by Eden Beck
“I hope so.” I smile.
Laura looks at me curiously then. “Who are you going to the dance with?” she asks, looking from Blair to Wills.
I slide my hands into both of their arms as they stand on either side of me. “Both of them, of course. We wouldn’t have it any other way.”
More of the students at the party come up and tell me that they’re voting for my Valentine’s theme, and it bolsters my confidence. That trend continues the next day, everywhere I go.
I didn’t even realize the vote was such a big deal, but anytime I’m in a hallway, people stop me and tell me they’re voting for me.
When I’m in class, people start passing me notes or whispering to me that they’re voting for me. It’s such a surprise. I thought that most of the students didn’t like me; a residual effect of semesters past. Ever since I came back with Wills and Blair from winter break, it seems like I can suddenly do no wrong. Well, save for Astor and Victoria. She’s become relentless in her pursuit of the Valentine’s dance crown, but it just comes across as desperate.
Too bad for her, she’s already lost, and she doesn’t even know it.
She elbows me as we walk out of class one afternoon later in the week, and gives me a cold, hard stare. “I know you’re trying to rally the troops around school, but it’s not going to work. People will tell you to your face that they’re going to vote for you, but they won’t. They’re all going to stay loyal to me because I am with Astor, and no one crosses Astor Hawthorne.”
I just smile a little and shake my head. “I know you believe that, but this school isn’t yours anymore, Victoria. You’re about to find that out the hard way.”
I leave her fuming at me. I don’t care how mad she gets. Nothing she can do affects me any longer, and she knows it.
That’s too bad, I think to myself, she’s just going to have to get over it.
Friday comes, and the whole school is buzzing about the vote. I’ve done what I could to influence people to vote for my idea, but so has Victoria. In the end, it all comes down to the students and what they really want.
I’m fidgety during breakfast and Dana gives me a smile.
“Hey, just remember, even if you don’t win the theme, you’re still going to kick her ass at the auction and get the crown. There’s no way she can beat you.”
I laugh with a little irony. “Did I tell you that my aunt secured several more prizes without me? I think she didn’t want my uncle to show me up.”
Blair leans close and kisses my cheek. “I’m so proud of you. You’re a natural.”
Wills looks at the group sitting at our table. “Did you know she sold out the entire dinner? They had to get a bigger place to hold it because this dining hall isn’t big enough! That’s never happened before. I bet Victoria’s pissed about that.”
“Thanks, guys.” I look at them all appreciatively. “The main point is that the school is going to make a lot of money.”
“And Victoria’s ass is going to be handed to her in an old shoe box.” Dana laughs wickedly.
I can’t help laughing as well. “And that, too.”
Though I try to keep my mind off the vote until later, it’s impossible to do. It’s all anyone is talking about.
At three on Friday afternoon, the voting is done and Dr. Baxter makes an announcement over the intercom of the school.
“Hawthorne Academy, we’d like to thank you all for your votes for the theme of the Valentine’s Week auction, dinner, and dance. The votes have been tallied and we have the results for you.” The intercom crackles.
I’m in my last class of the day, surrounded by friends, with Blair beside me. Wills is in his math class, but I know he’s listening.
Blair reaches for my hand and holds it, and I look across the room and lock eyes with Victoria, who’s sitting in her chair like she’s already the queen. She’s so smug, so sure that she’s going to win, and for one sickening moment, I wonder if she is. It would be just like her to have some sort of trick up her sleeve at the last second. Blair squeezes my hand.
“With over half of the votes tipping the scale, the winning theme of Valentine’s week is Venus and Cupid.”
Dr. Baxter signs off, but no one can hear anything else he says, because deafening cheers fill the room. There’s a sudden swarm of people around me, patting my back, hugging me, and pulling me up from my chair. I didn’t know it was this big of a deal. This was between Victoria and me, or so I thought.
I should have known from the way everyone was acting that this was so, so much more.
Another crack in the current reigning monarchy.
I crane my head to see past them all and get a good look at Victoria. Her face is red, and she’s seething, glaring straight down at the desk in front of her. Everyone around me is chanting my name, and it feels great. Blair cries out for a speech, and I face the class.
“Everyone spoke up and voted for what they wanted, and I’m glad to have given everyone a theme that they feel so strongly about. I’m going to dedicate the entire Valentine’s week and all three events to the memories of Chris Hardy, Drake Gordon, Alisha Kane. Oh, and my father Paul White, all of whom were lost in the tragic explosion and fire here at the school. Our love will be with them always.” I’m drowned out from saying anything else because there’s another thunderous applause all throughout the classroom. Except for Victoria, of course, whose arms are crossed over her chest as she stares holes into the top of her desk.
I’ve soundly served her an entrée of defeat with a healthy side helping of shame, right in front of everyone. I can barely wait for the auction and the dinner, to savor more of the win that I know is coming.
As we leave the classroom, Wills runs down the hall to me, sweeps me up into his arms, and spins me around. “You did it! You won!! Baby, I’m so proud of you!” He kisses me a long moment and then sets me back on my feet.
