The Charade

by Judy Corry

  The guy with short chestnut hair held his hand out to Elyse first. "Hi, I'm Hunter," he said in a deep voice. "Welcome to Eden Falls."

  She shook his hand and told him her name, and then he shook my hand next.

  "I'm Ava," I said. "It's great to meet you."

  "Likewise." He nodded. "It's been a while since we've gotten new seniors to our house, so I'm sure everyone will be excited to meet you when school starts tomorrow."

  I smiled, grateful for the positive comments. "I'm excited to get to know everyone."

  Especially the tall, deliciously handsome guy behind you.

  As if reading my mind, Hunter turned and gestured to Mr. Hottie McHot-Hot behind him. "And this is Carter. He's a senior, too."

  "Nice to meet you, Carter," I said, feeling all jittery with nerves.

  But instead of offering his hand to shake in greeting like the other guys had, Carter simply folded his arms across his defined chest and gave us a quick nod. "Good to meet you." Then turning to look back at his friends, he said, "Ready for the next set?"

  Okaaaay, I thought, rocking back on my heels at his immediate dismissal.

  So maybe not all the people at this school would be as welcoming as Scarlett, Mack, and Hunter.

  Mack must have noticed my discomfort because when Carter and Hunter went back to their weights and Scarlett and Elyse walked over to look at the dance studio, he put a hand on my shoulder and said, "Don't take Carter's one-track mind personally. He's just the kind of person who likes to focus on one thing at a time."

  I furrowed my brow, not understanding. "What do you mean?"

  Mack lifted one of his broad shoulders. "Let me just put it this way. If he's marked a workout in his planner from 3:30 to 4:15, you can bet that he will work out from exactly 3:30 to 4:15 with only thirty seconds to a minute break between each set."

  "So he's very regimented and likes to stick to a specific routine?" I asked.

  "Precisely," Mack said, his big lips forming into a smile. "But he makes time for socializing, too."

  "As in he probably wrote, 'Work out with Mack and Hunter' into this planner of his and considered it bro-bonding time?"

  Mack lifted his ball cap from his head, rubbed his hand across his short, curly hair, and said, "I mean, I didn't look at his schedule for today or anything, but yeah, knowing him, that's probably what he wrote."

  "Well, maybe we'll have to teach him to add a few minutes of wiggle room into his calendar here and there so he can make a better first impression when he's meeting new strangers."

  Mack looked back to where Hunter was spotting Carter as he started a rep using the bench press. "I'll make sure to tell him that one of the cute new girls says he needs to be more flexible." And when he shot me a flirtatious wink, my cheeks heated.

  Had this tall, dark, and handsome hottie just said I was cute?

  And then winked at me?

  I was just trying to think of a witty response to his comments when Scarlett and Elyse returned.

  "Ready to see the girls' dormitory?" Scarlett asked.

  "Um, sure." I tucked a lock of my light-brown hair behind my ear. "That would be great."

  "Great," Scarlett said before turning to head out of the door we'd come through with Elyse trailing behind her.

  Before I followed them, I turned back to Mack who still hadn't returned to his friends and said, "It was great to meet you, Mack. I'm sure I'll be seeing you around."

  "I'll make sure to save a spot for you and your sister at my table tonight." He winked again.

  "Thanks." My cheeks flushed even deeper at his offer. "I guess I'll see you later."

  Deciding to end on that high note, I made myself walk away from probably one of the most welcoming and cutest guys I'd ever met before and went to find Scarlett and Elyse.

  2

  Ava

  "This is our common room," Scarlett said when we walked through oak doors that led into a gorgeous room with a wall of windows framed by dark wood. A large gas fireplace was the focal point, with several couches and chairs set in groupings around the room. There was a flat-screen TV in one corner and a kitchenette in another with a fridge, microwave, and a tea-and-coffee station.

  I glanced around at the traditional decor. "This is beautiful," I said. It was exactly how you'd picture a grand living area to be like at a private boarding school. Everything was so rich and vibrant. The traditional vibe made me immediately feel at home.

