Chapter 13
“I hear you yelled at Luther to shut up in math,” Anna said, as I joined her in the dining hall and placed my plate down on the table.
It was piled high with food. The nerves that prevented me from eating much earlier in the day were now being overridden by a serious need for comfort food.
Math had been an ordeal to say the least. Luther was so distracting, I’d missed half of what the teacher said, and now I was going to have to spend extra time studying tonight to go over the lesson.
“How did you hear that?” I groaned.
Anna shrugged. “Everyone hears everything at Weybridge. They’re all talking about how you were sitting with Luther and Kaden, and no one can believe you told Luther to shut up.”
“Well, he’s annoying.”
Anna laughed. “You’ve got that right.”
“He seems to think we’re going to be friends, but after one class with him I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen. He literally didn’t stop talking all class. It’s so distracting.”
“He’s like that in most classes,” Anna said, shaking her head. “It’s really a crime that someone so hot is also so irritating.”
I nodded my head firmly in agreement. “He’s like the annoying brother I never asked for.”
“Well, you’re probably the only girl in this school who’s ever compared him to a brother.”
“Annoying cousin then?”
She laughed again. “I just meant that not many girls friend-zone Luther. I can’t stand him, and even I’ve nearly kissed the guy.”
I scrunched up my nose at the thought. “I definitely don’t want to kiss him.”
“Which is probably why he wants to be your friend,” Anna said with a smile.
“That and apparently he wants to uncover all my secrets.”
Anna tilted her head and looked at me. “What do you mean?”
“He kept saying he’s on an undercover mission to uncover all my secrets.”
“Did he now? Why would he be doing that?”
“Beats me.” I shrugged. “Probably just wants to know who the new kid is.”
“Yeah, maybe,” she agreed. “So, what did you think of Kaden?”
“He seems nice. He didn’t say much though. Luther was doing all the talking.”
“Yeah, he’s pretty quiet. Cress used to have the biggest crush on him.”
“Who did I have a crush on, Anna?” Cress asked as she arrived at the table.
“Kaden.”
“Oh, yeah.” Cress gave a dreamy sigh as she slumped into the nearest chair. “It was forever ago, but I was totally hopeless for him when we first started at Weybridge. I think it was the glasses. I find them so sexy.”
“It wasn’t just the glasses,” Anna said. “You really started swooning over him when he spoke French to you in class.”
“Who wouldn’t?” Cress sighed again before turning to me. “We got paired together for an assignment, and he’d spent the summer in France with his family, so he could do the accent perfectly. I turn to absolute putty when a guy has an accent.”
“Did you guys ever get together?” I asked.
“No.” Cress pouted. “I crushed on him for our entire freshman year, but I was too nervous to make a move. I started dating my ex that summer, and the rest is history.”
“But you’re single now …” Anna’s voice was thick with suggestion.
“I am single now,” Cress agreed. “But there’s no way Kaden would be interested in me. He’s always been too busy concentrating on school to have a girlfriend.”
“Who said anything about being his girlfriend? I just think you guys should be bone buddies.”
“Bone buddies?” I laughed.
“Yeah, buddies who bone …” Anna looked so serious that I laughed again. She said it like it was the most normal thing in the world.
Meanwhile, Cress’s cheeks had flushed bright pink. “I’m not becoming anyone’s bone buddy.”
“Your loss,” Anna replied with a shrug. “I think Kaden got extra hot over the summer.”
Cress carefully looked over her shoulder and scanned the room for Kaden.
He was sitting at the same table he’d been at for breakfast with Luther and Noah.
My focus wasn’t on Kaden. My gaze drifted of its own accord to Noah.
His expression was muted, and even though he sat with his best friends, he seemed distant.
Luther and Kaden were both joking around and laughing at his side, and yet he only seemed to show a mild interest. There was definitely no hint of a smile.
“You really think he’s hotter?” Cress asked. “He seems just as hot as always to me …”
Anna slammed her hand down on the table, jolting me with surprise. “And that is why you should be bone buddies. You’ve always thought he was hot even when all the other idiots at our school didn’t realize.”
“I told you that was a million years ago.” Cress had turned back to face our table. “I don’t see him that way anymore.”
“Uh-huh.” Anna clearly didn’t believe her, and I wasn’t convinced either. There had been a hint of longing in Cress’s eyes when she’d looked over at Kaden, and perhaps her crush wasn’t as ancient as she claimed.
