13. Maddison

Maddison

I feel defeated for the rest of the day. Like broke-the-hell-down-on-the-side-of-the-road-with-no-money-in-the-rain-with-a-stalker-lurking-the-bushes kind of broke the hell down.

I’m an expert at feeling like this, so I manage to get through my other class for the day. But then I return to my dorm with a plan on grabbing my snacks, locking myself in the room, and cranking up the most depressing music I can find. So, basically, just going all emo. When I enter the dorm, however, Wren and Lily are lounging on the sofa, chatting about classes and tryouts for something.

“Hey, girl,” Lily greets me as I walk in and bump the door shut. “I heard a rumor about you today.”

“I heard it, too,” Wren states with her attention glued to her phone. “It was juicy gossip, too, and if I didn’t know you, I’d probably blog about it.”

“You blog?” I ask as I drop my bag, and it hits the floor with a heavy thud .

“She does. And she has a whole gossip column called ‘The Crown News.’” Lily has her knees tucked under her as she faces me. “Some magazine companies have even tried to get her to sell out, but my girl is all about being indie.”

“I don’t want any restrictions on what I write.” She starts texting on her phone. “Plus, just for the record, the only reason I got offered any jobs is because my mother is one of the editors at Glittering and Royal Magazine , so it’s really not that impressive.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, babe,” Lily says as she puts her hair into a high ponytail. “You’re an amazing writer and collector of all gossip here.”

Wren shrugs, her fingers moving across the screen. “Am I?”

Lily frowns at her friend, but Wren is too distracted by her phone to notice.

I slump down in a chair. “What was the gossip you heard about me?”

Wren pushes a few more buttons. “That you and River were seen vibing in class today.”

Lily stretches her legs out. “I heard it was in the hallway.”

They both then look at me.

“We weren’t vibing,” I clarify. “We just talked.”

“During class?” Wren asks.

“No, before and after. And then in the hallway for like two minutes.” I sigh as I lean back in the chair and rest my head back, staring up at the ceiling. “I know he’s betrothed and everything. We were just talking, so I don’t get why everyone’s making a big deal of it.”

“Because River rarely talks to anyone.” Wren is the one to answer. “So, seeing him talking to you is like seeing a unicorn.”

“Unicorns aren’t real,” Lily tells Wren.

“I used to believe that, but if River’s talking to Maddy, then who knows, maybe they are,” Wren replies. “Besides, I said like , not that it is .”

“You say potato. I say potatoe.” Lily smirks at Wren as she narrows her eyes.

Wren sighs as she puts her phone away. “Speaking of unicorns, did you see that Penelope was here today?”

Lily nods. “Oh yeah, I couldn’t miss that.”

“Who’s Penelope?” I intervene, feeling so out of the loop my mind is spinning.

Lily rotates to face me, her face bursting with excitement. “She’s Penelope Morelis. You know, the famous actress.”

My eyes widen. “What? She goes to this school?”

“She does now. She enrolled as a junior. It’s crazy, right?” Wren says, and I nod, my mind spinning at this wild world I’m currently a blip in. Wren rises then and pockets her phone. “You want to drive to the city and get dinner before we hit up the party?” she asks Lily.

Lily stands up, nodding. “Yes, I’m starving,”

“What party?” I ask.

“It’s the start of the school year party. The royal fraternity and sorority throw one every year,” Lily explains as her gaze scans the floor. “At least, that’s what Finn and River have told me. They also told me I shouldn’t go.” She rolls her eyes. “Sometimes, having two big brothers is beyond annoying.”

I stretch my legs out and rotate my ankle, the muscles a bit tight. “You have three, though.”

She presses her lips together and trades a look with Wren. “Noah doesn’t really play the big brother role with me.”

“Oh.” I study her, recalling my brief meeting with Noah while I was with River and how their interaction was flowing with so much discomfort I could feel it.

“But, anyway”—Wren clears her throat and throws me a look I can’t quite comprehend—“dinner before we hit up this little shindig?”

