Bittersweet Legacy (The Patricians Book 1) Page 5

  I twisted my mouth with uncertainty, my father had been clear – I was not allowed to go anywhere if it wasn’t with him, Sophia or Archibald, and I was due home straight after school.

  “I need to go straight home after school and –” No, I couldn’t tell her to what extent they locked me in this gilded cage.

  “Douchenozzle is not going home after school – he has his stupid little boys’ club meeting,” she whispered as she walked beside me to the classroom and took a seat at the back.

  “Douchenozzle?” I asked, taking the seat beside her.

  “Archibald – sorry to offend.”

  I chuckled. “No offense, I think it’s quite fitting, actually.”

  She grinned. “We’re gonna be best friends.”

  The history teacher walked in, calling the class into order.

  “I’ll drive you, no argument.” she whispered before concentrating on the class.

  The afternoon was quite pleasant, knowing that I was making a friend. People around school were not horrible either, not as bad as I feared based on the open hostility from my own brother and that Astor guy. Other students simply ignored me, which was just fine by me. I already had to watch my back at home, I didn’t need to do that at school as well.

  “So here’s a crash history lesson,” Taylor started, linking her arm through mine as we went to her locker to get what she needed. Me? I had everything in my bag as I didn’t trust my brother not to mess with the locker.

  “Archibald Forbes, Caleb Astor and Antoine Saint-Vincent are pretty much the kings of this school… They think it’s glorious.” She grimaced. “It’s quite lame if you ask me, but whatever they need to boost their over-inflated egos, you know.”

  I nodded, trying to take mental notes.

  “Actually,” she slammed the door of her locker and turned sharply toward me making her high ponytail swirl like a hyperactive cheerleader’s. “Antoine is a huge flirt, but he’s the least douchey one of them all – maybe because he is French, or not as rich,” she took my arm again and walked me out. “Nobody knows why but I can bear his presence.”

  I looked around the carpark and frowned.

  “What?” She asked looking around curiously.

  “I can’t see Archie’s grey trident car.”

  “Grey trident?” she asked, amused.

  “Yeah it has a trident on it I’ve never seen before.”

  “Yeah. That’s because it’s a Maserati GranTurismo, Esme.”

  I shrugged. “Okay, it’s just a car.”

  She laughed. “Yeah, he got it for his 17th birthday – it’s basically an extension of his manhood.”

  “Tay!” I slapped her arm playfully. “Could you please not talk about my brother’s manhood?”

  “I’m sure there’s not much to talk about.”

  I grimaced as we stopped in front of an electric blue Ford Explorer. “Ford?” I looked around at the Ferraris, Mercedes, Jaguars, Porsches… “Not what I expected,” I admitted.

  “My dad wanted to buy me a Lamborghini but Mom refused. She wants me to learn the value of money.”

  “Between you and me, you know that a brand-new Ford Explorer is not a hard life, right?” I chuckled. “From where I come from it means you made it.”

  She laughed, waving her hand dismissively. “I couldn’t care less about the car, Esme – It’s taking me from point A to point B. It was just as low as dad was ready to go. I’m a true daddy’s girl!” she grinned. “Hop in.”

  “So what’s their deal?”

  “The Kings?” She rolled her eyes as I nodded. “Caleb is pretty much their leader, total sociopath if you ask me, just like his dad. He’s the worst of them.”

  I thought about him – when I first saw him through my window the other day I thought he was the most beautiful boy I’d even seen, with his blond hair, icy blue eyes, lean muscles – he looked like an Angel of Light. How could appearances fool you? He was more like the demon rising from darkness and yet I couldn’t help but be aggravated at his instant hate. Was it to support his friend?

  “Have they been friends long? Archie and Caleb?”

  “Ah,” she seemed to ponder that for a while. “They were always in the same circle but I guess they got closer when they joined Brentwood.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Archibald stopped being the lovely boy he was and became a clone of Caleb and all the hateful fathers.”

