by D. V. EEDEN
“Do you want a bump?” he asks me with a rolled-up bank note in his hand, the sea green colour of his eyes hidden by black pupils blown wide from the drugs in his system.
“No thanks, I’m not into drugs.”
“Blaire, how about you take your only friend and fuck off,” Blake curses, his face scrunched up into a frown. The other guys burst into laughter, embarrassing Blaire even further.
“Don’t talk to her like that, you piece of shit!” I snap at Blake, and his eyes widen in surprise as I grab Blaire’s hand to drag her away. I get us a couple of tequila shots and we find ourselves on the dance floor, trying to forget what happened with Blake.
After a few hours of dancing nonstop and losing count of how many shots we have consumed, Maisie finds us and drives us back to the academy. We get changed into our pjs and eat a few snacks while gossiping about how tonight went.
“I still can’t believe you stood up to my brother for me. You should have seen his face!” Blaire rolls onto her back, laughing so much that we both end up with happy tears.
“I just can’t get over the fact that Royce Huntington goes to this school. And he put his arm around me!” I wink at Blaire as I tuck myself in my bed. It is two in the morning and today is the first day of classes. I know for a fact that I am going to be hungover.
“Right, it’s time for bed. I’m going to regret this when I wake up in like five hours,” she says. I turn the lights off and settle myself before closing my eyes. Already I can hear Blaire’s faint snoring. In a weird way it is rather comforting to know that I have someone here with me, rather than being alone.
My stomach aches, the roiling feeling of alcohol and nerves combined together. I’m still unsure of how I feel towards the academy, what with the students not being all that welcoming, but I’m glad that I have Blaire and Maisie already. Hopefully with them by my side, I’ll have a good time.
Chapter Four
It’s seven in the morning. The alarm has just gone off and my head is pounding. I hear the faint noise of the shower and notice that Blaire’s bed is already made. I climb out of bed, yawning like life my life depends on it, and stretch my arms above my head. I seriously need some painkillers to get rid of this headache. I stand up and start making my bed as the door opens to the bathroom, the steam hitting me in the face.
“Hey, how are you feeling?” Blaire says cheerfully with a big smile on her face.
“I feel like I’m dying. You on the other hand, seem to be rather perky for this time in the morning.” Blaire laughs and I make my way to the bathroom, grabbing my towel on the way.
I stand under the hot stream for god knows how long, letting the water crash on my face as memories flood my mind. I can’t stop thinking about my mum and how much I miss home, or the fact that I haven’t built a relationship with my father. My heart aches to the feeling of not understanding why he isn’t supporting me in the way a father should. The somber takes over my mind, the sadness clouding over any ounce of happiness I felt a mere few hours ago.
All these questions and no answers, but this is a sad truth that I am used to.
After washing and conditioning my hair, I scrub away all the toxins from my skin and rinse off before finally getting out of the shower. After brushing my teeth and hair, I finally put my uniform on. When I head back into the bedroom, I find Blaire only wearing knickers and sitting at her dressing table, finishing off her make-up.
“Well, I was certainly not expecting that,” I say, laughing whilst throwing her pajama top at her.
“Oh honey, it’s only a pair boobs. You’ll be seeing me naked like all the time now.” She shrugs and throws the shirt back at me.
I roughly dry my hair and end up deciding to curl it. I also apply some light make up to freshen up my skin and make me look less zombie-like, so at least I look half decent for my first day. Finally, I give myself a once over in the mirror and decide this will have to do.
I grab my phone from my bedside table and notice I have a text from father.
Do not forget about our agreement, it reads.
“Hey, you okay?’’ Blaire asks, which means I must be wearing my pissed-off look.
“Yeah, sorry I’m fine... just nervous.” I smile at Blaire, hoping she lets it go.
“Good, we need to go. We’ll be late for homeroom,” she says.
We both leave our dorm room and walk through the girl’s dormitory, quickly realizing that all the girls are staring and giggling directly at us.