“Yep. Let me get changed, grab my bag, and then we can go.” Lily whisks herself into her room, kicking the door shut behind her.

Wren immediately looks at me. “Just a little warning,” she whispers, “I wouldn’t mention Noah to any of the Averson siblings. There’s a lot of messed-up history there.”

“I kind of gathered that already,” I tell her. “I’ll try to be more careful when mentioning his name.”

She sits down on the armrest of the sofa. “It’s not as bad with Lily, but Finn and River were best friends with Noah since grade school, but then Noah’s mom had an affair with their dad, which led to the divorce from their mom. And now Noah’s mom, and they’re so …”

So, it is what I suspected. However, I didn’t gather that River and Noah used to be BFFs with each other.

“That’s kind of messed up,” I say.

“For sure, but that’s the royal world for you.” Wren briefly hesitates. “Is it like this over on the northside?”

I shake my head. “No, but we have our own set of problems—drugs, gangs, violence …”

I expect her to look horrified by what I said, but she doesn’t.

“We have that here, too. I’m not sure if it’s the same as in northside, but we have drugs, cliques, and violence. It just gets covered up here.”

“It gets covered up on northside, too.” I almost tell her about the two times I was arrested and how it wasn’t my fault, but I stop myself. I don’t know this girl well, and while she seems nice enough, giving out all of my secrets to her—especially when she runs a gossip column—doesn’t seem like the best idea.

We fall silent as she receives a text and digs her phone out to check it. I decide to get up and change into sweatpants and a T-shirt, wanting to spend the night doing homework.

“I think I’m going to go work on some assignments.”

She glances up from her phone. “You’re not coming to dinner with us?”

I shake my head as the door to Lily’s room swings open. “Nah. I have too much work to do.”

Lily steps into the doorway. “No, you have to come. I want to get to know my new roommate.”

She’s wearing a blue dress, plaid jacket, and strappy heels. Wren wears black silk pants, a white shirt, and a leather jacket. Both of them are dressed fancy, at least to my standards. I can put two and two together and guess they’re probably going to a restaurant where food costs more than rent back on northside.

“I wish I could, but I need to do some assignments.” I pick up my shoes and start toward my room.

“Oh, come on,” Lily whines as she hurries after me. “Half the fun of being in college is that we don’t have to live by the standards of when we were in high school. We can go out and have fun any day we want. Plus, we have that party to go to.”

“I wasn’t invited,” I point out.

“Everyone’s invited.” She grabs my arm and starts to beg. “Please, please, pretty please.”

It sucks so bad because I believe she’s being genuinely nice, and I would love to go and make friends with her, but I can’t. Like, literally can’t afford to go. And it sucks.

“How about this? You guys go get some dinner while I do my homework, and then we can meet up after, and I’ll go to the party with you,” I offer, hoping she’ll take it. Otherwise, I might be persuaded to do something stupid. And by stupid, I mean go to a restaurant that I can’t afford and end up staring at them while they eat

Can you say awkward?

“That sounds like a fantastic plan,” Wren intervenes, giving me this look that has me questioning if she perhaps knows about my dilemma. She stands to her feet and urges Lily toward the door. “Let’s go before we don’t have time to eat.”

“Oh, fine.” Sighing, Lily trudges toward the door, collecting her purse. “But you swear you’ll come to the party?”

I nod and draw an X across my heart. “Cross my heart and hope to die.”

She chuckles as she reaches for the door handle. “We’ll stop by when we’re done so we can go to the party together. And no getting out of that,” she playful warns as she pulls open the door.

“She’s not going to get out of it.” Wren gently pushes her out of the door. “Now, come. Let the new girl get her homework done.” With that, Wren grabs the door handle and starts to pull the door shut.

When she smiles at me, I find myself mouthing, “ Thanks .”

“ No problem ,” she mouths in return then closes the door.

I slump back into the sofa and release an exhausted noise that matches how I feel inside.

