“Oh, I get it now. You mean it could still be around, and no one would have any idea except the current members.”
She nodded. “Exactly. It probably wouldn’t be here, seeing as it’s a high school now, but it could still be somewhere in town.”
“Spooky.” Adam made spirit fingers in my direction, tongue wagging out of his mouth.
Trina elbowed him again. “Stop! I think it could actually be real,” she said indignantly. “What about you, Laney? Do you think so?”
As she spoke, I happened to be looking around the cafeteria, admiring the intricate stone embellishments on the walls near the door. My eyes landed right on Hunter, who’d just stepped inside the room. His head was down, brows furrowed with concentration as he looked at his phone.
I looked away, but then I couldn’t help myself, and my eyes darted right back to him. He was so damn hot.
My breath hitched as I realized he wasn’t looking down at his phone anymore. He was staring straight at me, face set like marble.
My skin flushed red-hot, and even though I knew I should look away, I couldn’t. The weight of his gaze had me pinned to the spot.
I finally managed to lower my eyes slightly, and that was when I noticed the gold signet ring on his right hand. I couldn’t see the pattern on it from here, but it made me wonder… what if Trina was only half right? What if there was a creepy secret society for men here back in the day, but when RFU became RFA, they carried on right here on campus instead of moving somewhere else in town?
Maybe the members wore signet rings to proclaim their membership to those who knew about it.
Or maybe it was nothing. I remembered reading something in the rules that rings associated with school clubs were allowed to be worn at the academy. Hunter was probably just wearing one of those.
My shoulders deflated. “I don’t know,” I finally said. “I guess there could be an old secret society in Royal Falls. But if there was, we’d never know, would we? That’s the whole point.”
“True.” Trina nodded slowly. Then she turned her head, eyes following the direction of my gaze. “Oh, look. It’s your best friend Hunter.”
I let out a soft laugh. “Maybe I should try to talk to him,” I suggested. “Clear the air a bit. What do you think, Adam?”
He shrugged. “Sure. You’d probably get more of a response out of him than me.”
“You’re his brother!”
“Hey, I might live with him, but I only see him if I cross a dozen hallways. So you can imagine how often we sit and chat.”
Trina rolled her eyes. “You two are ridiculous. Anyway, Laney, I think you’re right. Go and see what he has to say.”
Swallowing nervously, I got up and approached Hunter.
“Hi,” I said, wishing my voice didn’t suddenly sound so squeaky. “I know we don’t really know each other, but I just wanted to come over and clear the air between us, because you seemed kinda mad at me earlier. If I did something to annoy you, then I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to. I’m just new to all of this, and I—”
He held up a hand and cut me off. “You know, for someone who supposedly earned a scholarship here, you don’t actually seem capable of learning at all.”
I gaped at him. “Huh?”
“I thought I made it clear that I don’t want to speak to you. Do I need to wear a fucking sign, or are you going to get it through your head?”
I narrowed my eyes. I was trying to be civil, and he was being a total dick in return. “Look, I don’t understand what I’ve done to piss you off. If you could just communicate like an adult and let me know, then maybe we could sort it out and—”
I was cut off yet again, this time by another guy. He was wearing a signet ring just like Hunter. “There you are, man!” he said, grinning as he slapped a hand on Hunter’s shoulder. “Ooh, fresh meat,” he went on, sparkling brown eyes landing on me. “What’s your name?”
He must’ve arrived late today, because obviously he hadn’t been informed by Hunter that I was persona non grata to their princely crew.
“Laney,” I said. I could feel a blush creeping across my cheeks. This guy might not be as sexy as Hunter, but he was still hotter than all the boys at my old school.
“Nice to meet you, Laney. I’m Chris. I’m guessing Hunter has volunteered to show you around?”
My lips tightened. “Not exactly,” I said stiffly.
“Well, if you ever need someone for that, feel free to ask me,” he said with a little wink. “Oh, and you should come to our party in a couple of weeks. Down by the lake on Friday the 13th. Because of the date, I figured we should make it a spook-fest. Dress up like it’s Halloween. Or maybe do a full-on Friday the 13th movie theme thing.”