Chapter One
They say it doesn’t take long for your life to be flipped upside down.
A moment.
A second.
And it’s all over.
I should’ve known. If I had, I would’ve done things differently.
Maybe I would’ve walked the other way.
Maybe my tale wouldn’t have ended the way it did.
But the thing about ‘maybes’? They’re useless.
I wave at my aunt as I stand on the old, Victorian-era pavement. She waves back from the window of her silver Audi with a blinding smile.
Aunt Blair’s red hair never lost its fiery, natural colour, hanging in perfect waves to her shoulders. She has high cheekbones and a tall, slender, model-like figure that makes my awkward, sixteen-year-old body look like a potato in comparison.
I strive to be her when I grow up. Not only in the looks department — although I’ll never pull off the red hair, but also the hard work and the personality. She’s a partner with her husband in their overflowing business. Their small company, Quinn Engineering, grows tenfold larger each day, and I couldn’t be more proud of them.
“Show them what you got, Elsie!” She honks.
“Aunt.” My face flames as I search sideways, spying for anyone who might have heard. “Elsa. Just Elsa at school.”
“But I like my Elsie.” She pouts in an anime-cute way. Her phone rings in a standard, professional melody. Her eyebrows furrow as she checks the call before silencing it. “You’ll be okay, hon?”
I nod. “You didn’t have to drive me.”
“I wouldn’t miss my Elsie’s first day in this huge effing place for the world.” She motions around. “Freaking Royal Elite School! Can you believe it?”
“I wouldn’t have been here without you and Uncle.”
“Aw stop it. We might have pulled a few strings, but if you didn’t have the grades, you wouldn’t be here.”
And money. She forgets to mention that it costs a fortune and several organs sold on the black market to get me here amongst the elite.
Still, the weight that’s been perching on my chest loosens a little at her contagious enthusiasm. “Teamwork.”
“Teamwork!” She opens her car door and whooshes outside to clasp me in a mama bear hug.