  "It's one of my favorite places to spend my downtime," Scarlett said.

  Elyse and I walked around the room, taking it in. I smoothed my hand along the back of a brown leather couch, loving the texture of it beneath my fingertips.

  "I think I've found my study spot." I plopped myself down on the couch.

  "You sure you don't mean your make-out spot?" Elyse turned back to me with a teasing smile on her lips.

  I ran my fingers along the cushion and bit my lip as I considered kissing in here with a guy we'd already met today. Mack had such an enigmatic energy to him that I had no doubt he'd be a lot of fun to kiss—probably a lot of fun to date, too.

  And he was tall.

  Mmmm. I loved tall guys. There was just something so nice about feeling petite and small next to a guy. Being five-foot-nine myself, there weren't many guys at my last school who had been tall enough to do that for me.

  But then there was also Carter. He wasn't as tall as Mack, probably more like six-foot two or three. But that was still a great height. And dang, he was attractive.

  That jawline.

  Those tightly corded muscles that had been visible under his tight blue T-shirt.

  And those striking eyes against his warm tan skin.

  Sigh.

  Even if he had barely given me the time of day when we were introduced, I had a shallow enough side to me that I knew I'd still totally kiss him if the opportunity arose.

  And since my imagination was really great with things like that, I found myself picturing what it would be like to kiss Carter. To have those aqua-blue eyes of his focused only on me. Have him scoot close enough on this couch that I could run my fingers through his dirty-blond hair. Have him tilt his face toward mine so I could see if he tasted as good as he looked.

  Being as regimented as he was, he was probably a fantastic kisser. People who were perfectionists usually had the determination to excel at everything.

  "Are you coming?" Scarlett's expectant voice broke into my thoughts.

  "Earth to Ava," Elyse added.

  I startled and looked behind me to find Elyse and Scarlett waiting at the bottom of a wide staircase, their expressions concerned.

  Had I totally just zoned out?

  Yikes, one look at a super cute guy and I was already fantasizing about making out with him.

  I shook my head, realizing just how ridiculous my daydreaming had been.

  Obviously, I was feeling deprived when it came to my love life.

  How long had it been since I'd even kissed a guy?

  Probably since last winter when my ex-boyfriend, Jameson, and I had made out in the library stacks when we were supposed to be studying for a math test.

  Yeah, no wonder my math grade had suffered so much.

  But our fling fizzled out once winter break came, and he started dating someone else. And sadly for my bruised ego, no one had even interested me since then.

  Until now, apparently.

  "Sorry. I'm coming." I stood up, deciding that maybe studying wouldn't work so well on this couch if my mind was already drifting away to other places.

  When I reached them, Scarlett led us up the long staircase. "I should have warned you before you sat down that that couch is famous for way more kissing sessions than the headmistress would ever want our parents to know about."

  "It is?" Elyse asked, peeking over at me. "Does that mean you and one of those guys we met in the weight room have put it to good use?"

  Scarlett's cheeks colored. "Maybe once or twice."

  "You a
nd Mack?" I guessed.

  "No!" Her jaw dropped and she shook her head vigorously. "Ah, no. Definitely not."

  "Really?" I frowned, surprised by the insistence in her tone. "You guys seemed close from what I saw."

  Scarlett shook her head again. "Mack and I have only ever been friends."

  "Was it Carter?" I asked, a hint of envy filling my stomach at the thought of them being together.

  Scarlett laughed. "Yeah, no. Carter only dates supermodels."

  Of course he does.

  My chest fell at the thought. I mean, of course I didn't even really know the guy and we probably weren't even compatible at all, but did Scarlett have to ruin my daydreams already?

  "So, is he dating a supermodel right now?" I asked.

  "He was dating Sofia Cardoso until last summer when she started dating an older guy."

