“The committee?” I questioned, even more leery than before. What freaking committee?
I looked between the two girls and watched as Sloane grabbed her fork. She started shoving a bite of salad into her mouth seconds later. Not only did she have a greasy Italian sub on one end of her tray, she had a colorful, healthy salad on the other. She said something about balance when Mercedes commented on her two choices of food but quickly moved on and muttered through her chews. “Yeah. So the way it works is that Headmaster Ellison basically has the final decision on everything, but there is a committee—the SMC—that votes on grants, educational shit…discipline…and”—she shrugged—“whatever else it is they have meetings about. I don’t know and don’t really care. I just know that the headmaster has covered for us both on numerous occasions.”
My face must have shown my confusion when Sloane added, “The only people the committee has beef with are the Rebels, and that’s because they think they rule the school and are always doing stupid shit to get a rise out of them.”
Mercedes laughed. “Especially Isaiah. They hate him.”
That garnered my full attention. I was still totally infuriated with Isaiah over the closet thing, and not only was I appalled at how one look from him could make my chest tight but also elicit an
gry little fires throughout my bloodstream at the same time, I was also confused. And intrigued. I wanted to know more about him, and I didn’t understand why. “Why do they hate him?”
Sloane rolled her eyes. “Because he’s the baddest one of the bunch. He’s always sneaking out and doing shit he shouldn’t…like having sex with a teacher.”
He didn’t actually have sex with her. I knew that from listening in on his conversation, but I kept that to myself.
I looked back and forth from Sloane to Mercedes as they took the conversation in their hands, talking in between bites. “What teacher was it anyway? The blog, as usual, was vague as shit.”
Sloane looked perplexed. “I’m not sure. I haven’t seen Ms. Hayes around, but also…I haven’t seen Mrs. Lanning either…or Ms. Glenburg.”
Mercedes’ mouth dropped. “Mrs. Lanning is married. It can’t be her.”
Sloane dipped her eyes down, casting her a look. “Isaiah is hot as sin and looks way older than he actually is. Not to mention he can basically convince anyone to do anything. I’m certain that even married women have fantasized about having his head between their legs.” She paused as a grin graced her face. “And I mean both heads, if you catch my drift.”
Mercedes and a few other girls laughed as they all began talking about Isaiah and the rumors that followed his legacy.
My cheek tinged with pain as I bit the side of it while listening to their conversation. My heart flopped as I silently agreed that Isaiah was very attractive. Quite possibly the hottest guy I’d ever seen in real life. Granted, all I had to compare him to were the guys at Wellington Prep and the imaginary ones in my head that I’d conjure up from the books I’d sneak from the girls at the group home, but he had all the perfect attributes. The ones that were used to describe the perfect specimen of a male.
Dark hair that somehow made the sharp lines of his face stand out even more. Icy eyes surrounded by a mass of thick, dark lashes. Tall and strong. And there was just a little something extra to him that made your heart zing with one look. But despite thinking all those things, it didn’t take away the fact that I was still angry with him. In fact, it felt like a betrayal to myself that I felt something when his eyes were on me. It was far beyond what my little innocent brain could decipher, but my body felt alive when he was near. I felt alive. Maybe that was why I had no issue snapping at him the last few times we had spoken. It was like my subconscious was aggravated that he had some affect over me.
“No,” Mercedes’ voice brought me back into the conversation. She shook her wild, curly hair out. “I think he’s hot because of his behavior. Did you see him kissing Breanna last weekend? The way he gripped her?” Mercedes fanned herself. “It was so…possessive, and for some reason, he made it hot.”
Sloane snickered into her sub, eventually throwing her head back and laughing loudly.
I kept my mouth shut as envy filled up the gaps inside my chest that had been opening since I was young enough to know what jealousy was.
I didn’t feel it often, but once I got to Wellington Prep, and I was able to breathe life for the first time in ever, I didn’t realize how much more there was beyond the walls of my bedroom. Even the girls at the group home that Richard’s mother ran wouldn’t throw me a bone to let me know that my life was completely and utterly fucked up. I even thought that the books I’d sneaked from them were purely fiction. I had no idea there was any truth to them.
It was good that I was feeling that envy, though. That meant that I’d broken through yet another wall Richard had built in front of my eyes, demolishing it swiftly with the sudden curiosity of what else was out there.
“He’s picky about his girls, though. Have you noticed that?” Mercedes took a sip of her drink. “That’s why I’ve never tried to get his attention. I’m not sure my ego could take the hit if he turned me down.”
“Isaiah would be an idiot to turn you down,” I said before I could stop myself. “You’re pretty perfect, if you ask me.”
Mercedes’ cheeks flushed as she smiled at me, but then her smile quickly fell, and I wanted to suck the words back in. Should I have kept that to myself? But it was true. She was the most welcoming of the girls I’d met so far, except for Sloane.
“I’d be an idiot, huh?”
My eyes widened at the voice coming from behind me. Oh my God. I understood now why her smile had vanished. Was she trying to warn me?
Isaiah’s scent, something clean but enticing, wafted around me as he took a seat to my left. I kept my eyes on Mercedes, who was blushing even more than before. Shit, now what? Taking a quick pause to think, I then pushed my tray out in front of me. I tilted my body toward him, glancing at his hot, somewhat arrogant smirk. Show no fear.
“Yeah. You would be,” I calmly stated, backing my opinion with confidence. “Mercedes is great.”
Our eyes caught, and I swore everything else around me melted away. Just like that. I was certain the sounds from the dining room were still there: the silverware scraping against the bowls and plates, the low chatter of other students, even the distant whirring of the air conditioner, but I couldn’t hear a single thing except the thumping of my heart in my ears. I was brought to life in those few seconds staring at him. Air whooshed into my lungs. My blood rushed through my veins. Everything sparked as our gazes caught.
What was it with him? Why couldn’t I seem to function correctly when he looked at me?
Isaiah’s head tilted just slightly, a small twitch of his perfect lips. His inky hair was laying untouched on his head, longer on the top than on the sides. “Gemma,” he whispered, snapping our moment in half like a twig breaking in the middle of the forest.