by R. A. Smyth
“Ha, yeah. That’s putting it mildly. Wait ‘til you get to know the other students. Some of them…” She shakes her head, like she’s struggling to find the right word. “Let’s just say they can be pompous, entitled assholes.”
“From what Bianca said, I gather the scholarship students and the rest of the school don’t get along?” I ask, keen to get more information on how everything around here works. I definitely don’t need to go pissing off the wrong people right off the bat.
“Ahh, she gave you the whole ‘you, us, and them’ spiel?” Emilia shakes her head, rolling her eyes. “She’s the worst, thinking she’s so much better than everyone else. Just ‘cause her daddy owns an oil emporium doesn’t mean she doesn’t eat, sleep, and shit like the rest of us. She’s kind of right, though. We tend to stick to ourselves. It’s not necessarily because the other students want nothing to do with us, but we just don’t have anything in common. Bianca and her friends are the only ones that seem to openly dislike us.”
Absorbing all the information she’s sharing, I enquire, “What about the Princes?”
“They don’t really have anything to do with us.” She shrugs. “Or anyone, for that matter. They’re a tight-knit group, mostly keeping to themselves and rarely interacting with anyone outside of the four of them, unless they’re looking to get laid or someone pisses them off. Cam would be the most social out of all of them.” My ears perk up at the name, remembering the guy that winked at me. He was definitely the outgoing one of the group.
The door into the hall opens before I can ask anything else, a reverent hush settling over the few students here as the guys themselves enter, not sparing a single glance around the room as they make their way toward the buffet table. My attention is immediately drawn to Cam, taking in his cocky swagger as he talks away to the guy beside him, seeming oblivious to everyone’s eyes on him.
“Who are the other three?” I ask Emilia, unable to tear my gaze away from Cam.
“The guy Cam is talking to is West Warren.” West is the hot nerd from this morning. Unlike Cam, his eyes roam over the room in a studious fashion before he turns back to respond to whatever Cam said. “The angry-faced one is Hawk Davenport, and beside him is Mason Hayes.”
The four of them have such a beguiling presence, making it impossible to not watch their every move. They appear relaxed, talking to one another while they wait for their food; but Mason’s tense posture, and the way West flicks his gaze around the room, gives away the fact they know everyone is watching them, and they aren’t as comfortable with all the attention as they pretend to be.
“Earth to Hadley.” Emilia laughs, my cheeks pinking at having been caught out practically drooling over them as I turn back to look at her. “I know, they’re sex on legs,” she continues to laugh, “but trust me, they aren’t worth it.”
My eyebrows jump up in surprise. “You’ve slept with one of them?”
“I fucking wish!” She chuckles. “Sadly, no, but every girl in this place wants in on that. The girls here are like sharks, especially when it comes to bagging themselves rich boyfriends. And everyone wants their very own Prince. If they smell blood in the water, they will tear you to shreds.”
I’d like to see those rich bitches fucking try, but yeah, I don’t need that drama. As tempting as they might look, I’m sure there’s less problematic dick floating around this place that will do the job when my horny side surfaces.
“What’s Cam’s surname?” I ask before said horny side can make an unwanted appearance. Sadly, those gorgeous boys will only be featured on my nightly bean screen.
“Rutherford, why?”
I shrug my shoulders. “Just curious.”
It’s only once the Princes leave the hall, that everything returns to normal, students going back to eating their meals and gossiping. It’s crazy the effect four teenage boys can have on an entire room of people, but I can’t deny their magnetism doesn’t affect me.
“We do a movie night on the first day of term, if you wanna come and meet the other scholarship students?”
“Yeah,” I nod my head, “that sounds like fun.”
***
At eight o’clock, Emilia knocks on my door and we make our way across campus to the rec center, stopping at the shop on our way to meet the others. Using some of the allowance we’re given as part of our scholarship, we buy snacks for the movie before heading to the cinema room that’s been booked for the night.
