by Ruby Vincent
“What?”
“Nothing. Go on.”
“The girl with the blonde pixie cut is Natalie Bard. Chess player. She has traveled the world, and she’s beaten almost everyone she’s come up against.”
“Impressive.”
Natalie swatted Airi’s shoulder, laughing about something she said. She wasn’t just rocking a pixie cut. Natalie also sported a row of piercings in her ear, one in her lip, and another through her nose. She didn’t look anything like the chess geeks from my old school.
“And last but not least.” My eyes drifted to the final girl. “Isabella Bruno.”
“Isabella,” I repeated. “She’s the one whose name I keep hearing.”
“She’s the leader of the Diamonds and set to become the youngest principal dancer in the world. People thought you were going to challenge her title when you showed up.”
“Her title?” I looked away from the group to make a face at Sofia. “Why would I do that? How would I do that?”
“Remember I told you this school was obsessed with the best?” She jerked her thumb in their direction. “Well, that’s them. The Diamonds are made up of the best in the school. Best grades, best athlete, best musician, and best dancer.” Sofia rolled her eyes. “They take it very seriously. But then, why wouldn’t they? They get loads of special treatment. I mean the fact that we’re standing here at Isabella’s party snacking on Cheetos and chips. All of this is against the rules, but she’s not worried about getting caught.”
“So, people thought that because I said I dance, I was going after Isabella?” I scoffed. “I don’t even know ballet.”
She shook her head. “It’s not the best ballet dancer. It’s the best dancer period. And Isabella’s not sharing the spotlight with anyone.”
“I don’t want her spotlight. This isn’t anything new. Evergreen’s got their version of the popular kids and they banded together to soak up all the attention and glory. They can have it.”
Sofia nudged my arm. “Does that mean you’re not trying out for the dance team?”
I looked away. Sofia had said “dance team” the day before at lunch and I lit up like a Christmas tree. I was itching to dance. My little spins around my room weren’t cutting it, but sadly tryouts were closed and wouldn’t be opening up until next year.
“If I can get in next year, I’ll go for it,” I admitted. “But if I do, it will only be because I love it, not because I want to be a Diamond.” I glanced over at Airi, Natalie, and Isabella. “And can I ask what’s with the names? Knights, Kings, and Diamonds? Is that on purpose?”
She rolled her eyes again. “The Knights and Kings are, but Isabella started the Diamond thing in junior prep when she announced she was planning to take over. The best of the best always banded together; they were just never arrogant enough to give themselves a name until her.”
We glanced at the girls, looked back at each other, and burst out laughing. I may not be the best of the best, but I liked my little no-name group of friends just fine.
“Why are you guys giggling in a corner? You planning something?”
I turned around, and then looked down. A short, stocky girl with shockingly red hair grinned up at me.
“Nothing good,” Sofia answered. She gestured between us. “Val, this is Ciara O’Brien. She’s super cool.”
Ciara tossed her hair. “It’s true, I am.”
“Cool enough to help us devour ninety percent of what’s on that desk?” I asked.
Ciara laughed. “Hell, yeah. Love this school. Hate the food.”
We bolted across the room, junk food on our minds, when three girls stepped into our path.
“Look who it is. I don’t think we’ve been introduced.”
Sofia didn’t have to tell me that Isabella Bruno was a ballerina. It was obvious in her lithe, slender form, almost impossible height, and the way she moved like everyone else was earthbound but she had been graced with the gift to float. She cocked her head and soft, brown waves fell around her face, and a lovely face it was.
Isabella held out her hand. “You must be Valentina. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“That’s me.” I shook. “Cool party.”
“Thanks.” She pointed on either side of her. “This is Airi and Natalie. We’re the Diamonds.”
Whoa. She even put it in her introduction. “Nice to meet you guys. I love your hair,” I said to Airi.
