“Fine,” I answer while grabbing food to make my second breakfast.
“Oh, hello, boys. Just who I wanted to see.” She smiles at them as they take their seats at the island. “Landry needs to run to town and pick up her uniform. They are holding it at—”
“Can’t.” Brock stands, his reply hanging sharp in the air as we all fidget in the silence that follows.
“Oh. Okay. Bodhi?” She turns pleading eyes his way, and Bodhi’s glance ping-pongs between my mom and Brock.
“Yeah, sure.” His smile doesn’t meet his eyes as he looks at me while Brock stalks out. “Corb and I can.”
I can feel Corbin’s eyes on me, but I don’t look at him.
“Perfect,” Mom trills, and I try not to roll my eyes at her silly tone.
Let’s calm it down there, Linda.
Bodhi sidles up next to me, pulling a pan from underneath the stove and taking the egg carton from my hands. With a crooked smile, he cooks some scrambled eggs, and I wash the fruit, placing it on the cutting board.
For a group of guys who dragged me from my bed last night to interrogate me, they are being a little too nice now.
Well, except for Brock.
Corbin takes some plates down and fixes three glasses of water while Mom hovers in the background.
“I was thinking we could head out tomorrow for some shopping. You will wear a uniform while at school, but you’ll need new clothes for the weekend.” Mom does her best to smile, and I wrinkle my nose.
“I brought all my clothes from home.”
“Well, yes. But don’t you want a new wardrobe?”
“Not really, no.” I shrug and pop a strawberry in my mouth.
“Most girls I know would kill for a shopping spree,” Corbin says.
I whip my head to look at him. I find it odd that he would weigh in on something like this.
Maybe he’s just trying to start over.
“Guess I’m not most girls,” I say, frowning.
“How big are the campus closets?” Mom leans over the counter to ask.
“Campus closets?” I frown in confusion.
What is she talking about?
“Yes, of Almadale Prep. Students stay on campus during the school year.”
I guess I should have done a little more research before I moved.
“They do?” I turn to Bodhi. “We do?”
He pours the eggs out onto the plates waiting with fruit on them and passes them out. We all dig in.
“Yeah. They say it fuckin’ ‘fosters a sense of community,’ ” Bodhi says with full air quotes.
“Language, Bodhi,” Mom says, a scowl on her face.
“Sorry, Mrs. M.” He gives her a wink, and the woman full-on blushes.
“A sense of community? As if the one-percenters aren’t fully engrossed in their own ‘community’ to begin with?” I air-quote back and scoff.
Bodhi snickers. “We are some exclusive motherfu—”
“Bodhi,” Mom warns again. “Besides, not all of your classmates are in the one percent. Almadale has a scholarship program that is quite generous. In fact—”
“That’s enough,” Bodhi says, his forkful of eggs stopping halfway to his mouth, and his usually jovial face drops into something a tad more menacing.
“Oh.” Mom’s hand flies up to her chest as she takes in the shift in the room.
“When do we move in?” I ask quickly to change the subject, still curious as to why the mention of the scholarship set Bodhi off.
“Friday, so we have one day to get you ready,” Mom says with a smile, doing her best to recover.
I nod. “Man, you aren’t playing around,” I mutter, already tired from thinking about trying to get ready and move again in a short amount of time.
“Don’t worry; there are enough games at Almadale to keep us busy,” Corbin butts in.
Bodhi laughs, but for some reason, it sends a chill through me.
5
Landry
I woke up this morning, a little anxious at the thought of moving again and meeting my roommate and classmates. Last night, I’d repacked my bags, folding everything from my shopping spree with Mom, where she’d bought more for herself than for me.
“Everyone ready?” Mom asks, standing on the front porch as she watches the boys load their bags while I lurk behind them, clutching my three suitcases.
Suddenly in front of me, Corbin reaches for my bags, his hand overlapping mine. “Need help?” he asks, his voice low.
I watch his chest rise and fall before lifting my eyes to his lips, where they are pressed together as he waits for a reply. I move my hand before I realize what I’m doing, placing it on his pecs, and his muscle jumps underneath my fingertips.
“Bro, what the fuck?” Brock asks.
Corbin quickly steps back, looking around as if he didn’t know where he was.
Same.
Corbin reaches down and grabs my bags, hoisting all three at once and throwing them in the back of the car with ease. I could stare at his arms doing that all day.
After saying good-bye to Mom, I climb in the back of Brock’s SUV with a wave, and immediately, my stomach rolls.
Brock’s heated stare is on me in the rearview mirror, and it’s not a good type of heated. He still dislikes me, and for what reason, I don’t know.
Almadale Preparatory Academy is an hour away, and so far, thirty minutes into the drive, we’ve been listening to Bodhi’s off-key singing to fill the silence.
“Dude, shut the hell up,” Brock says, cutting a glance at Bodhi, who glares back.
“Don’t hate me ’cause you ain’t me,” he says, changing the song on his phone.
“Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish plays across the speakers, and Bodhi immediately launches into the lyrics, the three of us cringing outwardly. Corbin shoots forward and flicks the volume control down. His sudden closeness sends the scent of his cologne washing over me, and I inhale as quietly as possible.
He avoids me, I know that, but I don’t know why. He would be sitting up front if Bodhi hadn’t called shotgun as soon as we walked outside. Corbin’s scowl sends a weird pang through me. I don’t know why I want to figure him out, but I do. I catch him watching me at odd times, an undecipherable expression on his face. He glances away as soon as he sees me turn toward him, but it’s happened multiple times, so I know it’s not a coincidence.
“So, I got my roommate assignment,” I say into the quiet as Corbin sits back. I hold my phone up as I read the name in the email I received this morning. “It’s Beatrice Northcutt.”
The car stays quiet for a moment, and I notice eyes glance toward Bodhi.
“Ah, Trixie. Bodhi’s one true love,” Corbin says with a grin, and I can’t take my eyes off his face. He glances over at me, and the grin drops. “What?”
“Do that again,” I say, voice almost at a whisper.
“Do what again?” He frowns, and I lick my lips.
“Smile.”
“Aw, Landry likes your smile, Corb,” Bodhi says as he turns around, blinking his eyelashes at us, and I flush.
I don’t know what came over me.