  "The Sofia Cardoso?" My jaw dropped. "As in, the Brazilian supermodel who just did the cover of Teen Vogue this summer?"

  "Yeah, that would be the one."

  "And they know each other how?" I asked. I assumed it was probably because rich people all knew each other—something I was only getting my first taste of since my mom had just joined the millionaire club only recently.

  "She goes here."

  I stopped on the step I was on. "Sofia Cardoso goes to school here?"

  "Yeah." Scarlett tossed some of her auburn hair over her shoulder with a shrug, like having a famous supermodel at our school was no biggie. "She's in a different house but she's a senior like us, and I'm pretty sure her dad is still insisting she finishes high school here instead of going online."

  What?

  "A-are there a lot of other people whose names we'd recognize that go to this school?" Elyse asked, on the same wavelength as me since that would have been my next question.

  "You'd probably recognize some of their parents' names." Scarlett leaned against the banister. "But Sofia definitely has the most social media followers out of any of the students going here."

  Which was probably in the millions.

  And though the common room had made me feel so at home earlier that I'd easily slipped into a daydream, the high ceilings and ornate paintings suddenly made me feel incredibly insignificant.

  Was I going to even have a chance at fitting in at this school where everyone had known each other for years? With a bunch of people whose families had always run in the same circles?

  Elyse and I were probably the only ones who had never even met a famous person until the movie star Justin Banks introduced himself to us after my mom's fashion show this summer. He had asked if my mom would consider designing his fiancée's wedding gown.

  I glanced around the landing that Scarlett was on, half expecting to see a famous parent walking toward us after dropping off their teen at school for the year. But I only saw a few younger girls chatting outside a door, looking like they were catching up from the summer away.

  Scarlett gestured at Elyse and me to follow her toward the door where the girls were chatting.

  "The headmistress is a stickler about keeping the boys from sneaking into the girls’ dormitory at night and vice versa, so this security code is private to just the girls in our house." Scarlett punched in a code to unlock the door that I now realized led to our rooms.

  "So boys aren't allowed in our dorm rooms?" I asked.

  Scarlett opened the heavy oak door. "They're allowed in here before curfew. They have to check in with our room mom, Heather, and the door has to stay open the whole time they're in there so she can make sure everyone’s behaving. But once ten o'clock rolls around, they need to be back in their dorms, which are on the other side of the common room."

  "Has anyone ever broken the rules?" I asked, curious how a simple code could really keep the hormones at bay if a girl was to give the code to her boyfriend.

  "People have tried." Scarlett led us down a long corridor with a dozen doors, one of which I assumed led to the room Elyse and I would be sharing. "But an alarm goes off on the dorm parents’ phones if the door is open after curfew, so not many people dare attempt anything anymore."

  "Modern technology for the win, huh?" Elyse said.

  "I guess." Scarlett shrugged. "It keeps the teen pregnancy rate down, at least. Which our parents always appreciate."

  "I bet," I said. Elyse met my gaze with wide eyes. We were both still virgins and planned to keep it that way for a while, since being raised by a single mom had taught us how difficult that path could be. It was interesting how matter-of-factly Scarlett talked about it.

  We passed a few rooms, some with decorative letters or name signs on the doors that their residents must have placed there to make the space more their own. As we walked past one with the name Emmaline in vinyl letters, I realized that I still didn't know where Scarlett came from and how famous her parents might be. I asked, "Are your mom and dad someone we should know?"

  She shook her head as we passed a door with a big S wrapped in green foliage. "Not unless you've been talking to wealth management consultants lately or attended a recent sermon in the heart of New York City."

  I furrowed my brow, wondering if she was joking.

  She smiled. "My mom’s an investment banker, and my dad’s a pastor of a big church in Manhattan."

  "Oh, wow. That's cool." I nodded.

  "Yeah." Scarlett hesitated. "I had an interesting childhood, at least."

  The way she said it made me wonder what she might be referring to.

