10. Kaylor
10
KAYLOR
L ike a dreaded illness you could feel coming on, Monday morning arrived much the same way. I left a message for the detective who had come to see me in the hospital. Her card was one of the only things I’d taken with me when I was released. I was still waiting for her return call, but in the meantime, I had to find the motivation and energy to go to school.
The only upside…I got to leave the house. I was breaking free of the prison today. A thought occurred to me as I brushed my teeth. If I couldn’t sneak out of this house, perhaps the only way I would get to see my friends was to ditch school.
There would be consequences. Detention, no doubt, and not the way I’d like to start at a new school. Yet, I didn’t see another way.
I had to see my friends.
With this thought, I got my first inkling of excitement at attending Public. I was sure it wouldn’t last long.
I tried not to think about the academy, missing my friends, or the graduation I wouldn’t be walking in as I stood in front of the dresser, staring at the clothes that weren’t mine. It felt surreal not pulling out my crisp Elmwood Academy uniform. I never thought I’d miss the pleated skirts and starched blouses, but now I felt adrift.
With a sigh, I selected a pair of light jeans and a fitted sweater. At least they weren’t the ugliest things. After I brushed out my hair in front of the vanity mirror, my platinum waves fell neatly over my shoulders, but I fussed with them longer than necessary, debating whether to pull them back or leave them loose. It wasn’t easy getting ready with one freaking hand. I’d already tended my injury, adding a thin layer of healing ointment and a fresh bandage. And although my mobility was increasing each day, it was nowhere near what it had been before being shot.
Afterward, I dabbed on some mascara and a hint of blush, staring critically at my reflection. I didn’t know why I bothered. It wasn’t like I wanted to impress anyone at Public, especially not when it hadn’t been my choice to move schools.
From down the hall, I heard one of the twins yelling and pounding on someone’s door. Quiet mornings were a thing of the past, I’d learned over the last few days. The Corvo boys were rowdy and rough. At least I didn’t have to watch my mouth around them. They wouldn’t bat an eye over my language.
I set down the brush with a sigh and grabbed my bag, heading downstairs where Kreed and Mason were waiting by the front door. Maddox was nowhere in sight, meaning I wasn’t the last one, and they weren’t waiting on me. Not that I believed they would have waited. If I’d been late, you’d better believe they would have left me behind.
I learned yesterday that Kreed was the second-oldest Corvo son. The twins were the youngest. Mason was born just thirteen minutes after Maddox. Amelia had a wealth of information, and her favorite topics were Raine, Kreed, Maddox, and Mason.
“You owe me twenty bucks,” Mason said to Kreed with a Cheshire grin, shoving his hands into his front pockets.
Kreed eyed me with an air of quiet intensity that contrasted sharply with Mason’s cocky attitude. “You just had to show up, didn't you, little raven?” he grumbled as my sneakers touched the floor from the final step.
I shot him a dry glare. “I guess you learned never to bet against me.”
Mason threw his head back and laughed.
“What’s so funny?” Maddox asked in a deep, raspy voice behind me.
Maddox looked and sounded like he just rolled out of bed. His dark hair slashed in an array of messy angles, and yet it somehow looked sexy on him.
Go fucking figure.
The man literally woke up two minutes ago and looked like a sex god. Meanwhile, I woke up an hour and a half ago and still didn’t look my best.
Life could be cruel and unfair.
Mason glanced my way, his smirk coy as ever. “Our little kitten has sharpened her claws.”
“Who are you calling a kitten?” I asked, afraid I already knew the answer and didn’t like it.
Merriment danced in Mason’s eyes. “You.”
My fingers gripped harder on my bag’s strap. “I’m not yours. And I don’t do cute nicknames.”
Maddox slipped on a pair of white sneakers left by the door. “Too bad. We do.”
“Get in the fucking car. I don’t need detention this early in the week.” Kreed opened the front door, jerking his head toward the car parked outside. “Move your asses.”
I ignored him, walking past with my head held high.
The black SUV gleamed in the morning sun as I climbed into the back seat. It smelled like expensive leather and woodsy cologne. Mason sat beside me as Kreed slid into the driver’s seat, and Maddox claimed the passenger side. Tension knotted in my stomach as we pulled out of the long driveway and onto the main road.
I hated change.
This was a major change.
It was a good thing I hadn’t eaten much this morning. When I got nervous, my stomach got messed up. I didn’t want to spend my whole first day in the bathroom.
