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“So Raven. You’ve been here, what, two weeks now?” I glance up at Tilly and nod apprehensively. The look on her face is not pleasant. “So which guy - or guys - have you got your eye on?” The way she says it, with a feral gleam in her eye, is like she already knows how I’ve spent the last week. There’s no way she can know though, so I shrug.
“There’s a few cute guys in my classes but no one I’ve approached.”
“What about Bloomberg?” Ah. That’s what she’s getting at.
“He’s ok. I mean, he’s pretty cute, I guess. Not really my type, though.”
“Oh, I heard you looked pretty tight in English together last week, and you sat at his table.”
I shrug noncommittally. “He was assigned to show me around when I got here, so it just kinda stuck. We’re paired together for this English project, so we have to hang out some, for a while at least.”
“Well a word of warning, I wouldn’t get too close if I were you.”
“Why, are one of you guys dating him?” They laugh, a cruel, harsh sound, at my question.
“No way. He used to be fuckable, maybe even datable, but he’s on the outs now. No one has anything to do with him. Even his best friends and his girlfriend dropped him, right Natalia?” Natalia’s cheeks flame and I can tell that Tilly’s dig has touched a nerve. Interesting. Michael never said anything about dating any of these girls in his letters.
“Noted. Thanks for the head’s up.” I continue to study in silence for a while, but Tilly has other ideas.
“How come you’re just joining our school now, Raven? And why didn’t we even know that Cordelia Deighton had a grandchild til now? Are you illegitimate or something?”
“Tilly!” Belle gasps, shocked. “You can’t say that!”
“What? Everyone’s thinking it, I just have the balls to ask.”
“It’s fine, Belle, don’t worry.” I’m not worried because I came more than prepared for questions like this. “No, Tilly, I’m not illegitimate. We’re just a very private family. You guys only know Cordelia’s name because of her legacy and donation statuses. She’s actually a very private woman and doesn’t front her empire now. So, you wouldn’t know much about her personal life. And I’m just joining now because my other school didn’t offer me the combination of exams that I wanted.”
“Oh, that’s so boring,” Lexxi complains. “I thought you’d be more interesting than that!”
“Nope sorry, I’m very dull.”
“You weren’t dull when you demanded you sit with us and allowed you entry into the inner circle,” Amber observes. Tilly throws her a death glare. “What? It’s the most interesting thing to happen in months in this place,” she adds defensively.
I laugh. “Well, it’s the most interesting thing I’ve done in months too. Cordelia decided I should have the full West Prep experience in my limited time here. So here I am.”
“Welcome,” Tilly’s voice is so much warmer this time and for a split second her complete 180 shocks me. Then, as I give an insincere “thanks” back at her, I study her face closely. It’s sly and calculating. It’s a face I’ve seen before, and often when people realise who my grandmother is and want to use me to get to her. That’s what Tilly looks like right now. Which is fine. She can try, but she won’t get anywhere. However, there’s something else in her face too that causes me to shudder. It’s the look of someone who wants to delve into your past, uncover all your buried secrets, and exploit them.
I’m going to have to be careful with this one. No slip-ups. Now that I’m in, I’m going to have to watch myself more than ever. I briefly wonder if the guys I’ve gotten to know over the last week can offer me any sort of protection from Tilly and the princesses, then I immediately want to hit myself; I am not the kind of girl that hides behind others or needs a man to protect her.
“Do you have a phone here with you, Raven?” Natalia asks.
“I thought they were banned?”
“They are. But for fourth years it kinda gets overlooked.” Interesting. I wonder if students snuck phones in when Lizzie was here. I know she had some trouble with bullying through the school email system.
“You should get one,” Tilly advises me.
“Hmmm sure.” I try to be noncommittal. I just don’t care all that much about having a phone. Obviously back home I had one, but I’ve enjoyed the lack of contact with the outside world for the last couple of weeks. It’s liberating. However, if there’s any way a mobile phone will help me in bringing down these bitches, I won’t hesitate to get one.
As a general rule, my tolerance level for bullshit is pretty low. And my tolerance level for vapid bitches is non-existent. It’s safe to say that my patience has truly worn out after another half hour or so of listening to Tilly and her cronies bitch and snipe about just about every teacher and student in our year group. I’m relieved when Belle announces she’s done all she can here and that she needs to head to the library to conduct some research. I jump at the opportunity to get the hell out of the stifling pink palace and offer to join her. We say a hasty goodbye to the girls who barely wait until I’m out of the room before they start talking about me, and we head out into the corridor. We amble along towards the lift, but I stop when we get to my door.
“You know,” Belle begins, “you didn’t need to wait for me to leave. You could just go whenever you wanted.”
“I didn’t want Tilly to think I’m...weak.” I’m not sure I’ve used the right word there to explain what I’m feeling.
“Tilly’s going to think whatever she wants about you, regardless of anything you say or do. She won’t be swayed. And she isn’t going to like you, no matter what.”
“Good to know. But why?” It’s not like I care, but I have a feeling I need to know how big of a threat she really is.
