Page 6 of Diesel
“Sure thing,” Rebel says. I jog off and out the fire exit that no longer works. Cyrus is now sitting on the ground with her head resting on her knees. And she sniffles. I’m disappointed at the sight. I wanted to break her, she looked so fragile, but she had a fire in her eyes.
“You know, you won’t last a day around here crying like that,” I say, leaning against the wall. Her back stiffens at the sound of my voice. She looks up at me and blinks, taking in my shirtless torso.
“Well, excuse me for being overwhelmed. What sort of dickhead decided to give a new kid a map and throw them into this maze and hope for the best?”
“My father,” I say, taking a wild guess. I don’t fucking know for sure, but it seems like something the twisted fuck would do.
“Looks like I was right about my dickhead comment, especially if he's anything like you.”
I push off from the wall and squat down beside her. I wrap a loose tendril of her hair that had fallen out of her bun around my finger and pull her closer to my face. Her pouty lips part, and she licks her lips. She is so close I can feel her minty breath against my face.
“You’re right about my father, except dickhead is too nice of a label. But I would watch what you say about me. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, and I have no issue making this the worst year of your life.”
She scoffs at my comment, and the fire I could see inside of her blazes in her eyes. She isn’t scared of me, and that's a damn first. “You couldn’t do anything to me that I didn’t already deserve.”
She rubs at her arms as she talks, and I pull back and look at her wrist that is slightly exposed. The raw flesh looks like she hacked at it with a fork. She follows my line of sight and quickly pulls her sleeves down. Her reaction has me wondering what hell she’s had to endure and how quickly I could return her.
“Whoever sent you here made a big mistake, this isn’t a place for someone who is suicidal. If you value your life, I would leave as fast as you can.”
“I don’t,” she whispers, and just like that, the fire is gone. My dick thickens at the thought of playing with her. Finding all of her weaknesses and exploiting them. I wonder if I should add her to the fight list. I know this year is supposed to be serious, but I’m high enough that I can afford a little fun before my father tells me which unfortunate girl has to marry me. He has made it no secret that he wants an heir, a back up plan in case I die.
Cyrus has to come from money, she wouldn’t have been put in the locker next to mine if she didn’t.
I don’t offer to help her find her class; I just stand back up and walk inside. She mutters what sounds like dickhead under her breath, and that makes me smirk. I’m not used to anyone–besides Lux–not falling at my feet or being mouthy. All I know is she is now on my radar, and I’m not exactly sure what I plan to do about it yet.
Chapter Three
Cyrus
I survived my first day even with my run in with Diesel. I sat with Luna again at second break, and it was less eventful without the Alphas, but she said they would most likely be in the gym. I wasn’t complaining, I’m never one to back down, but it is nice to enjoy a conversation with someone when there’s no tension involved, and Luna seems nice enough. Someone I could see myself being friendly with.
I also found out about an app used by the students here, which is pre-loaded onto the school issued tablets, called the Briar App–it's social media for rich kids. We’re allowed mobile phones, but they’re not allowed inside the school campus, which Luna tells me they barely get any reception anyway.
Luna wrote down her username and told me to set up my account tonight and to add her. Setting up the app is the least of my worries, looking at the map on my tablet–it would have been helpful if any of the staff had bothered to tell me there was a damn map on my tablet–my dorm is furthest from the school. I wonder how long it would take me to walk. Luna also informed me that this side of the school campus is for seniors who can own golf buggies to get around, but no cars are allowed in the gates. I missed everything this morning because I came from the airport side of the school.
Standing on the curb, I watch as seniors pull their buggies out of a student parking lot, and I’m almost tempted to ask someone for a ride. Luna would have been my first option, but she has swimming practice.
“Are you okay?” A voice behind me asks. I turn, and a teacher is standing behind me.
“Depends on who's asking. My stepmother would tell you some nice tales about how I’m really not okay.” He smiles, he couldn’t be older than late twenties and extremely handsome in a bad boy kind of way. He kind of reminds me of Colin Farrell.
“I’m asking as a teacher. You look overwhelmed, and I’m guessing it’s your first day.”
“My dorm. I think it’s the furthest from here, and I wasn’t aware that I would be walking, especially in these damn shoes.” I lift my right foot like an idiot to show him the brand-new leather shoes. It would have been nice to have time to wear them in. It’s a pity I had to change out of my ballet flats.
“I’ll give you a lift. You should have a cart, your parents would have paid for it in your tuition.”
I’m not sure if my father would have organised one. I don’t know how the devil managed to convince my father to send me here, given it probably wasn’t hard. A few reminders of my stint in rehab would have been enough motivation. There is even a possibility he is hoping I will find a boy to marry. After Zeke died, his brother Alex kept showing up to try and comfort me. I shut that down. There was no way that I would ever replace Zeke and especially not with his brother.
The teacher leads me to his own buggy in the teacher’s lot. We get weird looks from the other students because I’m almost positive students don’t get rides from teachers very often.
“Okay, what building are you in?” he asks when we reach his buggy. I pull out the housing sheet from the yellow envelope.
“The black building.” He whips his head to look at me, clearly confused.
“Are you sure?” I nod, of course I’m sure. It’s also on my tablet under dorm assignment.
We drive in uncomfortable silence, and I want to ask why he reacted the way he did to me being in the black dorm, but I don’t. I just want to go and get settled in my room and de-stress after today. I hate being late, and not knowing my way around had me late to almost every class today.