Page 15 of The Heiress
Chapter 6
Elisha
Iheaded back to myroom as soon as the final class of the day ended, kicked off my shoes and hung my blazer in the closet. It was with a degree of hesitancy that I picked up my phone. I wanted a message from Mom, but I didn’t want to see she was in London, or Athens or wherever she’d gone. My heart plummeted to see an empty inbox.
It seemed unbelievable that only two months ago I was living the good life, and in the blink of an eye my parents insisted I needed a more stable and ordinary existence. Well, I certainly had that now. I was sitting on the side of the narrow twin bed staring into space—barely thinking, just existing.
You see, after the news about being abandoned for Thanksgiving, I didn’t think my day could get any worse.
But it did. The universe seemed to want to taunt me, bringing Phoenix and I together in photography class. There was no doubt that pity made Millie and Taylor come over to ask me to join their group—I was left sitting like a loner as others mixed and mingled around me. But Taylor had caught me off guard, muttering, “Hey, sorry about earlier. I didn’t mean to come down on you, but I worry about Phonenix.”
Surprised by her apology, I was too slow to reply, not that she waited for one. She’d skipped back to the table to sit next to Max. I took the seat that Weston offered, my stupid heart fluttering to see Phoenix across from me, but I may as well have been invisible—he hardly acknowledged me. Taylor might have been forgiving about the incident, but Phoenix, not so much.
And things weren’t helped when Weston paired me with Phoenix to color the cardboard. I guessed he was trying to make things easier for Phoenix, not having to get out of his seat, but really? Out of twenty two kids in the class, what were the odds of being partnered with the boy I’d crashed into? Well, doing the math, it was a less than 5% chance, which seemed to sum up my day.
My best defense was a wall of defense, keeping up the barricade, because something about Phoenix Carter muddled my mind and stirred all my senses.
The tap on the door shook me from my self-absorption, two faces cautiously peeping in the open crack.
“Uh, hi Elisha,” Mya, a freshman said, “we’re about to start baking the pumpkin pies soon.”
“I have to go out and buy some pens,” I said in the most random and unplanned thing that came out of my mouth. I jumped up, heading to my closet with purpose, pulling my Fendi jacket off its hanger.
“But Mrs. Pritchard said...”
“Well, I’m busy,” I snapped, immediately wanting my words back as the girls disappeared from sight. There had been no need to be so brusque, but I was shaken from photography class, messed up over the way I’d behaved, which is why I couldn’t participate in the pumpkin pie bake-off. Yesterday I’d had every intention of being involved, but that was before my Thanksgiving had been canceled by my parents. And Phoenix Carter left my head reeling.
And my heart racing.
Without delay, I pulled on my jacket and shoes, grabbed my purse and phone and shoved them into my pockets. I needed to get out of the dorm before Mrs. Pritchard came looking for me.
The main shopping mall in River Valley was probably a forty five minute walk away, and I seriously considered going all the way there. It would certainly waste a lot of time, but I doubted that my legs would get me there and back. I’d been jogging most evenings on the track, but that wasn’t so much to improve my fitness as to get out of the dorm and avoid talking to anyone.
There were shops in Covington but I hadn’t bothered to explore them yet. But I did remember Beth saying there was a bookshop. Now I felt it necessary to buy some pens so as not to make a liar out of myself.
A car came zooming past me as I walked down the Covington hill, and I recognized the red Mercedes as belonging to Bianca Holbrun, Homecoming Queen and generally Queen Bee around campus. She had two passengers in the convertible, Siri and Addison, but I would have thought it was way too cold to be driving around with the top down.
The main street of Covington was in complete contrast to the modern River Valley mall full of chain stores and fast food eateries. I was pleasantly surprised by the wide street lined with heritage buildings housing exclusive boutiques, cafes and restaurants. Outdoor seating and umbrellas matched the maroon and gold colors of the store awnings, which had been put up in honor of the Covington Chargers winning the football state championship the week before. The school had gone crazy over it, but I’d avoided it as much as possible, football not big on my list of interests. I wandered past a beauty salon, taking note of the name, knowing that my hair would need a trim soon. I was drawn to the window of a jewelery store. The beautiful necklaces immediately made me think of my mother. If I was going home, I would have bought her a gift. But I wasn’t, so there was no need to buy anything.
An array of European cars and oversized SUVs and trucks were parked along the street, an indicator of how wealthy the town was. The little red convertible was crookedly parked between a Range Rover and a brand new Audi. I spied the bookshop across the road, walking to the crosswalk at the end of the block. A boutique hotel stood on the corner,La Maison.It looked like the sort of place Mom and I would dine in, but I scurried on, not wanting to run into Bianca and her friends.
The bookshop had a bell that tinkled when I entered. A woman at the counter smiled and welcomed me and offered me assistance all in one breath. She led me to the pen aisle and I stood there for an inordinately long amount of time choosing one.
