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“Let’s go,” Blondie called, almost lazy about it. He started to walk away whether Wolf was coming or not.
Biting back a curse, Wolf trailed after him. He caught up quick, but one of the guys lingered back.
The platinum blond who appeared like he belonged in Game of Thrones stared at me, his own curiosity to his gaze as he stared.
“Wells?”
But Blondie called him back too, clearly in charge here. Who he’d called Wells caught up, and my brother shouldered me.
“I can’t believe you,” he said, leaving my ass, and I sighed. He didn’t wait for me, getting the hell out of Dodge.
I guess we’re off to a great start.
Chapter Four
Sloane
Moments later, my younger brother and I sat in the headmaster’s office. Well, the lobby that led to her office. We were told to wait so she could han
d us our welcome packets and answer any questions we might have about attending the academy. This task was apparently something the headmaster did personally, and I was happy it was her since I’d actually already met her.
I looked forward to seeing Principal Mayberry again, but I had to say, the wait had been awkward as hell. Bru was still mad at me, obviously. He pretty much steamed beside me, and I’d already apologized.
Twice.
I really hadn’t meant to go off the handle. I never did, but it just happened. We moved a lot, and people tended to bully us because of that.
“I just don’t get why you can’t keep your mouth shut for once,” he huffed, folding his arms. His head touched the back of the wall in his chair. “You’re going to get me fucking killed. You’re going to make shit a nightmare once again.”
It was because I stood up for us that life at all these schools we went to weren’t nightmares. I crossed my legs, my heel bouncing. “You’re being melodramatic.”
“I’m not.”
I started to give a retort, to check him. I was the older sibling. I was in charge and needed to take care of him.
So why did I feel socked in the gut when I looked at him?
He sat there completely locked up, looking at everything but me in the wide office. I think he really had wanted a fresh start here, to be normal. I dropped my leg and turned to him. “I’m sorry.” I really was. I shook my head. “We have to draw first blood. Otherwise, our blood will be the ones that coat these pretty walls.”
It was the simple “get them first before they got us” mentality, and I didn’t understand why he didn’t get that.
“You’re so goddamn negative,” he said, facing me. “Maybe if we came at people right, they won’t handle us.”
“You don’t know that.”
“You never gave us a chance to try. Always flying off the handle.” He leaned back. “It’s like you’re doing everything you can to be the opposite of Dad.”
Our dad who hadn’t fought. Our dad who had stood back. He used to get so mad when he’d gotten calls about me. His stance had been to stay out of things first and definitely not my approach.
I cuffed my arms. “I’m really sorry, Bruno.”
“Say you’re sorry by staying out of shit,” he said, then we both sat up when the secretary said the headmaster was ready for us. Bru and I stood, grabbing our bags, but before we could go anywhere, we were met in the lobby by a familiar face.
“Noa Sloane,” Principal Mayberry said, certainly different today when she stood in the center of the Windsor Prep crest donning the cherrywood panels. She wore pressed pants and a white blouse, her hair pinned back like a disciplinarian. She pointed at me. “I mean, Sloane. I haven’t forgotten that.”
And I appreciated that, smiling when I took her hand. “Good to see you again.”
“And you,” she said, studying me. I was different today too, I supposed. I mean, I wore a fucking pleated skirt, and that didn’t happen. I even rocked the heels with dark knee-highs, wanting to really put an effort into this. My navy jacket lined with orange trim was ironed and crisp, and though I didn’t pin my hair back like the headmaster, I’d braided it down. Currently, my dark hair sat at my butt, and though I’d have to avoid sitting on it all day, it was a far cry better than my normal messy bun.
