Page 11 of Dirty Liars
“Hey! I’m Victoria. As in Queen. You’re new to the turf, so I’m going to help you out. You don’t want to go getting into a fight with the likes of Astor Hawthorne. He thinks he rules this school.”
“I do rule it!” he fires at her bitterly.
Victoria rolls her eyes and slips her hand into the crook of my arm, steering me away from him.
She looks over her shoulder and calls back, “Just because your family founded it almost a century ago doesn’t make it yours, Astor.”
“It sure as hell does! It’s called a legacy, Victoria! You’d know that if you had one!” he growls irritably at her, but we’re already leaving the hall and walking into class. Dana is nowhere to be seen. She must have fled when I wasn’t paying attention. Good to know I can’t count on her if the going gets rough.
Yet another reason to befriend someone with a little more … spirit.
“Hey, thanks. That was surprisingly … nice.”
I stop Victoria before she drags me into the classroom. She might be exactly what I’m looking for. She’s practically perfect, with dark hair and dark eyes framed with thick, equally dark lashes. I normally can’t stand preppy girls, but I’m going to have to suck it up and just be friends with her. I’m sure there’s something about her that I can like, if I look hard enough.
“No worries!” she bubbles back at me, sitting me down beside her at the back of the classroom. “Astor is a jackass and he needs to be reminded of it once in a while. I’ve got your back, sister.”
She brushes a long strand of hair off her shoulder as she gives me a quick once-over. “I don’t even know your name yet … but I can already tell we’re going to be good friends.”
I might have made some enemies … but it looks like I’ve just made an equally powerful ally. I’ve seen it happen before in every other school I’ve ever been to, except never to me, until now. One word from a popular girl, and suddenly you’re in. It’s surreal to me, and I can feel that I’m hungry for it. This is exactly what I need to happen.
“Thanks!” I smile brightly at her and try to channel Sadie’s obnoxious perky cheerleader spirit. “I’m Sadie White.”
“Sadie.” She rolls the name over on her tongue. “Sexy Sadie. We’re going to have so much fun!”
Victoria looks sure of herself as the rest of the students come into class, all of them taking notice of me either with a subtle glance or a full on stare. She scoots her chair subtly closer to me when Astor follows us in, pausing at the door to narrow his gaze at me, and I can tell she’s liking the extra attention. If it were up to me, she could have it all.
I know it’s going to be like this for at least the first week, but I can’t wait for that ‘new girl shine’ to wear off so I can just be left alone. The more eyes on me, the more likely I am to slip up.
There’s something about Victoria that just drips ‘fake girl’, and my vibes about people are rarely wrong, but she seems harmless enough. I’m off to a rocky start for my first hour on the first day, but I’m here, and by god I’m going to make it work, no matter how I have to do it.
CHAPTER5
I getthrough English Lit with homework to study and a paper on Romeo and Juliet to write. Why high schools foist that old love story on all of their students every year in every place is beyond me. It’s such an unrealistic story, and I can’t see the romance in it at all … especially the fourth or fifth time around.
I take a seat in remedial algebra and just as I do, I see a gorgeous boy staring at me. He turns away the moment my eyes meet his, and he scowls darkly. He could be Astor’s brother, almost. He’s certainly as beautiful as Astor, though his jaw is sharper, and his eyes are a little darker and blue; the color of a storm-tossed sea. He has longer blonde hair and his body is much more muscular than any of the boys I’ve seen yet in school. It’s clear to me right away that he’s a jock, which leaves no surprise in my mind that he’s in remedial math.
I also think I recognize him from earlier. He was one of the boys bullying Thomas in the hall. That would explain that sour look on his face.
When I say my name during attendance everyone in the room turns to look at me. I’m sure that by now, my mouthy retort to Astor that morning has already made the rounds. News like that spreads before the thing in question even actually happens.
The teacher gets to the name ‘William Stryker’, and the pretty boy looks up in irritation at the teacher.
“It’s Wills,” he corrects coldly.
I wonder what his problem is. He probably would rather be out on the green kicking a ball somewhere then trapped inside, but I suppose only time will tell.
For the duration of class he keeps his head turned away from me; his eyes locked on anything he can possibly find going on outside the window of the classroom. It’s actually a pretty impressive feat that he doesn’t look back at me once, especially since there’s only six of us here and the teacher has had us all pull our chairs into an intervention-style circle.
It’s no skin off my back. I don’t care if Wills likes me or not. That doesn’t stop me from admiring the way the light catches in his hair, just for a second.
After class I’m off to biology and I’m glad to see that Dana is in the class with me. She’s a friendly face in a sea of stares and curious eyes.
“So …” I say, “What happened to you back there? You left me to be eaten alive by those boys.”
Her face whitens. “I’m s—sorry. I don’t like confrontation.”
The girl looks like she’s about to burst into tears, so I reach over and awkwardly pat her on the shoulder.
