by Cassie James
“Who’s this?” I tilt one of the photos towards her and point at a man standing next to my grandfather in a photo where he’s holding me. The other man is holding a little boy around the same age.
Pearl takes the picture from me to get a closer look. “Ah, that’s Ed Woods.” She gestures to the boy in his arms. “And little Jax, if you can believe it. The two of you were two peas in a pod as babies. You used to scream when we tried to separate you so we always had to put you both down for naps together. It used to drive the nannies mad.” I make a face for a split-second, plenty long enough that Pearl catches me and pats my knee. “Babies don’t have the same chips on their shoulders that teenage boys do.”
“What do teenage girls have?” I’m half-expecting her to make some comment about how boys will be boys or whatever.
“They have brains, dear.” Her answer is so unexpected that I laugh so hard I snort. It’s so unladylike and I slap my hand over the bottom half of my face the second it happens. Pearl makes a disapproving noise, but she smiles, too. A freaking mystery, seriously.
She hands me another stack of photos, and I get a weird sense of déjà vu as I stare down at the couple in the top picture. “These are my parents?” My throat wells up with emotion as I lay eyes on them for the first time. Or at least for the first time since I was a baby.
“That’s them.” Pearl sighs as she watches me flip through a few photos of them together. I pause on their wedding photo, my mother dressed in the most gaudy white gown I’ve ever seen. “I can’t say your mother had much of a fashion sense. I think she walked into the dress shop and told them to just give her the most expensive thing they had.” Looking at it now, it’s not so unbelievable.
I’m surprised to see how much I look like my actual parents. For years, I stretched my imagination to believe that I looked like the people I thought of as my parents, but now I see it wasn’t even close. My real mother had the same hair as me, the exact same red tint and loose waves. And my green eyes, they look like a perfect copy of my father’s. The same shape, the same hazel color, and the same thick eyelashes. Looking at my real parents now, it’s almost laughable that I ever thought I belonged to anyone else.
There’s a pain that settles in my chest as we continue through the whole box, all the way back to sketches of relatives so long gone that Pearl barely remembers their names. I’ve missed out on so much. A whole legacy that should have been mine. I make a vow to myself right there—no matter what happens, I won’t let anybody steal my legacy from me ever again.
Chapter 6
The only thing worse than starting junior year as the new kid at a fancy private school? Riding to school on the first day in the car of the guy who made a fool of you two days ago.
Sadie tries to give me the passenger seat in Smith’s two-door car, but I insist on climbing in the back. What I didn’t count on was Smith’s attempts to make eye contact with me through the rearview mirror. I cross my arms and lean my head against the window with my eyes closed. Smith can suck it.
As Smith’s car purrs through the streets of Patience, I start to regret skipping breakfast. I’m not nearly as nervous as I expected to be. It sort of feels like I already saw the worst side of everyone the night of my welcome party. It’s not like things can get any worse.
Famous last words.
“What the fuck, Smith?” The concern in Sadie’s voice makes my eyes snap open. I have to lean around her seat to see what she’s looking at. Smith pulls into a parking spot and gets out, but I’m frozen in place as I stare at the huge blown-up picture of Smith and I in the middle of our Saturday morning lip-lock. Sadie shifts in her seat, putting her face in front of mine and blocking my view. “Admittedly, this is not the start to our morning I was hoping for. Are you gonna be okay?”
She doesn’t even question the fact that I’m clearly kissing her brother in a picture the size of a highway billboard. Does she already know? Because all of a sudden I find myself wondering if she was in on the whole thing, too. How much do I really trust Sadie? But she is the only person who’s been all-around helpful since I got here, it doesn’t exactly seem fair of me to question her motives now.
“Yeah, let me out please.” I gesture to the seat because she’s currently trapping me in. She jumps out, and I climb out behind her. There’s a growing crowd around the photo, but out of the car I get a clearer look. In big, bold, red letters at the bottom of the stretched canvas someone has painted words that take my breath away: Romeo & Juliet die at the end of the story.
I’m pretty sure it’s not supposed to be an actual threat, but it sure has gotten people’s attention. “Fucking Jax,” I growl out as people start to notice we’ve arrived. I can hear the whispers, but I can’t make out their words. I probably don’t want to.
“Jax?” Sadie gapes, then turns to Smith with rage in her pretty blue eyes. “Did Jax do this? He’s supposed to be your friend! What kind of friend would do this?” She sounds exasperated, like maybe this isn’t the first time they’ve had a conversation like this. So, it begs the question: why the hell is Smith still friends with Jax Woods?
“Lower your voice.” Smith speaks in a low, angry voice that’s nothing like his normal tone. I assumed he might still be in on this, but I’m not so sure now that I’m seeing his reaction. He looks just as pissed as I feel. Jax has made fools out of us both. “I’ll handle it.”
Sadie is both rolling her eyes and shaking her head at him. She has about as much faith in him right now as I do. It makes me feel bad for that moment of doubting her. “What the hell are you gonna do about it? It’s not like you ever stand up to him.”
He snaps at her, “I said I’ll handle it.”
