by Kent, Rina
“Who are they?” I ask, curiosity getting the better of me.
“They’re the elite of the elite.” Her voice trembles, genuinely, it trembles. “If you want to have a peaceful life in RES, you have to be on their good side.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Kids can’t own a school. “Who’s the golden boy?”
“Xander Knight and he’s trouble,” she blurts fast as if her butt is on fire. “I like you, Elsa, and I mean it when I say, stay away.”
His put together type doesn’t interest me, anyway. I throw another look at him for a double-take.
The hairs on the back of my neck stand like needles when I meet the smokiest, most chilling eyes I’ve ever seen.
I hadn’t noticed him earlier because he was half hidden by Xander and his ball. He’s almost the same height as Xander, but with more developed shoulders. His uniform is missing the tie and he looks ruggedly handsome. Inky black hair runs long and slick in the middle, but it’s buzzed on the sides. His nose holds an aristocratic vibe although it appears a bit crooked like it was hurt before. That little imperfection adds more mystery and intrigue to him.
Something in my chest moves. I don’t know what it is, but it just moves.
It’s like a prisoner has been lurking in the corners of my chest and now decided it wanted to be set free.
Even if I want to break eye contact, I can’t.
He stares at me with a slightly tilted head and a silent, manic interest as if he’s meeting an old friend.
Or foe.
“Shit! Shit!” Kimberly grabs me by the jacket and pulls me in the direction of the exit.
“What…?” I’m incredulous, and a bit hazy from breaking eye contact with that boy.
“Just walk, Elsa,” she hisses as her quick footsteps pad along the pavement.
“Why are you taking me away?”
“King,” she mumbles under her breath. “Aiden freaking King.”
“And… who’s that?”
“He’s as much of a King as his last name. Heir of King Enterprises and of this damn school. His and the others’ parents own this place and you don’t want shit with them.”
“Okay.”
I don’t want shit with him either. He’s too attractive for that. Though I can’t place whatever got into me when I locked gazes with him.
Boys don’t interest me. I’m too nerdy for that and my studies always came above any boy drama.
That won’t change now.
Especially since my Cambridge dream is within reach.
Then why am I itching for another glimpse at those metallic eyes?
“Oh. Damn!” Kimberly curses again. “They’re coming this way.”
I glance over my shoulder and sure enough, Aiden and Xander stride towards us and the rest of the football team follow like a gang in a mafia film. All laughter disappears and even the bystander’s chatter halts abruptly and a tomb-like silence conquers the air.
The crowd parts for them like the red sea did for Moses.
“Run!” Kimberly whisper-yells, her nails digging into my wrist until I’m sure she’ll draw blood.
“Why would I run?”
Due to my struggles with Kimberly, they reach us in no time and block our epic failure run to the exit.
Up close, Aiden’s eyelashes are thick and as inky as his hair. A small, beauty mole sits at the edge of his deep, smoky eyes.
He stares down at me with a cold, foggy edge that matches the colour of his eyes.
Call it instinct, but something tells me I should be scared of him.
Like that prisoned thing from earlier, something claws at the corners of my chest, screaming at me to run and never look back.
That’s ridiculous. I don’t know Aiden, why should I run?
“Isn’t it Berly?” Xander asks Kimberly in a detached tone before his lips curve into a cruel smirk. “You look even nerdier this year.”
Everyone around us bursts into laughter, throwing fat-shaming remarks her way. My cheeks tint in red on Kim’s behalf, but it’s not due to embarrassment.
My blood boils to smash Xander’s golden boy looks to the ground.
I open my mouth to say something, but I’m cut off when Kim lowers her head, lips trembling, and sprints past Xander to the exit.
He follows her with a smirk tilting his lips.
I should’ve seen what’ll happen next coming.
I don’t.
A strong hand wraps around my throat and pushes me against the wall. My back hits the brick and pain shoots down my spine and tightens the pit of my stomach.
I always thought myself brave, but nothing, absolutely nothing could’ve prepared me for this sudden, aggressive attack from a complete stranger.
The grey eyes I thought were beautiful seconds ago glare into my soul with murderous intent. The dark shadow on his face terrifies me more than his grip on my throat.
His other hand clutches my jaw, and my lips tremble at the thought that he’ll snap my neck.
“W-What are you doing?”
He leans forward so his mouth hovers inches away from mine and growls. “I will destroy you.”
Those words seal my fate.
Chapter Two
Two years later,
Senior year. Last year before Cambridge.
Can I skip the entire thing and somehow still end up in Cambridge?
According to the obligatory grades’ system, that’s impossible.
The Mini Cooper swerves in the school’s car park so hard, the tires screech in protest.
I gasp. “Kim!”
She grins at me as if she didn’t almost run us into a pole. “What? Silver almost got the spot and I’m not letting that bitch walk all over me anymore.”
My lips pull in a smile. I’m so proud of how far Kim has come during this summer. She went on a camping trip for self-spirituality and came back as this confident, smiley girl.
If only I could let go of my inner chaos as successfully as her.
She stares at her face in the rearview mirror. “How do I look?”