  I might have just met her, but I didn’t miss the longing in her voice. Had she been closer to my brother than she said? It was too early to ask.

  She stopped the car in front of the iron gates. “Okay, this is where I’m stopping, I’m not going into this house.”

  I chuckled. “I can’t blame you, if it were up to me, I wouldn’t go in either.”

  Her joking smile turned soft. “I’m sure it’s hard to get used to it and your father and brother are certainly not making it easy for you to feel welcome, but you’ll get used to this life, I promise. It will take a while; mom still has issues now after 10 years, but you’ll be okay.”

  I took her hand and squeezed it gratefully. “Thank you, it means so much more than you think.”

  “Anytime.”

  She stopped me before I got out of the car. “Can I give you another piece of advice?”

  I nodded.

  “Don’t react when the Kings push you.” The word ‘Kings’ in her voice sounded all but reverent – it was sarcastic and mocking.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “You will,” she sighed, running her hands back and forth on her steering wheel. “They will push you, test your limits and if they find a weakness…” she trailed off.

  “They’ll go in for the kill.”

  She nodded with a grimace. “That’s what makes them feel alive, belittling everyone who’s not them.”

  “Did- did they do that to you?” I asked, hating the idea of anyone hurting this happy-go-lucky girl.

  She chuckled but the hurt flashing in her eyes was hard to miss. “Nah. Oppenheimer, remember?”

  “Ah yes,” I laughed. “See you tomorrow?”

  She nodded. “Yes, friend. See you then.”

  Chapter 5

  Taylor Oppenheimer was a lot of things but one thing stood out – she was a godsend. She was waiting for me the next day as my silent brother parked the car and left me behind without a look back. Well, truth be told he warned me I didn't exist in his world from the first day we met, he was just keeping true to his words.

  She looked at his retreating back before rolling her eyes and joining me, intertwining our arms together.

  “Stand straighter,” she nudged me, “head high. You belong here, my dear, don’t let them say otherwise.”

  I don’t want to belong here, I thought, but refrained from saying so because it would be a rejection of her as much as it was a rejection of this life.

  I was building a plan for my future in my head, a plan that would help me until graduation. They didn’t have to love me and I didn’t have to love them. We just needed to co-exist for a few months.

  I knew the school internet was very limited and we couldn't access any social media, but I could check universities, their scholarship programs and I could start building a resume, build a life after Brentwood – I’ll move away, get a part-time job and have Luke move in with me, it would be like nothing ever happened. I would go back to being Esme Danvers and leave the Forbes and all this ‘Patrician’ business behind.

  We sat together at the back of the room shortly followed by Caleb and Archie – the Wonder Twins, as I mentally called them. They looked at me with matching glares and I met their eyes with the brightest smile I could muster.

  “Hi boys!” I waved at them, making their scowls deepen before they took their seats a few rows ahead of us.

  Tay looked down at her book and chuckled. “Good one.”

  I winked at her. “Yeah, thought so.”

  “But I advised you to ignore them, not antago
nize them.”

  I shrugged.

  Taylor sighed. “I know putting fuel on the fire can be fun, but it can get to a point where you can’t control it anymore and end up being burned. Just –”

  “Be careful?” I tried, not feeling like laughing anymore at the seriousness of her tone.

  She nodded. “Your brother, he wouldn’t push it too far – he is too scared of daddy dearest to hurt his precious newly found daughter.” She shook her head. “But Astor,” she shivered, I didn’t think it was voluntary. “I’m not sure he even has hard limits. He enjoys watching people bleed.”

  “Figuratively?”

  “Sure… right.”

  I looked at Caleb again, having a hard time believing that he could be so bad. He had the kind of looks you would grant absolution to without even hearing his confession. He looked like the perfect little angel.

  As if he could feel my eyes on him, Caleb turned around, raising a challenging eyebrow at me. I kept up with his eyes, not giving him the upper hand until the teacher called the class to order and he turned back.

