by L. A. Sable
“How do you not?” Suddenly determined, Charlie grabs me by the arm and hustles me back toward the dorms. “It’s time you got a crash course in the social circles of Black Lake Prep. Clearly, bumbling around like this is a really bad idea.”
But my embarrassment and hurt has already turned into resentment. “I don’t want to know anything about those jerks.”
“You don’t have a choice. If the list of people who want to see you go down already includes Asher Bellamy, Chloe Devlin and the tech twins, then things are already bad. You don’t want them to get worse.”
And I don’t need the reminder that things can always get worse.
Chapter 6
All the information that I could have used to save myself extreme embarrassment during that incident in the dining hall is on the Inner Circle app. Stupid me for not reading it, as Charlie so helpfully pointed out. I won’t make that mistake again.
When I launch the app and click on the little information icon in the corner, a document immediately pops up on the screen. According to Charlie, it’s the most important thing that I’ll ever read. I’d like to say she’s exaggerating, but then I think of the dead girl from last year whose name I still don’t know. It might be my own survival that’s at stake.
A Guide to Black Lake Prep
There are only three types of people.
Diamonds are the elite, made up the eight most popular girls and guys from each class. They get access to Nexus, an exclusive forum on the Inner Circle. Being a part of Nexus has benefits both within the app and in the real world. Diamonds can send anonymous messages and get administrative access to all other groups. Any more information than that is privileged. But you’ve heard of every single person who has graduated from Black Lake Prep as a Diamond, even if you’ve spent your whole life living under a rock. The benefits of Nexus last for a lifetime.
Grays make up the vast majority of students at Black Lake Prep. They aren’t at the top, but they aren’t at the bottom, either. There’s nothing technically wrong with being a Gray, many of them go on to have fine careers as actuaries and funeral home directors. Let’s be honest, most people aren’t special which is why most people are Gray.
Prolis are the complete opposite of Diamonds. They have the least social capital of all, and everyone knows it. This may seem cruel if you’re naïve to how the world works, but for someone to be at the top, someone else has to be on the bottom. The purpose of school is to prepare you for the real world, and this is how to the real world works, whether you like it or not. Prolis have no social power and restricted privileges, both within the app and elsewhere. Only Prolis know exactly what that means, just hope you never find out.
The Rules
1. This is a democracy, but only a few can rise to the top. Everyone gets sixteen votes, eight for the most popular girls and guys in school and eight for the least. Votes are cast at the end of each term and tallied anonymously within the Inner Circle interface.
2. The entire class will be ranked. Only the exact scores of Diamonds and Prolis will be visible.
3. Some areas of campus are exclusively for the use of Diamonds and others are prohibited to Prolis. See attached map.
4. Any attempt to circumvent these rules or involve administration in anything related to the Inner Circle will be met with extreme consequences. You have been warned.
I’m not an idiot or a pushover.
But this place is batshit crazy. And I’m stuck here, like the only sane inmate of a mental asylum.
Even Charlie seems more into this crap than she should be, a note of eagerness underlying every word that she says about the app or Diamonds. I know she had to work really hard to get here, rising to the top of her class at the public school to have any chance of being chosen. It makes sense she wants to get as much out of being at Black Lake as she can. But she doesn’t seem as scared as she should, or as scared as I am.
According to Charlie, the rules of Inner Circle were originally designed as some grand social experiment for a class project. One of the more sociopathic of the school’s alumni then created the app to go along with it. The whole thing was meant to be temporary but the student body loved the idea of codifying their hierarchy so much that it’s been used by every class since.
And even though the app’s existence is an open secret among the faculty and administration at Black Lake, they’ve all just decided to look the other way. Whether because the students here have deeper pockets than it’s possible to quantify and indulgent parents backing them up or because nobody really cares, I’m unlikely to get any help from the quarter. And maybe that’s by design, since all of this is supposed to be reminiscent of the real world. It’s not like anybody’s rushing to help the downtrodden out there either while the 1% roll over everybody else.
It’s sickening, but true.
When I asked Charlie whether she thought I should report Chloe for threatening me in the dining hall, she only had one word in response.
Don’t.
Silence is the name of this game.
It’s obvious that Asher and his cronies will do anything it takes to make my life miserable, but that doesn’t mean I have to put up with it. I’m not that easily scared, or broken.
So I have to figure out exactly who my enemies are. Charlie is useful for gathering information, but the app is the true motherlode. Every student has a public profile that includes the picture from their student ID and who they’re in a friend group with.
I search for Asher first. Besides Kai and Lukas Greenfield-Walton, he’s also closely connected with Jayden Heart.
“Wait,” I say to Charlie, who’s hovering over my shoulder as I search through the profiles. “Is this the Jayden Heart?”
“One and the same. He’s taking a break from acting to finish high school. No one has laid eyes on him yet, but he’s supposed to arrive before classes start.”
