Chapter Text
I get up out of my seat, patting my blue plaid, pleated skirt. The bell finally rang after what seemed to be forever. Chemistry finally came to an end. I get out of class, walk to my locker, and let out a long sigh.
“Hey baby.” Malcom smiles as he leans onto a locker next to mine. Gosh, he’s so annoying. We’ve never even dated and he thinks I’m obsessed with him for no reason at all. I let out a groan that scratches my throat and I roll my eyes.
I at least can admit that Malcom’s cute. He’s just wired a little differently. Kinda like a shallow, irresponsible, immature, and a promiscuous kind of guy. Trust me, he gets a new girl every week but ends up going right back at me like a boomerang.
“What do you want?” I say, dragging the words out of my mouth.
“A kiss. Right here.” Malcom says, pointing a finger on his cheek as he smirks, looking down at me with his gorgeous blue eyes. His blonde hair falls down to his forehead and glistens in the air. His charm is almost irresistible, but listen. I’m not that desperate.
I scoff as I walk away, my black loafers clicking on the marble floor. That’s basically just a day in a life for me. I’m always hunted down by Malcom, doing school work, or listening to my friends babble on about some drama going on. The bell rings, ripping my eardrums slowly and painfully. Honestly, I don’t even care about that since it’s lunch time.
“Hi, Angell,” Kaylee beams. Luckily, she’s my best friend, aka one of the actual sane people in my school. Her hair’s always perfect, basically like Jessica Simpson’s hair. I don’t know how she does it. She’s so effortlessly beautiful.
“Hi.” I smile back.
“Gosh, I saw what Malcom was doing in the hallways. He’s so obsessed with you. I swear I saw his drool come out of his mouth once you walked away.” We snicker as the lunch lady puts some decent food in our trays.
We sit down on our table with the regular group: Amber, Beatrice, and occasionally, Diane. Just as I was about to take a bite of my food, Ms. Montague, the headmaster, walks up to me. I feel my heartbeat accelerate and my nerves bulge out of my body.
“Evangeline, could I please talk to you for a second?” Ms. Montague says quietly, almost murmuring. Her silver hair’s in a terribly messy bun and it has definitely seen better days. I nod, staying seated. “Privately?” She says, slightly irritated, but what can I say? I can’t read her mind.
I get up, almost clinging myself to the cafeteria table, but smile anyway cause I can’t be caught lacking in front of the principal. I sit down in her office, drowning in the soft sofa’s cushions in front of her desk.
““Why’d you call me here?" I say as I tuck my long, wavy, dark brunette hair onto my shoulders.
“I want you to accompany a new student and introduce her to the school campus. If possible, I’ll give you extra credit on all your subjects by 15%.” I internally gasp dramatically as she words out the last sentence. I have to be dreaming.
“If I could ask, what could be so bad about her if you have to give 15% extra credit just to show her around?” I say, slightly shaking my head in disbelief.
“Well you see, British Boarding Royals usually allow only royal and wealthy families. You know that, right?” I nod along, making sure she knows that I’m listening. “Well, a special case occurred. Our most powerful family’s King invited a common family into our school. Though it breaks the school’s handbook rules, we have to listen to them and make sure everything is gone according to their liking. Our school would be gone if they left.”
I gently raise an eyebrow cause there’s actually no way Ms. Montague let in “common people” into BBR. It’s crazy to me how people who think they’re all that could be fired if they made one wrong move with the wrong people.
“Well, here she is,” Ms. Montague mutters, looking away from the door, avoiding eye contact as much as possible. I turn around to see a slightly rugged girl in our male uniform: beige trousers; a white, short sleeved, loose button up; and a loose, blue, plaid tie. Her hair is shoulder length, layered, and straight in a half up half down ponytail. She has freckles and bushy eyebrows that match her dark brown hair. She also has quite impressive biceps. She probably plays sports.
“Hi,” I say bitterly. I mean, I know I just shamed Ms. Montague for being shallow and judging people for their status, but what can I say? The girl’s a lad. She seems like the type who’d steal my stuff and resell it on ebay. Okay, I had at least normal expectations for the girl, but THIS was not it.
She nods a hi to me and sucks her cheeks. Gosh, she’s like a poor girl version of Malcom. I bet she’s a lesbian and actually secretly likes me. I’m not even being delusional, that's an actual lad right there.
“Alright you two, introduce yourselves to each other, and Evangeline, show her around,” Ms. Montague commands as she sits down, looking everywhere but at the new girl. Not to be rude in front of the new girl, I suck it up, stand, and walk towards her. She’s actually quite tall for a lad girl. And she smells like she actually showers so that’s a plus.
“Soo…” The girl says, her deep yet fluid voice swimming through my ears. “I’m Nicole but call me Nick,” She says, taking a proper look at my face. Nicole… That’s a cute name but it’s such a waste that she gave herself such a boring nickname. Hah, nick-name, get it? Okay that was corny, ignore what I just said.
“I’m Evangeline,” I say, nonchalantly to get her to know her place.
“Evangeline as in Angel?” She says, tilting her head as she looks at me.
“Yeah, but Evangeline to you,” I say, forcing a smile.
She raises both her hands like she’s surrendering with a cocky smile. It irks me. It infuriates me, but it also kinda feels like something’s in my stomach.
“By the way, that’s the men’s uniform,” I say, correcting her with a slight obnoxious tone, I admit.
“And my friend’s the powerful king’s son you guys were going on about.” Nick raises her eyebrows, her chin held high. I let out a huff as I walk with her through the hallways.
“This is the nurse’s office,” I say, pointing at the pale blue door. “This is the bathroom, this is the office, this is-”
“So are you not gonna tell me more about you?” Nick says, forcing eye contact from how she stares at me. It’s like, okay, it’s complicated, but she’s so demanding. And I can’t NOT listen to her.
“What more is there to talk about?” I say, chuckling dryly.
“About the fact that you’re dating Malcom?”