“What’s up with them?” I whisper, feeling all eyes on me. I start to panic in my head, thinking I did something wrong or maybe I forgot my skirt. I look down and examine myself, but I look fine.
“Hey girlies.” Maisie comes out of her room and joins us.
“Does anyone want to share what is going on?” Blaire turns around, shouting at all the girls as they all quickly shut up.
“Haven’t you seen the posts on Instagram?” Maisie pulls out her phone and loads the post on her phone, handing it over to me. My jaw drops. A whole post dedicated to me and some guy I was dancing with at the party with the words ‘Slut’ written all over them. I don’t understand who or why someone would do this.
“Why would someone take photos of me and call me a slut?”
My mind goes blank, the enrage filling my veins as I read the comments. My body trembles as the anger reverberates through me, and to make it worse, it’s on the gossip page for Darlington so I don’t even know who posted the photos.
“Whoever did this will pay,” Blaire hisses as she passes the phone back to Maisie.
“At least the photos aren’t that bad?” Maisie shrugs her shoulders and follows behind us.
I walk into the homeroom that I luckily share with Blaire, heading towards my assigned seat, and I feel everyone’s prying eyes on me. “Slut,” a girl coughs as I walk past her desk.
I take one glance at her and she gives me lazy wave.
“Everyone settle down and take your seats,” a distressingly ancient looking women says as she walks through the door. She’s wearing a horrible khaki colored skirt which reaches her knees, a matching colored blazer and a white shirt buttoned all the way to the top, tied together with an antique pearl broach.
“My name is Ms. Glover and I will be your homeroom teacher for the next four years” she says, starting what looks like a slide show on the interactive board. After a few minutes of listening to Ms. Glover babble on, the door shoves open, slamming against the brick wall and interrupting my daydream.
“Mr. Crawford, I am so glad you decided to join us.” She rolls her eyes and gets back to her desk as Blake takes his seat, which happens to be assigned next to mine.
“Africa.” Blake nods his head in my direction, not with respect but mockingly.
“I heard a little rumor that you got a bit slutty last night,” he says without even looking at me.
I decide to ignore his comment and get back to filling out all the forms Ms. Glover handed to us. As soon as the bell rings, I pack my things, without a backward glance at Blake, and make my way to my next class, Business Ethics.
I decide to make a quick pit stop at my locker, and notice Royce leaning against it with folded arms. He’s missing his blazer, the sleeves to his shirt folded up to his elbows.
I observe him as I get closer, his light brown hair still wet from the shower and curls falling over his eyebrows. The cheeky smirk on his face makes my heart thump harder and my palms sweat. I’m concerned there will be an ulterior motive to his visit.
“Can I help you?” I ask with hesitance, staring at him warily. I may be in awe of the guy, but I don’t want him to know that. I need to play it cool.
“Adelaide, it was such a pleasure to meet you last night,” he says, the corner of his lips curling up into a grin. His beautiful sea green eyes feel like they are penetrating my soul, and all of a sudden, I am lost for words. He steps close to me and I shudder, a tingle running down my spine, causing goosebumps to appear on my skin.
“Although, I did hear a little rumor,” he whispers in my ear and I feel his breath tickling my neck.
I gulp, still, my heart thumping hard, but I melt at the scent of his cologne, lavender notes with a hint of spice and woodchips hanging in the air. It’s intoxicating.
“I heard that you were a little naughty, and that you were working at my party last night,” he continues.
I take a step back from him as he just stands there with a huge grin on his face. I stare at him, raising my eyebrow and frowning.
“Now I don’t mind that you do it for extra money, but I would appreciate it if you let me know and maybe let me use your services,” he says casually, and I can’t seem to form words to come out of my mouth.
“W-what are you talking about?” I stutter, and Royce’s brow furrows, confused.
