School of Broken Hearts: Academy of Souls Book 2

by C. R. Jane

  “Obviously you can be both,” she reiterates, waving her hand at me like I don’t know what I’m talking about.

  I’m about to say something else but a bell rings, making everyone get up from their tables and start to head to the exit.

  “Time for the assembly,” Mercy says excitedly.

  Standing up, we throw away our trash and follow the crowd of students who are all whispering nervously as we walk down the hall.

  “Where is it being held?” I ask. “And how did you even hear of it, but I didn’t?”

  “I’m sure you didn’t check your email judging by the state of your hair,” she says amusedly as she sends a glance at my head.

  I pat my hair self-consciously. I hadn’t taken the time to do anything to it and I’m sure my messy bun resembles a bird’s nest.

  “Definitely no email for me this morning,” I mutter.

  Mercy just laughs at me.

  We walk through an entryway guarded by a set of double doors I had never tried to open. I gasp when I see that we’ve walked into a giant ballroom. The room seems at least a football field length long and it resembles something you would see in Paris at Versailles, certainly not something that you would see in a school in the middle of nowhere.

  Gold filigree is everywhere along with carved golden cherubs. I don’t even understand how this room could exist in such a medieval looking building.

  “This room is incredible,” I say in an awestruck voice.

  “Ya it is,” Mercy agreed. “This is where the school hosts dances and important events.”

  “Dances?” I ask, dragging my eyes away from a mural on the wall that resembles something Michelangelo had done in the Sistine Chapel.

  “Secret scary school or not...it’s still high school. Of course we have dances,” says Mercy with a laugh.

  I’m about to say something else when I see Professor London walk in from a door on the other side of the room. He walks up the steps of a small stage that has been set up in front of the room and finds a seat with some of the other professors. My heart leaps in my chest when his eyes find mine. He lifts an eyebrow at me, and I realize that Mercy and I are one of the only people still standing. Everyone else has found a seat in the myriad of chairs set up by the stage. I grab Mercy’s arm and hustle to find two empty chairs.

  We’re just sitting down when Principal Asher hustles onto the stage. He’s wearing a sharp looking black suit that seems too modern in light of our decadent surroundings. He presses a button on a cord hanging down from his neck and his voice booms out around the room.

  “Good morning, students,” he says in that oily, fake voice that he has perfected. “It’s been awhile since we’ve done this but unfortunately the last few days have forced my hand,” he announces solemnly.

  “As you know, our dear fellow student, Bethanie Perkins was found dead just a few days ago.” He pauses, heightening the drama of the moment. “We believe she was murdered,” he says.

  Mercy scoffs next to me and I have to elbow her to be quiet when several students turn to look at us in shock. Mercy leans over to whisper in my ear. “What gave it away that she was murdered. Was it the open eyes or the blood everywhere,” she murmurs sarcastically. I roll my eyes, silently agreeing with her.

  “Although we promptly launched an investigation, there’s been nothing found,” Principal Asher continues. I try to ignore the wave of guilt that launches itself over my body. We have information that could possibly help them and we’re not telling them. I look at Mercy out of the corner of my eye, but she doesn’t look at me. She just continues to sit staunchly in her chair, tension radiating up her spine. She’s got to be feeling the same guilt that I am.

  I’m lost in thinking about what Bethanie looked like when we found her, so I barely catch Principal Asher’s next statement. “That’s why we will be assigning all of the scholarship students mentors/guardians that will stay by them until the assailant is caught.”

  “Why are they just assigning them to the scholarship students?” I whisper to Mercy.

  She shoots me a look. “Have you been paying attention at all? He just said that they think that the murderer targeted Bethanie because she was a scholarship student.”

  I look at her in horror. “What makes them think that?”

  Mercy just shrugs, not looking perturbed at all. “I bet it’s one of the rich kids that’s behind this,” she remarks. “In the movies it’s always the bitter, spoiled rich kid that did it.”