Another thing about Kim’s trip? She lost more than twenty pounds and returned with this model-like body. Even her face has thinned, giving her cheekbones an alluring edge. Although I do miss her chubby cheeks. The mint-green coloured highlights make her appear like a fairy. She wore her skirt short, too short. Like a gust of wind can show her underwear, short.
I release my seatbelt. “You were always pretty, Kim.”
“Only to you, Ellie.” She rolls her eyes. “And my dad, but you guys don’t count.”
“Hey,” I scowl. “Rude.”
She sticks out her tongue. Determination sparking in her deep green eyes. “Today, I’ll show all those suckers what I’m made of. I’ll walk with my head held high like you.”
I can’t help the awkward smile breaking free. Kim thinks I’m that courageous, but she doesn’t know the entire truth.
Silver bangs on Kim’s window, her nostrils flaring. “You fat bitch!”
Two of her minions follow after her like she’s their mama duck. They’re all huffing and puffing, but I doubt it has anything to do with the weather.
Silver Queens is every bit the cliché of a mean girl. Blonde. Tall. Slender. Her mother is a member of the parliament. Her father is a minister. She also belongs to the school’s best students. Aka, the top ten per cent.
She has it all and makes sure everyone in Royal Elite School — or RES — knows it.
Kim lowers her window, grins at Silver, and flips her middle finger. “Fuck you, bitch.”
Silver and her minions’ jaws drop so hard, so fast, they turn speechless.
I’m speechless, too.
My best friend doesn’t curse and she certainly doesn’t flip people off — or bullies, to be more specific.
Kim didn’t only change in appearance. Nuh-uh. The world needs whatever self-confidence training she had.
“Let’s go, Elle.” Kim opens her door, pushing the dumbfounded mean girls
back.
I take my backpack and exit, too. I hold my head high as I stare down at Silver.
“What are you looking at, Frozen?” Silver snarls.
Of course.
The beloved nickname at RES.
But it’s not because of the Disney film. No.
Since the first day I walked into RES, I’ve been instantly marked as an outcast.
Kim and I were the butt-end of every fat and nerd joke. While Kim – the old Kim – hid in the garden behind the school until everyone went to class, I walked the hallway with my head held high.
Aunt and Uncle didn’t raise me to be stepped on. I kept to myself, but I never let them touch my dignity.
Apparently, I have an epic resting bitch face. Thus the nickname.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” I keep my expression neutral as I meet Silver’s malicious eyes. “You’re not important enough for me to stare at.”
I interlace my arm with Kim and walk into the school’s huge doors. The ten towers appear eerie like they belong to a horror film, not a prestigious old architecture.
But then again, that’s how I categorised RES since that first day.
My hands turn clammy and my body tightens as if I’m off to battle.
Kim smiles, but it’s forced and makes her nose twitch in anxiousness.
“We’ve got this,” I say more to myself than to her.
One more year in this hell.
One more year until Cambridge.
Kim’s head bobs up and down, causing her mint-coloured strands to bounce.
“If we die,” I joke. “I want to go in full Shakesperian mode. Tragedy.”
She laughs, the sound is throaty. “For thy love of thee!”
We break into a fit of laughter as we head down the vast, main hallway. The school’s golden logo, Crest-Lion-Crown decorates the entrance hall and the announcement board.
The moment we cross the entrance area and step into the hallways filled with other students, the real nightmare starts.
“Hey, Frozen. Did you freeze any beaches this summer?”
“Where’s your fat friend?”
“Is she stuffing her pregnant belly with carbs?”
Kim’s grip tightens on my arm. I can’t believe they don’t even recognise her.
Truth be told, I had to look at her twice after the summer camp to make sure it was her.
“Are you still swallowing cocks, Teacher Slut?”
I bite my lower lip against the rolling wave of anger. That particular rumour makes me want to hit someone.
Two years ago, after the entire class went out, I dropped my pen in biology. When I dropped down on my knees to pick it up, my hair got caught in the table — cliché, I know. Mr Silvester, the biology teacher, helped me out by untangling my hair.
Apparently, one of the dickheads here saw that moment and spread the rumour that I was giving our biology teacher a blowjob before he fucked me in class. Right before the exam — that I had a perfect score on.
Since then, I’ve been labelled a teacher slut.
Whenever I get a perfect score, it means I slept with the teacher.
But of course, no one talks about how Levi King, the oldest of the two kings, slept with a teacher. For real. They were caught in the act by the principal himself.
Nope. He gets a pass. The teacher gets thrown out of the educational system and she had to flee the country, basically.
Oh, and his guardian, the mighty Jonathan King, CEO of King Enterprises, got an official apology from RES.
Levi King got out of it unscathed. In fact, he became more popular, more loved, more admired.
Why? Because his last name is King.
And the Kings hold more power than the actual queen of this country.
Levi King was idolised for fucking the teacher.
I’m called a teacher slut for unfound rumours.
Kim’s grip turns deadly even though she’s holding onto her courageous mode.
