She confirms with a groan and a dramatic roll of her eyes. “Lucky me, right? Of all the nasty mean girls in this school, I end up with that thing as a stepsister.”
“Ugh, I’m so sorry,” I mutter. “How’s your mom?”
“Fine.” But she makes a face. “I mean, other than being married to the greedy old bastard that spawned Lilith, she’s fine. Mom was born in Brooklyn, plus she’s Puerto Rican, so ICE essentially told Laurel to suck a dick.”
A bark of laughter bursts from my throat. “No shit? That’s amazing.”
“It was pretty great.” Alondra nods. Then, her gaze turns serious. “Look, you should avoid Laurel because she’s a hateful bitch, but you should definitely avoid anyone associated with Hot Draco.”
Up goes my eyebrows. “Wait, who?” Because I’m pretty sure Draco Malfoy’s not going to pop out from behind a corner and start firing unforgivable curses at me.
“Gabe’s tall, blond, and evil bestie,” she clarifies. “Laurel will ruin your day. That boy and his friends will ruin your life.”
“That sounds … ominous.” And extreme. Gabe was a sarcastic, shallow ass, but he didn’t seem like someone who goes around ruining lives. Who are these people?
I open my mouth to probe her further, curiosity eating at me, but her phone buzzes. Grabbing it from the pocket of her dress, her eyes light up in delight.
“Sorry, Mallory, it’s my dad. I gotta take this.”
“No problem,” I tell her, though I’m dying to know more about these guys she’s warned me about. “I’ll see you later maybe?”
“Definitely,” she confirms, standing up with Dorito clutched in one hand, and her phone in the other. She hurries to leave my room, and I hear her gush, “Hey, Dad…” as she wanders back down the hall.
I sigh. Must be nice. Then I remember that I need to call Carley. She’s probably going out of her mind wondering if I died on the ride to the school. I grab my phone from my bag and sit on my new bed, punching in her number.
When I find the dining hall across campus a few hours later, I’m floored by the utter opulence of the huge space. It looks like a five-star restaurant—well, at least what I think one should look like—complete with cloth covered tables and real silverware. I wander inside, scanning the room for a seat, a little lost as to what exactly I’m supposed to do. Do I sit and order? Do I go pick out my food myself? Where the hell are the trays?
Maybe I should’ve sucked up my pride and taken Laurel and Gabe up on their offer for a tour. Then I wouldn’t feel so clueless.
“Mallory! Hey, over here!”
I look to my left and spot Alondra waving at me from a table by the wall. Relief sweeps through me as I make my way over to her. She’s alone, but it doesn’t appear that’s been the case the whole time. There are dirty plates at a few of the other seats around her.
“Hey,” I say, smiling as I reach her. “Are you finishing up?”
Blowing a loose curl out of her face, she shakes her head. “Nah, I was waiting for you. I figured you had to come down out of hiding eventually.”
I laugh, sliding into the only seat with a clean place setting left at the table.
“So, how’s this work? Don’t tell me there’s waiters for the cafeteria.”
“This place is pretentious as hell, but it’s not that pretentious. There’s a serving line through that door over there.” I follow the path of her pointed finger and nod. “You can grab a plate and pick what you want. I will warn you, though, there are crab legs and a sushi bar.”
“No fucking way!”
“Oh, man. I’m gonna like you, Mallory,” she laughs.
I move to stand up in order to grab food, but I pause when a group of guys approach the table, their eyes alight with excitement and their gazes locked on Alondra.
She heaves a heavy sigh from behind me, and I hear her grumble something that sounds suspiciously like, “Here we go again.”
“Hey, Baby Juggernaut,” one of the guys, a big, beefy dude with short-cropped black hair, says with a wide grin. “Hell of a fight last night.”
Curiosity furrows my brow, and I glance toward her, but she doesn’t appear fazed by the comment. “Yeah, it was a good one.” She gives a curt nod, though she doesn’t seem overly thrilled by the conversation.
“He’ll be able to compete for a title again soon, yeah?” another of the guys asks. He’s shorter and blonde with baby cheeks.
She releases another deep sigh. “Next month, hopefully.”
“Awesome,” the first guy gushes like a fangirl.
“Okay boys, trying to hang out with my new friend here.” Alondra waves her hand at them, shooing them away. “Be gone.”
The group moves on, chatting excitedly among themselves. Nibbling on my bottom lip, I stare at Alondra, silently asking for an explanation. She peeks at me before letting out an exasperated breath. “So … my dad’s kind of a big deal with the sports groupies at this shithole.”
“How so?”
She glances around, as though afraid to say it out loud. “He’s a pretty popular MMA fighter, so after every fight, the guys usually—”
“Hold on!” I slam my hands flat on the table as I replay the bigger guy’s comment in my mind. “Is your dad Titus James? The Juggernaut?”
Her brown eyes widen with obvious surprise. “Uhhhhh … yeah, actually. How the hell do you know that?”
Because I’m a huge fan. One of the only decent boyfriends my mom ever had used to watch MMA on Pay-Per-View all the time and would let me join him. I’ve been hooked ever since. Not that I’m going to tell Alondra any of that. People at this school may know I’m here on scholarship, but there’s no way in hell I’m going to let them find out about everything else.
My drug-addled, missing-in-action mom.
The accident.
James.
Don’t think of that now. Once the memories break free, you can’t put them back in their box.
“One of my uncles is a big MMA fan,” I say, erring on the side of just enough truth so she can’t tell I’m full of shit. I mean, that’s what Mom always called her boyfriends when they were doing us favors like buying me new school clothes or paying our light bill. Uncles.
Clearing my throat, I shrug and add, “I used to watch with him when I was a kid and have had a small obsession ever since. Your dad is my favorite.”
“Well damn, I didn’t expect that.”
I want to ask more about her dad, but her expression suddenly darkens and her eyes lock on something behind me.
My eyebrows tug together. “Loni? What’s wrong?”
“Don’t look now, but two of the gods have arrived.”
“The gods?”
“Hot Draco’s minions.” Nostrils flaring, she scowls. “They just walked through the door with their usual throng of thirsty admirers.”
I can’t help myself; I turn around because I have to see what all the fuss is about. Who are these gods? The way Alondra acts, they seem larger than life, but they’re just other students, right? What could be so scary about a couple of rich boys?