“Where are you going to stay? All the rooms are accounted for. The academy never lets students in this late.”
I turned to frown at him. This again? What the hell was his problem?
“Well they made an exception for me. So, get over it.”
He stiffened. I wasn’t sure if it was his usual tick or if I was just remarkably good at getting under his skin. Sometimes I had that effect on people.
“House Dragon doesn’t need any more members.”
Ignoring him, I walked toward the center of the room and plopped myself down in one of the armchairs. My eyes scanned the little alcove. No naked teens hiding behind the shelves, so that was a relief.
“This is nice. Cozy,” I murmured.
“This isn’t right. You’re breaking the rules just by being here.”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh, dear god. You must be mister popular, huh?”
His eyes narrowed. “I call out unfairness when I see it.”
My cheeks flamed as I shot to my feet. “What the hell is your problem? Look, I don’t want to be here anymore than you want me here. If it were up to me, I’d be long gone on a plane back to Sonoma. Instead I’m stuck here arguing with a prejudiced asshole.”
He advanced toward me. “I’m not prejudiced. I just don’t understand why you are getting special treatment. There’s a waitlist to get into this school and you just magically waltz in here with your ungrateful snobby air like you own the place. You think because you have money you can do whatever the hell you want.”
My mouth dropped open. His words left me raw and shaken. Is that what he thought of me? That I was some rich snob? A lick of anger curled in my chest. That wasn’t who I was.
Before I could articulate a response, he shook his head at me in disgust and stormed out. I watched him go, my heart pounding. My whole body was flushed with… well, I didn’t know what exactly, but I felt bruised. I’d never met someone who was just as good at verbal bashing as I was.
It was scathing and the irony of it made me smile. For someone who prided himself on being fair, he’d just judged me so severely and so inaccurately. I wanted to run out and find him so I could set the record straight, but something stopped me. I couldn’t give him that much power over me.
“Rose?” Javi’s voice broke through my thoughts.
“In here.”
He pushed the door open all the way and glanced around. “So, you found it. How did you get in?”
I shrugged. “Just opened.”
He frowned. “Well, are you done looking? Because I’m starving.”
I smirked at him. “You’re always starving, Javi, and yet I doubt you ever experienced that.”
He frowned. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. Let’s go.” I walked toward him.
Grayson’s words rang in my ears, making me burn. It shouldn’t matter what one jerk thought of me, but I couldn’t stop obsessing over it. Me, stuck up? It wasn’t true. I had to show him.
14
The cafeteria was noisy and crowded. For all the fancy food and expensive décor, the students were just as uncivilized as the kids at my old school. I looked around. Even among the filthy rich, they had their cliques. The popular rich and the unpopular rich. Shiloh waved at me from another table with people I didn’t know.
I waved back, a little disappointed she didn’t choose to sit with us.
As I gazed at the other tables, I contemplated where I would fit. I was accepted by default because of Javi, but after getting a good look at who his friends were, I knew right away that I didn’t belong. They were stuck up and materialistic. The kind of people that would talk shit about me as soon as my back was turned.
That was fine with me. I wasn’t there to make friends. My real friends back home were probably about ready to give up on me. Sorrow speared through me. What would Lana think when I never responded to her calls and texts? Would she keep trying? I didn’t even know what I’d say at this point if we did somehow manage to connect.
According to Javi, it was only a matter of time before my sight came in completely. How was I supposed to act normal when I started seeing monsters everywhere?
My gaze snagged on a familiar handsome face. Grayson. He sat at a small table with one other guy and girl. I watched them, curiously, wondering what they had in common. Were they the poorest kids in school?
“Watch this,” a brown-haired boy spoke from my table. He flashed me a wink as he held up a strange silver coin and tossed it in the direction of Grayson’s table.
I gasped as the coin disappeared into thin air. The reaction was immediate. All three drinks on their table tipped over, spilling liquid onto their plates and into their food.
“Tyler! A professor could catch you,” a girl hissed at him.
He laughed. The others at my table joined in. I turned at the sound of Javi’s deep laugh and frowned at him.
His shoulders shook as he tried to rein it in. When he met my eyes, he gave me a guilty smile. I looked back at the poor kids.
Grayson was staring at us, making my heart skip.
I flushed, feeling ashamed though I hadn’t done anything wrong. The other kids at his table hurried to clean up the mess. He continued staring us down, his face a mask of iciness.
“What’s his problem? Can’t take a joke,” a girl scoffed.
“Probably because he’s always got that stick up his ass.” Tyler smirked.
I rolled my eyes as the others snickered. Was it a prerequisite for every high school guy or some unwritten rule that you had to be an asshole?
Noticing my lack of appreciation for the stunt, Tyler turned to me. “What? He your friend or something?”
Every
