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Staring at the keys in my hands, I lifted my head. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Of course. If anybody needs to leave here for a little while, it’s you. Have fun.”
A big grin plastered across my face. I giggled, grabbed my bag and coffee, and waved at Ella as she laughed and sat on the island enjoying her drink.
One look at Ella and you’d think she had a safe, reliable car, but nothing could be further from the truth. Ella turned out to be a little speed demon, and her shiny cherry-red Corvette was the last thing you’d ever picture her driving.
When I walked toward it, my heart squeezed a bit. This was the latest model. It wasn’t even out yet. She got it as a gift from her parents, and they’d had the engine modified already. So it went really, really fast. The windows were so darkly tinted they had to be illegal.
I fell into the scooped seats, adjusted all the mirrors, and ensured I reached the pedals properly. I roamed my hands over the leather and steering wheel as I wanted to be present for the excursion. It wasn’t every day a girl like me got to drive a car like this.
The engine purred when I brought it to life and connected my phone to Bluetooth, and my favorite playlist blasted through the speakers. I eased out of the parking lot, and as soon as I got onto the open road, cautious Chan was no more. With the limited traffic leading people to the school, I had fun with my foot on the gas.
It launched like a rocket, and I screamed at the power beneath me and in my control. It accelerated faster than I expected, and panic grew. Once I eased off the gas, I found it braked quickly, and I got more comfortable, and better acquainted with the powerful machinery. I lowered the windows and let my hair fly around my face as I took her out onto the backroads and opened her up.
It was as if I flew, and freedom enveloped me for the first time. I soared and never wanted it to end.
The winding roads had me cornering the curves and hugging the streets as I sailed past. Being so low to the ground, I took the corners tight, and a thrill punctured my lungs and had my heart beating fast. The smile on my face couldn’t have been pried away with a crowbar.
I took the long way to the library through another small town, tacking on an extra forty-minute drive. When I pulled in front of the library and parked, I hated how it had to end. I crossed my fingers, hoping Ella would let me take her baby out occasionally because it exhilarated me.
Grabbing my belongings, I sat in the car for a moment. I watched many people around my age leave the library carrying book bags and wearing sweaters from the local community college in town. They were laughing, and I wondered what it’d be like to have the carefree college experience where billionaires and secret societies weren’t on the radar. I could take on student loans. Most people did. It might be worth it. To get away from all the chaos and out of the world of the elite. At the end of it all, I didn’t fit in.
Watching my peers as they wandered off, they appeared carefree, and I envied them. I never envied much because what was the point? Things wouldn’t have changed. Now, being older and an adult, I had more possibilities. I had the ability to make it happen. I only had to be willing to suffer all the consequences.
The thoughts were ridiculous, so I shook myself off them and exited the car. A few of the people I envied looked over, and they appreciated the vehicle I drove, and it hinted at a little green-eyed monster gazing at me this time. No matter the situation, most people wanted what others had. If they only knew my life and the problems I lived through to warrant me driving this car now, I was positive they’d pick their life over mine.
Locking the car with the fob, I ran up the stairs into the library. Prepared to ignore the melancholy moments, and focused on studying for the rest of the midterms. However, as soon as I sat, I noticed several tables were filled with college students studying like me, and they were regular people. The pang of longing flared to life once again.
“Ms. Montgomery?”
Swiveling my head, I looked to find Tucker Wellington, whom I met briefly at the sorority function, standing on the opposite side of my table.
“Oh, hello, Mr. Wellington. Please call me Chan.”
Mr. Wellington pointed at an empty chair, and I nodded. “Only if you call me Tucker.”
Running into Tucker here, of all places, made me stop imagining the life of getting away from society because they happened to be everywhere. After all, the man was a billionaire, yet he sat at the small-town public library.
“What are you doing here?”
Tucker laughed at my question. “Honestly, I can get more done here than anywhere else. My brothers hound me at the office, campus people constantly approach me, and I have my penthouse but have a roommate.”
Shocked to learn he had a roommate, I lifted my brow. The man probably owned his own island, so what made him think he needed a roommate? It wasn’t my business, though.
“What are you doing here?”
“Oh, I needed to come back to reality,” I blurted out without meaning to, but Tucker only cocked his head and smiled.
When I first met him, he intimidated me and made me nervous, but he seemed calmer than last time.
“I wanted to congratulate you on your blood seat. Since its inception, I’d never met a legacy who hadn’t lived in the life of the society. It’s intriguing to watch this unfold.”
Sighing, I sat and played with my pen.
“Are you not happy about it?”
“I, well, um, I don’t know what to make of it all. I was thrust into this world. I don’t understand how I even got the seat by all the rules. What do you know about blood seats?” I hoped he’d have a different perspective and explained it differently.