The room comprises several rows of comfortable seats and a large screen taking up the whole wall, with speakers embedded on either side. Two boys are standing at the side of the screen, presumably getting everything set up, while the others are spread out across the front row, talking and laughing with one another, barely looking up when we enter.
“Hey guys.” Emilia smiles, walking down the aisle to the front row. “This is Hadley. She’s a new scholarship student,” she explains. “Hadley, this is Mary and Abigail.” Emilia gestures toward the two girls, one of whom is stuffing her face with popcorn, giving me a quick wave when I glance in her direction, while the other is cuddling up to a dark, shaggy-haired boy. “That’s Todd, Abigail's boyfriend, and Michael; and the two setting up the movie are Andrew and Samuel.” The two tinkering with the screen glance over, waving hellos before focusing back on what they were doing.
Todd gives me a small nod as Abigail smiles from his lap. “Hey Hadley, nice to meet you.” She giggles as Todd buries his face in her hair, distracting her.
“Nice to have a new face around.” Michael smiles as Emilia directs me toward a spare seat beside him, sitting down on my other side. “I hope you like Blade. It’s Samuel’s turn to pick the movie tonight, and he seems to think we can watch all three in one night.” He chuckles, leaning in closer to me so his arm brushes against mine on the armrest.
“I’ve never seen it,” I admit.
His eyebrows rise with surprise. “Well, you’re in for a treat then—as long as you like movies with blood, guts, and gore.”
“I can definitely handle a little blood.” I grin as the lights are dimmed and Andrew and Samuel take their seats, the beginning credits of the movie rolling on the oversized screen.
We make it through two of the movies before it hits midnight and everyone agrees it’s time to call it a night. I actually had more fun than I expected, listening to the others talk and bicker about the movie. I didn’t have much to contribute, but it was interesting watching them all laughing and getting along. It was all so normal.
We say goodbye to the boys outside their dormitory, before walking over to our own. “You have fun tonight?” Emilia asks once Mary and Abigail have gone into their rooms.
“Yeah, I did. Everyone seems really nice.” I smile wearily. It’s been a long, chaotic day, and bed is definitely calling my name.
“They are. Anyway, I’ll see you in the morning. You can get your first experience of the real Pac Prep.” She laughs, opening her door.
Oh great, just when I was beginning to think maybe this place wouldn’t be so bad.
“Night,” she says, giving a final wave as she closes the door.
“Night.”
Chapter 3
“What is your schedule like?” Emilia asks me at breakfast the next morning. I’m sitting at the same table as yesterday, pressed between her and Mary, listening to the others chat around me while I devour the delicious breakfast in front of me. I’ve always been a food lover, but I’ve never had food like this before. I’d swear I’d died and gone to heaven if it wasn’t for the uncomfortable uniform I’m wearing and the sounds of other students echoing around us.
“Uh,” I hesitate, trying to remember what classes I have today. It took over an hour, after I got back to my room last night—of me trying to figure out how to use the damn tablet—before I finally managed to pull up my schedule. What the hell is wrong with a printed timetable?
“Gimme your tablet,” she says, holding out her hand, quickly realizing she would be quicker
to look it up for herself. Grabbing it out of my bag and handing it over, I get back to my breakfast as she taps away on it, pulling up the schedule much quicker than I could have.
“Oh, we have English together this morning, and a few other classes during the week. That’s awesome, I can show you the way once we’re finished eating.”
Downing half my glass of orange juice, relishing the fresh, tangy taste, I nod at her, letting her know that sounds good. There was a paper version of the map in my welcome pack that I was able to look at last night, and I’ve shoved it in my bag for today when I inevitably get lost. The campus is just so widespread, it’s impossible to remember where everything is, so I definitely won’t be turning down her offer of assistance.
“What did you think of the movie last night?” Michael asks from across the table.
