Chapter 9 #2
Veronica stepped away from him slightly, and I could see the hurt in her eyes. I knew Cress and Anna weren’t fans of the girl, but I didn’t like seeing her so upset. Did Noah really have to be so blunt with her?
“Isobel, is that you?” I glanced over my shoulder as Lily came up behind me with her drunken roommate slumped heavily across her shoulders.
My eyes darted back to Noah and Veronica.
I hoped they hadn’t noticed Lily calling out my name, but Noah had turned in my direction, and his eyes seared into mine.
I hated that I’d been caught eavesdropping, but it’s not like I had much choice.
Veronica and Noah were arguing right in the middle of the only route back to the house.
If they wanted their conversation kept private, they should have chosen somewhere more secluded.
Noah only kept eye contact with me for a moment before he stormed away from Veronica and continued up the path toward the house.
Veronica turned in our direction as well, but she barely seemed to notice me.
Instead, her eyes narrowed on Lily, who was now at my side.
“What are you looking at, Charity?” She practically hissed the words before running after Noah.
It was only once she was out of sight that any of us seemed to breathe again.
“She shouldn’t-a called you that,” Lily’s roommate slurred as she teetered dangerously on her heels. She kept swaying like she was going to fall over, and if Lily hadn’t been propping her up, she definitely wouldn’t have been standing.
“It’s fine, Amber.” Lily’s expression betrayed her true feelings, and I could tell she was hurt.
“Why did she call you that?” I asked.
“Because I’m a scholarship student.”
“So?”
“So she called me Charity, as in charity case.” Lily sighed. “I couldn’t afford to go to Weybridge if it wasn’t for the scholarship.” She didn’t look at me as she spoke, as though she was worried I’d be judging her. Little did she know, I was the last person who would look down on her for that.
“That’s ridiculous,” I protested.
“Yeah, it’s super ridiculous,” Amber mumbled from where she was nuzzled into Lily’s shoulder. “You’re a super-duper-smarty-pants.”
“Amber’s right. Veronica shouldn’t have called you that,” I said. “You’re here on merit. Not just because your parents happen to have more money than they know what to do with.”
“Yeah, well, money is what counts around here.” Lily shrugged. “And it’s not the first time I’ve been called that. I doubt it will be the last. I know I’m lucky to come to this school.”
Lily seemed completely resigned to her place in the school’s pecking order—the poor kid who had to be grateful for even being allowed in.
It made me angry thinking of Veronica or anyone treating her that way, but I wasn’t exactly surprised.
I too felt out of place at Weybridge, and I hadn’t even told anyone about my background.
After finding out how Lily was treated, I was only more convinced I’d made the right choice by keeping it quiet so far.
“This school’s the one that’s lucky to have you,” Amber said. She might have had way too much to drink, but at least she was a sweet drunk.
Lily blushed and let out a gentle laugh at Amber’s garbled compliment. “We really need to get you back to school.”
“Here, I’ll give you a hand.” I went to Amber’s other side and took her arm, placing it over my shoulder.
“You have two heads,” Amber mumbled to me through bleary eyes. “And they’re so pretty. I wish I had two pretty heads.”
I lifted my eyebrows as I glanced at Lily, and she looked to be withholding a laugh. It was a compliment, sort of, but the fact Amber was seeing two heads on my shoulders made me doubtful she could make out my features clearly enough to determine I was pretty.
“Uh, thanks. I think,” I said as I focused on her again.
“Do I know you?”
“No. I’m Isobel.”
“Isobel.” She sounded out each syllable of my name, like she was tasting it but couldn’t decide if she liked the flavor or not. I wasn’t sure what she concluded because her head slumped forward a moment later, and Lily and I had to brace her to keep her upright.
“Are you okay, Amber?” Lily asked.
“Yeah, I’m good.”
She sounded far from it.
As we slowly started walking with Amber flopped over our shoulders, Lily shot me a smile. “Thanks for helping. I’m not sure I would have made it back to my car on my own.”
“I’m surprised you made it this far.” Amber was much heavier than she looked, but it was mostly because she was a total dead weight at this point.
“Me too.” Lily let out a laugh. “I probably should have enlisted some help to get her home, but I was just happy she’d finally agreed to leave the party with me.”
“Well, I’m happy I was in the right place at the right time.”
“Same.”
Step by step, we slowly made our way back toward Luther’s house. It took a while to traipse our way through the trees because Amber kept lurching and swaying as we walked. I had no idea why Luther thought a party in the middle of the woods was a good idea, especially when people were drinking.
It was a relief when we arrived back at Luther’s driveway and better still when Lily headed for a car right by the house.
It was an old sedan, far nicer than the car my mom drove back home, but it still looked out of place surrounded by the luxury vehicles that lined the driveway.
I would have killed to own a car like this, but Lily looked embarrassed as she pointed it out to me.
“This is me,” she said. “I think we should put Amber in the back seat.”
“But I want to go in the front,” Amber complained.
“Not tonight,” Lily replied. “I won’t risk you throwing up on the dashboard.”
“I’m not going to throw up,” Amber grumbled, but at least she didn’t complain as we helped her into the car. She perked up a little once she was inside, and she looked past me and started smiling as I was doing up her seat belt.
“Noah Hastings is so hot,” she slurred. There was a dreamy look in her eyes, and I shook my head as I finished strapping her in.
“Yeah, well, it’s a shame that sometimes beauty is only skin-deep,” I replied.
Amber started to giggle. “I think he heard you.”
“What?” My chest tightened, and I glanced over my shoulder.
Noah was leaning against a car a little way down the drive.
He was staring in our direction, his green eyes narrowed.
I didn’t have a chance to analyze his expression because he immediately turned away.
He couldn’t have heard me, could he? I hadn’t been speaking very loudly, but he wasn’t standing that far from us either.
Maybe he had overheard, or perhaps he was simply scowling at me because I’d listened to his conversation with Veronica earlier.
Either way, there was nothing I could do about it now.
I gave Amber a half smile and a shrug before closing the door on her. I took a seat in the front and stared out the passenger window. I watched the lights of Luther’s house disappear as Lily drove off.
I hadn’t even been here a day, and already I’d made new friends, been to a crazy party, and somehow managed to piss off the supposed king of Weybridge Academy. I had to wonder what on earth this school had in store for me tomorrow.