Page 85 of Riot Rules
As soon as they’ve have passed us, Pax takes out his phone and pulls up the Wolf Hall student portal. “Stupid fucking…how the hell does this thing work? Yo, you ever used this?” He shows me his phone’s screen, which is displaying the site’s log-in.
“Your student ID is your username. Your—urgh, just give it to me.” I plug my credentials into his phone, not caring if the bastard rifles through my shit. I hand him back the phone. “Now leave me the hell alone. I’m getting a headache.”
“Jesus. We’re not married. I’m not trying tofuckyou.”
I pull a face at him, and then close my eyes. I have to. I don’t trust myself not to stare at Carrie. “What are you doing, anyway?”
“They have profiles of the new kids on the news page,” he explains. “Huh. Elodie Stillwater. Army brat. Jesus Christ, look at the photo.” He shoves me, trying to hand me back the phone, but I keep my eyes closed, sighing heavily down my nose. “Alright, fucker. You’re missing out. She’s asking your ex about us right now. You should see the look on her face. Her cheeks are red as hell.”
My chest hurts. “She’snotmy ex.”
“Whatever.” Pax yawns. “Fuck you, you boring piece of shit. I’m gonna go over there and fuck with her.”
My eyes snap open. “Donot!” It’s already too late. He’s already on his feet and heading across the room. “Motherfucker!”
“—lovely little Elodie Stillwater the lay of the land.”He’s already started speaking to her. It’s too late to grab him by the scruff of his neck and force him back over to our side of the room.
The new girl stares up at Pax like he’s an apparition. Carina, on the other hand, looks at him with a face full of unbridled hate. “Go fuck yourself, Pax.”
Nope. This has to stop, right here and now. If she pisses him off, Pax will likely say something he shouldn’t. I groan as I get to my feet. Fuck knows what I’m going to say. I’ll lose my shit if Pax upsets Carrie, though. I suppose it’s time to don my game face. “Sorry, ladies. Pax doesn’t know how to behave himself around such beauty. He drank a little too much coffee this morning. You’ll have to understand if he’s acting out a little.”
The hate on Carrie’s face deepens. She looks off to the right, focusing on one of the bookshelves. I am a sick, sick fucker. Now that I’m over here and I’m speaking to her for the very first time in nearly six months. I can’t bear the fact that she’s not looking at me. I feign a polite voice and clear my throat. “Carrie? You’re not going to introduce us to your new friend?”
She doesn’t look at me. Instead, the new girl jumps in with a haughty tone to her voice that really rankles. “You already know who I am. Wolf Hall isn’t exactly a big place. Plus,hejust called me by my name.” Her eyes flicker over in Pax’s direction. “I’m Elodie Stillwater. I transferred in from Tel Aviv. Father’s an army man. Mother’s dead. I’m into painting, music, and photography. I’m allergic to pineapple. I’m an only child. I’m terrified of thunderstorms, and I love flea markets. There. That enough information for you?”
Well. I can safely say that I donotlike this one. Not one bit.
I give her a perfectly pleasant smile. “Pleased to meet you, Elodie Stillwater. It’s always nice to make a new friend. Maybe you’d like to come over to Riot House some time? We’d love to extend our hospitality to you.”
No sooner are the words out of my mouth, than Carina’s eyes snap back to me, full of shock. “She can’t!”
This isn’t the most surprising thing that happens, though. At the same time, Wren calls out behind me, “Not happening, Dash.” I had no idea Wren was even awake, let alone awake and paying attention to what was being said over here.
Carrie’s beautiful, liquid brown eyes look up at me, and the ground shifts beneath my fucking feet. For one heartbeat, it feels like I’m holding her in my arms and I’m about to thrust my dick inside her for the very first time. “Youknowshe’ll get in trouble if Harcourt finds out,” she whispers.
Jacobi follows this up with a growled, “She’s not invited.”
I’m laying it on really thick now, but I’m transfixed by the way Carrie’s staring at me, like I’m trying to hit on this new blonde, unimportant thing sitting next to her. Doesn’t sheknowme? Have I screwed with her so effectively that she can’t feel how badly I want her from three feet away? I sigh dramatically, like I really give a shit that this new person won’t be hanging out at the house any time soon. “Don’t worry, Stillwater. Jacobi changes his mind like he changes his socks. His current state of attire notwithstanding, of course. He’s usuallyverygood about changing his socks. I think that’s the thing I like most about him.”
“All right, class! Asses on a flat surface! Move, move, move!”
The sound of Fitz’s voice from the front of the class jars me back to reality. Pax glowers as he heads back to our spot beneath the window. It requires monumental effort to make myself turn away from Carina and follow after him.
The rest of the class drags on into infinity.
Fitz calls Wren out for turning our last assignment into an excuse to write Victorian porn. Damiana and Wren joust from across the room. Fitz oversees the whole thing like he’s just a normal English teacher and not an evil cunt with a predilection for blackmail. And the whole time I focus on my breathing,onlymy breathing, following the air in and out of my lungs, and try not to run from the room.
36
CARRIE
I like her,this new girl.
She’s smart, and her clothes are sick. She listens when people talk and engages in conversation instead of just waiting for her turn to say something. I see the academy through her eyes, and the place transforms from a dark hellhole full of painful memories to a fantastical gothic fairytale, full of hidden passageways and secrets. She’s in awe every time she sees something new, and I begin to appreciate my surroundings again. I used to think of this place as my home, a sanctuary, but recently I’ve treated it like a prison. I’ve been counting down the days, waiting to get out of here, but with the fresh burst of energy Elodie (or Elle, as I’ve started to call her) brings, I realize that my remaining months at the academy might just be bearable.
Presley’s neck-deep in some extra credit classes that she’s taking to boost her college applications, which means that she’s super busy. Has been for months now. It turns out that having Elodie around is exactly what I needed. There’s only one problem.
And that problem goes by the name of Wren Jacobi.
