With a glance at my phone, I see I need to get going if I want to avoid being late. We took a tour last week, but I still have no idea where I’m going, if I’ll find people to sit with, or …
I roll my eyes at myself. It’ll be fine. It’s the first day of school for everyone. No way will I be the only person feeling lost, confused, or out of place. Right?
Ten minutes later, I pull into the lot designated for student parking with a sigh of relief. Car doors open and slam shut all around me, and I quickly exit Ruth and join the herd of students who hurry together into the building. I try my best to blend in, my heart pounding out of my chest with nerves the whole way.
My left hand makes a subconscious grab for my right wrist, adjusting the charm bracelet Mom had given me last Christmas. Mom, are you watching? Are you proud? Or are you scared shitless for me? With a deep sigh, I enter Rosehaven Academy for the very first time as a student.
Rosehaven Academy is a sprawling building with the look of a French château. The headmaster of the academy had taken us around and talked a bunch about the Revivalist style of the building that was based on French Renaissance architecture. The tour had only succeeded in boring me and my aunt and uncle.
It kind of looks like a castle—that’s all I really needed to know. Well, that, the fact that the grounds extend several miles beyond the gardens surrounding the building, and that there are running trails all over for the cross-country team’s use. That’s what’s most important to me. It’s the main reason I’m here, after all.
They hadn’t finalized my schedule when we’d visited last week, so my first stop is the main office. I wait my turn behind two other students who are already requesting schedule changes. Once they step aside, I give the secretary a tense smile. “I’m Scarlett Miller. I was told to stop in and pick up my schedule this morning.”
“Oh, yes. I have that right here, sweetie. It’s an odd day, so you’ll attend all the odd-numbered classes on your schedule today. Periods one, three, five, and seven.” She shuffles some papers around before pulling one out of the stack and hands it over the counter to me. “And these are your textbooks. All the other kids picked theirs up when they registered.” She pushes a huge pile toward me right before she glances over her glasses at the two other students. “I’m sure Max and Daphne will be happy to help you get to your first class if you’ll wait just a second.”
“Oh. Um, okay. That’d be nice.” I pull my backpack off, unzip it, and shove my books inside to give me something to do.
The secretary taps a few keys on her computer, prints something out, and waves it at them. “Here you go. Daphne, you’re in the library as an assistant during your study hall. Max, you’re going to help out in guidance.”
Daphne just nods and takes the paper being thrust at her. Max grins and gives the secretary a sly wink. “Thank you, Mrs. Cooper. You’re still my favorite.”
He turns to look at me, his hazel eyes appraising, and I take that same time to analyze him. He’s about five feet, ten inches with sandy hair, and a kind, though mischievous, smile.
“I’m Max. This is Daphne.” He jerks his thumb at the girl, whose long dark hair almost reaches the bottom of her uniform jacket.
She smiles shyly, her green eyes flicking to mine as she studies me. “Hi.”
I press my lips together. “I’m Scarlett. New here. Obviously.” I give an awkward, uncomfortable wave.
We leave the main office as a unit. “I’m sure they gave you the grand tour when you registered. We’ll just concentrate on getting you to your classes for today.” Max snatches my schedule from my hands. “Let’s see what we’ve got.” He holds his phone up and snaps a photo of it.
“You don’t have to—” I grab at my schedule, but fail to get it out of his hands before he passes it off to Daphne.
“Settle down, Cupcake,” he says with a wink. “We just want to make sure you don’t get lost. That’d make for a shitty first day.”
My gaze bounces between them. I don’t have any idea who these two are, but they seem nice enough. I think.
Daphne quietly studies my schedule, tongue tucked into her cheek. “She’s with you first thing, both odd and even days, Max—English 12 and Precalculus.” Scanning down further, her eyes light up. “And we all have the same lunch right after our second class of the day. That’s good. Oh, and the two of us have AP US Government together after lunch on odd days and 3D Art last period on even days.”
I take a deep breath. I could at least try to get to know them. “Are either of you here on scholarship?”
Daphne rolls her eyes. “Max is a legacy student—his grandfather attended Rosehaven. He loves it when I call him a Rose.” She snorts a little at the faux-wounded look he throws her way. “As for me, I’m a thorny academic scholarship student. I’ve only been here since junior year, but I know most of the kids.”
“Do you live in the dorm?”
“No, with my parents. I’ve lived in the area my whole life.”
Max side-eyes me as we walk toward the language wing where our first class is. “Where’d you transfer from, by the way? Were you at River Rock? I haven’t ever seen you around.”
“Oh, um.” My eyes flick to his. “My mom and I used to live about an hour from here. She actually attended Rosehaven, so when they offered me a scholarship for cross-country—”
“You guys moved back for the scholarship?”
“Well, no.” I bite my lip. Made it a whopping ten minutes. My throat constricts. Here we go. I let out a sigh and push forward. “She passed away three months ago.”
Max’s brow furrows and a look of genuine sympathy settles on his face. “That’s rough, Cupcake.”
I blink a few times, stuffing down the pain, swallowing until I’m sure it’s not going to erupt. “Yeah, well. Life sucks sometimes. My aunt and uncle have custody of me until I turn eighteen. Liz and David Baker.”
“Oh, I think I know who they are. They own the garage in town, right?”
“Yep.” I let the P pop on my lips. I freaking hate talking about myself. Especially now that there’s no guarantee that I won’t just lose it in front of the whole school on my first day here. I clear my throat. “Max, why do you keep calling me Cupcake?”
“Because if we aren’t careful, the guys around here are going to eat you up like a goddamn treat.”
My mouth drops open, and I laugh in disbelief. “Excuse me?”
Daphne shakes her head with a small smile. “He means nothing by it.”
All three of us are suddenly distracted by a flurry of activity. Up ahead, the hallway fills with broad shoulders in jackets.
“I really don’t.” Max nods his head toward the wall of well-muscled guys headed our way. “I’m more interested in them than in you.”
I glance around, lowering my voice. “Oh. Sorry, I—”
“It’s okay. It’s well known around here that I bat for the other team. You ever want to watch baseball practice, football practice, hell, any practice with dudes in tight pants, I’m your man.”