“Why does she deserve it?” he asked, somehow sounding both bored and annoyed. “If anything, the fact that she’s here at all is the only break she deserves.”
I flipped him off. He couldn’t see it, but Mattie could, and she snorted out a laugh before coughing a few times. Rafe turned more fully in his seat, assessing me as closely as one could from that angle.
“Just stay out of my way, Cinderella. And beware of Alex; he’s not who you think he is.”
My smile was the broadest, fakest expression I’d ever made. “Why, thank you for your generous advice. Isoappreciate it.”
Rafe shook his head, dismissing me in an instant by turning back to the front and immediately starting up a conversation with Nolan. There was only a faint shadow of bruising along his high cheekbone, so Alex must not have hit that hard. What a shame.
The guys talked about soccer, and I learned that Mattie’s twin was on the soccer team as well. A striker. I hadn’t noticed him earlier today, but then again, I hadn’t noticed much outside of Rafe and Alex.
“He’s an expert on the classics, you know?” Mattie’s voice was a low murmur in my ear.
For a second, I wondered what she was talking about. I’d been so absorbed in listening to the conversation between the guys that I’d forgotten everything else. It was just that Rafe’s voice, when he wasn’t being a complete asshole, was soothing and sexy and … I could listen to it for hours.
Only he was an asshole. So I was not going to bother paying attention any longer.
“Classics?” I murmured back.
She nodded, lips twisting into a half smile. “Yeah, if you ever want to hear about the old fairy tales or classic literature popular before the Monarch War, Rafe is the guy to ask. His little brother and sister are obsessed, and he fucking loves them more than anything in the world. He tells them stories all the time.”
With a huff, I sank back into the super soft leather seats. I didn’t want to hear anything nice about Rafe; he was an asshole who had taken one look at me and decided he hated me. Fuck him and his love of literature.
“He looks like a thug,” I whispered with a scowl. “I didn’t even think he could read.”
Not actually true, but he definitely had an elite athlete vibe about him, and that body… Yeah, I would not have guessed the literature thing.
“My GPA is in the top three percentile,” Rafe said, his smile smug and mocking, eyes brushing over mine, sending shivers of warmth through me. “I’m set to take out the valedictorian this year.”
Great. Crown prince. Star athlete. Super fucking smart. That was totally fair.
“If you think I’m about to pat you on the back, like the rest of your sycophants, you have another think coming. I too can read, and I too enjoy the classics. You’re not Robinson Crusoe.”
Rafe’s lips twitched. “Touché, Cinderella.”
Thankfully, at that point the car was slowing, and we must have finally been at the party. When we parked, quite close to the chalet, Nolan turned in his seat. “I don’t know about you, new girl, but I’m really enjoying the sexual tension in the car right now.”
Mattie groaned, reaching out to slap her twin. “Nole, seriously.”
He just smirked, and I jumped as a door slammed. Rafe was already out of the car, striding off into the snow-filled landscape, heading toward the obvious lights and noise of a party.
“Was it something I said?” The words spilled out before I could stop them, each coated with fake innocence.
Mattie shook her head. “I knew there was a reason I liked you, new girl.”
My sigh was long and exaggerated. “This ‘new girl’ thing is not going anywhere, is it?”
“Nope,” Mattie said, popping the ‘P’ loudly. “It suits you.”
“So does Violet,” I muttered as I swung my door open to get out.
Mattie linked her arm through mine, leading me quickly through the mass of cars. For a world that was in a car shortage crisis, there were certainly no limitations amongst the Arbon Academy students.
Chapter 6
The party was surprisingly normal, if you could ignore the facts that every kid was dripping in designer clothing and accessories and the driveway was lined with more vehicles than I'd ever seen in my entire life.
"What’s your poison?" Mattie asked with a grin, nudging me closer to the professionally attended bar. Pointless laws like drinking ages had gone by the wayside during the Monarch War, seeing as kids as young as thirteen had been allowed to enlist. If you were old enough to train with deadly weapons, then beer was pretty far down the list of concerns. Not that alcohol was easy or affordable for most people to procure, but there was definitely no worry about our ages.
