“We’ve got this,” I say more to myself than to her.
One more year in this hell.
One more year until Cambridge.
Kim’s head bobs up and down, causing her mint-coloured strands to bounce.
“If we die,” I joke. “I want to go in full Shakesperian mode. Tragedy.”
She laughs, the sound is throaty. “For thy love of thee!”
We break into a fit of laughter as we head down the vast, main hallway. The school’s golden logo, Crest-Lion-Crown decorates the entrance hall and the announcement board.
The moment we cross the entrance area and step into the hallways filled with other students, the real nightmare starts.
“Hey, Frozen. Did you freeze any beaches this summer?”
“Where’s your fat friend?”
“Is she stuffing her pregnant belly with carbs?”
Kim’s grip tightens on my arm. I can’t believe they don’t even recognise her.
Truth be told, I had to look at her twice after the summer camp to make sure it was her.
“Are you still swallowing cocks, Teacher Slut?”
I bite my lower lip against the rolling wave of anger. That particular rumour makes me want to hit someone.
Two years ago, after the entire class went out, I dropped my pen in biology. When I dropped down on my knees to pick it up, my hair got caught in the table — cliché, I know. Mr Silvester, the biology teacher, helped me out by untangling my hair.
Apparently, one of the dickheads here saw that moment and spread the rumour that I was giving our biology teacher a blowjob before he fucked me in class. Right before the exam — that I had a perfect score on.
Since then, I’ve been labelled a teacher slut.
Whenever I get a perfect score, it means I slept with the teacher.
But of course, no one talks about how Levi King, the oldest of the two kings, slept with a teacher. For real. They were caught in the act by the principal himself.
Nope. He gets a pass. The teacher gets thrown out of the educational system and she had to flee the country, basically.
Oh, and his guardian, the mighty Jonathan King, CEO of King Enterprises, got an official apology from RES.
Levi King got out of it unscathed. In fact, he became more popular, more loved, more admired.
Why? Because his last name is King.
And the Kings hold more power than the actual queen of this country.
Levi King was idolised for fucking the teacher.
I’m called a teacher slut for unfound rumours.
Kim’s grip turns deadly even though she’s holding onto her courageous mode.
I’m used to this rubbish and name-calling in the hallways. Kim isn’t. I want to protect her from all these bastards.
Protect yourself first, Elsa.
Kim and I try to ignore them by talking about my running competition this weekend or the start of the Premier League season.
We release a collected breath when we finally arrive at our class.
At least, the wankers keep their distance when the teachers are around. But the thing about bullies? They work under the surface in front of adults.
RES is a prestigious, posh school, so the students need to keep up a certain image.
The rich are scarier than any normal criminal.
They have all the money and influence to allow them to twist anything around. They’re never labelled criminals. No. They’re labelled as elites.
Kim stops abruptly two steps into the classroom, and I run into her rigid back.
Her breathing becomes audible.
My own breathing picks up pace, and the hairs on the back of my neck stand on high alert.
Since that entrance day, there’s been this baffling level of awareness that won’t leave me the hell alone.
Every fibre of my being is honed for the inevitable confrontation.
For that crash and burn.
I suck in several deep breaths and begin the usual chant.
I’m loved. Aunt, Uncle, and Kim love me. I won’t break. Not today.
I need to remind myself of those facts to remain strong and not let him get to me.
That’s what the devil’s reduced me to.
My gaze finally strays ahead, following Kim’s field of vision.
Xander Knight. Cole Nash. Ronan Astor. Aiden King.
The four horsemen of RES. They earned the title for their impressive team play on the football team.
I call them the four arseholes.
And they’re all here in our class.
No wonder Kim froze. We’ve barely escaped their wrath without being in the same class.
As in breathing the same air all year long. And not just any year, senior year.
Maybe I need to speak to Aunt and Uncle about my plans for Cambridge.
Cambridge, who?
The four are laughing and jesting. Xander is throwing the ball at Ronan, and the latter catches it with an Oomph.
Cole, the new captain of the football team after Levi King graduated last year, holds a book in his hand and laughs quietly at the other two.
My gaze strays to the main devil.
The hell ruler.
The black king.
You’d think the summer would somehow erase him from my consciousness and nightmares.
It didn’t.
Aiden is the only one sitting. His legs stretch in front of him, crossed at the ankles. His fingers are interlaced across his stomach making him appear every bit the King his last name suggests
A ruler on his throne.
A devil in his hell.
Over the summer, I thankfully hadn’t seen him, he’s bulked up — due to the football camp, no doubt. His uniform’s jacket stretches over well-defined shoulders. The dark blue trousers tighten around his muscular thighs and even his legs have become taller. I’m sure the coach would be so proud of his star player wanker.
His dark hair is between being tousled and slicked. Under the dim classroom light, his dark grey eyes appear black. Everything about him is.
Black mind.
Black heart.
Black soul.
I should’ve listened to Kim that day when she said those little bastards owned the school. Their parents are the biggest shareholders. Everyone in RES, including some teachers, fall to their knees for them.
All of them are sons of ministers or lords.
All except for Aiden.
His father owns those ministers and the rest of the UK’s politicians.
Jonathan King leads the most successful conglomerate, not only in this country, but also worldwide. If he sponsors a politician, they’re sure to win.
If he brings someone down, they’re sure to vanish and never return.
That’s the only reason I haven’t reported the bullying or mentioned it to Aunt and Uncle.
Quinn Engineering is a small fish and their contract with a subsidiary of King Enterprises is the reason they’re flourishing. Losing their company would devastate them.
If I stir up any trouble with Aiden, I have no idea what the devil will do. After all, he’s the heir to his father’s kingdom.
Aunt and Uncle saved me ten years ago, and I’d rather die than hurt them in any way.
Ronan notices us first. He’s the typical teenage boy with messy brown hair and eyes. All he cares about is partying and shagging his way through school. Kim and I are probably the only moving things with a skirt he hasn’t fucked.
That’s probably why he licks his lips suggestively while he looks us up and down. Then he stops abruptly and nudges Xander.
The latter pauses tossing the ball to Cole and freezes. Literally. His easy-going smile falls, the dimples disappear, and his demeanour changes.