I try to take another step back away from him, but he moves closer with every step until I can’t move anymore, my back hitting the wall behind me.
Before I know it, he has pinned me against the locker with both arms above my head and he stares directly at my mouth, then back to my eyes. His lips part slightly before the edges curl into a smirk.
“You know what I am talking about. William, the guy who is in those pictures on Instagram, said you gave the best blowjob last night.” he chuckles under his breath.
I am trapped against a locker, with Royce fucking Huntington in front of me, and I’m whimpering like a dog with its tail between its legs. I am unable to even produce a sentence to stand up for myself and this guy has me lost for words, which is a rarity.
“Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t give anyone a blowjob,” I retort eventually, trying to push him away from me.
Royce removes his arms from above my head and starts to walk backwards.
“Next time you want to whore yourself out to all the guys at my party, give me a little notice,” he demands and winks before walking off in the opposite direction. I stare at him as he wraps his arm around another girl’s neck and leaves the building.
After my first few lessons, I meet up with Blaire and Maisie in the dining hall at our usual table. All my classes this morning were full of girls whispering about me and calling me names, as well as guys asking me for my number or to have sex with them.
“I can’t believe someone started this rumor about you, it’s so childish,” Blaire sneers.
To be honest, Blaire is more pissed than I am. I know people start rumors about the new kid and I expected this to happen. I’m hopeful it’ll blow over soon.
“I will find out who started it, and I will kill them myself,” Blaire declares, and I am starting to feel sorry for whoever did make all this shit up.
“It will blow over soon, if I don’t retaliate then no one will care.” I finish off my pasta salad and take a sip of water. When I look at the head table from the corner of my eye, I see all four of the douchebags joking and laughing around.
Royce looks over to our table and sends me a little finger wave, looking all smug. I look away instantly, not wanting to give him the satisfaction. I stand up from the table and say goodbye to the girls. It’s my free period and I have to go to the library to sign up for a tutor to assist with the academics.
I make my way through the dining hall and straight away I bump into someone, and once I realize who it is, I get shoved back and nearly stumble on my ass.
“Watch where you’re going, whore!” Ruby bellows.
“I apologize, I didn’t see you there.” I take a step back, holding out my hands in surrender.
I straighten my blazer and get ready to leave, but Ruby just starts laughing at me.
“Don’t touch me again, I don’t want to catch AIDS from someone like you,” she sneers loudly and the whole dining hall goes silent to witness the altercation. I push past her two cronies, through the double doors and back into the main corridor. I rush all the way to the library and before entering, I settle my hand on the brick wall, as my heart thumps in my chest, my anxiety taking over. I close my eyes and count to ten to calm down my breathing, but my body continues to tremble. I repeat the mantra until my breathing is under control and once, I have contained my emotions I open my eyes and take in a deep breath.
Soon after walking up to the main desk where the librarian sits, I find the book where I can sign up for tutoring and I put my name down. Then the librarian hands me a timetable and rule book. I check the time on my phone and seeing as I have another forty-five minutes to spare before my dance class, I decide to take a seat at one of the large round tables and get started on my homework.
After a few minutes with complete focus on my assignments, a book slams down on my desk, jolting me in my chair.
“Can I help you?” I recognize the boy standing in front of me to be Hugo, who Blaire told me about yesterday. He stands there staring at me with a dark, disdainful look.
“You need to be here next week, Monday, five in the evening on the dot for your tutoring session.”
And then it hits me.
“Are you my tutor?” I ask, raising my eyebrow. He looks too good looking to be smart. Not to bring the boy down or anything, but it seems to be rare to find a guy who is super-hot and has brains.
“Unfortunately, yes. So please don’t waste my time.” He scowls.
“Yes, sir,” I jokingly salute him, but I have a feeling I am agitating him even more.
He walks away, shaking his head and growling quietly.
