Sanctuary Bay

by Laura Burns

  Ethan shrugged. “They’ll make whatever donation it takes to get me into Harvard. Got to keep up the family tradition.”

  “Just flunk out then, if it doesn’t make any difference. You hate it here,” Sarah snapped. He didn’t make that any kind of secret. “Stop going to class completely. Fail every test.” He constantly pissed her off, beautiful lips, amazing blue eyes, long, lean body, and all. She could still barely believe that this school had wanted her, but she’d taken Nate’s advice and squashed her resentment. The kids here generally seemed to get how good they had it at the academy. Unfortunately Ethan still brought out all her crap, as Nate had called it. He was a rich, entitled idiot and he didn’t even know it.

  “Flunking out is not part of the Sanctuary Bay educational system,” Ethan said.

  “So you tried it?”

  “Among other things.”

  “You’re an overprivileged, inbred asshole, you know that?” Sarah burst out, unable to contain herself. “You have no idea what the real world is like. You’re shitting away a chance other people would kill to have.”

  “My world is as real as yours is, Sarah,” Ethan shot back.

  “Whatever. You don’t care, why should I? Find some other place to get your notes.”

  “Not a problem.” He held the door to the dining hall open with exaggerated politeness.

  Sarah hesitated, frowning, but she couldn’t keep just standing there. She brushed past, and the sounds of clattering plates, rushing footsteps, and barked orders enveloped her. Students in long white aprons and hairnets dashed between tables, slamming food down.

  “What’s going on?” she asked, forgetting for a second that she didn’t really want to talk to Ethan ever again in life.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean this.” She waved her hands at this chaos. “Why are kids doing the serving?” She noticed the buffet table was missing too.

  “Didn’t think you’d object to—whatchacallit?—Honest work,” Ethan replied.

  “That’s not what I—” But Ethan was already gone, striding toward their table. Sarah stood still for a moment, confused. The dining hall had always had waiters before, but real ones, not students. Why had it changed?

  Slowly, she made her way over to the usual table. Karina, Izzy, and Tif were there with Matthias, a guy from Sarah’s history class. Taylor had started eating at another table about a week ago, and Matthias had started eating with them instead. Nobody said why, and Sarah didn’t ask. She’d never really known Taylor that well, so why make it an issue? “Why’d they change things around?” she asked her friends.

  “Huh?” Tif used one fingertip to push her hamburger off the bun. “Any of you carnivores want it, it’s up for grabs.” A second later, one of the younger student servers shoved hamburgers in front of Sarah and Ethan, then trotted off as someone from the kitchen yelled, “Move your asses!”

  Looks like the daily specials have disappeared too, Sarah thought as she took a bite of the hamburger. Maybe the school always switched things around.

  “You think you can sit down next to me like nothing happened, without even attempting a lame apology?” Karina demanded, glaring at Ethan. “I’m not expecting you to fill my mailbox with orange Tic Tacs or ask if your Boy Scout troop can marry us. I do realize you are, in fact, you, but come on.”

  Obviously Sarah wasn’t the only one who received Ethan’s special asshole treatment lately.

  “I won’t apologize for not agreeing with you, especially when I know, I know, that you don’t give a rat’s ass either way,” Ethan retorted. He took a bite of his hamburger.

  “I do care. And that you don’t know I care is an even bigger problem,” Karina cried out, and Matthias began slowly banging his head against the table. Sarah didn’t blame him. Karina and Ethan had two modes at meals—basically molesting each other between bites, or fighting.

  “Do a couple for me, would you?” Izzy asked. “I don’t want to mess up my hair.” Matthias agreeably gave a few more head bangs.

  “If you would ever listen to me for even two seconds—” Karina began.

  Ethan grabbed the half burger left on his plate. “I’m done.” He stalked away, leaving Karina fuming.

  “I don’t understand you, and I’m unusually clever,” Izzy told Karina. “Explain to me what you’re doing with that guy. He’s such a poser. Not to mention you fight every four seconds. And he makes you miserable most of the time. Please, just explain to me.”