I’m used to this rubbish and name-calling in the hallways. Kim isn’t. I want to protect her from all these bastards.
Protect yourself first, Elsa.
Kim and I try to ignore them by talking about my running competition this weekend or the start of the Premier League season.
We release a collected breath when we finally arrive at our class.
At least, the wankers keep their distance when the teachers are around. But the thing about bullies? They work under the surface in front of adults.
RES is a prestigious, posh school, so the students need to keep up a certain image.
The rich are scarier than any normal criminal.
They have all the money and influence to allow them to twist anything around. They’re never labelled criminals. No. They’re labelled as elites.
Kim stops abruptly two steps into the classroom, and I run into her rigid back.
Her breathing becomes audible.
My own breathing picks up pace, and the hairs on the back of my neck stand on high alert.
Since that entrance day, there’s been this baffling level of awareness that won’t leave me the hell alone.
Every fibre of my being is honed for the inevitable confrontation.
For that crash and burn.
I suck in several deep breaths and begin the usual chant.
I’m loved. Aunt, Uncle, and Kim love me. I won’t break. Not today.
I need to remind myself of those facts to remain strong and not let him get to me.
That’s what the devil’s reduced me to.
My gaze finally strays ahead, following Kim’s field of vision.
Xander Knight. Cole Nash. Ronan Astor. Aiden King.
The four horsemen of RES. They earned the title for their impressive team play on the football team.
I call them the four arseholes.
And they’re all here in our class.
No wonder Kim froze. We’ve barely escaped their wrath without being in the same class.
As in breathing the same air all year long. And not just any year, senior year.
Maybe I need to speak to Aunt and Uncle about my plans for Cambridge.
Cambridge, who?
The four are laughing and jesting. Xander is throwing the ball at Ronan, and the latter catches it with an Oomph.
Cole, the new captain of the football team after Levi King graduated last year, holds a book in his hand and laughs quietly at the other two.
My gaze strays to the main devil.
The hell ruler.
The black king.
You’d think the summer would somehow erase him from my consciousness and nightmares.
It didn’t.
Aiden is the only one sitting. His legs stretch in front of him, crossed at the ankles. His fingers are interlaced across his stomach making him appear every bit the King his last name suggests
A ruler on his throne.
A devil in his hell.
Over the summer, I thankfully hadn’t seen him, he’s bulked up — due to the football camp, no doubt. His uniform’s jacket stretches over well-defined shoulders. The dark blue trousers tighten around his muscular thighs and even his legs have become taller. I’m sure the coach would be so proud of his star player wanker.
His dark hair is between being tousled and slicked. Under the dim classroom light, his dark grey eyes appear black. Everything about him is.
Black mind.
Black heart.
Black soul.
I should’ve listened to Kim that day when she said those little bastards owned the school. Their parents are the biggest shareholders. Everyone in RES, including some teachers, fall to their knees for them.
All of them are sons of ministers or lords.
All except for Aiden.
His father owns those ministers and the rest of the UK’s politicians.
Jonathan King leads the most successful conglomerate, not only in this country, but also worldwide. If he sponsors a politician, they’re sure to win.
&nbs
p; If he brings someone down, they’re sure to vanish and never return.
That’s the only reason I haven’t reported the bullying or mentioned it to Aunt and Uncle.
Quinn Engineering is a small fish and their contract with a subsidiary of King Enterprises is the reason they’re flourishing. Losing their company would devastate them.
If I stir up any trouble with Aiden, I have no idea what the devil will do. After all, he’s the heir to his father’s kingdom.
Aunt and Uncle saved me ten years ago, and I’d rather die than hurt them in any way.
Ronan notices us first. He’s the typical teenage boy with messy brown hair and eyes. All he cares about is partying and shagging his way through school. Kim and I are probably the only moving things with a skirt he hasn’t fucked.
That’s probably why he licks his lips suggestively while he looks us up and down. Then he stops abruptly and nudges Xander.
The latter pauses tossing the ball to Cole and freezes. Literally. His easy-going smile falls, the dimples disappear, and his demeanour changes.
Kim’s new appearance shocked him.
In his bloody face.
Aiden’s eyes are on me. The murderous energy is in the air without me having to look at him.
Xander stares at Kim with contempt. “What have you done, Berly?”
Kim’s hand starts shaking. He made her life a living hell like Aiden made mine. The only difference is that her bullying has been going on since the previous school. She doesn’t talk about it, but considering that she knew these arseholes her entire life, I’m sure it’s been going on for even longer than that.
“Ignore him,” I lean in so only she can hear me. “They get off on a reaction. Don’t show it.”
“You think you’re all pretty now?” He strides forward with a barely tucked-in menace.
Kim shrinks into me, biting her lower lip. Even with her courage resolution, I can’t really blame her.
Xander is an intimidating arsehole both because of his stupid football build and his influence as a minister’s son.
Besides, he’s humiliating her in front of a class full of kids who always hated her.
“Once a nobody, always a nobody, Kimberly.” He snarls her name.
Her bottom lip trembles, which means she’s about to cry. The arsehole always makes her cry.