  I guess it would be different to be the daughter of a pastor. Where I hadn't had a father figure in my life to make sure I was staying on the straight and narrow, as a religious leader's daughter she probably had a whole congregation of people watching her every move to make sure she didn't do anything that would go against her father's teachings.

  Talk about pressure.

  "Anyway, this is your room." Scarlett pointed to a dark-brown door with the number seven in the middle. "I guess you two chose to have a double?"

  "Yep," I said. "Can't split the Cohen twins apart."

  "That's good that you two are so close. I'm an only child, so I can't say I know what that's like." Scarlett shrugged. "Anyway, your ID cards should open the door for you."

  I started digging into my back pocket to retrieve the card I'd been given when we met with the headmistress earlier. But Elyse was quicker and had swiped hers through the card reader before I could.

  The light on the card reader blinked green, and after turning the knob, the door opened.

  The room was a little bigger than the one we'd shared in our home growing up with two large windows to help it feel even more open. Twin beds sat on opposite ends of the room. There were two small desks where we could do our homework, a small table with two chairs for if we decided to eat in our room, and separate closets. Our suitcases were sitting next to the beds, which had been brought up for us when we'd first arrived with our mom.

  "I'll let you two make yourselves at home," Scarlett said, still standing in the doorway. "Dinner’s at six. The headmistress likes us to wear our uniforms to our meals, so make sure to change into your Monday uniforms before heading down. It’s the one with the blue blazer and blue skirt." She gestured at what she was wearing.

  Elyse and I both nodded.

  Content that we knew what we were supposed to do next, Scarlett pushed away from the door frame. Before leaving us, she said, "I'm just next door in room five, so if you need anything don't hesitate to knock."

  "Hey, Scarlett," Elyse said before Scarlett got two steps out the door. "From what you said earlier, it sounds like Hunter is the guy you kissed, right?"

  "He is." Scarlett's cheeks colored at the mention of the guy with short chestnut hair whom we'd met in the weight room. "W-why do you ask?"

  Elyse twisted some of her long brown hair around her pointer finger. "I want to make sure I know which guys are off-limits, so I don't accidentally make things weird. You seem cool, and I think we could all turn out to be great friends. I jus
t want to make sure Ava and I don't step on anyone else's toes."

  "That's thoughtful of you." Scarlett smiled. "Hunter and I dated for a few weeks last spring. But, um…we just had a lot going on at the time and decided we're better off as friends."

  Elyse nodded.

  "So to cut to the chase," I interrupted, since I too was interested in the subject. "Are there any guys who are, like, off-limits? You know, it's been a while since I've been on a date and from what I've seen so far, this school is like a breeding ground for really attractive guys."

  "Eden Falls is kind of like the Garden of Eden when it comes to beautiful humans, isn't it?" Scarlett smirked, like she knew exactly what I was talking about.

  "Not just humans," I said. "From what I've seen so far, the buildings and grounds are gorgeous as well. Like a scene straight out of a fairytale."

  "It is beautiful," Scarlett said. "But to answer your question. Regarding me specifically, I've dated a few guys here, but since we're such a condensed school and we’re around the same people basically all the time, it wouldn't be right for me to tell you that anyone is off-limits. Sure, it might make things a little awkward for a while if you were to date someone seriously and then break up, only to end up having to be around them for the rest of the year. But that's just life at a boarding school. We do have some day students, like Mack and Carter, who are only here during school or for extracurricular activities and at meals if they want, so they’re a safer bet. Plus, it gives you a good excuse to leave campus if you're dating someone who lives in town.

  “My only real advice is to just enjoy your time here. If you feel like dating, that's great. But what’s awesome about Eden Falls Academy is that the friendships you make here are the kind that can last your whole life. So just try to enjoy everything while you’re here and I think you'll have a great year."

  The kind of friendships that would last a lifetime?

  Hmm, interesting. My mom had gone here, but she never talked about it. Elyse and I actually didn't even know this school existed until our mom suddenly sprang the idea on us a few months ago.