I showered this morning and put my hair into a bun while it was still wet. Letting it down to air dry it’s showing its natural slight wave. It’s still early September, which on the West Coast signifies it’s still mid-summer, but the weather is cooling down slightly in the evenings. I decide on a pair of dark ripped jeans and a black crop top, with the front cut out to a low-V landing right between my breasts, the material around my neck forming a built-in choker of sorts. Jade and I have this tendency to cut out parts of all our thrift shop, hand-me-down clothes, giving them an edgier, brand new look. I add a bit more makeup than I’m used to, lining my eyes in black liner, and a few coats of mascara paired with a dark red color on my lips. I try to feign indifference but I’m actually really nervous about tonight. Ace will surely be in attendance, but I try to convince myself I’m not getting ready for him. Irritated by my thoughts, I’m about to wipe the blood color off my lips when Jade barges through my bedroom door.
“Ever heard of knocking, Jade!” I shout annoyed.
“We’re sisters, it literally means I don’t have to knock.” I roll my eyes and chuckle, bringing a tissue to my lips.
“What are you doing?” she asks. She’s changed into light ripped jeans and a lilac strapless crop top. Her hair is sleek straight tonight, and I can tell she’s added a light purple eyeshadow to her eyes.
“Wiping this shit off,” I answer.
“Why? Scar, you look hella bomb.”
“It’s too much,” I say, shaking my head.
“Bet your man won’t mind,” she teases, and I turn to her nervously.
“Who?” I ask a little too eagerly.
“The Dragon Man, why? Who’d you think I was talking about?” she asks, a sly smile appearing on her face.
“No one, I mean him, duh.”
“Riiiight,” she says, elongating the word. “Anyways, you know you don’t have to impress him, boy’s a goner. However, if there was anyone else, say a said horse king.”
“Cut the bullshit, Jade, what are you getting at?” I sneer pissed off.
“Well, Ace of course. The king Horseman. Dude is a top-grade A-hole, but fine AF, and he’s got it bad for you.”
“Shut up, Jade, you’re talking out of your ass, sis.”
“Scar, I’m telling you, he hasn’t been able to keep his eyes and hands off you since we got here. We all can see it. Why do you think Drake is extra possessive over you all of a sudden? Dragon’s worried the king is here to slay him and take the princess as his queen.”
“Because Drake and I,” she interrupts me before I can finish.
“Have been screwing each other since the summer started,” I look over to her shocked.
“You guys ain’t fooling anyone. But he’s never been so controlling in public. That is, until Ace came into the mix.” I roll my eyes exasperated by her inquisition and observations that are clearly misleading.
“Look, I don’t give a fuck if Ace wants me or not. I’m with Drake and besides, even if I wasn’t, I’m not into the whole ‘holier than thou’ attitude Ace has going on.”
“So, you’re with Drake now. Like as in a couple?” she asks overly excited.
“Well, I mean, I guess we will be after tonight.”
“Scarlett Steele, are you gonna ask out your Dragon Man?”
“I guess it’s about time, isn’t it?” I say with a shrug.
It’s no surprise that the party tonight is also down by the beach. Evidently, that’s the spot for most of the parties of Servite Academy, other than a few the Horsemen throw at Servite Manor, Ace’s house. We all walk down to the private beach together, but before going in I pull Drake to the side. He’s dressed in dark jeans and a black long-sleeve shirt, the only visible tattoos are the ones snaking around his neck. We look like the perfect grunge-chic couple. His dark hair is still slightly wet and his green eyes more of an emerald color tonight. Drake’s the only guy I know that can make face tattoos and piercings look sexy. His natural long, dark lashes have always made his eyes look lined with eyeliner and his plump lips make any girl envious. All in all, he’s fucking gorgeous in a “I can fuck you really good” kind of way. I lick my lips and realize I’m blatantly staring. He does the same before grunting lightly. He reaches his hand out to me, grabbing my waist and pulling me in.
“When you look at me like that, Scar,” he says, biting down on his lips. “It makes me wanna show the world you’re mine.”
