Two years later,
Senior year. Last year before Cambridge.
Can I skip the entire thing and somehow still end up in Cambridge?
According to the obligatory grades’ system, that’s impossible.
The Mini Cooper swerves in the school’s car park so hard, the tires screech in protest.
I gasp. “Kim!”
She grins at me as if she didn’t almost run us into a pole. “What? Silver almost got the spot and I’m not letting that bitch walk all over me anymore.”
My lips pull in a smile. I’m so proud of how far Kim has come during this summer. She went on a camping trip for self-spirituality and came back as this confident, smiley girl.
If only I could let go of my inner chaos as successfully as her.
She stares at her face in the rearview mirror. “How do I look?”
Another thing about Kim’s trip? She lost more than twenty pounds and returned with this model-like body. Even her face has thinned, giving her cheekbones an alluring edge. Although I do miss her chubby cheeks. The mint-green coloured highlights make her appear like a fairy. She wore her skirt short, too short. Like a gust of wind can show her underwear, short.
I release my seatbelt. “You were always pretty, Kim.”
“Only to you, Ellie.” She rolls her eyes. “And my dad, but you guys don’t count.”
“Hey,” I scowl. “Rude.”
She sticks out her tongue. Determination sparking in her deep green eyes. “Today, I’ll show all those suckers what I’m made of. I’ll walk with my head held high like you.”
I can’t help the awkward smile breaking free. Kim thinks I’m that courageous, but she doesn’t know the entire truth.
Silver bangs on Kim’s window, her nostrils flaring. “You fat bitch!”
Two of her minions follow after her like she’s their mama duck. They’re all huffing and puffing, but I doubt it has anything to do with the weather.
Silver Queens is every bit the cliché of a mean girl. Blonde. Tall. Slender. Her mother is a member of the parliament. Her father is a minister. She also belongs to the school’s best students. Aka, the top ten per cent.
She has it all and makes sure everyone in Royal Elite School — or RES — knows it.
Kim lowers her window, grins at Silver, and flips her middle finger. “Fuck you, bitch.”
Silver and her minions’ jaws drop so hard, so fast, they turn speechless.
I’m speechless, too.
My best friend doesn’t curse and she certainly doesn’t flip people off — or bullies, to be more specific.
Kim didn’t only change in appearance. Nuh-uh. The world needs whatever self-confidence training she had.
“Let’s go, Elle.” Kim opens her door, pushing the dumbfounded mean girls back.
I take my backpack and exit, too. I hold my head high as I stare down at Silver.
“What are you looking at, Frozen?” Silver snarls.
Of course.
The beloved nickname at RES.
But it’s not because of the Disney film. No.
Since the first day I walked into RES, I’ve been instantly marked as an outcast.
Kim and I were the butt-end of every fat and nerd joke. While Kim – the old Kim – hid in the garden behind the school until everyone went to class, I walked the hallway with my head held high.
Aunt and Uncle didn’t raise me to be stepped on. I kept to myself, but I never let them touch my dignity.
Apparently, I have an epic resting bitch face. Thus the nickname.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” I keep my expression neutral as I meet Silver’s malicious eyes. “You’re not important enough for me to stare at.”
I interlace my arm with Kim and walk into the school’s huge doors. The ten towers appear eerie like they belong to a horror film, not a prestigious old architecture.
But then again, that’s how I categorised RES since that first day.
My hands turn clammy and my body tightens as if I’m off to battle.
Kim smiles, but it’s forced and makes her nose twitch in anxiousness.
“We’ve got this,” I say more to myself than to her.
One more year in this hell.
One more year until Cambridge.
Kim’s head bobs up and down, causing her mint-coloured strands to bounce.
“If we die,” I joke. “I want to go in full Shakesperian mode. Tragedy.”
She laughs, the sound is throaty. “For thy love of thee!”
We break into a fit of laughter as we head down the vast, main hallway. The school’s golden logo, Crest-Lion-Crown decorates the entrance hall and the announcement board.