Day two here, and I’m already feeling the social class difference, but I knew this coming in and chose to be here.

That’s what I have to keep reminding myself of.

Since I actually don’t have much in the line of homework and need to eat, I get up, grab my phone, and head out of my room, toward the cafeteria. The place is empty, but the food, as I have learned, is wonderful. Like restaurant quality. I decide on pasta and garlic bread, grab a drink, and take my food with me as I wander back toward my room.

“You know, I think you might be the only person in this school who uses the cafeteria for dinner.” Finn falls into step beside me as I’m going through one of the quads.

“And your point is?” I question with an arch of my brow.

“There wasn’t really a point.” He stuffs his hands into his pockets and offers me what some girls probably think is a charming smile. “I was just trying to make small talk.”

“I bet you do that a lot.”

“What? Make small talk?”

“No, don’t have a point when you talk.” I bite back a smirk when his lips part in shock.

Then his shock morphs into a sputtering laugh. “You know, you’re probably right. I really do have a lot of pointless conversations.” He studies me as we veer down the hallway to my dorm room, tapping his lip with his finger. “I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone be such a smartass to me. It’s kind of refreshing.”

We reach my dorm room then and come to a stop.

“You think my smartass-ness is refreshing?” I cock a brow at him as I attempt to balance my food in one hand so I can dig my phone out of my pocket.

“I do … Here, let me help.” He takes the plate and drink from me before I can protest. “Most of the people who go here are fake— plastic . And what makes it even worse is that because of our last name, so many people kiss our asses. Not that I’m complaining that I have it that bad. I get my entitlement.” He grins at me.

“I never said anything about that.” But I was thinking it.

“You were thinking it, though,” he says, like he can read minds.

I hate that he can, at least with me. Typically, I’m not an open book, but more like a locked journal stuffed under floorboards, underneath a bed, in a dungeon.

His smile widens. “And now you’re wondering if I can read minds.”

I roll my eyes but have to bite back a smile. “That’s not what I was thinking.”

“Liar,” he teases as I scan my code and the door beeps open.

“Maybe I am a liar. Maybe not.” I take my plate and cup from him. “You’ll probably never figure it out.”

“Actually, I don’t think you’re a liar. In fact, I think you might be the most honest person I know.”

“I’m really not.”

“We’ll see,” is all he says.

Resisting another eye roll and potential smile, I step over the threshold and into my room, lifting my foot to kick the door shut. But he places his hand against it, stopping me.

“I actually have a question for you.”

“Okay, you can ask it, but I won’t promise I’ll answer.” I set my food and drink down and turn to face him. “What’s up?”

His gaze sweeps across the room, and then his brows knit. “Wait—you’re rooming with my sister?”

“Is that your question?”

“No, I just realized her stuff is in here.”

“Oh. Well, yeah, I am. Why else do you think we were going to orientation together yesterday?”

He shrugs. “I just thought maybe you guys made friends.”

I waver. “Please don’t take this the wrong way, because I think your sister’s really nice, but I don’t think we would’ve even talked to each other had we not been roommates.”

He drags his teeth along his bottom lip. “I don’t know. It’s not that surprising to me. Sure, you guys seem like opposites—although I barely know you.” A smile creeps onto his face again. “Well, other than you’re a smartass, which Lily isn’t. Still, I get the whole social outcast vibe coming off you, and Lily can be like that sometimes. Or, well, she has in the past.” He pulls a whoops face. “Please don’t repeat that.”

I snort a laugh. “Who would I tell? I haven’t talked to anyone besides Lily, Wren, you, River, and Noah.” I set my phone down beside my food. “Besides, it’s not my thing to gossip.”

“I wouldn’t guess it was. In fact, you seem like you’re the opposite …” He trails off. “Wait, you talk to Noah?”

“For like five seconds.” I pick up one of my slices of garlic bread and pop a chunk into my mouth. “And only because I was talking to River, and he came to talk to him, so he introduced himself.”

That seems to astonish him even more. “You were talking to River?”

