On Monday morning, I went for my first run since my injury, and I was happy my ankle seemed much better. I decided to stick to the path that wove around the lake rather than venturing into the woods. I didn’t want to risk hurting myself again, and that place was practically a minefield. I only went a short distance, but I felt like a completely different person by the time I got back to the dorm. There was nothing like a run to clear my head, and I felt pretty positive about starting a new week.
“You’re in a good mood,” Cress said as we made our way to breakfast.
“Yeah, you’re far too chipper for this early,” Anna added, making me laugh.
“I’m just happy my ankle is feeling better,” I explained. “I hate not being able to run in the mornings.”
“Well, it’s probably a good thing you can run again,” Anna said. “You’ll need those legs of yours when Veronica comes for you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“We all heard you stood up to her in the dorm on Saturday night,” she explained. “You’ve got some serious balls for someone who’s only been here a week, but I love it!”
Despite Anna’s enthusiasm, my stomach dropped. “How did you hear about that?”
“Gossip like that spreads like wildfire here,” Cress jumped in.
“And she was bitching about it with her friends in the common room last night,” Anna said. “I just wish I’d been there to see it.”
“There wasn’t much to see. I just told her to stop calling Lily that horrible nickname.”
“I bet she was livid,” Anna continued. “She hates being put in her place.”
“I wasn’t trying to put her in her place. I was just standing up for Lily. She doesn’t deserve that.”
“No, you’re right,” Cress agreed. “It’s horrible how Veronica treats the scholarship students.”
“It’s not just the scholarship students,” Anna said. “It’s anyone who she doesn’t think is good enough to be here. I swear, she only cares about who your parents are and what your credit card limit is.”
“Yeah, she’s only friendly with people she can reap some sort of benefit from,” Cress said. “She’s all about social climbing and networking. Then again, so are a lot of students here.”
They sounded similar to my father, and I imagined he would have been thrilled if his long-lost daughter had turned out to be like one of the girls who went to this school. Instead, he was stuck with me. I let out a long sigh. “Well, I guess I’m screwed then. I have no interest in social climbing.”
“You’re like the anti-Veronica,” Anna said, spreading her arms wide. “The hero we didn’t know we needed.”
“Stop!” I laughed. “Now you’re just being ridiculous.”
“What? I can’t wait for your next showdown. I’m sure she’s already plotting her revenge.”
The smile quickly dropped from my face.
“Don’t listen to her, Isobel,” Cress said. “I’m sure Veronica will have found something else to distract her in a couple of days.”
“And if she hasn’t, I promise we’ll still be your friends—even if you are a social leper,” Anna replied.
That didn’t make me feel much better.
I lost all hope of Veronica forgetting about our confrontation when I got to my first class of the day. She was glaring at me as I walked into English, and the hateful looks she was sending my way only continued in math. She kept glancing over her shoulder at me, and there was a calculating look in her eyes that made me anxious.
“She’s not happy with you, newbie,” Luther whispered from beside me. We were supposed to be working on some problems, but he hadn’t even bothered to take out his graph book.
“It’s nothing.”
“Doesn’t look like nothing,” he replied. “I’ve seen that look in Veronica’s eyes before.”
“And what look is that?”
“The one she gets when she’s out for blood.”
I groaned and lowered my head into my hands. “All I did was tell her to stop calling Lily names.”
Luther burst out laughing. “I know, and in front of all her cronies as well. I knew you were going to be fun, newbie, but I didn’t know it was going to be this fun.”
“Is that why she’s so upset?” I wondered out loud. “She thinks I embarrassed her in front of her friends.”
“Who knows,” Luther replied. “Veronica wouldn’t like anything that challenges her position as queen of this school. I, for one, welcome our new overlord.”
Luther raised his hands and then lowered them to the desk in front of him in a show of mock worship. I rolled my eyes at him in response.
“I’m also willing to be your bodyguard when she comes for you,” he continued. “I will protect you with my life.”
“I don’t need a bodyguard.”
“You definitely do.”
I shook my head and tried to concentrate on my math problem. Luther couldn’t be stopped though.
“In other news, you haven’t answered my super secret question of the day,” he said. At least he seemed to be changing the subject.