Airi brushed the jet-black waterfall behind her shoulders and smiled. “Ooh, she’s sweet.” She suddenly shot forward and stuck her face in my neck. Airi pulled back before I could get out a shout.
“She smells sweet too,” Airi went on. “Let me guess: Passion from the Charmante collection.”
I clapped my hand to my neck. “You can tell my perfume from one sniff?”
She grinned. “It’s a gift.”
“It’s weird is what it is.” Isabella sighed. “I told you to stop doing that. You’re freaking the new girl out, and we can’t have that if she’s going to be one of us.”
Isabella’s expression didn’t change but that seemed like the perfect opening. We might as well get this out of the way right now. “Look, I know the group chat has been hot with talk about me, but despite what people have been saying, I’m not looking to show anyone up. I’m a dancer, but I only do it for fun, and I’m not formally trained. I’m no challenge.”
I let out a small “eep” when I was suddenly tugged forward. Isabella grabbed my shoulders in a surprisingly strong grip. “Don’t do that. Don’t sell yourself short. You are the first transfer in fifty years, and the headmaster wouldn’t have done it if you weren’t special.” She leaned in close, putting her face in mine.
“But the thing is—”
“I’m sure you’ve heard about me too and that I want to protect my position as head of the Diamonds. I do, and I will.”
I blinked. Wow, this girl was intense.
“But they are wrong to think I don’t welcome competition. Want to know how you become the best?”
“Actually, I—”
“It’s by going up against people stronger than you and coming out on top.” Her eyes probed mine—seeking, searching, creeping me out. “I embrace every challenge because I don’t lose. I never lose.”
We stood there, staring much too deeply in each other’s eyes. She seemed to be waiting for me to say something.
“Not a loser,” I finally said. “Got it.”
Isabella smiled and released me. “Great. So we understand each other.”
I nodded rather than reply.
“Bella! They’re here!”
The six of us shifted our attention to a girl from my history class. For some reason, she was pointing at the window.
“Finally,” Isabella breathed. “We can get this party started.”
Isabella, Airi, and Natalie walked off without another word. My audience with the Diamonds was over.
“You guys were no help,” I said to them while we continued our mission to the snacks.
“Sorry,” said Sofia. “I was just surprised to hear so many words come out of Isabella’s mouth. She barely talks to anyone outside of her clique.”
I reached for a can of Sprite and popped the top. “So should I be honored that—”
“Hey, Maverick,” said a flirty voice. I choked. “I like your PJs.”
I couldn’t have heard that right.
I spun around. Not only did I hear Maverick, I was seeing him climb over the windowsill. He practically had to bend in half to fit his bulk through the window, but in he came... followed by Ezra... then Jaxson... then—
Every part of me went rigid at the sight of Ryder.
The Knights strode into the room as more boys streamed in. Keeping with the party dress code, they looked more ready for a photo shoot than they did to go to sleep. Ezra and Ryder had gone with drawstring pants that hung low on their waist and tight white shirts. Maverick opted for a tank that left no bit of his muscles to the imagination, while Ja
xson stood before the party completely shirtless.
“Sofia,” I said through gritted teeth. “You said he wasn’t coming.”
“He said in the group chat that he wasn’t.”
“What is he doing here anyway? I thought boys get in trouble for being in a girl’s room.”
“They do,” Ciara piped up. “That’s why they came in through the window. No cameras outside.”
“Come on, Val, don’t worry about him. It’s a party, everyone is here to have fun.”
As if on cue, Isabella turned the music up even louder. Girls peeled themselves off the walls and found boys to drag on the makeshift dance floor. The party had started.
Sofia snagged my hand. “Let’s dance!”
“In a minute,” I shouted over the music. I held up my drink. “I’m going to finish this first.”
She shrugged and she and Ciara ran off instead. Paisley joined them and my friends let loose.
I moved into the space between the desk and the bed and my gaze fell unseeingly to the floor. The truth was I was trying to talk myself out of leaving right then. I did not want to be here if Ryder was. I knew he would find some way to ruin the night for me. Why give him the chance?