  I glance around the room, my eyes stopping on Clarissa who’s laughing with one of her cronies. She certainly doesn’t look perturbed at all over the fact that there’s supposedly a murderer running around the school on the loose. Maybe it’s her and not Mercy’s boyfriend that’s behind this and I’ve been feeling guilt over nothing?

  “I wonder who I’m going to get,” Mercy says excitedly. “I hope it’s someone hot. All that time looking after me. They’ll def fall in love with me.”

  “You’re much too excited about this,” I mutter absentmindedly to her, my gaze darting around the room at the possible candidates for a guardian. What if I was assigned to someone like Clarissa...what if I was assigned to one of the guys?

  “Mercy Richards,” Principal Asher announces. “Your guardian is Dixon Hall.”

  Mercy squeals next to me and bounces up and down in her seat. “That’s perfect. He’s so delicious.”

  I look to where she’s pointing. A good-looking guy with russett hair and bright blue eyes sends her a wink. He looks like trouble. Just what Mercy needs after her ex...

  “I don’t think the point of this is to get the guy to like you,” I tell her sternly.

  She laughs. “If not now, then when?” she says with a smirk.

  I roll my eyes and turn my attention back to Principal Asher who has continued to call out guardian assignments.

  “Adeline Jones,” he calls out after a few more names are announced. “Your guardian is Alexander Dachnavar,” he proclaims.

  I immediately want to throw up. I can feel Alexander’s impenetrable stare from across the room, but I don’t dare to meet his eyes. I’m too aware that he’ll be able to see everything that I'm thinking since I’ve never been good at hiding my emotions.

  I feel Mercy’s hand on my arm. “That sucks,” she says sympathetically.

  “Ya it does.”

  “But hey...maybe you’ll be able to get revenge on him. Or maybe you can find out about their secret fighting,” she says, her voice rising as she gets more excited.

  I send her a glare. “Or maybe you can just switch with me?” I ask.

  “No can do, lady. I’m sure that we got these assignments on purpose. Plus, we both know that Alexander hates me. I don’t feel like being called ”crazy girl” for as long as it takes to find the murderer.” She pauses for a moment as she seems to be going through a list in her mind.

  “What?” I ask, wondering what else she could possibly have to say.

  “Well I was just thinking that the biggest reason is because of girl code,” she says, her eyes widening owlishly.

  “Girl code?”

  “Ya. That thing that friends are supposed to have between them where we don’t hook up with each other’s exes.”

  “Alexander was never my ex,” I say staunchly.

  “Then why is he currently giving you the “sex me” look as he undresses you with his eyes?” she asks slyly.

  I glance over and immediately regret it as I’m caught up in Alexander’s icy stare. Suddenly, I can’t be here anymore. I’m about to leap from my seat in the middle of the assembly when I see Principal Asher step away from the microphone and the students around me start to stand up.

  I’ve missed at least half of what was said in this meeting. Hopefully I didn’t miss anything important.

  “Talk to you later,” I throw over my shoulder at Mercy as I’m already halfway down the row of seats.

  She yells something after me, but I pretend that I don’t hear her
. I rush through the packs of students, out of the assembly hall, down the long hallway...not stopping until I’m outside.

  Isn’t the whole point of a breakup that you never have to see them again?

  Chapter 2

  The school grounds are overwhelming. The tall trees swaying in the wind, the chatter of students leaving the assembly sounding like cicadas, and the constant gray clouds marring the heavens. Why was the sun barely out, anyway? With every step forward, it feels like I’m somehow going backward at this Academy. But it’s more than that… it’s despair I’m feeling, choking on it because I’m somehow still a little excited Alexander will be my guardian, when it should be burning me up with fury. This is exactly what I don’t want, giving any of them control over every aspect of my day when they already take up so much of my thoughts.

  I clench my fists, remembering his smugness during the assembly. It makes me wonder if he asked to be paired with me.

  My head is a battleground, pulling me left and right between the fury of not needing a babysitter, to the thought of so much more time with Alexander and my stomach doing cartwheels of excitement. I’m a walking contradiction, and the problem is, I don’t know how to stop myself from feeling this way.