The moment we cross the entrance area and step into the hallways filled with other students, the real nightmare starts.
“Hey, Frozen. Did you freeze any beaches this summer?”
“Where’s your fat friend?”
“Is she stuffing her pregnant belly with carbs?”
Kim’s grip tightens on my arm. I can’t believe they don’t even recognise her.
Truth be told, I had to look at her twice after the summer camp to make sure it was her.
“Are you still swallowing cocks, Teacher Slut?”
I bite my lower lip against the rolling wave of anger. That particular rumour makes me want to hit someone.
Two years ago, after the entire class went out, I dropped my pen in biology. When I dropped down on my knees to pick it up, my hair got caught in the table — cliché, I know. Mr Silvester, the biology teacher, helped me out by untangling my hair.
Apparently, one of the dickheads here saw that moment and spread the rumour that I was giving our biology teacher a blowjob before he fucked me in class. Right before the exam — that I had a perfect score on.
Since then, I’ve been labelled a teacher slut.
Whenever I get a perfect score, it means I slept with the teacher.
But of course, no one talks about how Levi King, the oldest of the two kings, slept with a teacher. For real. They were caught in the act by the principal himself.
Nope. He gets a pass. The teacher gets thrown out of the educational system and she had to flee the country, basically.
Oh, and his guardian, the mighty Jonathan King, CEO of King Enterprises, got an official apology from RES.
Levi King got out of it unscathed. In fact, he became more popular, more loved, more admired.
Why? Because his last name is King.
And the Kings hold more power than the actual queen of this country.
Levi King was idolised for fucking the teacher.
I’m called a teacher slut for unfound rumours.
Kim’s grip turns deadly even though she’s holding onto her courageous mode.
I’m used to this rubbish and name-calling in the hallways. Kim isn’t. I want to protect her from all these bastards.
Protect yourself first, Elsa.
Kim and I try to ignore them by talking about my running competition this weekend or the start of the Premier League season.
We release a collected breath when we finally arrive at our class.
At least, the wankers keep their distance when the teachers are around. But the thing about bullies? They work under the surface in front of adults.
RES is a prestigious, posh school, so the students need to keep up a certain image.
The rich are scarier than any normal criminal.
They have all the money and influence to allow them to twist anything around. They’re never labelled criminals. No. They’re labelled as elites.
Kim stops abruptly two steps into the classroom, and I run into her rigid back.
Her breathing becomes audible.
My own breathing picks up pace, and the hairs on the back of my neck stand on high alert.
Since that entrance day, there’s been this baffling level of awareness that won’t leave me the hell alone.
Every fibre of my being is honed for the inevitable confrontation.
For that crash and burn.
I suck in several deep breaths and begin the usual chant.
I’m loved. Aunt, Uncle, and Kim love me. I won’t break. Not today.
I need to remind myself of those facts to remain strong and not let him get to me.
That’s what the devil’s reduced me to.
My gaze finally strays ahead, following Kim’s field of vision.
Xander Knight. Cole Nash. Ronan Astor. Aiden King.
The four horsemen of RES. They earned the title for their impressive team play on the football team.
I call them the four arseholes.
And they’re all here in our class.
No wonder Kim froze. We’ve barely escaped their wrath without being in the same class.
As in breathing the same air all year long. And not just any year, senior year.
Maybe I need to speak to Aunt and Uncle about my plans for Cambridge.
Cambridge, who?
The four are laughing and jesting. Xander is throwing the ball at Ronan, and the latter catches it with an Oomph.
Cole, the new captain of the football team after Levi King graduated last year, holds a book in his hand and laughs quietly at the other two.
My gaze strays to the main devil.
The hell ruler.
The black king.
You’d think the summer would somehow erase him from my consciousness and nightmares.
It didn’t.
Aiden is the only one sitting. His legs stretch in front of him, crossed at the ankles. His fingers are interlaced across his stomach making him appear every bit the King his last name suggests
A ruler on his throne.
A devil in his hell.