“I know, I still can’t believe it,” I exclaim, just a little surprised still.
“I knew you would,” he says just as Victoria pushes past us on her way out of the classroom.
She turns and looks at me with a piercing, icy glare. “You might have won the theme, but that’s all you’re going to win. Astor is mine, and I told you already; he’s the king of this school, and I am his queen. You can’t beat us. You can try, but it will never happen. You’re just not from this world, and you’re never going to fit into it.”
“The world’s changing; maybe you’re the one who no longer fits in,” Blair fires back at her, just as Astor walks up from behind.
Astor gives Blair a strange look, as if he’s torn, and Blair looks back at him the same way. I turn my face up to Wills, and see that his eyes are locked on the floor. He won’t look at Astor.
But I do look at Astor, and his eyes turn cold.
He wraps an arm around Victoria as he stares at me, and then they turn and walk away together. It’s horrible for me. As much as I try to hate him, I miss him so much. The real Astor. Or, at least, the one I thought I knew for a short while back.
I wish that version of him was with us again, but I know as I look at my two boys, who are watching Astor walk away with Victoria, that they miss him even more than I do.
“You’d think we never mattered to him at all,” Blair says quietly, with a sullen voice.
“Right,” Wills answers him. “Like we haven’t all three been best friends since the womb. Now it’s just … gone. It’s like we mean nothing to him.”
I feel a wave of guilt and my shoulders fall. “It’s because of me. I’m so sorry.”
Wills grabs my face in his hands and shakes his head. “Don’t say that! Never say that, and never think it. You aren’t forcing us. This is our choice. This is where we want to be.”
“He’s right,” Blair says. “There’s nothing that we wouldn’t do for you. We lost you before because of Victoria, and that is never going to happen again.” He’s earnest, leaning in and kissing my cheek.
They both wrap
their arms around me, and I hold them close.
“I am never going to lose you again either. I couldn’t bear it,” I vow to them. “I’m keeping you. Always.”
Chapter 13
I hang up from a call with Eli Hamilton, and plop down onto my bed, falling back into the pillows and groaning sadly as I stare up at the ceiling. After the win with the dance theme last week, this new bit of news shouldn’t affect me so. But still, it does.
Dana looks up from her homework at her desk and pulls her headphones off. “You okay? What’s going on?”
I turn my head and look over at her dejectedly. “That was Eli. He said I won’t be able to get into Columbia after all.”
He tried to get me in. He pulled strings, he called in old favors; the works, but it still wasn’t enough.
It wouldn’t matter so much if both Wills and Blair weren’t going there. Wills got the news before the New Year. I’ve been waiting to hear back ever since. I knew the delay was a bad sign.
“What good is being a billionaire if you can’t get into the school that you want?” I moan plaintively, knowing full well that it’s not fair to think of using money and social influence to get into college. I’ve only been on this side of things for a couple weeks, but already, the first thing my mind goes to is corruption.
Dana comes over and sits beside me on the bed, looking down at me. “Don’t get too worried. There are other schools in New York City. Chin up. You’re not totally out of the game yet.”
“Yeah … if I can get into one of the other schools,” I complain, looking back up at the ceiling. “It feels impossible right now.”
I knew community college was the only plan for me. It’s not a bad choice. I don’t mean to slam them, it’s just not … what fits into this sort of life. I once wanted to go just to keep up the facade. Now I have something real to protect.
How am I supposed to lead my father’s legacy without the education to back me?
“It only feels impossible because you’re still feeling the sting of rejection from Columbia. Don’t fret. Just try getting into another school. Don’t stop trying until you get in somewhere.”
“You know, it’s so weird,” I say. “I have a real family now … at least an aunt and uncle who are family, but the boys are my real family.” In fact, if I was being completely honest with myself, I’d say that I still believe that Astor is going to be part of that, at least someday. But I can’t tell Dana that. She’d call me crazy, or a masochist for suffering. “I have got to get in somewhere close to my boys. It’s the only option.”
The terms of my trust require me to finish college before I can inherit full control of my inheritance. I think it’s best to make that happen as fast as possible. There’s no guarantee that my new aunt Ellen is going to get less crazy, and I don’t know how many Christmases I can handle before I snap.
Dana gives me an encouraging hug. “It’ll work out. Trust me.”
I sigh. “I guess so.” I don’t feel like I have many options, but I know that she’s right.
“Well seriously though … the money and the name might get you further than you think. You have more influence now that I think you realize. Why not check in with your uncle? I mean, it’s worth a shot, right? The worst he can do is say no.”
Dana gives me a nudge, and I get up off of the bed.
“You’re absolutely right. He’s got to have some ideas or connections or something. Thanks Dana!” I feel lighter and more hopeful already. If there’s one thing that I’m sure of, it’s that Dane would like nothing better than to use his influence in my favor.
A short phone call confirms my suspicions. It’s short and to the point, ending with Dane’s promise to help in whatever way he can.