I stared out the window, feeling a lump grow in my throat as we grew closer to school. The Corvos didn’t live particularly far from Public. Just a few miles, but the unfamiliar streets made my stomach twist; nothing felt right.
Maddox fumbled with the music, scrolling through his playlist for a song. I ignored the brothers’ banter, having nothing to say. My anxiety had me lost in my head. I hadn’t realized I’d been picking at my cuticles until the car came to a jerking halt on the side of the road, my nail slicing over my finger. I frowned at Kreed in the front seat, my shoulder throbbing from the sudden movement. “What’s going on?” I asked. “Why did we stop?” We weren’t at school. Not yet. We were close, probably about a half mile out.
Maddox twisted in his seat, his expression a mix of irritation and amusement. “You’re getting out. That’s what’s going on.”
I blinked. “What?”
“You heard me,” he said. “You can walk the rest of the way to school. Hitchhike. I don’t care. But you won’t be seen in this car. Not with us.”
My eyes darted to Kreed, whose fingers flexed on the steering wheel, his gaze straight ahead. And then I looked at Mason. He fidgeted in his seat, his usual smirk nowhere in sight. “Let me get this straight. You want me to walk the rest of the way? And then, you want me to pretend I’m not living in your house at school? Like you don’t know me?”
“I told you she was smart,” Mason chimed in from the seat next to mine.
Kreed said nothing. I could see his eyes in the rearview mirror, the scar marring his upper cheek. He clearly wasn’t interested in intervening.
“You can’t be serious,” I protested.
Maddox raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I’m dead serious. Get out, menace.”
Outrage flared in my chest, and I glared at Kreed. “You’re such an ass.”
“Aw, thank you,” Maddox replied with a grin, his hand flying to his heart in a mock wounded gesture. “Now, out you go.”
I hesitated, my pride warring with frustration. I could argue, but something about Maddox’s smug expression told me he’d only drag me out if I refused.
With a huff, I shoved open the door and stepped onto the sidewalk. Maddox leaned out the window as I slammed the door shut with the same whirling force inside me. The SUV rocked under the impact, giving me only minor satisfaction.
“Try not to get lost, menace,” he called, laughing as Kreed drove off, dust kicking up in a cloud of smoke.
I stood on the side of the road with my fists clenched, fuming as the SUV disappeared around the corner. My cheeks burned with embarrassment and fury. “Assholes,” I muttered, brushing the dust off my clothes.
Two minutes went by with me frozen in the same spot, half expecting their SUV to come back, Maddox still laughing at their cruel joke.
They didn’t come back.
It wasn’t a prank. The Corvos were just that heartless. I was on my own. The one looking out for me was me.
I glanced up and down the street. The obvious way to go would be straight ahead in the direction the SUV had sped off, but I couldn’t trust those jerks. I wouldn’t put it past them to have dropped me off somewhere in the opposite direction of Public.
What fuckers.
I dug my phone out of my bag and pulled up my maps, telling the GPS to take me to Elmwood Public High School.
Better safe than sorry.
I could, of course, blow off the entire fucking day and find my friends. They were at the academy. But I had no money for an Uber, and walking… By the time I reached the academy, Carson and Kenny would be in class. I wouldn’t be permitted inside the school. Not anymore.
Adjusting my bag back onto my shoulder, I stared at my phone, cursing the Corvos under my breath as I started walking. They had another thing coming if the three of them thought I would go along with their wishes after this and pretend we didn’t know each other. By the end of the day, the entire school would know who I was living with, I silently vowed.
The school wasn’t far, but every step felt like an eternity. I couldn’t remember the last time I walked anywhere. Did that make me a spoiled brat? Maybe, but my parents had wanted the best for me. They sometimes went overboard. Dad had always been overprotective, insisting on driving me to my friends and to all my after-school activities. When he couldn’t, Seb, our driver, had.
I’d never gotten my driver’s license. I’d always meant to but kept putting it off, a decision I was regretting now.
Not that I had a car to drive, but surely, my parents’ cars were mine now.
I made a mental note to reach out to Decker, Dad’s lawyer. Most of what he’d told me in the hospital was a blur except for, of course, the part where he announced Donovan as my guardian. That memory burned crystal clear in my mind.
I wanted to review the details of my parents’ will again with a clearer mind and a more critical eye.
By the time I reached the school gates, my resolve was frayed, but I lifted my chin and walked in. I wouldn’t let them see me falter—not Kreed, not Maddox, not Mason, not anyone. The Corvos and their games wouldn’t break me.
