“What a shame,” I deadpan, rolling my eyes. “Like I feel for them, but also, they can get fucked.”
We pull into the parking lot and I park in Lincoln’s usual spot. It’s weird not seeing their cars here. “Let’s do this shall we?”
“At least Ms. Summers won’t be too crazy this morning. We handed in our assignment already. Pretty sure it’s just going to be exam prep between now and the end of the year,” she says cheerily as she hands me my drink before climbing from the car. I follow suit, grabbing my bag from behind her chair and making sure to double check that I’ve locked the doors. I don’t exactly have a great track record with cars, so I’m trying to make sure I look after Dad’s car. Even if it is technically mine now, I guess.
We head inside, dropping our stuff off at our lockers before heading to the library, slipping into our usual early morning study spot. I munch on my toasted sandwich while I read through my Business textbook, trying to make sure I’m up to date with the reading before today’s class.
We’re sitting quietly, reading and prepping for the day, when a shadow descends over the table. I sigh when I look up and find Blair staring down at us. “What do you want, Blair?”
She still looks haughty as fuck, looking down her nose at me like I’m beneath her. If she wants my help, she needs to sort out her resting bitch face.
“All of our assets have been frozen, and we need to sort Dad’s legal fees.” Her face twists, like I just stabbed her. “Mom asked if you would help us. We’re trying to make it go away quietly, and to do that we need a Knight lawyer.”
“What exactly do you want me to do, Blair?”
She sighs dramatically, like I’m the one asking her for a favor. Jesus fucking Christ, this girl needs to get a grip. “I need you to speak to Chase Armstrong. He’s a lawyer, the best in town. He’s a Conclave member. We need him.”
Indi’s eyes go wide at the mention of East’s dad. Pretty sure that isn’t public news yet, so I shake my head subtly. “I’ll see what I can do.”
She nods, looking like she’s sucked on a lemon. “Thank you.”
She doesn’t say another word before turning on her heel and storming away, head held high like she’s still the queen bee around here. I have a feeling even with everything going on, she’s going to come out on top.
“Do you think she knows?” Indi asks quietly.
I shake my head. “I don’t know how she could. No one outside of you, me, Harrison, and the guys knows. Pretty sure they haven’t even mentioned it to the Conclave. Harrison wouldn’t like that sort of embarrassment,” I say rolling my eyes. “I’ll speak to the others about it when I see them next.”
The bell rings and we’re packing our stuff up when she asks, “Are you going to speak to Chase?”
“I said I would,” I say with a shrug. “I doubt it’ll make much of a difference, but it can’t hurt right? Plus, if it can be kept quiet-ish, and I avoid my house being swarmed again, then I’m all for it.”
I let out a deep sigh as I pick up my books and drop my trash in the can beside the table. Here’s hoping this goes the way I want it to. I am not feeling any more chaos in my life than already exists.
* * *
Today is kicking my ass.
If I thought school without the guys was bad yesterday, it’s nothing compared to today. Mikayla and the bitch squad have ramped up their torture of the freshmen threefold, and I’ve about had enough of it. I don’t want to be queen, and Blair might have been an asshole, but even she seemed to have some limits.
Mikayla is ruthless and needs kicking down a peg or two. It’s only lunchtime, and I’ve already seen more girls crying in the last two days than I have in my entire year here so far. I leave class and head toward my locker so I can meet Indi, and another girl runs past me toward the bathroom, tears staining her cheeks.
I find a vibrating Indi, clenching her fists at my locker.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, wide-eyed. It takes a lot to make my sunshine friend this angry. I pop my stuff in my locker and give her my full attention.
“Mikayla,” she growls. “She went full tyrant in our last class, then terrorized a group of freshmen that were waiting in the hall afterward. She needs to be stopped. I’d take Blair over this bitch.”
“Funny, I was just thinking the same thing. I’m just not sure how.” I frown, wishing I had a better idea. Bringing down empires is definitely more Blair’s thing. She’s by far the more cold and calculating one of us. Sometimes I wish I had a bit more of that in me, but cold and calculating just isn’t who I am.
Angry and vengeful? Sometimes, yes.
But I definitely didn’t get the traits from the family tree that would handle this situation best.
I look up and spot Blair walking past us, and figure fuck it. “Blair, hold up.”
She pauses, turning to look at us, eyebrow raised. “What?”
“How does getting your crown back and knocking Mikayla down a few steps sound?” The enemy of my enemy and all that.