“Well if anyone can, it’d be him,” Dana says, after I hang up from the call. She sounds as certain as I feel. “You know, with all the money and power that the Whites have, I always wondered why Sadie went to public school. It’s obvious why you were there, but why was she there? Why didn’t her parents have her in private school from the very beginning?”
I head for our teapot to make myself a cup of tea. “Oh, actually I asked about that once. I guess her mom, Ellen, wasn’t rich all her life. She went to public school and though Sadie could use a little … grounding.”
“Never has anything truer been said,” Dana says, with a nod.
“Yeah, until she threw a fit and demanded she be transferred, and her parents gave in. At the end of the year she was supposed to come here, but then she overdosed and died. You know the rest of the story.” The rest of that particular story, of course, ends with me impersonating her in order to take her place here at Hawthorne.
It’s insane really.
I’d probably never have found out who I was if Sadie had just gone to private school like she was supposed to. I never would’ve met Eli, Dana, my father, my friends—not even Wills, Blair, or Astor.
Now that is something I don’t want to think about.
“It’s crazy how it all worked out,” Dana says, shaking her head again.
“Yeah well, I couldn’t have done it without you.” I look at her pointedly. “It took some pull to get into those sealed records, if you remember.” It was her father, the judge, who was able to uncover part of my identity.
“I guess you’re right. I’d have missed out on having an amazing best friend, too.” She looks at me fondly. “I guess we’re both lucky, or you and I would not be standing here having this conversation.”
“And I would not be stressing out so much about which university I’m going to be able to go to. With any luck, my uncle can work some kind of a miracle for me.” I hold up my crossed fingers and so does Dana.
Perhaps it’s the crossed fingers that work, or the phone call to my uncle and all the calls he makes on his end; but less than a week later I start getting mail from people I didn’t even realize existed.
Dane advice was simple. After the trauma right before Christmas, all the top schools let Hawthorne know that application deadlines were extended. Nothing was going to change my test scores, but a good letter of recommendation would go a really long way.
Last semester, I had none. Now, thanks to Dane, I have too many.
The letters pour in from the heads of corporations, some of the most famous businesspeople in the country and the world, big name politicians, and even two Hollywood celebrities. I sit down with Dana and we look at all of the letters with wide eyes, gasps, and squeals.
I pick through them one by one. “I don’t even know one of these people.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Dana says. “Your uncle really came through!” She gushes, looking for the third time at a letter from one of the Hollywood celebrities. “I can’t believe I’m holding this letter in my hand.”
“I can’t believe that my name is on any of these letters,” I say, still feeling slightly confused but tremendously grateful. I pick up another of the letters and let it fall down to the surface of the desk, still unread. “I didn’t think this was the sort of thing he’d pull off.”
“They know your uncle. That’s the point. Wow. Now your applications will pack more of a punch when you send these in with it.” She beams at me excitedly, feeling just as elated as I do.
“Here’s hoping,” I tell her gratefully. That afternoon I submit to every single school in Manhattan, even the ones that don’t have any majors I’m actually interested in. I just have to get into one.
I’m not so concerned with anything else in my life right now as I am with getting a college acceptance letter in the mailbox. That is my biggest priority, and outside of Valentine’s week, it’s the only thing that I can find space in my brain to think about.
It’s still the one thing that could possibly come to wedge between me and my boys, and I’ll not stand for it.
Chapter 14
I open my eyes and stretch a little, but before I can even finish my stretch, my mind snaps to one thought and I bolt straight up out of bed.
She groans under her pillow and holds her hand in the air with a thumbs-up sign. I laugh, realizing just how early it is. “Sorry. I’m sorry. I’m just so excited for it all to be over.”
Nothing like the sweet prospect of revenge to get me out of bed.
The last few weeks have been a whirlwind. The last semester of your senior year is confusing and complicated. With applications in, there’s little left to do for class. The whole atmosphere changes the moment the last college deadline passes.
We’re all stuck in limbo until the next round of acceptance letters go out.
That, and my uncle keeps whisking me off to meet more people I’ll one day be in charge of, or to some meeting with a financial advisor who tries to explain the legal mumbo-jumbo behind the terms of my trust. It’s a good thing most of our teachers have basically given up on us too. They know it’s pointless to try to reign us all in now, and good thing, or else I’d never have been able to keep up.
Between all that and the surprising amount of preparations for the Valentine’s Day dance, I’m swamped. I’ve spent most of my free time with Blair and Wills in planning committees and roped into crafting sessions.
But once this auction is over, and I’ve beaten Victoria once and for all, I’ll finally be able to rest.
At least, a bit.
I get cleaned up and dressed in a pair of jeans and a sweater and head to the boys’ rooms to wake them up. I wish I could wake up with them, but since Dana came back and Blair got thrown out by the monitor, that doesn’t happen very often.
With Wills and Blair in tow, we head to a big storage unit on campus. We had to request it specifically once the donations started pouring in, since it took all of one afternoon to run out of space in the dorm room. Not even the boys have seen everything that’s come in for the auction under my name, so they both gape when the huge door is slid open all the way and they can see the treasure trove before us.