Deviant King (Royal Elite 1)

I’m used to this rubbish and name-calling in the hallways. Kim isn’t. I want to protect her from all these bastards.

Protect yourself first, Elsa.

Kim and I try to ignore them by talking about my running competition this weekend or the start of the Premier League season.

We release a collected breath when we finally arrive at our class.

At least, the wankers keep their distance when the teachers are around. But the thing about bullies? They work under the surface in front of adults.

RES is a prestigious, posh school, so the students need to keep up a certain image.

The rich are scarier than any normal criminal.

They have all the money and influence to allow them to twist anything around. They’re never labelled criminals. No. They’re labelled as elites.

Kim stops abruptly two steps into the classroom, and I run into her rigid back.

Her breathing becomes audible.

My own breathing picks up pace, and the hairs on the back of my neck stand on high alert.

Since that entrance day, there’s been this baffling level of awareness that won’t leave me the hell alone.

Every fibre of my being is honed for the inevitable confrontation.

For that crash and burn.

I suck in several deep breaths and begin the usual chant.

I’m loved. Aunt, Uncle, and Kim love me. I won’t break. Not today.

I need to remind myself of those facts to remain strong and not let him get to me.

That’s what the devil’s reduced me to.

My gaze finally strays ahead, following Kim’s field of vision.

Xander Knight. Cole Nash. Ronan Astor. Aiden King.

The four horsemen of RES. They earned the title for their impressive team play on the football team.

I call them the four arseholes.

And they’re all here in our class.

No wonder Kim froze. We’ve barely escaped their wrath without being in the same class.

As in breathing the same air all year long. And not just any year, senior year.

Maybe I need to speak to Aunt and Uncle about my plans for Cambridge.

Cambridge, who?

The four are laughing and jesting. Xander is throwing the ball at Ronan, and the latter catches it with an Oomph.

Cole, the new captain of the football team after Levi King graduated last year, holds a book in his hand and laughs quietly at the other two.

My gaze strays to the main devil.