“And that’s Reed, you see.” She tilts her head, analyzing me. “He’s infatuated with broken things. Lost things.Strays.”
Heat travels up my neck at her insinuation. So this is about Reed and I then. “But he never keeps them,” she continues. “He gets bored rather quickly.”
I’ve never felt more out of place than I do at this moment, but I’m tired of being the girl people think they can walk all over. The one they constantly disregard.
“Interesting,” I say, my voice low and calm. “You imply I’m a stray, yet you’re the only one begging for scraps of his attention.”
Madison’s smile falters, heat simmering behind her blue eyes. I take a step towards the exit, and she cuts in front of me.
“Do Reed a favour and stay away from him.” Her voice is venomous.
“DoReeda favour? Or you?” I snap, unable to bite my tongue.
Her eyes narrow.
“He deserves someone who’s his equal. And you will nevereverbe good enough for him.” Her words crawl under my skin, despite my best efforts to ignore them. The truth is, she’s right. As much as I hate to admit it, her words bear an uncomfortable truth. Reed grew up with the privilege of power from the moment he left his mother’s womb, like he was simply handed what so many in this world work so hard to even come close to achieving. And I…I was just a girl who wanted nothing more than a place to call home.
“You look parched, Gravenhurst. Let me show you how Hollowcrest takes care of its strays.” She grins, and before I realize what she’s doing, a cup of coffee is poured directly over my head.
It drips from my face, landing on the marble floor in steady splats. The bathroom door swings shut following their exit. Istand frozen in the middle of the bathroom for a long moment before swiping the coffee from my face with the sleeve of my white blouse and walking out the door. Keeping my head down, I enter the hallway. Students swarm them, chatting with their friends, some leaving in a rush to get home. Tears sting the backs of my eyes, but I don’t look up, even as a familiar voice approaches me.
“Gravenhurst! There you are,” Reed says, excited to see me, but his voice only provokes my tears further. “I’ve been looking for you all day—” His words falter as he grabs hold of my arm. I peer up at him, my vision blurred.
“What’s wrong? Why are you…wet?” His brows pinch together, and he pulls his hand away from me like I had just burned him.
I scoff a laugh and walk past him. “Just leave me alone, Reed.” My anger might be misdirected, but right now I just want to be alone.
“No, hey,” he calls after me, gently grabbing my arm again despite the coffee seeping through my shirt.
“What happened?” His voice is gentle, but stern. My eyes trail over his shoulder, and I spot Madison leaning against the far wall, grinning. I grind my teeth together, needing to get the fuck out of here. He follows my gaze, landing on Madison, and whips his head back to me.
“Tell me what happened, Gravenhurst. What did she say?” Anger takes over his features, and a tear rolls down my cheek. I was stupid to think I could fit in at a place like this.
“Nothing that isn’t true.”
Reed’s jaw flexes, but I tear my arm from his grasp, heading straight for the academy exit without a second glance behind me.
The ride home today feels a lot longer than usual. My driver must notice my glum mood, because every few minutes his eyes flicker to me in the rearview mirror, though I’m thankful he has yet to ask questions.
“Thank you.” I give him a tight smile that doesn’t reach my eyes, and slide out of the vehicle.
“My pleasure, Miss Gravenhurst,” he says, nodding his head slightly. The door shuts with a quiet thud, and gravel kicks from beneath his tires as he drives away. I stand still, my eyes trailing up the spires jutting from the manor, spearing through the heavy clouds that loom above it. A million thoughts fight for attention, conflicting emotions twisting inside of me so tight that I can hardly think. Can hardly breathe. Balling my hands into fists, my nails dig into my palms, heart jackhammering in my chest. My frantic gaze wanders to the garden, and my legs are quick to move. I run straight for the gates, past the fountain, and deep into the garden where I know I’m likely to find a bit of solace. The place I’ve been avoiding from the moment I laid eyes on it, the place where my mother is laid to rest.
Expelling a shaky breath, I reach for the lock hanging from the gate of the mausoleum. The cold metal bites at my skin when I wrap it in my palm. Tugging once, the lock springs free. The small gate swings open on creaky hinges, inviting me inside, but my feet stay rooted by the door. I stand at the entrance, staring into the small space. The only light illuminating the crypt is the faint beams glimmering through the dainty stained-glass windows, reflecting a violet hue.
I take a step inside, the air shifting into something calmer, quieter, a stark contrast to the violent wind rustling the treesoutside. I amble through the stone room. Three gravestones stand proud against the far wall. The first stone is engraved with the nameBeatrice Gravenhurst, with tiny butterflies etched in the empty spaces around it. My grandmother.
The one next to it, a little taller than the other two, is my grandfather’s.Ambrose Gravenhurst.Son, Father, Grandfather. My eyes linger on the last word, and I swallow, moving to the next tombstone, feeling a little vexed towards the man who never gave me the chance to know him. Tears don’t hesitate to blur my vision.
“Lilliana Gravenhurst,” I whisper to myself, running my fingers over the deep grooves of the stone, a knot forming in my throat. The name sounds strange on my lips, heavy with absence, as if speaking it aloud would somehow summon her back to me. A black iris rests atop it, fresh, like it had been plucked from the soil only this morning.
“Why did you have to leave me?” The question comes out broken, unrecognizable, slicing through the silence. Grief twists beneath my skin, turning into an anger I’ve tried to snuff out since I was fourteen. A wrath for the child who had everything taken from her: her mother, her home, herhope.
“Don’t you know how much I need you? I can’t do this without you!” A sob tears through me as I run my hands through my hair. Pressing my back against the wall next to her, I let my tired limbs slide down into a crouch and tuck my head between my knees, allowing myself to completely break down. My mom always said life was better with just the two of us, that all we needed was each other. She was usually right about most things, but I think maybe she was wrong about that. There were people who loved her, family we could have relied on and maybe if given the chance, they would have loved me, too. We didn’t need to struggle alone; she didn’t need to work two jobs to keep a roof over our heads. I can’t wrap my head around why she would keep me from them. My chest tightens, and I shiver when a softbreeze blows through the crypt, making me wonder if she’s listening from somewhere just beyond reach.
I’ve been sitting here for hours, maybe centuries, with my head tucked between my knees, when I hear the sound of gravel shifting beneath boots.
I suck in a sharp breath. “Go away, Loxen, I’m really not in the mood for your hot and cold theatrics today,” I choke out in the steadiest tone I can manage. He stays quiet, and I sniffle. The sun has long since drained from the sky, and when I look up, expecting to see unruly dark hair and annoyingly beautiful blue eyes, I’m at a loss for words. Archie stands just past the entrance, his eyebrows pulled taut, looking at me with concern. He wears a pair of oversized rubber boots, in an unusual shade of plum, his dress pants tucked haphazardly inside of them, like he wouldn’t even think of risking his Oxfords getting muddy this far from the manor and threw them on in haste.
