don’t need to be possessive; especially over someone who would never deserve it.”
I don’t know what it is, but despite him radiating power in waves, he provides a sense of safety that I’ve never felt before too. Like, despite the aura of power and intimidation he likes to convey, I know in my gut – that he would never hurt me. It’s the scariest thought too. When you’ve grown up in a situation like I have where you spend every waking minute questioning others motives, and never feeling safe – even in a place that should feel that way – this guy, does that to me without even trying. His hand moves towards me whilst I’m lost in thought, and he gently pushes my glasses up my nose, before tapping it lightly with the end of his finger.
“You’re welcome by the way.”
My mouth drops open in shock, knowing he had to be referring to my glasses. The same pair of glasses I was sure Amber took off with the other night, and the same pair that were in Lucys room early this morning. But why? How? Lucy would have told me if he dropped them off, but she acted like I’d just left them there. But before I can stop myself, the automatic retort is already dripping annoyingly from my lips.
“And do you generally break and enter into girls’ rooms late at night?” I smart, suddenly annoyed at him for no particular reason, which only earns a bigger smile from him.
“Only if I need to.”
“And, I don’t even want to know what you had to do to get them off her,” I add, much softer, like the thought of what they’d do together was making me feel ill.
He still doesn’t say anything, but when the other guy in the Arthur Elite comes up beside him, whispering in his ear, Paxton tenses, before striding away. Dropping his hand and genuine smile, and the fact that I was even here with him to begin with.
And yet as they walk away, I’m left alone on the stairs wondering if any of that had even happened.
Or that maybe I’d imagined it.
Chapter Ten
Paxton
“And you definitely heard your old man saying they were coming here today?” I clip at River, after leaving Hendrix on the front steps. “Why would they call a meeting h
ere when semester has just started?”
River shrugs, dropping his cigarette on the shiny floor of the hall, and stomping on it with his un-laced boots. “Who the hell knows. I overheard him talking to his secretary this morning, and it sounded urgent.”
Great. Just what I fucking need.
The only reason the old men (the old elite, no less) who call themselves our fathers would come here, is because they have something important about the school year to discuss with the Chancellor and Dean. And the fact that the semester has only just started, makes me think this ‘something’ is going to fuck up the last two years I have in this place.
“I just thought I’d give you the heads up. I know how your old man can be,” River says, as he shuffles out of his leather jacket.
“Thanks man, I owe you.”
I fist bump him as he takes off back the way he came, whilst I start my slow walk to my first class. But that lingering hate; it begins swirling inside me again like a damn clogged drain. Why the fuck can’t he just stay the hell out of my life? He promised me. Two years of me doing my own thing at school, and then he can fucking own me. I’ll even overlook the fact that I’ll be 21 in a few weeks, (meaning the inheritance from gran that would give me enough money to live off – will finally be mine), which could easily see me take off with a big f-you to my father on my way out. I ignored all of that out of loyalty. But not out of duty to my father and the family name. Fuck that. It’s for the rest of my family, and if I’m being really honest – for my mother. I couldn’t bare leaving her with him if I took off. So, I made a deal with the devil. He’d let me have these last two years to do whatever the fuck I wanted and after that, I’d have whatever life he wants for me. The fact that it’s barely two weeks in and that seems to be changing already, can’t stop the anger boiling inside me even if it tried.
“Fuck!” I yell, slamming my fist into the nearest locker. I glance around the near-empty hall, seeing the few students that pass by keeping their heads down low, knowing better than to stare. They know the rules. They mind their business and keep walking just like the good little lemmings they are, when at the same time I see Hendrix do the complete opposite and walk straight toward me. And the worst part is that she has nothing but utter sincerity and innocence in her expression, and is completely oblivious to the rest of the students who know to keep their distance. She looks cautious though, as she should be, but her eyes have a kind of determination too. And fuck did I wish that it didn’t look as sexy as it does on her. She’s not afraid of me. She’s not even a little bit intimidated.
“So, that looked painful,” she mutters, pushing those glasses up her nose shyly. “Is everything okay?”
I know she’s asking out of kindness, but she shouldn’t waste that kind of sentiment on someone like me. Especially now, when I’m so riled up. So I deflect, like I’d always been taught to.
“What business of yours is it?”
She shrugs casually, ignoring the biting tone I just threw at her. “I guess it’s not, but look if something’s going on… I’m a good listener.” She glances up at me from beneath her lashes, those huge hazel eyes shooting me straight in the chest. This girl…. She rattles me. Just like my father does, but in a totally different way. And it makes me feel out of control. She makes me feel powerless.
“And what makes you think I need a listener,” I goad, narrowing my eyes and using all the anger inside me right now to lash out at someone. Anyone. And in this moment, it’s her.
“Everyone needs someone to listen. To hear them. See them.”
It’s almost a mumble, but I feel the vulnerability bouncing off her in waves. This girl has a story. She’s been through stuff. That’s the clearest thing in the world to me. But if she thinks I’m someone who can save her, or understand her, or whatever the hell she thinks this is - she’s got it wrong. I’m not that guy. I can’t be that guy. And I can’t let something else be my problem right now with everything else I have to deal with. I just…. can’t.
