“Can I help you, Maria?”
Just like the Caruso’s reputation here, the woman still couldn’t force a smile after all these years. She was still a fucking bitch.
“I need a list of the students here on scholarship.” When you wanted something, the trick wasn’t to ask for it by using the words “May I” , “I would like” , “Could I.” You demanded that shit like it was such a normal thing that they didn’t even fucking question it.
“What for?”
Well, it mostly worked, just not with this old bitch. And, when it didn’t, there was always one sure way to get what she wanted.
“My father is considering donating money to one of the students’ scholarships for next year. He is, however, wanting to handpick the student to make sure his money is going to the right place.”
The woman huffed, making a few clicks on her computer before the printer beside her spit out a single piece of paper. Handing her the paper, she clearly found it easier to give her the list of names than sit there arguing with Maria.
Glancing over the first and last names in the pitifully short list, Maria had to keep herself from rolling her eyes, needing one last thing.
“Is it okay if I go pay Leo’s lunch bill?”
The woman pressed a button that buzzed the door for her into the school. “Go on.”
Smiling, Maria went for the unlocked door.
“Sir! Excuse me, sir!” The front desk lady stood, stopping the man in the suit who was following behind Maria. “You can’t go in there.”
“I’m with her,” Todd explained.
“Maria, is this man with you?”
“Sorry”—throwing a dumb look on her face, she continued toward the door—“I don’t know him.”
“For fuck’s sake—Maria!”
Poor Todd. Even with the door closing, she heard him through the glassed-in office and the woman giving him hell.
Clicking her heels through the school, she ignored the high school boys’ drools on her way to the cafeteria. It was hard to ignore the comments, but Maria was a savage AF person who was better off keeping her mouth shut. Otherwise, she could end someone’s soul with her words alone. Considering the age gap between them, she decided to be polite, wanting to be able to return to the school.
The cafeteria was the same as when she left. The only thing different was slightly better-looking food on the students’ trays as she walked up to the lunch lady behind the register.
She wondered if the lady was the same one who threw away Elle’s tray of food when Elle couldn’t afford it and hoped the school would have taken action against her. Considering their look-the-other-way attitude, though, Maria guessed woman still worked here.
“Hello. I was wondering if any of the names on this list have an outstanding balance?”
The lady didn’t even look at the small list for one second before answering, “Snow Blackwood.”
“I’d like to pay off her account.” Reaching into her Birkin, she grabbed the cash that Nero had left on the counter. “How much does she owe?”
Clicking a few buttons on the keyboard, the lunch lady pulled up her account. “Considering she’s a sophomore, the school has let her account build up to forty-nine dollars and seventy cents. She’s lucky. She will be cut off at fifty.”
“Oh no, a whole fifty freakin’ dollars,” she mumbled under her breath hard, so as not to spit the words into the unfortunate-looking woman’s face.
“If you are the one in charge of Snow’s account, then you need to make sure this doesn’t happen again. We are only lenient so long before consequences are put in place.”
“A whole fifty dollars lenient,” she mumbled again before faking a million-watt smile. “I’m here to pay off student lunch debt in my friend’s name. You might know her ….” Grabbing the five hundred dollars that Nero had left, as well as another five hundred from her own wallet, she handed it over. “Elle Buchanan?”
The mole-faced woman gulped, looking at the thousand dollars like it was a ghost, confirming what Maria had thought.
“This should last for the rest of the semester and carry over to next year, correct?”
“Y-Yes.” She took the cash, correcting the new balance before putting the money in the register.
Taking a pen that rested on the lady’s keyboard, Maria wrote seven digits and three dashes on the paper that carried the list of names. “If Snow or any one of these students in the future run out of credit, Elle and I would like to personally pay off their debts before any consequences are taken. Is that clear?”
The lady cleared her throat. “It is.”
“I suggest a beard net or a good razor.” Maria motioned to the spot above her own lip where the woman carried long sprouting hairs from the brown mark. “I’m sure Legacy Prep wants to stay up to code.”
“Excu—”
“Maria?” The familiar, deep voice could be heard from a few feet away.