  “I can’t explain it to you, because you’ve never been in love,” Karina replied. “Probably because you’re so clever. You’re all brain and no heart.”

  “And you’re like one of those battered women who stay with their abusers,” Izzy retorted. “Because they looooove them. All heart and no brain.”

  Karina gasped. Sarah felt herself stiffen. “Fuck you, Izzy,” Karina whispered, all her usual animation drained away.

  “Wow, you changed my mind with that well-reasoned argument.” Izzy’s lips curled into a sneer.

  Sarah’s gut clenched. She was used to fighting, but usually she didn’t care about the people involved. Izzy and Karina had both been really nice to her, and the two of them were usually so close.

  Matthias shoved the last of his burger in his mouth. “Gotta get a little studying time in before calc,” he mumbled and bolted.

  Sarah wished she could go with him. Instead she sat there, trying to come up with something to say that would smooth things over. Nothing came to her. Tif didn’t seem to be having any luck either. She just kept chewing on a bite of hamburger bun even though it had to have disintegrated by then.

  “Hey, girlies.” Nate dropped into the chair vacated by Ethan, putting him between Sarah and Karina. “What’s the what?” He gave them The Grin. Sarah smiled back, relieved to have somebody new at the table who might help diffuse the badness. She hadn’t talked to Nate too much since that first day, but he’d made sure to check on her a couple of times.

  “Just a little discussion on the meaning of love,” Tif answered, pushing her black-framed glasses higher up on her nose.

  “Can we talk about lacrosse instead?” Nate slowly began to unwind the scarf from around Sarah’s throat. “I get that you want to bond with your new roommates.” He slid the scarf free. “But the choice of a lacrosse team can’t be made lightly.” He took off his own scarf, black and white, Puffin colors, wrapped it around her neck, and studied her intensely for a long moment. She flushed as her heart began to beat rapidly and warmth spread throughout her body. “Suits you. That’s all I’m saying.”

  “As our class president, shouldn’t you support the Puffins and the Lobsters equally?” Izzy asked. Sarah could still hear a slight strain in her voice.

  “I’ll provide beers equally to both sides at the Puffin victory party to be held in my suite after the game,” he promised, then stood and headed to another table, Sarah’s scarf still in his hand.

  “He likes you,” Karina said when Nate was out of earshot.

  “Yeah. That thing with the scarf? Sexy.” Tif stared after Nate.

  They had to be wrong. Although she agreed about the scarf thing—damn. But Nate was one of the most popular guys in school. That kind of guy and Sarah? No. “He only talked to me for five seconds,” she protested. “Which brings the total to thirty seconds, other than when he and Maya met my ferry. You know Maya? His girlfriend?”

  They all stared at her.

  “Maya and Nate? They’re not together,” Tif said. “Not unless they’re keeping it some big secret.”

  Izzy chimed in before Sarah could object again. “I’m no expert on love, my heart being made of ice and all.” Izzy shot a hard look at Karina. “But I concur. Nate definitely likes you.”

  * * *

  “How’s your crazy roommate?” Ethan asked as he dropped into his chair the next day in chemistry, early for once. They were the first ones in the room.

  Sarah gave a noncommittal shrug. They were fighting now, but to
morrow—or in an hour—he and Karina would be back together, based on everything Izzy had said and what Sarah had seen so far. It was always a bad idea to get in the middle of an on-and-off relationship.

  “You’re not speaking to me? Out of sisterly solidarity with Karina or because you’re still pissed that I’m not taking full advantage of everything the luck of my birth has given me?” His blue eyes were bright with amusement.

  She was still disgusted with his sense of entitlement. But she wasn’t going to let him think she cared enough to still be angry.