“I loved it.” I barely get the words out between forkfuls of the fluffiest pancakes I’ve ever tasted. How do they make them so light? Doused in fruit and syrup, it’s the best meal I’ve ever had.
A grin lights up his face. “We could—”
He doesn’t get any further as the noise in the hall dies down to a deathly hush. The Princes rise to their feet, and everyone forgets their food and conversations drop immediately to give the rulers their full attention. It was the same when they entered the hall half an hour ago too, everyone silently watching them as they headed to a table at the far end of the room.
The hall is designed so the kiosks, buffet, and collection point are all to one side of the room, with large tables interspersed around the rest of the space. The best one in the room is by the large windows, overlooking the grassy lawn and boys’ dormitory. Of course, that’s the Princes’ table, and no one is allowed to sit there, unless invited or so Emilia informed me.
“Today is the first day of senior year,” Hawk shouts out. “So I’m sure you all know what that means.” A round of excited whispers sound through the room before he speaks up again. “We each pick one girl who is ours for the month. That girl will be our date to parties, will sit with us at breakfast, and, basically, belong to us for the month.”
“What is he talking about?” I whisper to Emilia.
She rolls her eyes. “It’s a stupid-ass senior year tradition that was started by their forefathers, where they basically pick a girl to fuck and flaunt for a month, then the next month they pick someone new and do it all over again.”
“What the fuck?!” I whisper in shock, gaping at her. “Are you for real?”
“Yup,” she confirms, nodding her head.
“What if the girls they choose don’t want to be picked?”
Emilia snorts. “Girl, there isn’t a person in this room that would turn down their offer.”
I cast a quick glance around the room, taking in the excited looks in girls’ eyes as they whisper frantically to their friends, pulling their cameras up on their phones and tablets so they can check their makeup, glancing furtively toward the Princes. She’s right. Every single one of them wants to be claimed by one of those idiots. Talk about feeding their arrogance.
“You mean you’d say yes if one of them asked you?”
“Hell yeah, I would! Have you seen them? They’re real life porn! My vagina would have to be a shriveled bean sack to turn down the fine-ass dick those boys have.” I can’t help snorting at her antics, despite the craziness of what she’s saying. “Not that it matters, scholarship students don’t get picked.”
Why doesn’t that surprise me?
My attention focuses back on the Princes as Hawk moves around from behind his table, his eyes scanning the room as he stalks across it, like a lion on the prowl. He moves between a few tables before pointing at some girl I don’t know. After a round of ear-piercing squeals from the nominated girl and her crowd of friends, they eventually settle down as Mason steps forward. The whole thing is ridiculous. I can literally hear the voiceover of some ‘Animals in the Wild’ documentary.
‘Here we have the male Homo sapien prowling through the assembled females in search of his intended mate. Where the female primate gravitates toward males that ooze money and arrogance; the males are drawn to purely superficial matters like physical attraction, or whether or not she has a gag reflex.’
“So what, the girls are like their girlfriends for the month or something?” I ask as Mason chooses his girl, another round of squeals erupting in the otherwise quiet room. With his bulky size and bland expression, he’s really not someone I’d want to spend much time alone with. Sure, he’s hot and clearly popular, but he doesn’t look like the type you’d have a titillating conversation with. He gives off that whole ‘I could kill you and not even blink an eye’ vibe. Not exactly alluring.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say that, more like their fuck buddies. The girls get that elevation in status and the attention they crave, and the Princes get a sure thing booty call when they want it.”
“Romance at its finest,” I swoon, my voice thick with sarcasm.
“Ha.” Emilia laughs. “Right?”
Cam steps forward next. Unlike the first two, he makes a complete show out of the thing, lifting his hand to run it through his short blond hair in a sexy ‘I know I’m hot shit’ kind of way, getting the crowd riled up and flirting with the girls before finally choosing some blonde chick. She jumps out of her chair in excitement, flinging her arms around his neck, clinging to him like a spider monkey. As he gently, yet firmly, extracts himself from her embrace, I get a look at her face, actually recognizing this girl.