“The only thing I need right now, is to get rid of some tension. Can you do that for me new girl?” I use the most savage tone I can, tugging my upper lip into a snarl, and using the most pantry-dropping, cocky smirk I can. For most here, it would work in a heart-beat. But I know it has no chance with her. And if I’m being totally honest, I guess that’s why I’m doing it too. I need her to walk the hell away from me. I’m too fired up to think clearly right now, and this girl has already started getting under my skin. Who knows what I’d be capable of right now…?
She drops a disappointed look on her face, like she almost sees through my shit, and her eyes dart to the floor. Slowly but surely, she turns and starts making her way down the near-empty hall. I can deny it all I want to, but with every step she takes away from me, I can feel that hollowness filling my chest again. A hollowness that somehow feels less of a burden when I’m near her. My eyes never stray from her, even as she continues her retreat. But then she stops all of a sudden; her shoulders straighten with a kind of determination, and she glances over her shoulder at me.
“By the way, thanks for returning my glasses. I guess that’s the guy I wanted to see was okay.”
And as she strides around the corner, I felt her words more than I wanted to. I was so over playing two people. The fake-ness, and the façade that was expected of me, from the Academy, my friends…. My father.
But not from her.
And I knew without a doubt that when it comes to Hendrix James, I was completely and utterly fucked.
Chapter Eleven
Hendrix
I’d made it through my first few weeks mostly keeping to myself. And when I say mostly, I mean besides Lucy filling me in on everything going on at the Academy, and Tucker waiting around for me after most of our classes. I was grateful for their friendships, but it was still a lot to get used to. Having been by myself most of my life, I wasn’t used to trying to find time to be on my own. And whilst I didn’t feel suffocated, I definitely needed to have a breather every now and again too. We were barely into my third week now and I was at least getting into a rhythm, but I knew I needed to get myself sorted out away from classes. Earning money for one, as I carefully tugged my ratty backpack up my shoulder. The strap on this thing was almost torn through, that I wasn’t sure how much longer it would last. Not to mention, I didn’t have a phone either and that fact had come up more than once or twice with Lucy. Whilst it was kind of nice to have some break from the new world I was in, I couldn’t deny that it would be nice to own one now since I had actual friends I could use it for.
“Why is this class so hard?” Lucy whines as we pack up our things from our Business Law class. It was the only class we had together, and whilst it was the one class I actually understood the best so far – it seemed Lucy was more interested in whoever she was texting than paying attention.
“I know but I kind of like it. It’s easier to get my head around than some of those finance ones.” As, let’s face it. I wasn’t good with money. Which is probably because I’d never had any.
“Yeah, well father insists that I study the elite way doesn’t he. I’d love to do a degree in theater or fashion. Something that really interests me you know? But there is no way my father would even contemplate letting me go to a different school.”
“I’m sorry,” I mutter, as we walk side by side into the bustling hall toward the cafeteria. “It sucks that he doesn’t let you make your own choices like that.”
She shrugs with a deep sigh. “It’s always been that way. Being the youngest and a female means I have no worth in his eyes except to marry well and continue on our great legacy with some babies at some point. It’s not like he would even think of allowing me to be a part of our family business or anything, so it’s not like I’d even need Business Law and Finance. But it’s his way or no way.”
“Well, have you tried talking to him about it? Maybe see if you can do an online course in your spare time or something?” Her eyes widen, like she
thought I was crazy, so I instantly added, “Sorry, it’s none of my business.”
She puts her hand on my arm, causing us to halt just outside the cafeteria doors. “Please Hendrix don’t apologise. It wouldn’t matter if I tried to do something like that in my free time, he would still find a way to put an end to it. Trust me. I can barely sneeze without him knowing about it. There just seems to be eyes everywhere in this place. But alas, as much as these classes give me hives, I’m glad I made an amazing friend out of it.”
I smile bashfully, as she nudges me with her hip and drags me into the cafeteria giggling. We make our way to our table, where Gabe and Mercedes are already seated with their heads together gossiping. I couldn’t make out the entire conversation, but it sounded like Gabe had another hook-up last night. Needless to say, I sure hope he’s safe with the amount of extra-curricular study he does.
“And who was it this time Gabe?” Lucy asks as she plops down beside him, whilst I take my usual seat opposite, and next to Mercedes.
“Pretty eyes from the Eagles,” he sighs, as he bites sarcastically on his carrot stick.
Pretty eyes? My brow rises confused, whilst Lucy just smiles and shakes her head. “Surely you’ve been through the whole team by now? That’s what, at least six from that team? What are you going to do when they start comparing notes Gabe?”
He tosses his carrot at Lucy, causing her to shriek before giggling. “It’s eight actually, and girl, they are so far in the closet that none of them would admit it anyway. Least of all to each other. Besides, I’m getting sick of these casuals. It’s fun and all, but I think I want something more permanent.”
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