  I looked down at my book with a sigh of relief before meeting Taylor’s questioning glance which I answered with a shrug. I wasn’t sure what his beef was with me but I didn't care enough to find out.

  Having Taylor in most of my classes helped, as I didn’t have to be the weird new girl that people looked at with either animosity or curiosity. I could concentrate on her and her happy chatter.

  “I thought you didn’t do Politics?” I asked as she waited for me before the morning’s last period. Just thinking about getting to class without her caused a weight of apprehension in my stomach.

  “No I’m not, but I thought I would show you where it is.”

  “Thank you!” I replied gratefully.

  She nodded. “So I was thinking about your plans this weekend? You’re new in town and I’m sure brother dearest was not forthcoming with offers to take you out, so I thought that maybe I could show you around town and we could go for a spa day.”

  I smiled at her, I loved the idea, it would be a dream to get out of the house but I knew it was not going to happen - not for a while, anyway. My father was monitoring everything I did, and I was not allowed out of the house outside of school hours - he expected me home right after classes and no access to any communication – any field day would be out of the question. “I’m not sure it’s doable right now. My father thinks it would be better if I concentrate on the family right now, to settle faster.”

  She threw me a look showing me clearly she didn’t buy it, but she dropped the subject, which I was grateful for.

  She stopped, pointing to a door at the end of the corridor. “This is Politics, Mr Fredburg’s nice enough - I had him in European History last year for a few sessions. He likes when you ask his opinion even if you don’t care,” she chuckled. “Go see him a couple of times at the end of class and ask him his opinion on something, you’ll become a favorite in no time… he’s an easy win.”

  I nodded, somehow impressed by the tip – I needed to have allies here, I needed references for university, so why not start with him?

  I felt grateful that the classroom was still quite empty when I walked in, there were only a few students who looked at me with careful interest, it was always better than the blatant animosity shown by my brother and his friends.

  As if on cue Caleb Astor entered the room, and I was surprised not to see his two co-dependent boyfriends but at least he had a couple of glaring cheerleaders with him.

  I rolled my eyes and picked a seat in the front, I at least I wouldn’t have to look at him from this seat because, no matter how it angered me, it seemed like my eyes being drawn to him, as if he was a magnet – except he was the bad kind, the one that destroys the particles of your body and soul until there was nothing left.

  “You can’t sit here!” he commanded with a low voice, coming to stand in front of my desk.

  “Why? Is that your seat?”

  He shook his head, I hated the gleam in his eyes, he was going for the kill, I could see that.

  “No, that’s my seat.” he replied, pointing to the desk beside mine.

  “Okay…” I trailed off as a few people gathered around waiting for the drama to unfold.

  “I can’t have you sit beside me,” he scoffed as if the mere thought was preposterous. He pointed at himself. “I’m Caleb Astor,” he arched his eyebrows before pointing at me, his mouth dipping down in a blatant show of disgust. “And what are you, honestly? You’re not Esmeralda Forbes, you’re just a wannabe gold-digger with no class or manners. You are and always will be Esme Danvers, from Trailer Park City, raised by a clinically depressed alcoholic and working part-time scrubbing toilets in a third-class hotel.”

  I looked at him silently, expecting shame, anger or sadness to get to me but I felt nothing other than surprise at his knowledge of my life. Did Archie give him the breakdown of my upbringing? An upbringing I was nothing but proud of?

  All the things he said weren’t bad things, they were challenges I had faced head-on, challenges from real life that he had never known and never would, but somehow, I knew it made me braver, stronger than any of them. They did have this sense of superiority that society granted them but somehow I felt like the superior one – I was the superior one.

  I only had nine months of this life and I was quite surprised by my own disinterest at his words.