Jayden Heart has starred in more movies and shows than I care to count. He started as a child actor on a network for kids but these days his list of credits is about a mile long. I hate to admit that I used to have a huge poster of him hanging over my bed in middle school. All the girls crushed on him hard in those days, collecting his magazine covers and stalking him on Twitter. But I can only hope that he just plays an asshole on TV, even though I know I’m probably not that lucky.
“All four of them were Diamonds last year, and there’s no reason to think anything will change,” Charlie tells me, voice full of warning. “Even though old rankings don’t matter because it’s the start of a new school year, you should still watch your back. It’ll take something crazy for them not to be voted to the top again.”
I start my search of the girls with Chloe Devlin, or “Queen Bee Bitch” as Charlie likes to call her. Asher really did ensure that I pissed off exactly the wrong person, even if I was the one dumb enough to walk right into his trap. Chloe is the heiress to an empire, Devlin vodkas are on the top-shelf of most of the bars in the world and she was the top female Diamond last year, by far. On the Inner Circle, she’s linked to three other girls that I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting. Yet.
Maisie Howard is one, I remember Kai mentioning her as the previous occupant of my room. I memorized the other names and pictures so I’m prepared: Ocean Foley and Grace Khan.
Any of them could be out to get me.
“The most important thing that you can do now is lie low,” Charlie reminds me as I flick through profile pictures for the thousandth time. It’s a few minutes before curfew and she’s offering some parting advice before heading back to the Turret. “Chloe is vicious, but she has a short attention span. And the rest of the girls follow her like ducklings. You just need to avoid any interactions with them until they move onto a new target.”
“What about Asher? He’s already promised to make me miserable.”
“He really has a hard-on for you, doesn’t he?” A sheepish grin crosses her face when my eyebrows go up. “I didn’t mean it like that. Do you
have any idea what you did to make him so mad?”
I sigh, as if Asher Bellamy needs a rational explanation for anything he does. “Aside from existing, no.”
“Well he’s going to be your biggest problem, by far.”
“You’ve been here for a few days and haven’t ended up on anybody’s shit-list. Shouldn’t you be a prime target as a scholarship student?”
Charlie shrugs as if she hasn’t really thought about it. “I’ve been lucky, so far. But things can change in an instant here. Neither of us has any chance of making Diamond, but if we play our cards right, then being Gray won’t be so bad. You still get invited to most of the parties and can have something that looks like a social life. The Diamonds need someone to show off for, obviously.”
Part of me wants to rail about how none of this matters.
But then I think about that dead girl.
“Do you know anything about a girl who died on campus last year?” I ask Charlie, keeping my voice casual even as I burn with questions. “Somebody sent me a link about it.”
Her eyebrows go up even as her eyes squint in suspicion. “Who sent you a link about that?”
“No idea, it was sent anonymously.”
If it’s possible, Charlie’s eyebrows shoot up even higher, her face a mask of shock before she schools her expression. “Somebody sent you an anonymous message. Any idea who?”
For some reason, I get the impression that she’s trying to derail me on purpose. “I didn’t even know that Kai had a twin, so there’s no way I’m going to guess who would send me anonymous messages days before I even got to campus. Do you know anything about the girl?”
“I wasn’t here last year, so all I know is rumors” she sighs, clearly only willing to talk about this because I’m insisting. “But I heard some stuff.”
“What kind of stuff?”
“The girl was a Proli, and she ended up some place she wasn’t supposed to be, like a Diamond-only party, maybe. Something happened, and she ended up drowning in the lake. I don’t know much more than that.”
The article that I read had used the word hazing. “So you’re saying it was an accident?”
“All I know is that she was in a place that she wasn’t supposed to be and something terrible happened.”
“That’s really all you’ve heard?” I ask, insisting although I know it’s a bad idea. Do I really want to know? “The article made it sound like a lot more than that. Do you know her name?”
“No. All I know is she didn’t follow the rules.” Charlie drops her gaze to the scuffed toe of her black shoes for a moment before raising her head back up to look at me. The expression in her eyes is completely unreadable. “And it got her killed.”
Even though I know that must be the truth, hearing it still sends a wave of shock coursing through me. What the hell is wrong with this place?”
“Why would you come here?” I ask, her motives still a mystery to me. “Especially knowing what you know.”
Charlie’s voice is pert, almost defensive. “Would you turn down a full-ride scholarship to Harvard? Because this is pretty much the same thing. If I can make it through the next two years, then I can go pretty much anywhere. It’s like a getting a golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s factory. I’d be stupid to turn it down.”
It’s hard for me to remember that, for most people, the chance to attend a place like Black Lake Prep is a dream come true. But for me, it’s a nightmare. I don’t need fancy schools or a high-brow education, I was happy with our tiny apartment in the Bronx and plans to attend a state college.
“I’m scared, Charlie. Could what happened to that girl, happen to me?”
“Just follow the rules. Something bad will happen if you don’t.”
The first day of classes dawns dingy and gray, which is pretty much in keeping with my mood.
Charlie agreed to meet me in the Pavilion courtyard before first period starts so we can walk together. Turns out, she has the same homeroom as me which is something of a relief. At least I can count on there being one familiar face in the crowd.
