We have a pop quiz for the first lesson, which means no talking and I’m grateful for that. I find out pretty quickly that Magnus hadn’t been lying about the schooling being the same as on Earth. Calculus sucks ass on both planets, it seems.
When the bell rings, signaling the end of class, I pack up my stuff and walk hurriedly towards the door. I’m no coward, but I’d like to avoid any sort of altercation on my first day.
Unfortunately, Layla has other ideas. I don’t see that Dani is following me until I hear Layla’s voice behind us in the hallway just outside the classroom.
“Well, if it isn’t the pauper and the bastard whore.”
I feel myself bristle at her words and I turn slowly to face her.
“Say that again, bitch?”
I hear a round of audible gasps, and I then I notice that an audience has formed around us, as students on their way to their next classes stop to gawk at the showdown.
I feel my face burning at the attention. I was hoping to avoid this, but if she wants to bring it, I’m not about to back down.
She steps closer to me, and I stay rooted to the spot. Dani has moved to stand beside me, but is visibly shaken.
“I said, you’re a whore and a bastard,” she replies, crossing her arms over her perky chest.
I roll my eyes in response. I really don’t have time for this shit.
“You don’t know anything about me.”
“I know that your daddy fucked a dirty human, and that you’re his dirty little half-human bastard.
“I also know that you’re a whore and that before you came here, you were turning tricks for a dollar. God, I knew the Evenstar Dynasty was desperate for an heir, but I didn’t think it would ever sink this low.”
I don’t know why her words surprise me. After my encounter the other night with the king of all pricks, I’d guessed that these bastards had clearly been trying to find some dirt on me. Still, I feel like ripping this girl’s hair out and clawing that smug smile off her perfect little face. But I force my breath to slow instead. She wants me to lose it, but I’m not going to play into her hands. It doesn’t mean I’m going to let her get away with it either. So I step forward until I’m toe to toe with the bitch.
“Please, honey, the only whore I see around here is you. Pull your skirt down and button up your shirt, because no one wants to see your ass and tits—it’s tacky as hell.”
To accentuate my words, I reach out and button up one of the buttons on her gaping white shirt, smirking as I step back.
Layla’s face turns crimson with rage, and I hope embarrassment, too. Next to her, Ivy looks just as furious, but Keller just quirks an eyebrow. I get the feeling that nothing much shakes this girl.
Layla is sputtering, grasping for a comeback, as whispers break out in the crowd around us. I don’t wait around for the response as I turn on my heel and walk away.
Screw these bitches. I’m hoping that it will be enough to put them in their place and make them leave me the hell alone for the rest of the year. But I have a sinking feeling that this is only the beginning.
8
“Jazmine, wait up!”
Through the roaring of my own heartbeat in my ears, I almost don’t hear Dani calling after me as she follows me down the hall.
“Are you crazy?” she asks, once she catches up with me.
“You can’t just go around insulting the Dynasty heirs unless you have some kind of death wish.”
I shake my head in response.
“I couldn’t care less about the stupid Dynasty heirs,” I retort.
“Look, what I was about to tell you in class—the Dynasty heirs have basically marked you as an outcast and like I said before, they rule this place. What they say goes.”
I roll my eyes, because I don’t care. I remember what that asshole from the ceremony told me—one word from me, and I can make your life a living hell.
I guess the jerk actually followed through with that threat. But it’ll take more than a couple of bitchy insults to get to me.
“I don’t get it, though. I mean, you’re one of them right? You’re the heir to the Evenstar Dynasty.”
I turn to Dani then.
“Yeah, I guess that’s what I’m supposed to be. But trust me, they’ve made it crystal clear that I’m not one of them and that I don’t belong here.”
Dani purses her lips together and I fully expect her to walk away. I mean, why would she want to hang around with someone with the mark of social death on them.
“Listen, I like you. I’ve never seen anyone stand up to Layla and her cronies like you just did. I actually don’t think anyone has ever done that before. You think it’ll be okay if I hang with you?”
The surprise is clear on my face.
“Why would you want to do that? You said it yourself, I’ve been marked as an outcast, whatever that means. If you hang with me, it’ll make you one, too.”
“It doesn’t make a great deal of difference in my case. What Layla said about me being a pauper? I’m a scholarship student, I … don’t come from a noble lineage. So, that doesn’t place me very high up on the social ladder. It pretty much places me at the bottom, actually.”
“You’ll see soon enough that lineage and wealth mean everything here.”
Dani catches the hesitant look on my face.
“Look, I don’t have any friends here—pathetic, I know, and I have a feeling that you’re going to need one, so …”
I’ve gone through seventeen years without forming a single friendship and as sad as that might sound, forming attachments has always been pointless for me. Just another person to lose. I definitely don’t want to form any attachments now, seeing as for the most part, I still don’t plan on sticking around for long. But Dani’s earnest look makes it difficult to say no and I agree with her about having a feeling that I’m going to need a friend in this place.
“Okay,” I say finally with a small smile, which only grows as Dani beams back at me in response.
I have English second period and I’m grateful that Layla isn’t in that class, too. I’m not so grateful to see that the dark haired guy from the ceremony, Baron, I think his name is, and the one with the reddish brown hair, Lance, are in that class. Thankfully, they ignore me completely.
I don’t miss the way that they command the room—girls flock around them and guys greet them enthusiastically as they pass. I also don’t miss the way they seem to be above class rules—talking in class and openly hitting on girls without so much as a warning from the teacher. This place is insane.
“I’m not really a fan of the cafeteria scene,” I say to Dani, as she leads me towards the large glass double doors leading into the dining hall.
I was hoping to be able to avoid the cafeteria for the whole year. I always found somewhere else to eat in my previous high schools—either out in one of the sports fields or in an empty classroom.
“You can’t do that here—rules are pretty strict. Students are only allowed to eat in the cafeteria,” Dani replies.