She laughed. “They’re actually the nicest ones in school. No joke. I’ve never seen them be anything but nice to people. Not in a fake way, either. Like, genuinely nice. Pretty sure a lot of them are scholarship students, too, so you’d probably fit in really well with them.”
“Oh.” I swallowed hard, feeling bad for judging the girls solely on their glossy good looks. Here I was hoping that no one would judge me based on my appearance and background, and meanwhile I was doing just that to others. It was hypocritical as hell.
I vowed to stop it right away.
“If I’m ever not around, and you get lost, go to them. They’ll help you out,” she said. “They’re great. Honestly, they’re kind of like my idols.”
“Why?”
“Because they totally ignore the Princes. It’s hilarious.”
“The Princes?”
Trina scanned the room again. “Doesn’t look like any of them are here. But you’ll meet them eventually. They’re a group of guys who think the whole world revolves around them. Popular, hot, rich, arrogant. You can imagine.”
“Yeah, I know the type.”
I knew from stories online that those types of guys were present at every elite school. They thrived on power and popularity, hopped up on hormones, convinced they owned the world and everyone in it. Entitled, aggressive, pretentious assholes.
“Anyway, those girls in the Supermodel Club, as I call them...” Trina nodded toward the table surrounded by beautiful girls again. “They never hook up with any of them. They think high school guys are too immature for them. Even the amazing Princes.”
I laughed. “I guess it must kill those guys to know that some of the hottest girls on campus won’t touch them with a ten foot pole.”
“I like to think so. But honestly, who knows? Every other girl in school fawns all over them and worships the ground they walk on, so for all I know, the guys don’t even notice,” she replied. “Anyway, should I show you the library and sports complex now?”
“Sure.”
Fifteen minutes later, after a brief library tour, Trina led me down a brick path toward a marble building that looked like a palace. A big golden plaque on one side read ‘Connery Hall’.
Trina saw me looking at it. “Oh, I forgot to tell you,” she said. “Most of the buildings are named after old Royal Falls families. The founders of RFA. And the town itself, of course. They still donate a lot to the school to keep it going.”
“Right.”
I should’ve known. The Connery family was one of the oldest and wealthiest in the state. Their fortune wasn’t just in the millions. It was in the billions. Tens of billions, if what my mother had guessed over the years was accurate.
“Anyway, the gym is in here,” Trina went on. “Your keycard will open the doors if it’s after-hours and you want to exercise.”
Once again, I found myself marveling at my new surroundings. It wasn’t like the grimy gym back at Silvercreek High—it was a full athletic complex with two Olympic-sized swimming pools, indoor tennis courts, basketball courts, weight rooms, and Pilates studios. Royal blue and gold banners hung from the walls, trumpeting RFA’s many championships. Out the back, there were multiple fields and courts for outdoor sports.
“When we were in the library, you said something about joining crew, right?” Trina asked, tilting her head to one side.
“Yup.”
“Most of that happens at the lake, for obvious reasons. But the coach will probably still make you do warm-ups or strength training here anyway. So it’s good to know your way around.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.”
She slapped a palm against her forehead. “Oh, shit. I totally forgot to show you the quad while we were in Royal Hall! Let’s go,” she said, tugging on my arm. “You’ll love it.”
We hurried back to Royal Hall, and she led me to a large courtyard in the center of the building. The perimeter was dotted with wrought iron lampposts, and the ground was covered in perfectly-trimmed lawn. In the center, there was a huge marble fountain, surrounded with matching seats.
“Nice, huh?” Trina said. “When it’s warmer, we’ll sit out here for lunch. Way better than sitting inside.” She paused and rolled her eyes in the direction of a group of guys standing on the other side of the quad. “Oh, look. It’s the Princes, minus Chris Hewittson. Just wait for the other girls to notice and come running.…”
She pointed out each one in turn. “That’s Jake Sinclair, Asher Lockwood, Justin Grey, Elijah Schoenfeld, Kairo Belmont, and their esteemed leader—”
“Hunter Connery,” I cut in stiffly as I recognized the tall boy in the middle.
Trina looked at me, brows rising. “You know Hunter?”