  After Bethanie’s death, a heaviness sits on my shoulders. I can’t shake off the sense that there is an ominous danger coming our way. Maybe the principal senses it too and that’s why he’s allocated protection. There’s a potential killer on campus and any of us could be next. But even with the guardians, how safe are we considering Bethanie died in her room?

  Her dead body keeps reeling through my mind. Maybe it’s a one off, maybe Mercy’s ex is responsible, maybe the principal is overreacting to calm everyone’s fears. My subconscious laughs at me in my mind at the latter option…

  I glance back at the crowds of students spreading out in every direction, heading to class, their whispers floating in the air. They feel it too… the lingering danger sitting near like a big bad wolf at our front door.

  That’s when I catch Alexander’s gaze on me from the corner of the main building, watching me intently. Guess it’s his job now. He strolls toward me, gliding over the lawn with such ease. Hands deep in the pockets of his school pants, he walks tall and proud like someone from prestige and wealth, someone who’s never been told the word no.

  Damn, he carries himself like a god. The breeze tugs at his raven black hair, and the black shirt he wears hugs his muscles, leaving so little to the imagination, and he knows it… the smirk pulling at his lips says it all.

  All I can do is fight the urge to drown in eyes that reflect a perfect cloudless sky on a summer’s day.

  But I never say a word, not even a whisper when he reaches my side because I have no idea what will happen next. Alexander and his gang always surprise me with their reactions. So, it’s better to not expect something so that I can’t be let down.

  “Don’t look too disappointed, I might think you don’t like me.” His mouth pulls into a sinister smile, casting a spell of lust over me. But then I picture him draped over that girl in the bedroom, enjoying himself, and the jealousy bubbles within me, burning me up.

  “So, what are we going to do?” I ask, the pain of deception digging into my heart, ripping through the flesh. It shouldn’t affect me… we aren’t dating, but for some reason I thought we had something. Big mistake, and I hate him for making me feel these things, making me feel like this is a one-sided relationship.

  “There’s no we in this. It’s just me keeping you safe.” His voice deepens, a darkness shadowing his words.

  I cock my head to the side, letting the forced smile spread over my lips. “And what if I don’t agree with you “keeping me safe.””

  “Then you can take it up with the principal.”

  I chew on my lower lip to try and feel something other than jealousy. “And you had nothing to do with us being paired?”

  The corners of his mouth fight a wide smile, and there it is… the truth plain as the rolling clouds overhead.

  I shake my head, recoiling from his side. “I don’t think we should be together. I’ll speak with the principal.” I turn away, while my heart is pounding like a wild drum. I let the raw emotion scorch me, pouring acid into my soul. I’m nothing but a puppet to him.

  His hand seizes my wrist suddenly, cold and hard as iron, and hauls me back around to face him, his earlier smile twisted into a darkened expression. I stumble on my feet from his violent move.

  “That’s not funny,” he growls.

  “I thought it was.” I try and pull my hand from his grip but freeing myself is useless.

  “You hate me that much?” A pinch of hurt threads through his words, and this is the most vulnerable I’ve ever seen him.

  Except, anger is growing in my stomach until it becomes an inferno. “Are you kidding? I saw you and Dante.” I swallow hard. “That girl in bed with you.” My voice chokes, and my head swims with half formed regrets. I shouldn’t care, but it’s ripping me apart.

  My eyes prick, and I finally yank my arm free from his, staggering to catch my balance from the force, to steady my shaky hands.

  Silence smothers us, and all I hear is the pounding of my own heart.

  “You weren’t meant to see that,” he murmurs.

  “No shit, Sherlock. Usually cheaters try to avoid getting caught.” And as the words fall from my mouth, heat scales up my neck and cheeks. I just called him a cheater, like we were dating. My first instinct is to scream… showing him my frustration with the whole situation.

  But he never corrects me, just stands there, tall and so perfect, studying me with eyes darkening to the deepest depths of the ocean. “It’s not what you think.”