Bianca.
Of course it is. They’re the perfect prom king and queen pair, with their same colored hair and incredible looks.
When he’s finally managed to shake her off, Cam heads back to his table. I expect West to move forward next, doing the same as the other guys, but he barely spares the room a glance, pointing absently at the closest girl to him before dropping into his seat, ignoring the final round of exciting murmurings as he stares pointedly at his tablet, working away at something.
“Pfft, what a farce.” Samuel shakes his head, annoyed at the whole show. “They can get any girl they want, why do they need to make a spectacle of picking girls?”
“It’s just another way for them to exert their dominance and control over the year,” Todd responds dismissively. “Forget about it. It’s not like it will make any difference to us.”
The Princes settle back into their seats, indicating the end to this morning's events, as the rest of the hall buzzes with this morning's excitement. The tables with chosen girls are a hive of energy, the girls who were selected grinning and flaunting their new status, while the others throw them jealous glares.
“I can’t believe I just witnessed that,” I mumble, mostly to myself.
Mary responds anyway, “I know, right? It’s insane.”
“Completely antiquated,” I agree. “I just don’t understand how every girl falls at their feet like that.”
“They’re the Princes.” Emilia shrugs nonchalantly, as though that’s justification for this whole insane thing.
“More like the Pricks,” I grumble, rolling my eyes, getting a laugh from the rest of the table.
“The Pricks of Pacific Prep.” Emilia snorts. “Fitting.”
The rest of breakfast goes by quietly, everyone chatting away and catching up after the summer. Michael tries to draw me into the conversation several times, by asking about my summer and childhood, but I evade the topics with vague responses, and Emilia quickly comes to my rescue.
“Come on, we better get to English if we want good seats,” she says, grabbing her backpack and getting to her feet. I quickly follow her, giving Michael and the others a brief smile and wave goodbye as we head out.
Making our way over to the main building, Emilia navigates us through the west wing. Both wings have three floors to accommodate classes for each subject, with the top floor of the west wing comprising computer suites for classes and personal use.
We push our way through the throng
of other students, finding their first class of the day, until I spot Mr. Greer’s name on a plaque on the classroom door, recognizing it as the name of our English teacher. Stepping into the classroom, I notice a few other students are already there, chatting to one another while they wait for class to begin. Mr. Greer glances up as we enter, giving us a nod before returning his attention to the papers on his desk.
The tables are all set out in groups of two, and Emilia grabs my hand, dragging me over to an empty table on the far side of the room, where we can sit together. Dropping my bag, I pull out my tablet and a notebook, already knowing I don’t have a hope in hell of taking notes on that thing. The screen is too tiny, and even if I could navigate to the virtual notebook, any time I attempt to use the stylus, it ends up zooming all over the place and making a mess.
It’s not long until the room fills with people, only a few empty seats left when the bell rings. I’m bent over my desk, writing, so I don’t see them arrive, but I feel the room go still around me, signifying their presence. I don’t even have to look up to hazard a guess at who just entered, but they draw my eyes to them like they are a hypnotic force, pulling me in.
Cam and Mason stroll into the room like they own it. Well, if the names on some of the buildings are any indication, they do own it. I spotted all four of their surnames on various buildings around campus yesterday, making it more than obvious who owns this school.
Bianca has once again wrapped herself around Cam, fawning all over him while he’s too busy making an entrance, putting on a show for the rest of the class, just like at breakfast this morning.
A pretty brunette is standing awkwardly beside Mason, casting unsure looks his way. I vaguely recognize her as the girl he chose this morning. Unlike Bianca, she’s making a conscious effort to not touch him. I can’t blame her. As if his size isn’t intimidating enough, the whole stony expression he’s got going on is a sufficient warning to stay the fuck out of his way.