It’s at that exact moment when a familiar black car squeals into the parking lot, pulling into a spot a few down from ours. Jax wears a full-on grin as he slides out of his car and leans over the hood, taunting all of us with his amusement. He’s not even trying to hide the fact that he’s responsible for this.
“Actually, I’ll handle it.” Smith starts to protest but I knock the wind out of him with my new backpack. “Hold this,” I tell him, not leaving him any other choice. Smith might have been collateral damage, but it’s obvious this little prank was about embarrassing me.
“Wait.” Sadie’s eyes go wide with alarm. “Juliet, what are you doing?” She tries to grab me but I shake her off. I’ve been in this town for all of three days and I’m already tired of the bullshit. I might not be able to stop Jax—or anyone else, for that matter—from being an asshole, but I can sure as hell prove that I’m willing to stand up for myself.
Jax sees me heading towards him and steps up onto the sidewalk to meet me. His first mistake is underestimating me. His second is stepping right into the line of fire. He opens his mouth, to taunt me no doubt, but I’m faster. I grab him by the shirt collar with both hands. His eyes go wide with surprise as he tries to ask, “What are you—”
I kiss him square on the mouth, cutting him off. Kissing Jax is nothing like kissing Smith. Smith and I fought for dominance, but once Jax’s initial shock passes, he doesn’t give an inch. He meets my mouth with a bruising force that really shouldn’t surprise me as much as it does, but I didn’t expect him to kiss me back. The whole thing is over pretty quick, and there’s nothing romantic about it, but we both pull away struggling to catch our breath.
“What the fuck was that?” Jax is scowling at me, and I find a hell of a lot of satisfaction in the fact that I’m the one that’s managed to catch him off guard.
“If people are going to talk, it’s going to be because I earned it.” I start walking backward, not dumb enough to turn my back on Jax while he’s got that murderous look in his eyes. It’s not until I’m a safe distance away that I put my back to him, calling out over my shoulder as I go. “Get used to having me around, Woods. I’m not going anywhere.”
My stunt worked exactly the way I expected it to. Everyone that was staring at the picture of Smith and me is now staring th
is direction as I walk away from a dumbstruck Jax. Kissing one boy might make people talk, but kissing two is going to mean a full blown scandal. And now Jax is the one at the center of it.
Sadie mock bows to me as I rejoin them. “Girl, I did not know you had that in you.” Smith doesn’t look quite as impressed as he thrusts my backpack back at me. He can sulk all he wants, but it doesn’t feel like I had any other choice. At least now Jax knows I can fight dirty, too.
I obviously wasn’t expecting a thank you, but I don’t appreciate the way Smith frowns at me. He’s the one that got us into this mess. If he had just left me alone on Saturday, there never would have been anything to take a picture of in the first place. Still, he has the nerve to look me dead in the eyes and says, “I would have taken care of it.”
“Now you don’t have to.” I step around him and head for the front doors. Sadie takes up residence by my side, standing by me even now that I’ve assured my place in the local gossip mill for at least the next month. As we breeze by the crowd still gathered around my picture, I can’t help but crack a joke. “Cute picture.”
The whispers from before are still there, but this time several members of the crowd look back at me with respect instead of pity. It doesn’t fix everything, but it’s a start. What I really need is to get to the bottom of why so many people seem hell bent on chasing me out of here.
Jax. Smith. Patrick. The one thing they all seem to have in common, besides being absurdly and unfairly attractive, is the desire to give me a hard time. I know I’m the new girl, but this seems to go beyond that. Other people I met at the party kept a cool distance, but those three went out of their way to be cruel. There has to be a reason, and I’m gonna make it my mission to figure out what it is.
After all, I have to have something worthwhile to get me through the school day. Pearl has already warned me that skipping classes won’t be overlooked here the way it was back home. I’m not actually sure what kind of consequences she’d have if I did it, but I’m pretty sure it’s not worth finding out.
Now that I’ve made it farther than the parking lot, I get to take a good look at my new school. The Patience School. The only high school in all of Patience, because no one here would dare dream of sending their kids to a public school. The brick building is massive. I tilt my head back, checking out the clock tower rising up over the front entrance. Back home, we felt lucky if the school’s roof didn’t leak when it rained. This place feels way over the top by comparison. It’s a school building, but it feels more like I’m walking into a country club. Minus the school uniforms, which for me means an itchy plaid skirt and stiff white blouse that makes me want to scratch myself all over. I have to wear tights, too, which I’ve literally never worn before this moment. This is my first time having a designated school uniform, but I’m quickly finding out that they suck no matter how rich you are.
I do notice that as we step through the double doors into the tiled hallway, some girls have managed to roll their skirts to indecent levels. I sneak a quick glance at Sadie, and sure enough her skirt is several inches higher, too. And even though there are adults crawling all over the place, I don’t see anyone being corrected for it. Still, I leave my skirt where it is. I’ve already had enough boy troubles here to last me a lifetime. I don’t want to invite any more.