  I don’t know what to think, but I saw him and Dante over the half-naked girl. In my books, that only means one thing.

  “How long are you going to stand around here?” He finally breaks the quiet.

  I shrug. “You don’t like the outdoors?”

  “It’s more that we’re both going to be late for class.”

  Without a response, I push past him and into a stroll toward the main building, Alexander at my side, not saying a word, but his presence is like my shadow. Always there.

  A bitter wind roars past, shaking the nearby branches, their leaves rustling.

  Alexander walks me to Mythology class and stops outside the closed door, looking at me like he might say something, explain himself, finally tell me what the hell is going on at this school. Instead, he reaches out a hand and pushes a loose strand of blond hair behind my ear. “Wait for me after class, and I’ll walk you to the next one.” Then he strolls away, but there’s something different about his walk this time. There’s a slight slouch of his shoulder like he carries the world on them.

  Once he’s out of sight down the hall, I breathe easy and replay what just happened, my back pressing to the wall, unsure what to make of his remorseful reaction. I expected explosions and anger, but not this….

  A few stragglers are still rushing to classes, when I lay eyes on someone familiar. I do a double take and stare down the fluorescent lit hallway.

  My sight catches on the guy meandering my way, his gaze swinging left and right to each door, his backpack over a shoulder.

  Connor.

  What the hell’s he doing here? Walking down the hallway in Raven Academy’s guy uniform of black pants and shirt, he runs a hand through his short black hair, shoulders broad and strong. Somehow, he looks more powerful than before, his muscles larger like he’s been working out.

  I had the biggest crush on him at my previous school until it went to hell in a handbasket.

  I’d once believed he was the nicest guy in the world after he comforted me when I first found out that Dad had cancer.

  “There’s a treatment that will work,” he’d said, wiping the tears from my cheeks. “My cousin was cured with the right medication.” His words were a lifeline, something I grasped onto at the time like my world depended on
it.

  He drew me into his arms, hugging me, and I had cried so hard. I couldn’t stop the tears I’d been holding back so I didn’t upset my Dad. I didn’t want him to see me so broken. In front of him, I was strong and offered him the support he needed. But with Connor, I held nothing back... he’d become my backbone.

  For weeks, we talked for hours over milkshakes and cheesy fries after class, and he held my hand, wiped the tears, and even made me laugh by the end with his lame jokes. I lost myself completely and utterly to him, and not only did he give me the support to deal with my dad’s illness, but I was falling for him hard.

  It all ended the day Alexia, his ex saw us at the local coffee shop. The next day, he kept to himself, no longer smiling my way, and Alexia’s bullying had kicked in.

  “Slut. Bitch. Man stealer.” She called me everything, spread rumors through the school. And after school, the physical attacks started. What hurt worse than the hits and shoves was Connor. I saw him standing in the shadows like the coward he was, watching Alexia beat me, and he did nothing. Months later, he had the nerve to ask me to the school dance. Part of me wondered if he got off on seeing me get hurt. Of course, I turned him down to avoid further wrath from Alexia and her gang of bullies. And because he didn’t deserve it after the way he had dropped me.

  And now, here he was heading my way, like a ghost from my past. I’m torn between hating him and remembering the comfort he offered me.

  Nausea sweeps through my stomach at the sight of him because I don’t want to deal with the past, the hurtful memories. They belong to a different person.

  Still, my breaths grow rapid and shallow, and I shuffle closer to the class door and slip inside.

  “Ms. Jones,” Mr. Dusk barks, and I snap around.

  He’s standing in front of the class, clasping a thick, dusty text book in one hand, the other gripping his hip.

  “You’re late. I want a one-thousand-word essay submitted tomorrow on why being late is bad manners. Now, get to your seat.”

  I swallow hard as every eye from class falls on me, and the silence lingers. Clarissa lounges in the front of the class, her mini skirt pushed up to the top of her thighs, concealing nothing, flashing Mr. Dusk. She’s chewing on gum and smirking at me, enjoying my embarrassment.