VIII
Tori
E very year, the Elite allows up to 16 students to join. Over the last few months, I’ve learned who everyone is, and I know there’s only just over sixty people in this room, but right now, it feels like three times that number.
At the front of the room, Syn’s eyes narrow, and with the smallest jerk of his chin, indicates he wants me up there with him.
Hoping how nervous I am is well hidden, I straighten my back and walk down the center aisle like I have the confidence of a model on a runway during New York Fashion Week.
I walk past Syn, making sure I’m a few paces behind him before I turn to face the room.
I’m sure that of all the collective thoughts running through their minds, not a single one is positive towards me.
In this moment, I decide I’m not going to lower my gaze like planned. Instead, I’m going to look each and every one of them in the eye.
It’s surprising how few of them meet my stare.
Despite my movement, the room remains silent. Not even Syn speaks.
Until a junior, Pepper-Rose, sticks her hand into the air.
“Yes,” Syn says.
Pepper-Ann stands. “Why is she here?”
Syn inhales, glancing at the faces in front of him before he turns his head a fraction in my direction. “Oh, you mean her.”
Although I’d love nothing more than to step forward and smack him upside the back of the head, I keep my hands clasped loosely together, and my expression, pleasant.
“This is our newest initiate.”
Syn has them well trained because the room remains silent.
Either that, or they think this is a joke.
“As the usual program for initiations has ended, this is a special case.”
The first hand goes up, and after Syn’s nod, a senior named Rich stands. He folds his arms, shooting me a look of suspicion before looking back to Syn. “She’s the sister of the guy who killed your brother.”
“Thank you for your astute observation, Brentwood.”
“Why the hell would you let that in?
“I haven’t let her in . I’ve allowed her to try to pass the initiation.” Syn’s voice is cold, but Rich still doesn’t sit back down.
“You can’t do that.”
Syn’s voice drops dangerously low. “I already have.”
I can’t quite see Syn’s face from this angle, but Rich finally sits back down, although he looks far from happy.
A few rows in front, a girl calls out. “We all had to go through the initiation ceremony. None of us are going to want to do that again, especially if we have to fuck her. And she shouldn’t be able to get out of that.”
Although I’m not exactly thrilled at the prospect of having to fuck any of them, that comment hurts.
Hoping that moment of weakness wasn’t noticed, I narrow my eyes and glower in the general direction the voice had come from.
“She has already been through the initiation ceremony,” Syn says. His voice has taken on a biting tone. “And while I can’t say it was anything special, you might want to consider your opinion of yourself, Sienna. And lower it. Considerably .”
I zero in on the commenter in time to see her eyes widen and her cheeks flame. Even if it came with a backhanded compliment, I’ll take it.
Another hand shoots up.
“Farley.”
The sophomore stands, shooting me a sly look before addressing Syn. “What about the rest of the initiation? Is she going to be required to do what we had to?”
“If you are implying that she’s going to receive special treatment, she’s had her one boon. Yes, I have agreed to let her attempt to pass the initiation outside of the usual timeframe, however, what was once shared by sixteen of you, will be carried by her alone. Assuming, of course, no one’s standards are too high.”
From the angle of his head, and the way Sienna ducked hers, I’m sure that was directed at her, but I felt the bite of that too.
For the last two years, I’ve worked hard to train myself into keeping a blank expression—making sure my feelings and opinions are not plastered over my face. Right now, it’s taking everything in me to keep myself expressionless.
“She’s going to be put in stocks and have all the guys line up to fuck her face?” Pepper-Rose asks. “Put on call to be the senior’s fuck toy?”
The room is silent. Everyone’s waiting for Syn to answer, me included. After seeing the freshmen initiations, I assumed a number of sexual acts would be required of me, but I never really considered what they’d be.
Maybe I’d not wanted to in case I talked myself out of this.
Although my eyes are open, I’m not seeing the room. Instead, my mind has wandered, and now all I see is my older brother and how much he changed between him being free and the last time I visited him in prison.
He would have graduated last year, but instead, he looked like he was in his thirties. His hair was at that length where it’s clear it’s not a fashion choice, and as someone who would keep his hair just long enough to style with gel, combined with the lack of daily shaving, he looked like he had given up.
Considering he’s sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole, I understand why. But I am here because I know he’s innocent, and if I can find some way to prove that no matter how long the process takes for his appeal to go through and for him to be exonerated, I can at least give him something to look forward to again.
The idea of being here as an initiate seemed impossible only a couple of weeks ago, and yet, here I am. This is my glimmer of hope.
Syn is going to make this hard for me. There’s no doubt about that. And even if I somehow pass all the tests, I expect that I’ll still be told no.
That’s fine. I don’t want to be a member of the Elite anyway.
I want to be in a position to find out the secrets that have been buried within this society.
And given that the only clue my brother gave me was somehow coincidentally tattooed onto the bodies of at least three of the members inside this room, I’m going to push myself past whatever limits I have.
Because once I’m out, everything is lost.
“Everyone in this room,” Syn says, finally breaking his silence and my thoughts. “ Everyone . You all answer to me. This is not a committee. This is not even a democracy. And anyone who chooses not to follow my instructions will violate their contracts and should look forward to the consequences of that.”
He’s already used this threat on me several times, but the reaction from the members in front of me is more noticeable.
They have things to lose.
No one wants a sex tape released—myself included—but my face, name, and even reputation have already been dragged through the mud, so much that there’s little of it left to cling to.
“When I say she’s our latest initiate, I’m not putting this up to vote. She’s an initiate of the Elite. She’ll be held to the same standards you were. She’ll be put through the same initiation process as you. The only difference…” He turns his head just a fraction, but it’s enough to meet my eyes. “Is that she’s going to have to do it all by herself.”
Although it might not have sounded like it, there’s a threat in his words that sends a shiver down my spine.
He smiles as he sees my shudder, and then he looks back to his audience. “If you want to see the benefits that being in the Elite offers you—both at James Keyingham University and after you graduate—then you’ll do exactly what’s expected of you. Which includes showing the same level of respect to her as you do to your fellow members.”
I blink, turning my head to look at him, only just stopping my mouth from falling open.
Respect ?
Show me , respect?
And then Syn smiles. “At least, in front of the rest of the student body.”
A sea of faces blur into one as they all look at me, and there isn’t a single friendly face in the crowd.