“Then do it, Dragon Man,” I say breathily.
He looks at me slightly thrown off by my words. I’ve always been the one shooting him down, telling him I don’t want any kind of romantic relationship between us to get in the way of our friendship. Drake’s my best friend, my confidant, and his friends are my family. My people. I only have a select few: Jade, Kai, Jax, hell even Ruby. I don’t get close to people easily. Blame it on my DNA and parental upbringing. No real father, an absent stepfather, an indifferent stepbrother, a psychotic mother. But with Drake things are different. I don’t want to jeopardize that, which is why I can’t fathom the reasoning behind my next words.
“I’ve always made it seem like a relationship between us would be wrong, dangerous. You’re my best friend, Drake. I’ve never wanted to risk ruining that over us getting together but I’m not sure if it’s the right thing to do anymore, or if I’ll end up regretting it but,” he interrupts me before I can finish, placing his finger on my lips in a shushing motion.
“You asking me to be your boyfriend, Scar?” he asks, a hopeful look in his eyes.
“Yeah, Dragon Man, I guess I am.”
He answers not with words but with his lips crashing down on mine. His lips are soft and his calloused hands running over my lower back send shivers up my spine. However, the moment’s cut short as we’re interrupted by not one, but all four of the Horsemen.
“Looks like the princess finally got to come out of the tower and play with the dragon boy,” says Bass as he rounds behind us.
I look down into the crook of Drake’s neck not wanting to make eye contact with a certain king who just a few days ago had me in this same compromising position.
“Fuck off, Silver,” answers Drake, calling Bass by his last name. I can feel their stares on me.
“Let’s go,” I say to Drake, pulling him with me toward the beach.
“Not so fast, Little Red, I haven’t given you my congratulations,” says a deep, raspy voice coming from behind. Ace. God that voice sends a shot of heat right through me. He shouldn’t affect me this much, not after everything that just happened with Drake. Drake looks to me and I tense. Can he see it on my face? The effect Ace has on me.
“I don’t want anything from you,” I shout, yet not sounding so convincing.
“Not even a little parting gift? Maybe another like the one I gave you the other night.”
I feel Drake’s body tense beside me. His grip on my waist tightens, his fingers digging into me. Son of a bitch, of course he would bring that up. His boys chuckle on cue.
“Ooo yeah, tell us about that again, man,” says Alek this time.
I look up to Drake and he eyes me questioningly, but his glare turns straight to Ace. I hadn’t noticed before, but Jade and the guys are right behind us, a small crowd coming to enjoy the show. I look over to Jade and she raises a brow to me silently asking “What’s he talking about?” Alright, this is how he wants to play it out. I squeeze Drake’s arm and smile softly at him before turning to face the king Horseman. And fuck if he doesn’t look good.
He’s wearing the same leather jacket and black jeans he was wearing the other night, but this time wears a white V-neck underneath. His beanie hides his unruly blond hair while his blue eyes are almost clear in the moonlight. He stands staring hungrily at me, his bottom lip tucked between his teeth.
“Yeah, Ace, why don’t you tell us about that again.” I step toward him walking slowly and can hear him growling as I approach. “Tell them about how you tricked me
into coming out to meet you by pretending to be Drake. How when I came up behind you, you grabbed me and put your hands and lips on me.” Behind me, I can feel Drake approach us.
“You fucking touched her?” he snarls, coming toward Ace, but I hold him back.
“Let me remind you I didn’t do anything you didn’t let me, Red,” he answers, a smug grin plastered on his beautiful face.
“You mean because I didn’t pull away quick enough,” I blurt out.
“I mean because you kissed me back,” he says, moving forward to meet me. His body looms over me, his head leaning down to meet my stare. I hear the crowd gasp and his grin widens. This fucker thinks he’s won. I smile slightly, a smug grin now appearing on my face. I walk up closer to him whispering loud enough those closest to us can still hear.