“You haven’t asked one,” I replied, keeping my gaze glued to my graph pad. “And I’ve already told you. I’m not playing this game with you.”
“Sure, you are,” he replied. “So, today’s question. What is your idea of the perfect date?”
I huffed and put down my pen before looking up at him. He had his hands propped under his chin, and he was blinking up at me with puppy-dog eyes, like my response was the only thing that mattered in the world at that moment.
“My perfect date would be any date that doesn’t involve questions like this.”
“You’re not playing my game properly.” He pouted.
“Maybe because I don’t want to play.”
“Okay, fine. If you answer properly, I promise I won’t ask you another question for the rest of class.”
“Why do you even want to know? I’d never go on a date with you.”
“Ah, ouch!”
I sighed. “Don’t be so dramatic. You don’t want to date me either.”
“But I’d never say it like that.”
A student sitting in the row in front of us turned, and from the way he was looking between us, I could tell he’d been eavesdropping. Luther straightened his back in response, and his entire demeanor changed as he caught the guy’s gaze. “What are you looking at, Huntington?” There was nothing playful in his voice, and he spoke with a commanding tone.
The guy paled and turned to face the front of the classroom once more. As soon as he had his back to us, Luther relaxed, and his expression transformed back into the teasing guy I’d been sitting next to all class. It was weird to see Luther acting as anything other than a jokester.
“So, the date?” Luther prompted.
“Oh, uh, I don’t know. Something from the heart, I guess.” It wasn’t much of an answer because I was still distracted after witnessing Luther’s serious side. I didn’t know he had one. But Luther nodded along like I’d just given a deep and profound response.
After that, he didn’t bug me as much, and I actually managed to get some work done. Luther hurried off straight after the lesson, so I walked from the room with Kaden. The two of us shared a chemistry class too, but this was the first time we’d really spoken one-on-one.
“Any idea why Luther is still insisting on asking me all these questions?” I asked.
“I could tell you, but I’d have to kill you.” Kaden grinned.
“So, I’ll take that as a yes.”
His smile broadened. “Luther is just being Luther.”
“Because that’s a proper explanation.” I shook my head. It was impossible to get a straight answer out of these boys. “And what was up with him earlier? You know, when he told that guy to look away.”
Kaden shrugged. “He hates it when people are nosy.”
“Huh, you’d think he’d be fine with it given all the prying questions he’s been asking me.”
“I didn’t say he wasn’t a hypocrite.”
I laughed. “Still, it was weird seeing him act so different than normal.”
Kaden tilted his head as he looked at me. “Do you know why Luther likes you? Why I like you?”
I shook my head.
“Because you don’t want anything from us. That guy, Trevor Huntington, isn’t interested in us as people but would leap at the chance to claim he’s friends with us and especially Noah. This school is filled with Trevors, and Luther can’t stand most of them.”
“Right,” I murmured.
Kaden gave me a soft smile and lowered his voice. “Also, I think it’s great that you stood up to Veronica. Kindness is in short supply in this place. Not enough people here would be willing to stick their neck out for another student who needed help. She might not forget it, but I won’t either.”
My cheeks warmed as I tried to shrug away his compliment. “It really wasn’t a big deal,” I muttered.
“Well, either way, it was the right thing to do.”
I didn’t think my behavior was all that unusual, but it sounded like most of the kids in this school were pretty self-centered. How anyone could stand by and watch their friend get harassed was beyond me.
I parted ways with Kaden and went to meet my friends for lunch. The girls weren’t there when I arrived, but Sawyer and Wes were already seated in front of trays stacked with food. As I joined them, Sawyer started gushing about his date with the junior while Wes did his best to ignore him.
“You told me all about this last night,” Wes groaned.
“But I don’t think you appreciated just how hot she looked,” Sawyer said. “Besides, Isobel wants to hear all about it too? Don’t you?”
“Not really. It’s kind of putting me off my food.”
Wes chuckled. “Yeah, me too.”
“You two really know how to kill a guy’s buzz.” Sawyer picked up his plate and stood from the table. “I’m sure there’s someone in here who wants to hear my tales of romance.”
Wes smiled at me as he watched his brother go. “I feel like we’ve dodged a bullet.”
