Chapter Three
Sophie
The food at Harrington Bay Academy is delicious.
Students are served gourmet meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
For scholarship kids like my friends and me, every bite is like a celebration in itself.
So when we enter the dining hall for breakfast on Monday morning, we waste no time piling all kinds of dishes onto our plates.
Carly Simmons is our resident foodie and tries to put every single variety on her plate.
“Did they get a new chef or something?” Raven asks as she places a crepe on her plate and then moves on to the next buffet table. “I don’t recognize a lot of the food.”
“Don’t know, don’t care,” Carly says as she adds another dish to her plate, her red hair getting in her eyes. “As long as it ends up in my stomach, I’m good.”
“The guys are already at our table.” Addie nods to our table toward the back of the hall, where Caleb, Addie’s boyfriend, and Ryder, Carly’s boyfriend, sit.
Addie waves to Caleb and blows him a kiss.
He waves back with his whole face shining.
The two of them have been boyfriend and girlfriend for a few months now, but they act as though they just got together yesterday.
It’s so cute. They appreciate each other a lot, and Caleb is a little protective of Addie because of the events that happened a few months ago.
He was hired to be her bodyguard and protect her because her grandfather’s enemy wanted to hurt her.
Thankfully, everything was okay in the end and Caleb gave up his bodyguarding to live a normal teen life.
Their relationship had so many awesome romance tropes.
A bodyguard romance, enemies-to-lovers, grumpy sunshine, one room, and forced proximity.
Contrary to what Raven says, life is full of romance tropes.
Take Carly and Ryder’s relationship, too.
If you would open a book of romance tropes, their names would be at the top spot in the enemies-to-lovers category.
Carly literally hated Ryder’s guts because of something that happened in the past, and one would have never imagined the two of them ever getting together.
But when two people are meant to be together?
Bam! They fall madly in love and live happily ever after.
Yes, I do believe in fate and all of that.
Still waiting for my special guy to grace me with his presence.
I don’t think it’ll happen anytime soon, though.
The boys here? Well, let’s just say I’d rather kiss an elephant.
I’m usually okay with my singlehood, but sometimes I feel so lonely and jealous of my best friends.
Of course I’m super happy for them, but it’s okay to feel jealous and happy at the same time, right?
When we approach our table, Ryder stands and pulls out Carly’s chair. ‘M’lady,” he says with a bow.
“Thank you, my kind sir.” She curtsies before looking to her right and left for teachers, and when she sees none are around, she slams her lips to his. He barely has a chance to react before she yanks away and slides into her seat. Ryder frowns like he was just robbed of a kiss.
We settle down at the table, with me pulling my novel out of my backpack and placing it on a clean area on the table.
I can eat, talk with my friends, and read at the same time.
It’s a superpower, one I perfected over the years.
How else could I squeeze in all my reading?
My Tbr list is longer than the entire New York City subway system. And I keep adding more.
“So I have some news,” Addie announces. “My grandfather asked me if I wanted to attend a ball next weekend.”
I perk up. “A ball?”
“Don’t get excited, Soph. I doubt it’ll be fun.
I mean, I’m sure there will be dancing and everything, but I’ll be surrounded by a bunch of stuck-up rich people who will analyze my every move to see if I’m qualified enough to take over my grandfather’s business.
Because if they sense that I’m not? Hello, vultures. ”
Caleb strokes her brown hair. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to. I’m sure your grandfather will understand. He’s a good man and he loves you very much.”
She puffs up her cheeks. “I’m so conflicted. Like, I want to please him because I know this stuff is important to him, but I still don’t feel like I belong in the rich world. I don’t think I ever will.”
I lean over to pat her hand. “But you can do such great things for the world! Remember you said you want to help middle and low-income people? You’ll change the world for the better, Addie!”
She’s about to say something, but I feel a presence behind me. All of us turn our heads at the same time and come face to face with Damian Harrington.
He has a serious look on his face, but it’s not as intense as yesterday’s. And I sense something hidden in his hazel eyes. A hint of…pain, maybe? Heartache? It’s so subtle that it’s hard to notice, but it’s definitely there.
He’s not dressed in his leather jacket or black jeans because our school has a uniform.
Girls wear a white shirt with a short green and black plaid skirt and a matching green vest or blazer.
The guys wear black pants, a white shirt, a green blazer, and a matching tie.
While he looked pretty sexy in his previous getup, I have to say the guy looks mighty fine in the school uniform, too.
His hair is still messy, though. Makes him stick with the whole “bad boy” look.
“Uh…hi,” I say.
He’s holding a tray overflowing with food. For a second, I wonder if he wants to sit with us. Maybe he doesn’t know anyone here other than me? But just when I’m about to offer, he locks intense eyes with me and says, “I’m sorry for knocking into you yesterday.”
My jaw drops so low it practically kisses the floor. “What?”