Following my brief encounter with Hugo, I decide to make my way to the dance studio, which I am really looking forward to. Dancing is my way of expressing my feelings and letting off a bit of steam, and after today I need to blow off a lot and just dance it all away. The dance studio is amazing, with dark hardwood floor and surrounding walls consisting of floor to ceiling mirrors.
“You must be Adelaide Adams, I am Miss Young,” a petite, blonde woman says as she makes her way over to me. She looks like she could be a student here and is stunning.
“Yes, I am.” I smile back at her, placing my gym bag on the floor.
“It is so lovely to have a new student,” she continues. “I better warn you now that there will be a dance recital in three months’ time, and you will be expected to partner up with one of the lovely gentlemen in the class.” She claps her hands in front of her and all the students make their way to the middle of the floor.
“Class, we have a new dance student. Please let me introduce you to Adelaide, who has just transferred here.” She wraps her arm around my shoulder as she presents me to the rest of the class and luckily, I don’t recognize anyone here.
Taking a sharp breath, I give a small wave to the class sitting in front of me, all pairs of eyes on me with welcoming smiles on their faces.
‘’So, Adelaide, just to inform you I will need you to perform a routine to the class so that I can determine who to partner you up with. Is that okay?’’ she smiles sweetly, so I nod and accept. I don’t mind performing in front of an audience, so I feel rather excited.
Everyone sits at the edges of the classroom as they get ready for my little performance. I put on one of my favorite songs.
‘Ghost of You by My Chemical Romance’
I decide to mix and match my dance routine with modern dance and ballet. I move around the room, not feeling the prying eyes watching every move that I make. Every time I dance, I imagine my happy place, somewhere on a beach where all I can hear is the waves crashing along the shore. I can hear the seagulls gawking above my head and smell the crisp saltiness of the water. I let myself go and forget all my troubles when I dance. I forget about my mum passing and the fact that I started a new school in a different country.
The music runs through my veins with every twist, twirl, and spin I make on the dance floor. I can hear my racing heartbeat and feel the sweat dripping off my forehead as I work every muscle in my body.
The song comes near to the end and I am on the floor with my head resting on my knee, in the spl
its position. I hear the clapping noises of my fellow students and Miss Young shouting, “Well done!”
I look up to the small audience and try to catch my breath. A huge grin appears on my face and suddenly, I feel as though a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.
Chapter Five
Once the bell rings to signal the class is over, Miss Young requests that I stay behind. “I am really pleased with your performance; you have done so well. Which is why I think you will be an amazing partner for Miles Digby,” she clasps her hand on my shoulder while gesturing her other hand to someone behind me to come forward. I turn around and see a tall guy walking over, a big grin from ear to ear on his face. His teeth sparkle, matching the angelic look of his white blonde hair and pale skin.
“Hi, I’m Miles. I hear you are my new partner,” he sticks his hand towards me, and I take it.
“Adelaide, lovely to meet you.”
My heart thumps wildly as I stare at him, taking in his symmetrical features. This guy could be a model, his cheek bones are to die for. Miles drops my hand, taking a step back, raking his hands through his damp hair as he grins down at me.
“Right, meet me here three times a week. I’ll email you a schedule,” he says, winking before he leaves.
Soon after, I leave the dance studio and head back to my room. Walking down the corridor near the gymnasium, on the left I notice an old, medieval style door slightly ajar. Unfortunately for me, I am the nosiest bitch ever and curiosity takes over me.
Straightening my back, I stare at the door. Biting my lip, I check both ends of the corridor to make sure no one is watching and I walk to the door. Pushing what feels like a ten tone of bricks, the hinges creak loudly as I shove further in. The natural light from the corridor illuminates the tunnel walls as I take a few more steps forward.
Taking out my phone, I switch my torch on so that I can see more ahead of me. As I head in deeper, a loud bang goes off behind me, making me jump. I turn around and notice the door has shut completely. I move as quick as possible back to the door to try and open it back up but it’s no use. The door won’t budge.