Over the summer, I thankfully hadn’t seen him, he’s bulked up — due to the football camp, no doubt. His uniform’s jacket stretches over well-defined shoulders. The dark blue trousers tighten around his muscular thighs and even his legs have become taller. I’m sure the coach would be so proud of his star player wanker.
His dark hair is between being tousled and slicked. Under the dim classroom light, his dark grey eyes appear black. Everything about him is.
Black mind.
Black heart.
Black soul.
I should’ve listened to Kim that day when she said those little bastards owned the school. Their parents are the biggest shareholders. Everyone in RES, including some teachers, fall to their knees for them.
All of them are sons of ministers or lords.
All except for Aiden.
His father owns those ministers and the rest of the UK’s politicians.
Jonathan King leads the most successful conglomerate, not only in this country, but also worldwide. If he sponsors a politician, they’re sure to win.
If he brings someone down, they’re sure to vanish and never return.
That’s the only reason I haven’t reported the bullying or mentioned it to Aunt and Uncle.
Quinn Engineering is a small fish and their contract with a subsidiary of King Enterprises is the reason they’re flourishing. Losing their company would devastate them.
If I stir up any trouble with Aiden, I have no idea what the devil will do. After all, he’s the heir to his father’s kingdom.
Aunt and Uncle saved me ten years ago, and I’d rather die than hurt them in any way.
Ronan notices us first. He’s the typical teenage boy with messy brown hair and eyes. All he cares about is partying and shagging his way through school. Kim and I are probably the only moving things with a skirt he hasn’t fucked.
That’s probably why he licks his lips suggestively while he looks us up and down. Then he stops abruptly and nudges Xander.
The latter pauses tossing the ball to Cole and freezes. Literally. His easy-going smile falls, the dimples disappear, and his demeanour changes.
Kim’s new appearance shocked him.
In his bloody face.
Aiden’s eyes are on me. The murderous energy is in the air without me having to look at him.
Xander stares at Kim with contempt. “What have you done, Berly?”
Kim’s hand starts shaking. He made her life a living hell like Aiden made mine. The only difference is that her bullying has been going on since the previous school. She doesn’t talk about it, but considering that she knew these arseholes her entire life, I’m sure it’s been going on for even longer than that.
“Ignore him,” I lean in so only she can hear me. “They get off on a reaction. Don’t show it.”
“You think you’re all pretty now?” He strides forward with a barely tucked-in menace.
Kim shrinks into me, biting her lower lip. Even with her courage resolution, I can’t really blame her.
Xander is an intimidating arsehole both because of his stupid football build and his influence as a minister’s son.
Besides, he’s humiliating her in front of a class full of kids who always hated her.
“Once a nobody, always a nobody, Kimberly.” He snarls her name.
Her bottom lip trembles, which means she’s about to cry. The arsehole always makes her cry.
“Xander, p-please,” she whispers.
He slams his hand on the wall, and Kim flinches. “You don’t say my fucking name.”
“That’s enough.” I level him with a hard glare.
“Stay out of it, Frozen.” He’s speaking to me, but his entire attention is on Kim and her bowed head.
I’m about to pull her into a seat when Silver barges through the door, carrying a coffee cup. Her minions follow after, flipping their hair and making a show of their entrance.
Great.
Silver hits my shoulder and spills her cup of coffee on Kim’s front.
I gasp as Kim’s white shirt, jacket, and even the skirt soak in caramel coffee.
Kim closes her eyes and a tear rolls down her cheek.
The rest of the class snickers.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Silver?” I’m about to lunge at her, but Kim digs her nails into my arm, stopping me in my tracks.
“Oops.” Silver holds the empty cup. “Go change, Berly. While you’re at it, lose the whorish skirt. It doesn’t suit your fat hips.”
Her minions chuckle and everyone in the class follows suit.
Everyone except for me and the four horsemen.
My gaze snaps to Aiden. He’s twirling the ball on a finger, but he’s not watching the scene.
He’s watching me.
Despite my resolution to not get stuck in his games, I meet his glare with one of my own.