  “You need to move,” he continued, and the mockery was turning to anger. Was he getting worked up at my lack of reaction? “I can’t have the likes of you sat next to me.” He shook his head. “Not sure what I could catch, unsure where you’ve been.” He pointed at the back of the classroom. “Move to the back, impostor, it’s where you belong.”

  This earned a few snickers, and I saw triumph flash in his eyes. Caleb the destroyer was in action.

  I nodded. Take this victory, you clearly need it way more than I do. “Okay,” I stood up, picking up my things and walked to the back, taking the last seat in the corner.

  I only looked up once I’d set everything on the table. He was still standing in front of the desk looking at me with disbelief.

  The others had lost interest and were now taking their respective seats as the teacher walked into the room.

  “Can I help you with something, Mr Astor?” the greying professor with thick glasses asked, resting his leather satchel on the desk.

  Caleb glared at me, lips pursed. “No sir,” he replied before sitting at his desk.

  At the end of the class, I went to the teacher, and he seemed both surprised and pleased by my initiative.

  “Excuse me for bothering you,” I offered my most genuine smile as I stood in front of his desk, I could feel Caleb’s eyes on my neck as he was overly slow at putting his stuff away. I knew he wanted to listen, to see how he could mess with me in new and original ways.

  “A student is never a bother,” he affirmed, looking at me with kind brown eyes which reminded so much of Luke it hurt my heart. “How can I help you, Ms Forbes?”

  “Ah, well you see –” Leave, just leave. I willed to Caleb

  Mr Fredburg stopped me with a hand gesture. “Could you please leave us, Mr Astor?”

  Caleb glared at the teacher, I was sure he was not used to getting dismissed and this made me like this teacher even more.

  He threw me a warning glance and left the room. As soon as he left, I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding.

  “Is everything alright, Ms Forbes?” He asked.

  I nodded, “Yes, of course,” What could I even answer to that? It’s not like a teacher could do anything against an Astor. I shook my head. “So, anyway I am doing Independent Studies.”

  He leaned back in his chair. “I’m surprised you chose this option.”

  I shrugged. “I was lucky to be accepted here.” I repeated my much-rehearsed speech. “My father only applied a week before the start of the year.”

  Mr Fredburg laughed. “You�
��re not lucky, Ms Forbes, your family owns this school. If you wanted an option they would give it to you, no matter how full the class is.”

  I shrugged quite uncomfortably at the thought of what my name could get me. I‘d always been against double standards and privilege, and now I was part of it all. “I’m fine with that. Anyway, I'm thinking about doing a Sociology paper and I’m planning to go back in time and was wondering if you could assist me with the historical part.”

  “Certainly,” he nodded. “May I ask you the subject of your essay?”

  “The Patricians.”

  He arched his eyebrows. “Bold choice.” His words radiated approval. “I will be more than happy to help you.”

  My smile widened and turned genuine. “Thank you.” I quickly reached the exit but my steps faltered when I saw Caleb leaning against the wall across the room, arms crossed on his chest, legs crossed at his ankle, his dark glare directed straight at me.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” He asked as I stood a few steps away from him.

  “Meeting Taylor for lunch.” I replied, starting to walk away.

  He made a beeline and stood in front of me. “Whatever your plans are, they’re not going to work,” he called from close behind me. “I can see right through you, Esmeralda Forbes,” he added with as much venom as he could muster. “You will not fool me.”

  I wanted to ask him what hurt him so badly that he became who he was but in the end it didn’t really matter. He, and the likes of him, had no place in my life.

  “And what are you seeing, Caleb Astor? What is my evil master plan?” I crossed my arms across my chest challengingly.

  He cocked his head to the side, his eyes narrowing at the resistance in my voice. “You need to learn your place, Esmeralda, I will discuss this with your brother.”

  I sighed. “You should do what you feel is right.” No matter what, he would never let me win and I couldn't care less.

  “Be careful what you wish for, Esmeralda Forbes! You’re trying to entice me but once you’ll get my full attention, I'm not sure you’ll know how to deal with it.”