His friends shout across to them as they secure a table, and that’s when he looks up and his eyes lock with mine. The corner of his mouth begins to drag up slowly into a smirk as I clench my fist and exhale slowly. Straightening, I follow Serena and attempt to move past him and Blythe. As we get closer, I can smell the fact that he’s high, and I can’t stop the way my lip curls. He’s the son of Malcom Radcliffe, a business tycoon and from one of the oldest families in Silvercrest, he should know better than to ditch school and get stoned with his cronies.
As I pass, my shoulder brushing against his because there’s no space, he reaches out and grabs my wrist. Blythe looks at us for a moment, confused before Tristan gives her a nod, and she makes her way over to where the others are waiting. Watching. I bet it stings, being dismissed like the help, but that’s what it’s like around here. If you don’t have millions in the bank, you’re expendable.
“Let go,” I say, my voice low. Whenever I’m around Tristan, I’m careful to keep my face neutral and my voice steady. I’m the daughter of the mayor. I can’t afford to make a scene. I need to behave.
His touch is like fire on my skin as his strong fingers stay firmly where they are, digging into my flesh.
“Or what?” His voice is calm, but the look in his dark eyes is dangerous. He looks like a wolf, cornering his prey, and I refuse to lay down and be served up to him on a platter like a beautiful braised lamb shank. He leans down, his face inches from mine as I feel his warm breath on my cheeks. There’s no denying that he’s handsome, with his prominent cheekbones, sharp jawline, and dark hair that’s a little on the long side for my taste, but that doesn’t mean I want him invading my space.
“You’re high,” I sneer, trying to push him away with my shoulder. “Get your shit together, Tristan, and get out of my way. I don’t have time for this.”
He doesn’t move away, instead he leans further forward. With his lips brushing against my ear, he whispers, “In a few weeks, all your time will be mine, Lena, so enjoy your freedom while you can.”
My parents are the only one who call me Lena, and they haven’t done that in a long time. I hate that Tristan has been embedded in my life since we were children, it means he knows how to push my buttons.
Pulling away, I scowl at him as I hiss, “Fucking Douchbag.”
Grinning, he teases, “Fucking Princess.”
We both watch each other carefully, waiting for god knows what. Minutes pass by with Tristan refusing to let go and me unable to look away.
“Elena,” Serena calls softly, breaking the spell. I’d forgotten that she was still there. That they all were.
“Until next time,” Tristan says softly, before walking over to where Blythe is shooting daggers my way. Blythe is nothing but a blip in his life, she just doesn’t know it yet.
We climb into Serena’s Mini Cooper without saying anything. It isn’t until we pull up to the school that she gives me a hard look. “What was that?”
I shrug and grab my planner out of my bag. “Nothing.”
Serena’s family was new money, but they weren’t in The Society just yet. I liked that about her though, it meant I could have a normal friendship without the ties attached even if she could be a little judgemental sometimes. However, it also meant she was oblivious to how things really worked around here.
Serena looks like her eyes are about to pop out of her head. “Tristan Radcliffe grabbing you and giving you ‘fuck-me vibes’ isn’t nothing. I thought you hated him?”
I hate him because he’s my future.
Because I have no choice.
Because this is my life.
“I do,” I reply calmly as I look at my schedule. I have some things I need to organize for the pep rally with the rest of the cheerleading squad, and I also need to discuss something about the debate club trip with Principal Anderson. If I didn’t get this done by the end of the day, it would delay everything else.
I didn’t want to be a cheerleader, but my mother had been the captain of the squad when she attended Silvercrest. I also hadn’t wanted to be class president, but my father insisted that it would look good on my college applications.
“I thought he only bothered with the stoners, why’s he trying to hit on you now?” Serena muses as we get out of the car and start walking into Silvercrest Prep.
“That wasn’t hitting on me.” He was trying to intimidate me. To break me before we’d even made it to the church. He was trying to put me in my place.
Chapter Two
Tristan
“Tristan, are you listening?” a soft voice asks, and I look across the sofa to see Blythe watching me. Her blue eyes are sad, because I’ve drifted away again, and I haven’t been listening to a word she’s said. I should feel bad, but I don’t. Instead, I find myself wishing that her eyes weren’t blue but green. Like Elena’s.
“What day is it?” I say abruptly, standing and grabbing my jacket. We’d been getting high in my pool house, but there was somewhere else I wanted to be—someone else I wanted to be with.
“It’s still Friday. Why? Where are you going? We need to talk about this,” she pleads as I move closer to the door.
No, we didn’t. She was going to whine about why I wasn’t having sex with her anymore. I’d tried telling her that
