“James,” he said, holding out his large hand, and I placed my small hand in his as he shook it. “Good to meet you.”
“Me too,” I replied, still confused.
“Do you wanna get a coffee later?” he asked, and oh my god, my cheeks burned as the table was waiting apprehensively for my reply.
“Um, sure,” I responded, then my hands trembled as I looked for my phone in my bag to exchange numbers. He was asking me on a date?
We exchanged numbers, and as he walked away to return to his table, a fierce glare suddenly struck me on the forehead, causing me to flinch. The metalhead was standing near the entrance, as if he was watching the exchange between James and me. A shiver ran down my spine at the intensity of the glare, but it took me a few moments to realize it wasn’t only aimed at me. That piercing glare followed James back to his table, then he watched for a fewmoments before glancing back at me and leaving through the door.
“James York is so hot,” Mila giggled, but my mind was elsewhere. “You’re so lucky to go on a coffee date with him.”
“How is that possible?” Erin asked in a confused tone, as if all the girls on campus were asking, why me? That was exactly what I was thinking, though I wouldn’t tell her. The blond Carrie just sat there with her mouth gaping in horror, unable to find the words.
“I have to go,” I apologized to Mila, who was genuinely excited for me and took my slice of toast and coffee with me. “I need to see someone.”
It was the perfect plan to escape the suffocating atmosphere, but once I was outside, I couldn’t find him anywhere. Why did the metalhead look at us that way while we were talking? I liked the idea of him being jealous because I was getting attention from another man, but I also sensed that wasn’t the whole story.
As I returned to Morgana, hoping to find the metalhead there, a group of police officers in uniform and plainclothes walked past me toward the dining hall. Good. The police are finally here. The sooner the investigation is completed, the sooner we can return to normal.
Swiping my keycard, the door clicked open, and I had a hunch that the metalhead wasn’t nearby. Again, the entire building seemed empty, with only my footsteps echoing on the wooden floor, filling the silence.
Once up on my floor, I tapped on his door, hoping he might be inside, but I was disappointed that he wasn’t. I had the rest of the day to fill, and I was going to ask him if he wanted to explore campus with me, but I guess I’ll be doing that alone.
Besides, what did Mila say, “The Lud on the hill,” where the Warwicks lived? Maybe visiting them will fill my day a little.
13
I waited until the Boleyn girl walked back to Morganabefore returning to the dining hall and approaching the Yorks, under the watchful eyes of the students in the room and the leeches that sat at their table. If any of the watching students attended Castlehill last year, then they’d know the York clan had a history with the Warwicks.
“Here comes the freak,” Declan sniggered as I placed my hands on the back of the chair at their table. The cops had arrived for breakfast; apparently, they were staying with the faculty in the staff village on the other side of the tracks, where studentsnever go, but it’s a pain in the ass to have them here at all. They were up at the buffet counter with their backs turned, so I was hesitant to approach the Yorkies, but I did anyway because I couldn’t hold back my frustration.
“What are your plans, girls?” I demanded to know from the golden-haired fuckers. “Withher?”
“Who?” James played dumb, acting like the Hollywood jerk he was, then combed his fingers through his blond hair. They’re basically clones of the Plath family, but dirty and messed up in the head, yet they’re good at hiding their depravity behind a mask of blond purity. This was the family into which the Boleyns married.
“The Boleyn girl,” I rolled my eyes, losing patience, but Nicolae’s voice in my head was warning me to chill. “What’s your plan? What are you going to do with her? Care to share?”
James snorted. “Why do you care? We’re practically related to her,” he hummed and glanced skyward. “What’s her name? Adina, yeah, that’s it. Adina. We’re practically related, bro. So, you know, family business.”
“Does she know?” I asked, wondering if he had told her who he was when they exchanged numbers earlier. She didn’t realize I was watching her, but I noticed the expression on her face, and I didn’t like it. I didn’t want her falling for that golden-haired scum, who was probably going to use her for dishonest reasons.
He shrugged his shoulders. “What do you care? Fuck, are you the spokesperson for the Warwicks? Do they pay you well?”
I cringed and shook my head in disappointment. “That was last year's joke, Jimbo. Don’t you have an updated version of lame-ass gags rattling around in your empty head?”
“I’m surprised you’re back, Lev,” Declan sniggered, “I didn’t think Castlehill accepted students with an IQ lower than seventy-five. Did you pass last term, or did the Warwicks buy their bitch out of the fail zone?”
My fists clenched as he referred to my learning disabilities, which is why I studied music—I had an intuition for it—while reading and writing were problematic. And he was mistaken. The Warwicks didn’t buy me out of anything. I cheated; I paid geeks to do most of my assignments because it gave me more time to focus on my music or working on the Triumph.
I wasn’t blessed with good brains and wealth like the Warwicks, and there were moments when I wanted to quit school, but the Warwick brothers talked me out of it. They always had my back. Plucked me out of the doldrums to live under their roof, but we were not the same people.
However, his comment still hurt because it evoked feelings of shame and embarrassment. I shouldn’t care what the Plath clones said, as they were less important than the grease under my nails. Still, there were times, especially when people were watching, when my defenses dropped, and he managed to drive his sword right into my chest.
“Walk away,”Nicolae’s voice in my head.“They’re not worth it. We’ll plunder their frat house in a few days when they least expect it.”
Feeling the weight of eyes upon me from the students in the hall, I forced myself to pull away. Be the bigger man and walk away, until…I heard the sound of chickens clucking, and my entire body tensed.
“Don’t do it,” Nicolae’s warning voice echoed in my head as I hesitated until a burst of snickering followed, and my anger intensified. In a flash, I grabbed the chair and hurled it at James, who had that sly look on his face. That face needed a scar or two to ugly him up a bit.