“You wanna know why I kissed you back, Horseman. Because I was thinking of him the whole time. He’s the one I came out to see. The one I was imagining running his hands up my waist and around my body. The one whose lips were claiming me. Claiming. What. Is. His.”
His face contorts and he’s fuming at my response. The crowd gasps again, but this time I can hear a few laughs coming from behind me. I speak louder for everyone to hear.
“You only did that after I had hung up on you and told you to stay the fuck away from me and mine. Don’t confuse my need for him with anything else.” I place my hand on his chest moving my fingers upward with every word. “I have my very own dragon to ride, I don’t need a lousy horse.” I hear a bunch of oohs and aahs as I turn to Drake who’s grinning at me as he places his arm around my shoulder. He kisses me and salutes Ace as we take off toward the beach leaving the Horseman and his people standing alone, not bothering to look back.
“That shit was fucking amazing, Scar,” Jade says, laughing as she comes to our table.
Jax comes up behind me lifting me up into his arms. “Fuck, you should have seen how pissed he was when you guys just walked away. I swear I saw fucking smoke coming out his ears.”
“That was dangerous, Scarlett,” says Stella nervously. “He’s pissed which means he’s going to retaliate. Nobody’s ever challenged him like you are,” she continues, and I can see she’s truly freaked.
“Which is why he doesn’t know what to do. You could see it on his face. He was dumbstruck,” says Ruby.
“Yeah, and you embarrassed him in front of his followers. Which is exactly why you need to be careful. A show of power in private is different, but a stand-off in front of his loyal servants, fuck, Scar, I don’t know what he’s going to do.” She turns back to where the crowd was huddled a few moments ago but they’ve all gone their separate ways, not a Horseman in sight.
“Relax, Silver, we’re good. He knows now that I can’t be fucked with. That I won’t allow myself to be played. Sure, he took an ego hit but he’ll get over it,” I say, but I’m not very convincing.
Drake turns to me. “Scar, we need to talk,” he mutters.
Fuck, he’s gonna ask what happened.
Jade puts her arms around me. “Same here, sis. I’ll let you hash things out with your man, but tonight you and I are gonna talk this out.” She kisses my forehead and grabs Stella’s arm taking off toward the keg nearest our table. Ruby and Jax have escaped once again, and Kai has this redhead from my math class sitting on his lap.
“Scar,” he groans.
“Look, Drake, I already said what happened. I really don’t wanna talk about it right now.”
“Scar,” I look up to him and his face is serious. “I just wanna know if this,” he points between us as he sighs, running his fingers through his hair. “If it’s,” he pauses again.
“If it’s what, Drake. Spit it out,” I ask heatedly.
“If it’s real or just a move to put the fucker in his place.” And now I’m fuming.
“Fuck you, Drake. Fuck you for even suggesting that.”
“Well, what am I supposed to think, Scar? This whole time you’ve always told me we can’t risk it and now we’re here, this fucker kisses you, and you tell me you wanna be with me. I don’t…”
“Yes, I want to be with you because you respect me. Drake, you’ve always been there for me no questions asked. I want to be with you not because of him, not because of this school, but because I wanna be with you.” His green eyes darken, looking almost black in the night.
He pulls me to him and claims me, his mouth taking what it needs. What he needs to believe is it’s him that I want. I kiss him back giving him the relief he needs, but just as quickly break the kiss.
“Was that our first fight?” I ask, smirking up at him.
“Yeah, babe, I think it was.” I bite my lip and he pulls me in closer.
For the rest of the party I stay by Drake’s side. Jade and Stella are talking to Liam and some guys from the lacrosse team and I can tell Jade’s getting flirty. Her straight hair is being twirled in one hand while the other one’s grazing Liam’s bicep.
I look around and see all my people here with me, enjoying themselves for the first time in a really long time. And I realize that no matter the reasons for us being here, no matter the entitled assholes we must keep fighting off, this is where I want to be. This is where I belong. I know it is. And I’ve never felt like I belonged.