“I just said I was. And you saw me the other day while I was.”

“But that’s not the time you’re referencing.”

“Well, no. I’m talking about while I was in my first class today.”

His shock magnifies. “So, you’ve talked to my brother twice already?”

“Yeah, so?” I shove another bite of bread into my mouth. “Why is everyone making such a big deal about this? I get his whole betrothed thing, but so what if we talked? Is he not allowed to talk, either?”

“No, he’s allowed to. He just doesn’t do it very often.” He leans against the doorjamb with his arms crossed. “You saw him in that jail cell, all silent and brooding. Well, that’s pretty much how he is twenty-four seven. He must like you or something.”

“He barely knows me, so I doubt it.”

“You don’t seem too impressed that he might.”

I smile cheekily. “Should I swoon, like I did over you in jail? Oh, wait, I did not do that, even though you tried to get me to.”

He drags his hand across his mouth to conceal a smile. “Hell, you’re entertaining.” He lowers his hand to his side. “We have to be friends.”

I cross my arms. “Friends, huh? Why do I get the feeling you don’t have female friends?”

“Hey, that’s not true at all.”

“Really? Or are you including friends with benefits?”

He squirms ever so slightly. “Okay, maybe that’s partially true. But I don’t screw every woman I talk to.” His squirminess shifts in the blink of an eye. “Besides, there’s a first for everything, right?” He dazzles me with a grin.

And for a moment, it works on me, as my heart flutters inside my chest. But seriously, what the hell?

Stop that, you dumbass heart. You have one job, and that’s to keep me alive. Not swoon.

I shake the feeling off to the best of my ability. “I guess.”

“So, what do you say?” He legit sticks out his hand. “Friends?”

Do I want to try to be friends with him and his pretty boy looks and charm? Sure, having as many friends as possible would be nice, but Finn’s flirty vibe could become a problem.

I keep my hands at my side. “Only if you promise not to flirt with me.”

His head bobs back as he lets out a groan. “Come on, Maddison. It’s like my natural personality to flirt.”

At least he’s being honest, I guess.

“But I’ll try to tone it down with you,” he adds with his hand still outstretched.

I eye his hand. Do I dare to do it? Because it kind of feels like I’m about to make a deal with the devil. A cute devil, albeit. But still, it could be a problem.

He juts out his lip. “Pretty please?”

“Oh, whatever.” I shake his hand. “Let’s be friends, Finn.”

“It’s a deal, Maddison.” He pauses. “What’s your last name, anyway?”

“It’s Averly. And if you’re going to be my friend, call me Maddy.”

“Maddy?” he muses. “That’s cute.”

I point a finger at him. “And you’re already flirting.”

“I’m just complimenting your name.” He flashes me his pearly whites as he removes his hand from mine. “So, new friend of mine, you’re going to the party tonight, right?”

I nod. “I have to since I promised your sister I’d go with her.”

“Good. I’ll introduce you to some people.” He backs toward the doorway. “That way, you won’t have to spend this year being a loner.”

“Hey, maybe I like being a loner.”

“Do you?”

“Sometimes.” I think. Truthfully, I don’t know any other way regarding life.

Sure, I have friends, but when you have my trust issues and grew up in a sketchy environment like I did, you get used to keeping your guard up.

“You sound just like River,” he remarks as he steps into the hallway. “No wonder he’s been talking to you.”

I lightly touch my chest. “Aw, and I thought it was because of my charming personality.” My tone oozes with sarcasm.

He smiles. “It’s probably a little bit of that, too.” He falls silent for a second, studying me, an indecipherable look crossing his face. But he promptly erases it, his signature smile returning. “See you at the party, Maddy.” He winks at me before spinning around and strolling off down the hallway.

I close the door behind me, wondering what on earth I’ve gotten myself into, making a promise to be friends with the popular, beautiful star quarterback.

One day at this school, and I feel like I’ve already become someone else.

And I’m not sure if I hate it or like it.