“I must not be working you hard enough.”
My head shot up. Ezra grinned, flashing perfect teeth, as he closed the distance between us.
“If you’ve got time to be out partying,” he finished.
“You’re working me plenty hard.” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. I cringed as Ezra’s brows shot up his forehead. “You know what I mean.”
Ezra glanced down and stifled a laugh. “What the fuck is on your feet?”
My eyes snapped to my bunny slippers. If I thought I was cringing before.
“I... uh... wore them because...”
He rested his hand on the wall above my head and leaned in until not even a whisper could fit between us. His grin was level with my gaze, and I tilted my head back until all I could see were those darkening eyes.
“Because what?”
“Because I’m... shameless,” I whispered.
He laughed—a soft, rich sound that filled my ears and brought a flush to my cheeks. Why was this guy always practically on top of me?
“What does that mean?” he asked.
“It’s a long story.”
He hummed, nodding his head. “A story I plan on getting out of you... in between working you as hard as I can.”
That line would have reduced any other girl to goo. I just clicked my tongue. “Wow, Ezra. And they say you’re the prim and proper one.”
“They say a lot of things.” Ezra wrapped his fingers around my soda and tugged it free. “You’ll have to figure out what’s true.”
With that, he rose up and turned away. I looked down at my empty hand. “Why do you keep stealing my sodas?!”
His laughter floated over his shoulder as he strode off.
As I watched his retreating back, I pressed my hand to my cheek. It was still warm.
Is this what it’s like?
Attraction, crushes, desire... sex. Is this how it all normally works?
I glanced around at the scantily clad prep school kids grinding in the middle of a dorm twice the size of my apartment.
Or at least what passes for normal in Evergreen.
I looked past the dancers and spotted the only other person against the wall. I went over to Maverick.
“Hey.”
“Hey,” he replied without looking up. Maverick was sitting in the desk chair fiddling with something. In his lap was a pile of parts.
“What are you doing?” Maverick stopped and held out his hand. I bent over, squinting at the tiny square resting on his finger. “What am I looking at?”
“It’s a button cam.”
“That’s a camera?” I looked down at his lap. “And is that your phone?”
He inclined his head. “Had to take it apart for the camera.”
“Right... but now you have no phone.”
“I’ll get another one.”
“Why are you making a button cam in the middle of a party?”
“I’m not.”
I made a face. “Excuse me?”
Maverick lifted his head high enough for me to see his faint smile. “I was building the cam in my room when Jaxson dragged me out and brought me here.”
“Hmm. Things to file under Maverick: handy but helpless against boys half his size.”
He barked a laugh before he caught himself. It seemed to surprise him as much as it did me. Maverick was the king of the half grin, but this was the first time I had heard him laugh. “You’re snarky, Valentina Moon.” He gave me a smile—a real one—and the bubbles came back full force. “I kinda like it.”
I ducked my head. Maybe I should tell him I saw the painting. Let him know how much I loved it.
Or maybe you should walk away now before Ryder makes an appearance or whatever is going on in your body gets out of hand. If this is a crush, you’re not having it on one of the Knights.
“Val, that’s it!” Hands seized me. “You’re dancing with us now!”
I didn’t fight being dragged away. Sofia, Paisley, and Ciara had saved me from deciding whether to stay or go.
We pushed through into the mess of bodies just as the song changed. “No way,” I cried over the music. “Alvaro Soler.”
I had only been obsessively listening to this guy’s songs for the past week. Isabella needed to take it down about fifty notches, but I had nothing to say against her taste in music. His perfect voice filled the room and I was lost.
I didn’t think about who was watching. I let the music take over and moved my body as it demanded. Dipping, swaying, and working my hips to a song about freedom that I didn’t know the words to. That didn’t matter. The only thing you needed to understand about music was how it made you feel. How it could drown out the sound of fighting and replace it with beautiful noise. How it could take you to another place. A place where all you needed to do was dance.