He shifts from one foot to the other, clearly uncomfortable with all the pairs of eyes focused on him. “Yesterday when I knocked into you. I shouldn’t have done it. I was upset about something that had nothing to do with you. I apologize.”
“O…oh!” I stammer, completely thrown into a whirlwind of shock. “That’s okay! I totally get it. It’s cool. No harm done.” I want to slap myself. Why am I rambling? I guess his presence is a little intimidating, even without the leather jacket.
He nods. “See you in class.”
He walks away and surveys the dining hall for a place to sit.
I once again contemplate offering him to sit with us, but he finds an empty table and lowers his tray on it.
He removes what looks like a sketchpad from his backpack, along with some pencils.
It looks like he wants to disappear from the world as he runs his pencil along the paper.
“That was…weird,” I say.
“I can’t believe he actually apologized,” Carly says with excited green eyes. “Maybe he won’t be as bad as you think.”
“Yeah, first days are rough,” Raven says. “Maybe he just needs some time to adjust.”
“I’m kind of looking forward to tutoring him now,” I admit.
“Last night, I thought I would be stuck in hell. But I love helping people and seeing their eyes light up when they finally understand the material. Harrington told me Damian might not be up to speed because his last school wasn’t as academically advanced as Harrington Bay Academy.
I can’t wait until he knows the material just as well as I do. ”
Addie pokes me in the ribs with her elbow. “And the fact that he’s a hot bad boy has nothing to do with it?”
I give her a face. “You know I’m not a fan of the bad boy trope.”
“Uh huh.”
“Seriously, Addie! I’ve got my standards when it comes to guys, and bad boys are not on the list.”
She playfully rolls her brown eyes at the others. “Sophie loves every romance trope. That includes the bad boy trope.”
“Lies.”
“Admit it.”
“Lies, Addie!”
The bell rings, thankfully. I’m so not in the mood for Addie’s teasing.
She knows I want a boyfriend really badly, but a guy like Damian?
Please. I can’t afford to be corrupted, not when I’m on a path to my career.
I’m not sure what, exactly, but maybe something in the medical field.
A doctor would be great, but I have too much anxiety for that.
So maybe a nurse or a physician assistant.
Carly pushes a few wayward blond strands of hair off Ryder’s forehead. “I can’t believe we have to separate again. Can’t you transfer to my math class? I’ll miss you so much I’ll have a stomachache.”
“Tempting, but I doubt Principal Harrington will let.”
Carly rolls her eyes. “Ugh, she knows we’re together, and since she’s not my biggest fan—even though I’ve brought up my grades—she’d sooner send me to another school than let me share more classes with my awesome boyfriend.”
“I can ask my grandfather to put pressure on her,” Addie jokes. Her grandfather is one of the richest people in the world and has a lot of influence.
“Ooh, can you? Pretty please?”
“That feels illegal,” I say.
“Like I care?” Carly snorts.
Raven chuckles. “Or you guys can separate for classes and actually concentrate on your work? It won’t kill you, you know.”
“Brutus,” Carly grumbles.
She lifts her shoulders. “Sometimes it’s good to be separated, isn’t it? It’ll make you miss each other more and appreciate each other.”
“But it feels like my heart bleeds when I’m not with him,” Carly whines.
“Same with me.” Ryder moves closer to nuzzle her nose with his.
“I hate to break this love fest, but we really need to get to class,” I say, getting to my feet. “I don’t want to ruin my perfect attendance.”
Knowing it’ll take the lovebirds a bit to get their butts to their classes, I grab my stuff and high-tail it to the chem lab and take out my book.
I’ve finished the merman book and am now reading a contemporary young adult romance.
This one is so swoony and so freakin’ cute.
I’m sucked into the world and don’t pay attention to anyone around me, but then I feel an odd presence in the room.
Kind of like a black cloud. When I tear my gaze from my book, I notice that Damian has walked inside.
He doesn’t look at anyone, just focuses on marching to an empty lab table in the back and dropping down on one of the chairs. I know he feels a lot of kids staring at him and whispering about him, but he concentrates on his phone like they’re invisible.
I don’t know why I have this feeling that he’s not being rude just for the heck of it.
Maybe because he took the time to apologize to me?
A rude jerk wouldn’t do that. I can’t help but wonder if something sad happened in his life.
Sitting alone at the back of the room like that, he seems really lonely.
His eyes suddenly spring up from his phone to me.
I startle as my eyes grow huge, and I quickly focus my attention back on my book, my cheeks flaming.
But after a few seconds, I peek at him again.
As if he once again senses me watching him, he slowly lifts his eyes to me.
I don’t know why I want to smile or wave.
Maybe let him know that he and I could be friends if he wants?
I mean, we’ll be spending lots of time together.
But from the expression on his face? It seems like he has no plans to make friends with anyone. Like he’s content treating everyone like they don’t exist.
Including me.