My schedule says that homeroom is in the Atrium, but when we get there, I realize that word really doesn’t do it justice.
The Atrium is a large room that’s tall enough to fit two additional stories. Wood scaffolding is built in geometric patterns on the ceiling surrounding the impossibly high skylights which would let in the sun if it had deigned to come out for the morning. Even a whisper is enough to echo off of the walls and carry through the space.
It feels like we’re in a museum or art gallery, not a classroom. Instead of desks, individual chairs are set up in concentric circles around a small raised platform with a lectern on it. I assume we won’t be required to take notes, this is homeroom after all.
An older woman, almost stately in appearance, sweeps through the circle just as Charlie and I find our seats. This must be the instructor, Ms. Pitt, who isn’t like any high school teacher that I’ve ever seen. She looks like something out of a British reform school, wearing an austerely black skirt-suit with a dark red bowtie at her neck.
“Good morning, students. For those who haven’t met me, I am Ms. Pitt and I will be your homeroom instructor for this term.”
She pauses for a long moment, letting her words sink in. The silence is so profound that the sound of a pin dropping would shatter it. I use the opportunity to look surreptitiously around the room. When I glance behind me, I catch sight of Asher’s glare as our gazes meet. He’d been staring hard enough at the back of my head that I should have felt it. Of course, we have the same homeroom.
I also catch sight of Chloe who levels her own malevolent stare. It’s a good thing that looks can’t kill.
“What I want all of you to understand is that this is more than a homeroom,” Ms. Pitt continues as if she can’t sense any of the tension in the room, or maybe she just doesn’t care. “This is a place to center yourself and prepare for the day ahead. Occasionally, we will have group discussions or presentations, but expect to engage in activities that are energizing. Today, we’ll go around the room and introduce ourselves. Then use the remaining time for a guided meditation.”
Charlie and I exchange glances, clearly on the same page. Guided meditation? In my public school, homeroom was exclusively used for droning morning announcements over the loudspeaker and frantically completing the homework that wasn’t done the night before.
Ms. Pitt makes everyone get up, one-by-one, and say their name and something interesting about themselves, despite the grumbling it causes. She points out that even though we all may know each other, she doesn’t know us and wants to make sure she does by the end of the year. I’d like to think this exercise isn’t purely born of a desire for humiliation, but it’s impossible to be sure at a place like Black Lake Prep.
As each student complies, I listen hard for names that I might recognize from my study of the Inner Circle app. There are plenty of Grays that still have connections to Asher, Chloe and their friends I need to look out for.
Luckily, Asher and Chloe are the only potential Diamonds in the class.
When Asher stands up, his body unfurls slowly like he’s some lanky spider climbing up its web. I have to fight to ignore how attractive I still find him. Even though I know he’s a disgusting excuse of when wealth and privilege go bad, he is still a nearly perfect physical specimen. A devil with the face of an angel.
But I’m not surprised when his voice spits out like acid. “I’m Asher Bellamy, obviously everyone already knows that. Something interesting about me is that I spent my summer doing charity work with my grandfather.”
Ms. Pitt makes a pleased sound. “How nice. What sort of charity work were you doing?”
“Oh we took a homeless woman and her daughter in off the street. It’s really sad actually, how there are so many people who can’t take care of themselves without extra help.” Asher spreads his arms wide like a showman about to make a big reveal, voice booming off the high rafters. His abil
ity to monopolize a crowd would be impressive if I didn’t hate him so much. “I mean the woman was practically selling her body on the streets before we took them in. But that’s Grandfather, always willing to lend a helping hand to those in need, even when he has to sacrifice to do it.”
His glare bores into the back of my head even as I refuse to turn and look at him. I know he has the attention of everyone in the class. The last thing I want to do is give him the satisfaction of a response.
“That’s very nice,” Ms. Pitt says, eating all of this shit up with a spoon. I’m losing respect for her by the minute and I can only hope she’s playing along to keep the peace. She can’t possibly think that someone like Asher Bellamy is at all interested in charity work. “Thank you, Mr. Bellamy. Who’s next—”
But Asher smoothly interrupts her, voice slick like a car salesman’s. “But I haven’t told you the most important part. My grandfather is such a generous soul that he actually agreed to cover the cost of educating the prostitute’s daughter. He’s paying 100% of the tuition right here at Black Lake for this poor little charity case, since she’s not smart enough to earn admission with the scholarship program. I like to think he’s just trying to keep the sad thing from working the streets. You all know how low-class girls from the city can be. They’ll do anything when they get desperate.”
The titters start slowly as the two dozen students in the class whisper amongst each other. Ms. Pitt tries to quiet them but she’s completely lost control of the room, assuming she ever had control to begin with. Her whole super-nanny vibe is just an act, set dressing to hide the fact that there’s not really much going on underneath. Something tells me that will end up a theme with this place.
“I think that’s enough, Mr. Bellamy. Let’s move on to the next introduction.” Ms. Pitt tries to change the direction of the train speeding out of the station but everyone ignores her, including Asher.