  “I’m not getting into some thing between you and Karina, that’s all,” she answered. She was also really, really trying not to get into some thing between Karina and Izzy. They’d gone to the game together, and it was okay, since there wasn’t a lot of talking time, but at the party in Nate’s suite they’d avoided each other. And Nate? The guy who supposedly liked her? He’d brought her a beer—that’s it. He seemed to be everywhere at once, making sure everyone was having fun, except for those long slow dances he’d had with Maya, half of them to fast songs. He was nice to Sarah, but only in the way he was with everyone else. Obviously Karina, Izzy, and Tif were imagining things.

  “Fair enough,” Ethan said. “Hey, I was thinking, since you don’t want to give me notes, how about if I bought them? I get some nice stuff in care packages, so I can trade for pretty much anything you want.”

  “Of course. Of course you think that would be the solution. You know, not everything can be…” Her words trailed off as she noticed the smile tugging at Ethan’s lips; goddamn those perfect lips of his. “You’re messing with me.”

  He laughed. “You just make it so easy. And you’re cute when your eyes get all squinty and mad.”

  “They don’t get squinty,” she muttered.

  He leaned closer and studied her face. “You prefer beady? Or maybe—”

  His cell burped, just as Sarah’s gave a beep. She hadn’t customized the ringtones yet. She pulled it out of her pocket and tapped the screen to open the new text. Ethan got his open a few seconds before she did, and the little moans and gasps from her cell echoed the ones from his.

  At first Sarah thought somebody had managed to send a porn clip to everyone, but then she realized the woman she was looking at was a teacher she’d seen in the halls. And the other woman getting down and dirty with her was Maya. Maya from the boat. Maya, Nate’s girlfriend.

  “Nice technique,” Ethan observed, grinning.

  “Seriously? That’s what you think when you see this?” Sarah cried.

  “Am I about to get yet another lecture on the correlation between wealth and the lack of morals?” he asked. “I don’t see you turning it off.”

  She had been staring as her brain processed. Maya and a teacher on the desk in a classroom. “I’m just—”

  “Ho-ly shit,” Bryce said as he walked into the room, cell in hand. Eliza was a few steps behind him, staring at her cell too. “What is it about a freckled ass?” Bryce continued. “It makes me want to play connect-the-dots with my tongue.”

  Eliza slapped him on the back of the head, and Sarah looked back at her cell. “Who was filming this?” she asked. “It’s like they don’t even know they’re being watched.” She glanced around the chemistry room. Were there cameras hidden somewhere?

  As she returned her gaze to her phone, the screen went black. “Now I know why Ms. Winston never flirted back,” Logan said, waving his cell as he came in. “She’s on the other team.”

  “Yeah, that’s it,” Eliza snarked. “There’s no other possible reason for a woman not to flirt with you.”

  “Where’s the rewind?” Bryce asked.

  Nate. The thought exploded in Sarah’s mind. He must be mortified. She tried to imagine how it would feel to find out your girlfriend was cheating on you, everyone titillated by the sex or gossip or both, staring at you, trying to gauge your reaction. Had he had any idea something was going on with Maya? He and Maya had just been all over each other at his party.

  “It’s probably because Ms. Winston is judging the next debate,” Eliza commented.

  “Oh come on,” Bryce scoffed. “She’s a total TILF.”

  “No other reason necessary,” Logan agreed.

  “Maya’s never gone girl before,” Eliza said. “I think there’s definitely another reason.”

  “What does the debate have to do with anything?” Sarah asked Ethan.

  He shrugged. “I don’t follow the soap opera that is Sanctuary Bay.”

  He really can be a superior snot, Sarah thought. I bet he’s as curious as everyone else, but doesn’t want to admit it.

  Eliza answered for him. “Ms. Winston is judging the debate on Friday, and Maya’s going up against Derick Kuok, and he’s never lost.”

  “You think Maya would screw somebody just to win?” Maya was a rule-following, good-girl type. And boffing a teacher was not exactly rule-following, good-girl behavior.

  “Maya’s killer competitive,” Logan said. “And the debate coach is worse than Coach Edwards.” Worse than the Lobsters’ coach? That was saying something.