The song was over much too soon and I opened my eyes. I stopped dead at the opened-mouth stares from the room. The crowd around me had moved away, leaving me my own little spot to dance while they watched.
“Damn, girl,” Sofia whistled. “You really can dance.”
I wasn’t embarrassed. I loved dancing and didn’t mind doing it in front of people, but those people usually weren’t Isabella Bruno or Ryder Shea.
I stiffened as I caught the looks on their faces. Neither one was scowling, but they also weren’t smiling. If Isabella didn’t see me as competition before, I had a feeling she did now. And as for Ryder, he dropped his blank stare and turned to Airi, going back to chatting her up in the darkened corner.
Another Spanish song came on and I reached for Sofia’s hands. “Do you know how to dance to this? ’Cause I could use a partner.”
“Is this the part where I admit to dancing around the living room with my nanny... this summer?”
We giggled and got to it, switching out every now and then to dance with Ciara and Paisley. They didn’t know the moves at first, but picked them up quickly. We were having so much fun—not caring about who was watching while we twirled and sashayed—until others decided to join in.
Michael sidled up to us. “Hey, Paisley.”
That was it. Two words and Paisley promptly dropped my hands and plastered herself against Michael.
Ciara, Sofia, and I formed a threesome but the boys weren’t done picking apart my group. In no less than five minutes, I went from dancing with them to dancing alone. Sofia was grinding on a dude from homeroom and Ciara wandered off hand in hand with some guy to a private corner.
I didn’t mind. Isabella’s playlist was bumping and I was into every song. I threw myself into a spin and stumbled into a hard chest.
“Oops, sor—”
A hand snaked around my waist. “No problem, baby, but it looks like you could use a partner.”
; I jerked back, but Jaxson’s tight hold didn’t let me go far. “Thanks,” I said, pushing against his bare chest. “But I’m cool dancing alone.”
“You’re even cooler”—a yelp escaped my lips as I was suddenly dipped—“dancing with me.”
Jaxson picked me up and spun me out. My hair went soaring, blocking out the whirling room, until I was brought back. I barely had time to catch myself before he slid his hand up my thigh, wrapping it around his waist as he lifted me and twirled us both around.
I laughed breathlessly, gazing down at him while my curtain of hair made Jaxson all I could see. “You’re pretty good at this.”
His lips pulled back into a grin that revealed one sharp canine. “You sound surprised.”
I slid down his body as he gently put me back on my feet. Taking my hands, he draped them over his shoulders, and instead of pulling away, I linked them together. Nothing separated my body from his. We moved so perfectly in sync. Jaxson seemed to know the moves I would make before I made them—before I thought them.
I had never felt so in tune with a dance partner. My heart was racing, pounding, leaping out of control... or maybe it was his. I could feel his heart beating against my body, and without thinking, I moved my hand down and rested it on his chest.
His heart was just as out of control as mine was. I didn’t know what to think, and then his hand was on mine—curling around my fingers and holding them still. Our eyes locked and I was trapped.
Crystal blue pools sucked me in, beckoning me like a siren to my death. It would have been a mistake, but such a beautiful one.
His hot breath ghosted over my mouth and my pulse quickened. Every good, sensible reason for why I couldn’t do this flew out of my head.
Our lips closed the distance.
“Okay!”
The music went off so quickly, it jarred me. I lurched out of Jaxson’s hands and the fog I had fallen under.
What. Just. Happened?
Isabella stepped away from the speakers and clapped her hands. “Circle up, people. It’s time to get interesting.”
Interesting? What did that mean?
Apparently, I was the only one who didn’t know because everyone else was heading for the floor and forming a circle. Sofia sat down and waved me over. I took my spot next to her, and across from me, Ryder settled in with Jaxson on one side and Ezra on the other. Maverick didn’t move from his chair or button cam.