TWELVE
SCARLETT
The next few weeks pass in a blur of classes, homework, and hangouts between the six of us, now seven that Stella’s joined our group. Luckily, I’ve had zero run-ins with the Horsemen or their queens, and all Ace does is glare at me during class. Jade has hung out with Liam a couple times and apparently, Ace has been in a pissy mood since Liam spread the word that Ace and I are nothing, and that I am, in fact, with Drake. We’ve all fallen into an easy routine and are kind of enjoying being here at Servite Academy. And things between Drake and I are going pretty well. According to Stella, we’ve become the new “it couple” since Ace seems to have booted Carrington, and Bass won’t even look toward Kinsley. I have to say I’m surprised. I was a bit worried about how us taking things to the next step would end.
Drake’s always been protective over me. We’re best friends, family. But ever since we got to Servite, he’s been more possessive and controlling, especially where Ace is concerned. Yet somehow, Drake and I have only gotten closer. It’s usually me going over and sneaking into his room since Jax & Kai are never home, and their roommate Jake usually just hides out in his room doing homework. Jade and I have also bonded with Stella, while Ruby has been pretty absent, either out with Jax or locked in her room. I’ve even managed to avoid the creeper Agent Servite. Looks like he and the headmaster have been away at some conferences up north for the last two weeks. I could care less where he is as long as it’s away from me.
Today is the first Saturday of October and the school is being transformed to look pretty much like an old, haunted house. Apparently, it’s tradition to turn the Servite Academy campus into a ghostly scene. Rumor has it this school was first built in the 1800s and was home to the children of some of the most notorious world leaders. They were all part of some elite secret society, which turns out was more of a cult that was discovered in the late 1800s. There was a tragic accident on October 31, 1902, where almost 40% of the school’s population was killed in a tragic fire. The campus was closed for almost twenty years when it was finally rebuilt and turned into Servite Academy reopening in 1920. The Academy is said to be cursed by the students who perished in the fire, which is why every October, the school pays tribute to the fallen by recreating what would have been their school today. It’s all a little farfetched if you ask me, but whatever. The rich have to find peculiar ways to keep themselves entertained.
Jade and I have always loved Halloween. Scary movies, dressing up, sneaking candy from the other kids in our neighborhood who actually got to go trick or treating. It was the only time we actually felt like kids. So what, there are a few ghosts floating around campus, they can’t be worse than the real peopl
e here.
Per tradition there is a themed party every Saturday night in the month of October, ending with a giant masquerade ball hosted at the Servite’s Mansion on Halloween night. Tonight’s theme is Saints and Sinners, where everyone either goes dressed as a saint, angel, or sinner, devil. Jade and I coordinated that she would be the angel to my devil. Stella is going to be an angel, of course, and I think Ruby decided on playing both. Since today is Saturday, and the day of the party, Stella is taking us into town to buy our costumes. She wants to take us to this huge Halloween warehouse she says has the best costumes, but Jade and I are content with buying things to DIY our costumes like we always have.
“Come on, we have to go at least check out the costumes,” she whines as we walk down the street of the town square.
“Scar and I have always made our own costumes,” Jade says as we reach the Halloween store. “There was this one year we were like...”
“Seven,” I answer.
“Yeah, seven and we wanted to be,”
“Astronauts.”
“So, we snuck into my dad’s things and found several rolls of duct tape. We then taped our pajamas with the duct tape onto our bodies. We got foil and put our hair into two buns and covered them in the foil because we couldn’t duct tape our hair, obviously,” Jade says laughing. “We snuck out that night to trick or treat in the neighboring homes and everyone…”
“Kept asking if we were aliens,” I add, and we both start laughing.
“We were so mad that when we got home, we started trying to take the costumes off only to find out we had taped them too tight. We made so much noise that Lilith woke up and she had to cut us out of our pajamas. She was so mad…”
“That she took all the candy we had gotten and flushed it down the toilet.”
“That’s horrible,” says Stella.
“Yeah well, still one of the best Halloweens we’ve had,” replies Jade.
The Four Horsemen : A Servite Academy For Troubled Teens Novel Page 12