“So? I’m ahead of you. Get used to it.”
“Not that.” Quinn pointed to the shield emblem above the boards. “This school… there’s something going on that we can’t tell you about, but it’s some dark shit. We’re trying to keep you out of it, but you can’t keep getting yourself into trouble and leaping in where you shouldn’t be. If you become too troublesome, they won’t stick to the protocol. They won’t care that they’ve already taken Loretta this quarter.”
“What do you mean, ‘taken’ Loretta? I thought she got kicked out? What could I do that might be troublesome?”
Trey sighed from the corridor. “Just… keep your head down, do your schoolwork, try not to draw attention to yourself.”
I glared between him and Quinn. “Your girlfriends are making that difficult.”
“We’ll handle Courtney and Tillie,” Quinn said, his voice angry. “If they give you any more trouble, let us know.”
I rubbed my temple, where a headache was blooming. “I still don’t understand why you’re suddenly been so nice to me.”
The three guys exchanged a glance – long and hard and full of hidden depths. Ayaz stepped forward. He wrapped my hand in his dark, sensuous fingers. When he spoke, his voice was silk and butter. “Because you’re a breath of fresh air in this stuffy, hellish place. Because when you’re around, you make us all feel alive. Now stop talking so damn much, and get to class before you lose all Trey’s points.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
“You’re really keeping Trey’s points?” Greg leaned against the piano, resting his cheek in his palm. We’d just finished an hour of rehearsal for our main duet in the audition. We sounded fuckingtight, which meant we could allow ourselves a bit of gossip time.
“Apparently so. Trey’s talked Professor Atwood into saying that he converted them to me because he sabotaged my assignment. Even though Courtney was actually the one who did it.” I slammed my palm against the keys. The piano emitted a discordant shriek. Greg jumped. “Trey’s parents are being notified. His dad is going to be even angrier with him. It’s a big fucking deal and I just don’t understand why they did it. Why do they care that I’m not the one being kicked out?”
Greg whistled. “Check you out, honey, winning the heart of the most eligible bachelor at Derleth.”
“That’s the other thing,” I groaned, letting my elbow fall on the keyboard. Greg jumped again at the loud note. “Trey’s not even a bachelor. I don’t want to steal anyone’s guy, not even a bitch like Tillie.”
“Didn’t you hear? Trey broke up with Tillie at lunch today. Apparently, he said he didn’t care what their families wanted, he was doing his own thing. It’s quite the coup.”
My stomach flipped. “He… he did?”
“Yup. So your King is a free man.”
Trey was single?Butterflies fluttered in my stomach. “I don’t care. He tried to kill me.”
“Oh honey, your face says something different.”
I slumped over my assignment, placing my chin in my hands. I wanted to tell Greg what I’d discovered about our rankings, and our place at Derleth, but Ayaz’s warning held my tongue.What if the teachers listen in to our conversations through some secret device? What if I get Greg in trouble? I’ll tell him later, outside on one of our walks, where no one can overhear.“This is crazy. Dinner tonight is going to be interesting.”
“Sure is.” Greg glanced at the clock on the wall. “Speaking of which, we should get going.”
I grabbed my bookbag and shoved my books and papers inside. “Yup. Not even a plate full of maggots couldn’t keep me away tonight.”
Greg winced. “Don’t jinx us. I’ve only just got my appetite back.”
We linked arms and headed across the quad to the glowing lights of the dining hall. Heads turned toward me, but this time their whispered conversations didn’t bother me. As we entered the hall, my eyes flew to the royals table. Trey, Quinn, and Ayaz sat there, along with a few of their lacrosse buddies. But Courtney and Tillie were nowhere to be seen.
No, wait… there they are.I noticed Tillie’s flowing black hair at the end of the table where the scholarship students normally sat. She sat with Courtney and a few other girls, and they’d spread out their bags and purses so Andre was smushed right up into the corner. He couldn’t even get out without tripping over the girls’ things.Bitches.
“Hazel, wait, what are you doing?” Greg fell in step behind me as I stalked over to the table and kicked a large shopping bag out of the way.
The girl sitting across from Courtney whirled around to face me. I opened my mouth to give her the what-for, when my words died in my throat.
She looked the same, but different. Instead of being a ball of frizz, her hair sat in stylish curls atop her head, swept off her face with clips studded with what looked suspiciously like real diamonds. Her skirt had risen several inches, and her regulation dress shoes were replaced by a pair of shiny designer shoes with a low, sexy heel.
But most different was her face – instead of eyes wracked with nerves or swimming with pain too deep to speak, she looked bright, confident, self-assured. She looked like amonarch.
I managed to choke out a single word.
“Loretta?”