I stared at Elmwood Public and could feel the unforgiving hostility oozing from its bricks even though I hadn’t set foot inside the building yet.
Public had years on the academy, it being the first and only high school in the area for some time, and it showed in the aging wash of the exterior. But I would admit it had a certain charm to it if you were into Gothic architecture. The entrance had two square towers flanking either side that came to a window steeple at the top.
My shoulder ached as I surveyed the school, working up the courage to head inside when a cigarette landed on the road near my feet before a boot stomped on it. My gaze traveled up the leg attached to the boot until it landed on a face. A pretty one at that, with beautiful dark-red hair twisted into two messy buns on top of her head, the ends twined into two long braids. Links of silver were woven into the hair strands. A puff of smoke exhaled from her lips. “Are you lost? You look a little confused. Or scared. I can’t decide.”
I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. “That obvious, huh?”
She wore opaque black stockings, a plaid skirt, a tank with a low V-neckline, and a leather jacket. A dusting of freckles covered both her rosy cheeks. Stacks of necklaces dangled from her slim neck. “Only if you pay attention, which, let’s be honest, most people here don’t. At least not to me.”
I couldn’t say why, but I liked this girl. I didn’t know her name, knew nothing about her other than she smoked and dressed like she stepped out of an anime. She just looked cool, like someone I wanted to be friends with, and God, could I use a friend today. “I just transferred.”
“Poppy,” she introduced herself. “And you are?”
“Kaylor Steele,” I replied as a group of girls passed by, whispering and giggling. And so the gossip began. I hadn’t stepped foot inside the school, and I could already feel the eyes on me.
“Well, Kaylor Steele, what’s the verdict?” Poppy asked, digging in her bag for something.
My brows lifted. “What do you mean?”
She pulled out a pack of gum and offered me a piece. “Are we going in or not?”
The corner of my lips lifted as I took a stick of gum. “Undecided.”
“I have the same dilemma every day,” she said, popping a piece into her mouth.
I unwrapped the silver foil from mine and followed, bending the peppermint stick between my teeth. “What’s the trick?”
“To surviving this place?” She paused for a moment, glancing at the aged brick building. “Fly under the radar.”
“I can do that.”
Her gaze followed another group of girls strolling by on their way into school. She was watching them, but they were staring at me. “I’m not so sure about that. Something tells me being the new girl is going to create quite the wave. In fact, I probably shouldn’t be talking to you. You could blow my cover of being overlooked.”
A prickle danced up my spine like the brisk wind was blowing in trouble.
I should get this over with. Just go inside and grab my class schedule. Sitting outside wouldn’t make the day any easier.
I just talked myself into going in when someone said, “Look, menace made it, and she made a friend.”
I groaned at the sound of Maddox’s voice. Kreed and Mason were on either side of him. They walked up the curb onto the sidewalk as a trio. The message was clear. Even an outsider could see they stuck together.
“Run into a wall, Maddox,” I retorted tartly, narrowing my eyes.
He chuckled. “I guess you have better direction than I gave you credit for. You’re just full of surprises.”
I spat my gum at him. A damn waste, but I couldn’t help myself. The chewed-up mint-green wad bounced off his chest and fell to his feet. I’d been aiming for his face, but the fucker was tall.
With a frightening scowl, Maddox’s features darkened, and he stepped toward me.
I braced myself for his retaliation.
“Maddox,” Kreed growled lowly.
The eldest twin glared at me, towering above my head like a giant who could crush me with his pinky. I never flinched. Our eyes locked. I gave him a smug, small smile like the one he’d given me earlier.
“Wait until I get you alone, menace,” he warned through his teeth.
Obviously, Kreed called the shots. I filed the little tidbit of information away for later. I blew out a shaky breath as I watched their backs disappear into the double doors.
“You never mentioned you knew the Raven Crew,” Poppy said with her eyes on me with a different sort of interest.
My brows wrinkled. “Who?”
Poppy started down the pathway leading to school. “Kreed, Maddox, Mason, and Nash Hart. The Raven Crew. Nothing happens in this school without their knowledge and approval. They’re idolized and untouchable, at least here they are.”
I followed with heavy feet, dread making them feel like they weighed fifty pounds each. “You’re joking.”
“I wish I was. You have guts. That little stunt definitely earned you enemy status. How do you know them?” She opened the door, waiting for me to decide if I was going to walk inside.
Here goes nothing , I was making good on my promise for revenge. “I live with them,” I informed as I ordered my feet over the threshold, stepping into Elmwood Public and into a world I wasn’t prepared for.