The Help (Kings of Linwood Academy 1)

Too bad it’s way too late for that now.

I sneak in the service door of the Black mansion and creep up the dark stairs to my bedroom. After slipping on a tank and shorts, I glance at my bed. I’m not exactly wired, but I know I won’t be able to sleep yet.

So I pad down the hall to Mom’s little apartment and head for her small bedroom. She makes a low noise when I crawl up beside her, then blinks her eyes open.

“Low? You okay?”

“Yeah. Just couldn’t sleep.” It’s not a lie, but I don’t tell her the reason.

“Everything okay?” She reaches up to brush my hair out of my face, her brown eyes shining in the dim light from the window.

“Yeah.” I nod reassuringly. It will be. I hope. “How ’bout you? You made it through your first month as Executive Housekeeper. How do you like it so far?”

“I like it.” She smiles wistfully, her eyes going soft. “It’s honestly not as hard as I thought it would be. And Samuel’s nice. Audrey is… a little strange. But she’s nice enough too, I guess.”

Strange is one word for it. Doped up might be another.

We’ve been here just over four weeks, and I fe

el like I know as much about Audrey Black now as I did the day we were introduced. Not that I know any of the Black family members all that well, but at least I’ve gotten some kind of read on Lincoln and his dad.

My mom’s rose-colored glasses won’t let her see all the weirdness around here, and I don’t want to ruin it for her if she’s happy. But I resolve to be extra paranoid, extra vigilant on her behalf. There are some shady things in this house, in this town, and I don’t want any of it to get on us.

In a year, I want to be able to graduate and go to college without worrying about Mom. And in a few years, I want her to be able to quit this job and find a career she really loves because she doesn’t have to worry about living paycheck to paycheck anymore.

“Good. I’m glad you’re happy here. Love you, Mom.” I nestle closer, resting my head on her shoulder.

“Love you too, Low. More than anything.”

Her voice is already fading as she speaks, and a few minutes later, she’s asleep again.

I roll onto my back, in no hurry to go back to my room.

Instead, I lay awake for another hour, wondering what favor River is going to demand from me.

And when.

10

For the next few days, I feel like I have something hanging over my head. An anvil or a guillotine, maybe. Something that will almost certainly ruin me when it finally falls.

The weekend passes quickly, and on Monday, I meet Lincoln downstairs at 7:25 a.m. sharp. I don’t dick around with lateness in the morning anymore. I can still remember the feel of his gaze on my naked body, and even though my skin heats up at the memory, I really don’t want a repeat of that.

Our drives have settled into a routine too. I manage the radio, watching his face until I land on a song he likes and stopping there—as long as I find it acceptable too. Sometimes we talk a little bit, which is how I find out he’s lived in Fox Hill his whole life, that his grandparents on both sides are dead, and that he wants to study business in undergrad.

Today, I land on Ariana Grande, and as I sit back, I glance over at Lincoln. “You guys came to that poker night because you knew I’d be there, didn’t you?”

He shrugs. “You’re not as good at sneaking out as you think you are.”

“You followed me?”

A sardonic grin tilts his lips. “Does it count as following if we already knew where you were going?”

“Yes.”

“Fine, then. We followed you.”

“Why?”