  “Oooh, or maybe it’s a secret society thing,” Eliza went on, eyes wide. “They must have crazy pranks. The Skull and Bones society at Yale makes its members do insane stuff before they graduate and become presidents and moguls and whatnot.”

  Logan snorted. “That whole thing is a myth.”

  “No, it’s not. I heard it’s called something like the Wolf Den. Only a few people get invited to join each year.”

  “Anyone else need more proof than a rumor?” Logan asked, glancing around. “You believe in the POW ghost too, Eliza?”

  Eliza shot a speculative glance at Ethan. “What do you think?” she asked him.

  Sarah turned to watch him along with everyone else. If there was some elite club that guaranteed postgrad wealth and power, she wanted in, and Ethan would know about it.

  “I think Maya’s just getting her rocks off,” Ethan replied.

  Eliza rolled her eyes. “Maybe. If there was a secret society here, I should be in it. So it probably doesn’t exist.”

  The blue light flashed to signal the start of class. Dr. Diaz and the last few kids came in a few moments later. “I have your tests graded,” Dr. Diaz said, dropping his battered leather satchel on his desk. He pulled out a stack of papers. “Nice work, all of you. Although it looks like I need to spend a little more time going over SN2 reactions,” he added as he began passing out the tests.

  “Come on, Diaz. You’re not actually going to pretend that we haven’t all just seen that sex tape,” Bryce said.

  “That won’t be covered on the next exam,” Dr. Diaz replied. He put Sarah’s test on the table in front of her, facedown. She flipped it over. Perfect score. Pride swelled inside her. Her memory gave her a massive advantage, but it wasn’t as if she had the answer to all the possible stereoisomers of a specific molecule stored in her brain. That came from understanding the concepts, not memorization.

  Her happiness drained out of her when she saw the note Dr. Diaz had scribbled at the top of the page: “Sarah, please see me after class.” She knew what that meant. She’d dealt with it before. He thought the charity case couldn’t possibly have gotten a hundred without cheating. She’d thought he was different. So in love with the subject, so eager to pass his enthusiasm on to them, to make them believe they had it in them to be original thinkers with the capacity to make a scientific leap that could change everything. But he was just like her old teachers. He didn’t think someone like her could be anything but average—if she was lucky.

  But she’d aced that test. Even if he decided to give her a big, fat zero for cheating, she knew that she’d gotten the A because she’d deserved it.

  It seemed like hours before the pink light flashed, indicating the end of class. “You coming?” Ethan asked.

  “I’ll see you over there. I need to ask Dr. Diaz a question.”

  “Just make sure to keep your pants on,”
Ethan teased, letting his eyes run down her body in such an intimate way he might as well have been peeling her clothes off. To her annoyance, Sarah felt her skin flush in response. She couldn’t think of a good comeback before he grabbed his backpack and headed for the door.

  At least she knew what she wanted to say to Dr. Diaz. “I didn’t cheat,” she announced as soon as everyone else had gone. “Not that anything I say will convince you. You’ve made up your mind.” He looked startled.

  “Back up. Who said anything about cheating?” he asked.

  “That’s what you want to see me about, right?” Sarah picked up her test and pointed to his note. “I’m sure you’ve read my file, and there’s plenty in there about what a huge cheater I am. You know foster kids can’t actually achieve anything. We’re all damaged losers, right? Attitude problems, drug use, learning disabilities, we’ve got them all.”

  “Back up,” Dr. Diaz said again. He walked over and sat down in Ethan’s chair. “Where are you getting this? All my note said is that I wanted to talk to you.”

  “About how I could have possibly gotten a perfect score.”

  “Sarah, for someone with such an aptitude for science, you’re awfully good at jumping to conclusions. Your test did make me want to talk to you, yes, because I’m curious about what plans you have after graduation. If you’re interested in majoring in chemistry or considering med school in the future, we ought to discuss the classes you should take in your senior year. If there’s anything you feel shaky on that’s a prerequisite, I could help you get up to speed. I know you switched schools several times, and even for an excellent student that can leave gaps.”