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“I tried. Noah refused to tutor me.”
She sighs. “That’s unlike him. I’ll find you a tutor.”
“That’s okay, I’ll—”
She didn’t let me finish. “You clearly enjoy history, which is rare in a school like this. I stand at the front of class and look out at future leaders and influencers, and not one of them understands how important it is to look to the past. The triumphs and the mistakes. Especially the mistakes. You could do well here if you gained a better grasp of academic writing, and that’s a skill you can learn with the right tutor. I’ll help you, but you’d better not let me down.”
She says it with a little tug of her mouth, to show she’s half-joking. But I suddenly don’t want to disappoint her. Ms. Drysdale points to the door. Her elbow hits a takeout container, batting it off the edge of her desk and into the trash. “Go home, Mackenzie.”
I leave her office, wrapping her coat around me to ward off the chill as a light breeze blows off the ocean just down the road. I debate ducking into a bathroom to change into Ms. Drysdale’s clothes, but her coat covers me fine and I really just want to go home. I hurry down the front steps of the school and check no one’s looking before I hurry toward the bus stop. I check the schedule – twelve minutes before the next bus leaves for Harrington Hills. I pull up the collar of the coat and shrink against the shelter, hoping no one will—
“Well, well, well. Mackenzie Malloy waiting for the bus, looking like Holly GoLightly’s sexy cousin.”
I whirl around, my heart pounding. Gabriel Fallen steps out from behind a tree, a joint dangling from his fingers.
“I’m going home,” I snarl.
“That’s unlikely. Mackenzie Malloy doesn’t ride the bus like a pleb.” Gabriel pauses. “You should see the inside of my tour bus. Now that’s a bus. I’ve got a king-size bed in back, silk sheets, a fully-equipped bar. This swing that you hook to the ceiling—”
I turn away so he can’t see the blush creeping across my cheeks. I’ve read wild stories in the tabloids about Gabriel and that swing. And the idea he might want me to be on it… “Maybe Mackenzie Malloy is trying to save the environment.”
Gabriel chuckles. He reaches out and takes my hand, leading me back into the trees that line the parklike-grounds of Stonehurst. He holds out the joint for me. “I heard what happened in gym. Cleo’s an evil wench, but you are something else. Want to hang out?”
“You’re just asking me that because you know I’m naked under this coat.”
Gabriel’s eyebrow shoots up. “I didn’t, actually. But now I’m very interested.”
I glance down the street, at the bus rounding the corner toward my stop. There’s not another bus for an hour.
Gabriel smiles. The barbell in his lip jiggles.
I take the joint. I’m only human. “What do you have in mind?”
Mackenzie
As we cut across the park toward the beach, Gabriel throws his arms around my shoulders, like it’s a totally normal thing to do. My chest tightens, and I find myself struggling for breath.
Gabriel Fallen has his arm around my shoulder.
Chill, bitch.
I don’t remember a moment of the walk. Gabriel chats with ease about things that are completely foreign to me – psycho fans, stadiums packed with people screaming his name, sharing a shower with four other guys on a cramped tour bus. He asks me questions about myself, and I struggle to remember my name, let alone keep my story straight. I’m relieved when he turns off the pavement.
“We’re here.”
Here is a block of ultra-modern apartments overlooking a private beach. The facades are painted a stark white with all kinds of weird angles and invisible gutterings – the kind of design architects go nuts for but would be a complete disaster to maintain.
From his blazer pocket, Gabriel pulls out an electronic fob on the end of a chain. He holds it up to a security box, and the metal gate swings open. We walk down winding sandstone steps to a grand front entrance. One entire wall is rough-hewn granite with a waterfall cascading over the top.
Gabriel nods to the waterfall. “I had that installed over the summer. It’s too quiet here, even with the surf roaring. I’m so used to being on tour sometimes it’s hard to sleep without noise.”
Riiiight. He needed some noise, so instead of blasting some music he makes a waterfall down the side of his house. That’s totally normal.
“This is yours?” I step into the open-plan kitchen, living, and dining space, taking in the vaulted ceiling with exposed beams and the industrial features. One entire wall is filled with a big-screen TV and state-of-the-art speakers – on the opposite wall, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves are crammed with books and vinyl records.
“Yup. I purchased it when our last album hit it big. I wanted somewhere I could come between tours so I don’t ever have to go back to Fallen Castle.”
“Your parents have a castle?” I knew Gabriel’s family was wealthy, but that’s a whole other level.