“Yeah, I get the feeling Sawyer would have talked about his date all lunch if given the chance.”
“He does like to brag, so you’re probably right. I almost feel sorry for the poor sucker he ends up sitting with. I don’t think the date went half as well as he says it did, but that won’t stop him going on about it.”
“For twins, you guys sure are different.”
“Very,” he agreed. “Sawyer’s the annoying one.”
I laughed. “How’d you get on with the econ homework over the weekend?”
Wes screwed his nose up. “Don’t get me started. It was terrible. I don’t understand why Miss Constance hates us so much.”
“She has to, right? Why else would she give so much homework?”
“I only got halfway through it all, and I worked on it for hours.”
“Me too.” I let out a sigh. I expected to struggle with the business-focused subjects this year, but economics was going to be almost impossible if the teacher kept assigning so much work. We were only one week into the semester, and already I felt like I was floundering. It was yet another reason to be angry at my father. He’d been the one to sign me up to the class, after all.
“We should get together in the library tonight and try to get through it all before class tomorrow,” Wes suggested. “I’m not sure I can handle spending the whole night slogging through it all on my own.”
“No, me neither. That sounds really great, actually.”
“What sounds great?” Anna asked as she and Cress joined us.
“Wes and I are going to the library tonight.”
“What?” Anna’s eyes grew wide, and I was surprised by the concern in her voice.
“It’s not a big deal,” I said. “We’re just going to study. You can come if you want?”
“Don’t you guys want to be alone?” Anna practically purred the final word.
“What? Why would you think that?” Wes was frowning, so I guessed he shared my confusion.
“Uh, because nobody actually goes to the library to study. They go there to make out in secret.” Anna was looking at us both like we were stupid.
“That’s not true.” Cress slapped her on the arm.
“It is,” she replied. “There’s this great secluded corner behind the history section.”
“Anna!” we called out together.
“What?” She looked the picture of innocence.
“Most people actually do use the library for studying,” Cress said
“Well, I’ve only ever used it for making out,” Anna replied, gently flicking her hair with one hand. “There’s really something about that history section. I swear it must have magical powers or something because I always have the best kisses in there.”
“No one wants to hear about your cozy little make-out nooks.” Cress pretended to gag.
“Okay, okay.” Anna finally surrendered. “I get it, Wes and Isobel aren’t going to make out; they’re going to study. I still think the former is much more exciting.”
I rolled my eyes. “Not really—Wes has a girlfriend, remember. And we’re just friends. Right?” I looked to Wes for support, and he smiled and nodded.
“Right,” he confirmed. “We’ll be staying firmly at the study tables. I’m happy to leave the history section to Anna.”
“Shame.” Anna shrugged. “You two would make a cute couple.”
We laughed off her comment, but the conversation left me slightly concerned, and I glanced at Wes from the corner of my eye. I hoped people wouldn’t think there was more to our friendship just because we were studying together. I also hoped tonight wouldn’t be awkward after everything Anna had said.
As we were leaving lunch, I walked alongside Wes and touched him on the arm. “So, did you know that stuff about the history section?”
“Honestly, that’s the first I’ve heard of it.” He laughed, but when he saw the concern on my face, he stopped and turned to me.
“Wait, did you think that’s why I asked you to study in the library.”
“No, no, not at all,” I quickly backtracked. “I know you wouldn’t do something like that to Sarah. Anna was just being Anna.”
“True.” He relaxed. “Anna probably has a lot more fun in the library than me, but trust me, I need to study.”
“Okay, then we’re on the same page.” I laughed as we continued to walk out of the dining hall.
“Wait?” He stopped again, and a look of overly dramatic surprise covered his face. “You didn’t accept my invite to the library because you wanted to get me in the history section, did you?”
“Oh my gosh, no!” I gave him a light shove on the arm. “That was the first I’d heard about it as well.”
“Okay, if you say so.” Wes winked, his brown eyes sparkling with amusement. He was definitely the sweet twin, but it appeared there was also a cheeky side to him.
“You’re as bad as your brother.” I shook my head as I walked away. “I’ll see you later tonight.”
“Looking forward to it,” he called after me. Considering we were just planning to study economics, I was surprised by how much I was looking forward to it too.