“No one ever seems to go over to their table,” I said, glancing back at them once more. “Noah, Luther, and Kaden’s, that is.”
Cress shrugged. “It’s always just kind of been their table.”
“But why would that make people avoid it?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never really questioned it,” Cress said.
“That’s because you’re Noah’s cousin,” Anna said, rolling her eyes before she leaned in close to answer me.
“When the three of them are together, people tend to tread carefully. Those boys are heirs to the biggest fortunes in this school, and they wield a crazy amount of power because of it. They make most of the kids at Weybridge look poor, which is kind of mind-blowing when you consider who’s at this school. ”
“But why would that make people avoid them?”
“It’s not that people avoid them. It’s more that people don’t want to piss them off. There’s almost like some unwritten rule to leave them alone in here. Plus, everyone’s terrified after Vance tried to sit with them last year, and Luther told him to disappear or he’d make him.”
“He was obviously joking,” Cress said.
“Was he?” Anna replied. “Because if those boys wanted to make you disappear, they totally could …”
Cress scoffed. “They’re not that powerful.”
“I swear, Cress, sometimes it’s like you’ve got your blinders on when it comes to your cousin …”
“Well, because Noah is my cousin, I happen to know he doesn’t have a hit man on speed dial.”
Anna scoffed. “Yeah, because he’d totally tell you about it.”
“He would!”
Anna shook her head and focused back on me.
“Okay, so maybe they’re not going to set a hit man on you.
But everyone here wants to suck up to them,” she explained.
“Success at this school is more about the connections you make than what you study, and you’d be crazy not to want close ties with one of those boys. ”
“I guess that’s true,” Cress said. “That’s why they’re not close to anyone outside their little trio.
Everyone here wants to get close to them for the wrong reasons.
” She sighed as she spoke, and I almost felt sorry for the guys.
I couldn’t imagine going through life questioning the motives of everyone around me.
It sounded like that’s exactly what they had to do though.
“If they’re so guarded, why would Luther ask me to sit with him in class today?”
“I’m not sure,” Anna said. “It’s pretty unusual.”
“Yeah, he wouldn’t normally do that with a new student.” Cress nodded in agreement. “Maybe he’s just trying to figure you out. I bet the fact you didn’t leap at the chance to have Noah help you this morning is making his little head implode.”
“Because that’s not normal?” I guessed.
“Not in this place,” Anna replied. “I might not be totally enamored by Noah, like most girls here, but even I would have taken him up on his offer to carry me back to school. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be cradled against his naked chest? Yum.”
I scrunched up my face at the thought. That didn’t sound even slightly delicious. If Noah had carried me back to school today, I would have been too mortified to ever show my face again.
Anna burst out laughing when she saw my reaction. “Yeah, Luther definitely sat next to you because of that. You’ve obviously caught his attention, and I imagine he’ll keep you around once he realizes you’re not all that interested in the politics of this school. It’s very refreshing.”
Much to my relief, the attention on me shifted as Sawyer and Wes joined us at the table.
“Have you guys seen the new Spanish teacher?” Sawyer asked. “Because her ass is muy bueno—”
“Sawyer!” Anna and Cress both shouted.
“What? She’s my future wife, I can talk about her ass.”
“Good luck with that,” Anna said. “There’s no way she’d even consider dating you, let alone marrying you.”
“Uh, hello, hotel heir sitting right here,” Sawyer fanned his hands in front of his face. “Who wouldn’t be interested?”
“Anyone who’s ever talked to you,” Anna fired back.
“Ha ha, very funny.” Sawyer had only just sat down but he suddenly leaped to his feet. “Now I’m going to have to spend lunch proving you wrong.” With that, he left the table and headed over to a group of girls. Within moments he had one cornered, and she was soon giggling as he flirted with her.
“Your brother’s a bit of a player, isn’t he?” I asked Wes.
“You could say that,” he agreed, with a shake of his head. “Thankfully, we’re not really alike in that respect.”
“So you don’t go round breaking girls’ hearts?”
“It’s not really my style.” His expression was genuine and I felt like he was telling the truth. Wes was definitely the sweeter of the twins.
“How was your first morning of classes?” he asked.
“Good, although I think I’ve got my work cut out for me in math this year.”
“I know the feeling,” he agreed. “If you ever need someone to study with, let me know.”
I’d always studied alone, but before I could tell him that, something about the sweet smile on his face caused me to nod in response. “Sure, that would be great.” I felt a twinge of guilt in my stomach, as I doubted I would take him up on the offer.