Page 4 of The Heiress
“Yeah, that’s where the stars are,” I’d replied with a restrained sarcasm, bristling past her with my elbows swinging.
“To think we’re looking back in time,” she exclaimed, unbothered by my tone. “Elisha, that’s our very own time machine up there!”
“Uh, yeah, whatever,” I murmured. Though it was true that the stars seemed brighter here than in the city.
“See the moon?” She pointed up at the sliver of light that dominated the sky most nights. Her question didn’t warrant a reply—and she didn’t get one. “It was a new moon two days ago. Ooh, you must come to our poetry reading on Thursday.”
“What?” The words poetry and reading in the same sentence filled me with dread.
“The Poetry Club has a reading on Thursday, when the moon is waxing. It’s a time of motivation and action. You have to come.”
I nodded half-heartedly. Beth Van der Wal was not the type of girl I would ever be friends with, but I was well aware that she was the only one who was reaching out to me. Even my student ambassador, the one who had shown me around on the first day, Bianca Holbrun, had ditched me by lunch break on the first day. Not that I cared; I really did want to be left alone. Injecting a burst of speed, I left Beth behind. Not that she tried to catch me. As I rounded the corner into our dorm, Beth was still strolling, her neck extended in wonder.
Two days later, Beth had knocked on my bedroom door and barged in before I could ask who it was.
“Are you ready, Elisha?” She had handed me a basket, her round face sweet and smiley like she’d never known a day of heartache in her life.
It had been the worst time for her to arrive. My mother had sent a video of our little dog, Ruby, sitting on her lap waving at me. It shredded my heart, and in that moment I missed home so much, and the anger that had never stopped simmering, suddenly reached boiling point.
“I’m not coming to your silly poetry recital,” I said. “I’m not interested in your crazy poems to the moon.” And with a brush of my hand, a box of chocolate mints went flying, along with a stack of solo cups. “I have homework to finish,” I said.
Beth had bent down to retrieve the mints and cups without any drama, slipping out the door wordlessly. I’d spotted a cup beneath my bed and wondered if I should go after her to return it, but my guilt at lashing out hadn’t been that great.
Beth had kept her distance ever since. Which was actually the way I wanted it.
After refreshing my face in the restroom, I returned to the outside field to see that life had carried on, that kids were racing kicking a soccer ball, that a human pyramid was growing, that paint was being splattered. That the balloon arch was blooming without me. Yes, Phoenix looked to be threading the balloons successfully on his own, and a pang of self-pity hovered over me—that he hadn’t cared enough to check on me. Hadn’t tried to follow me. Well, no one had. It was a silly feeling to have really—obviously Phoenix couldn’t have come after me—the boy struggled to walk, yet I’d wanted him to. I’d wanted someone, Millie, or her friend Taylor. It was demoralizing to think I could have vanished into the ether and nobody would know. Or care.
With a glance over both shoulders, I shoved my hands in my pockets and carried on toward the Courtyard, walking with a fake sense of purpose, pretending I didn’t care. I’d sit under the pergola alone and wait until a teacher caught me, or the lunch bell rang—whichever came first.
Chapter 3
Phoenix
Frustration was probablythe best way to describe my new normal. And it was the smallest things that were the biggest things. Not being able to drive myself to school, relying on my mother to taxi me. But until I could get around on crutches, I was told I couldn’t drive.
That was the catalyst for working out everyday. The weight room was the football team’s domain first thing in the morning, but Coach Mercer allowed me to train knowing I wasn’t going to be hindering the team by using the bench press or squat rack. No, the stretching corner became my sanctuary, where I could use my resistance bands and dumbbells without getting in anyone’s way.