For a moment, it’s as if only the two of us are in the class.
He’s surrounded by his murderous demons while I seethe for what his minions do.
Since that first time he announced he’d destroy me in front of the entire school, I’ve become RES’s outcast.
He doesn’t even have to do anything. He just sits like a king on his throne and watches what his loyal subjects do.
The bullying and the rumours that I slept with professors for my grades never fazed me because I know who I am.
Who Aunt and Uncle raised me to be.
Every day is a battle in this war Aiden created.
Sometimes, I get weak and hide in the library or cry by myself in the bathroom.
However, I never show weakness in front of him.
Not when I’m almost sure he gets off on it.
He’s usually sitting there, relaxed, watching intently as his minions turn my life into hell.
Only there’s nothing relaxed about his expression. I swear if demons can spill from someone’s eyes, they’d be crowding his space.
When he plays football or when he’s in class, Aiden is every bit the golden boy.
Excellent grades.
Elites’ ace striker.
Contagious smile.
But with me?
Aiden King is one dark fucker.
He only gives me murderous glares as if my mere existence offends him. As if I’m the reason for the world’s endless wars and famine.
That arsehole ruined my fresh start in this school.
My dream.
My new page.
I hate him.
Kim releases me and runs out of the classroom. Xander starts after her with wide strides.
I attempt to follow, but Silver blocks my way with a plastic smile. “She doesn’t need a maid, Frozen.”
“Get out of my way,” I grind out. When she doesn’t move, I push her and throw over my shoulder to no one in particular. “Oh, and if you have to bring someone down to feel so good about yourselves, then I feel sorry for you.”
I don’t wait for a reply as I run down the hallway.
It’s a trip to the back garden where Kim usually hides — or finds peace, as she calls it.
After a minute of full-speed running, my heart’s palpitations skyrocket into an irregular rhythm.
I stop at the corner of the third tower to catch my breath. My palm clutches my heart as sweat breaks over my brows.
Breathe in. Blow out.
Inhale. Exhale.
In.
Out.
My nails dig into my chest over RES’s logo as I exit the building and head to the back garden.
With every step I take into the cut grass, a weight crushes my chest. My breathing becomes irregular, too.
A sliver of panic lodges deep within. My hands tingle and that familiar urge to scrub them clean takes over my senses.
I can’t think past the sensation that my hands are dirty. They need to be scrubbed clean.
The pain in my chest is like tiny needles, tirelessly prickling my heart, even when I walk as slow as possible.
My heart condition can’t relapse.
It simply can’t.
Being able to run again didn’t come easily after the surgery. There were Nazi-style rehabilitations and a complete change in my lifestyle.
The nightmare can’t be back.
I need to run.
If I don’t purge my energy and stress into running, I’ll go crazy.
Kim and Xander’s silhouettes appear in the small cabin house on the outskirts of the garden. She’s crying and yelling, but I’m not close enough to hear what she’s saying.
That and my ears are buzzing so loud, I can barely hear my own breathing.
This is bad.
I blink twice and breathe through my nose then my mouth.
Xander pushes into Kim, imprisoning her against the edge of the cabin. Her back hits the wooden pole and her eyes widen.
It could be because I’m disoriented.
It could be that this is the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Or it simply could be that I’ve finally had enough.
I’m done with these arseholes ruining mine and Kim’s life.
I pull out my phone and record a video. Xander grips her by the hips pulling her into him. Although I want to cut off his dick for putting his hand on my best friend, I know that will bring nothing. The video, however, will.
I can see Xander Knight’s fall in sight. Either he leaves Kim alone or I’ll blackmail him with sexual harassment. RES might be under his father’s command, but the press isn’t.
They’d be delighted to hear how sick and entitled a minister’s son actually is.
I’m in the mood to ruin his future like he’s been actively ruining her life.
Once I have enough footage of him manhandling her, I stop the video and smile in triumph. Even my heart problem fades away.
I start towards the cabin to stop Xander.
A shadow blocks my way.
I cease to breathe when I stare up at my nightmare.