“So,” Sadie leans her head closer to mine to speak quietly, “should we talk about the fact that I had to find out with the rest of the school that you kissed my brother?” I jerk my head to stare at her, but her expression is so sincere I realize I might have also jumped the gun on assuming she somehow already knew about the kiss.
“You didn’t know?” She shakes her head. “You didn’t really say anything, I thought maybe he told you or something.” She lets out a sharp laugh that tells me just how off-base I really am.
“No, and even if he had, I probably wouldn’t have believed him,” she admits. “He’s so far up Jax’s ass, and this is… definitely not what Jax wanted.” She glances in the direction of the picture, even though we’re out of range to see it anymore. “That looked like some kiss, though.” She bites her lip, and I wish she would just spit out whatever it is she really wants to say. I’m fully aware me kissing her brother is pretty frowned up by girl code standards, though I’m not sure our fledgling friendship has really ascended to that point yet.
“I’m not planning on doing it again, if that’s what you’re worried about.” I don’t care that it was the best kiss I think I’ve ever had, it came with a whole hell of a lot of baggage. And even if it wasn’t some elaborate plan between him and Jax to embarrass me, I still don’t trust him.
Sadie shrugs. “I just don’t want you to get in over your head. You’re not ready for someone like Smith.” I’m a little offended by the way she says it, but then she adds, “And he’s definitely not ready for you.” I mull over her words. They sound like a warning, and one I’m fully planning to heed. I’m already tired of talking about this. I’d like to forget all about the fact that I ever kissed Smith—or Jax.
“Okay,” I change the subject, “There’s something else I’ve been wondering about.” It feels so childish, what I’m about to ask. I wish it wasn’t bothering me so much, but I’m not used to this world of theirs and I still need answers. “It seems like there’s several people here who have bigger issues with me than me just being the new kid. What’s the deal?” Sadie takes a deep breath before she answers, which seems like a good sign that I haven’t just been imagining it.
“Honestly? I think everyone’s worried that you’ll—” A man in a suit steps out into the hallway, stepping in between Sadie and I and interrupting whatever she was about to say next.
“Miss Harrington, you were due in my office twenty minutes ago.” His back is blocking my view, and I miss whatever Sadie’s response it, but he looks at me next. “Miss Lexington, I heard you’ve had quite the morning.” I scrunch my nose but don’t answer. At my old school, we never had adults that even knew what was going on, much less confronted students about student business. He seems to take my silence for what it is, giving me hard look through the frames of his glasses, but otherwise leaving me alone. “Let’s go, Miss Harrington.” He points her into his room, and now I see the sign on the door marking it as the counseling office.
I didn’t expect to be separated from Sadie so soon, especially since I don’t even know where to go to get my class schedule. She mouths the word “sorry” to me but follows orders, disappearing into the counseling office with the door shutting firmly behind her.
A soft bell tone sounds over the loudspeaker, sending the hallway into a flurry of motion. Panic wells up inside of me. I don’t know where anything is here. I’m pretty sure Pearl said I was supposed to go to a main office to get my schedule—since I missed the summer scheduling day—but I have no clue where that is. I would assume it would be near the front of the school, but all I see is a wall of closed doors, none of them marked besides the counseling office that Sadie just disappeared to.
I’m halfway considering knocking on the door and interrupting when someone taps me on the shoulder. The Incredible Hulk stares solemnly down at me. Not literally, but y’know—the size comparison is about right. He also has green eyes, which really sells it for me. I step to the side, assuming he’s trying to get past me. His brow furrows, and he doesn’t go anywhere. I’m starting to think maybe he’s lost, too. Except there’s no way he’s a freshman and I’m pretty sure it would have been mentioned if any other long lost teenagers had recently been returned to town.
“Can I… help you?” I hate having to be the one to speak first considering he was the one that tapped me to get my attention. He looks mildly disappointed with me, but I haven’t the slightest clue why.
He points to one of the doors I was just looking at. “That one is the office.” It’s the one directly in front of the main doors, so I guess that makes sense. They really should have a sign, though. “Have a nice day,” he says as he joins the steady
stream of students heading in the opposite direction.
“Oh, thanks. You too.” I don’t even think he’s close enough to hear me anymore.
Too late, I realize the guy’s voice was awfully familiar. It takes me another moment too long to place it. I’m almost positive he’s the guy that sat silently in my aunt’s gazebo with me Friday night. Ace. I should say something to him, thank him again or something, but he’s already disappearing around the corner. And I’m pretty sure I’m already going to be late as it is.
With a frustrated groan, I tug open the office door. My worst nightmare greets me on the other side. Patrick, the guy that hit on Sadie and insulted my intelligence, is leaning on the front counter, his attention on a textbook open in front of him. He’s the first student I’ve seen that doesn’t look like he’s in any hurry to get to class. I guess that’s a perk of being the principal’s son. Headmaster. I keep forgetting it’s called a headmaster here.
I brace myself for whatever comment Patrick’s going to make when he sees me, but he doesn’t even bother to look up. As I approach the counter, he slides a piece of paper across the surface in my direction. He still doesn’t acknowledge me. Out of the corner of my eye I can see my name at the top so I pick it up, getting a look at my class schedule for the first time.