Savage Royals: A Reverse Harem High School Bully Romance(18)

And I hadn’t lifted a finger to earn it.

Something about it felt wrong. I felt wrong, like one of those slimy rich kids who didn’t know a thing about how the real world worked.

“I need something beachy for tomorrow. I hate everything in my closet right now.” A loud, clear voice rang out as a group of girls pushed into the boutique.

All eyes in the store were drawn to the girl leading the pack, including mine. She tossed her straight blonde hair over her shoulder and pursed her pink lips as she glanced around. Behind her were three other perfectly plastic friends.

“She goes to our school, right?” I asked Leah in an undertone.

Leah stared at me. “Oh my God, Talia! Do you just completely bury your head in the sand? That’s Adena. She’s the head of the Queens. The Princes may be the top guys, but they’re the most powerful girls. You have to have seen them.”

“Yeah, I have.” I was pretty sure they were the ones who’d put trash in my locker, actually. “Adena is always hanging around Mason.”

Leah nodded hard. “They’re on again, off again, but she definitely has her eye on him.”

I stared the girl up and down. What the hell does he see in her?

A strange feeling almost like jealousy twisted in my gut, and I pressed a hand to my stomach, as if I could somehow push it away. What the hell does she see in him?

On second thought, maybe they were perfect for each other. The two Royals could lock themselves up in their fucking ivory tower and die up there, for all I cared.

Adena’s sharp blue gaze landed on me, and she scowled. She jerked her head in my direction, and her clones imitated her body language perfectly.

Seriously, are they actually clones? Or robots?

There was something unnervingly Stepford Wives-ish about all of them, and I found my lip curling in distaste. Maybe Adena saw it, because she stepped forward suddenly, coming to stand right in front of me and eyeing the bags clutched in my hands.

“Who let you out of your trailer park?” She sneered. “Ugh. If they’re going to let Idaho trash shop in this dump, I’ll have to cross it off my list. Seriously, if you can afford it, then there is nothing in this place I want.”

The girls behind her laughed, the sound grating in my ears. But I clenched my teeth, refusing to do or say anything that would make my torture at Oak Park worse.

“Clearly this place has gone downhill, Adena,” a girl with jet-black hair sniffed. Her name was Sable, I thought. “Let’s go to Blue down the street. Maybe it won’t reek of shit in there.”

All of them turned on their heels and flounced out of the store. I stared after them, too irritated to move, until Leah grabbed my elbow.

“They’re such bitches. They’re worse than the Princes, honestly.” Then she shrugged. “Come on, let’s go grab a bite to eat. I need to study eventually, no matter how much I want to procrastinate.”

“Fine. I want something covered in grease. If I eat one more healthy thing, I’m going to die.”

“God, I want to eat like you and stay as thin as you. It’s totally not fair,” she grumbled as she pushed open the door.

I was about to respond when I caught sight of Adena and her posse again. They’d crossed the street and were gathered outside a boutique called Blue, heads bent together as they talked in low voices. As I watched, Adena’s gaze cut to me, and the look on her face was different than it’d been inside the shop.

In front of her friends, her air had been one of theatrical disdain and smug derision.

But the look in her eyes now was harder, sharper.

It was pure fucking hatred.





Chapter 7





Leah and I shopped for a little longer after we ate. I could easily have called it a day, but her relentless cheerfulness kept me going long after I would normally have dropped. After I dragged her into one final store, we headed back to campus.

If I thought too long about the amount of money I’d just spent, I’d probably barf out the car window. So I didn’t think about it.

And I wasn’t naive enough to imagine having better clothes would make the kids at Oak Park like me better—it was too damn late for that, thanks to the Princes—but maybe it would at least give them one less thing to mock. Assuming I ever went to any social events where students weren’t required to wear the school uniform anyway.

I waved to Maggie and another girl whose name I couldn’t remember as I passed through the common room before heading up to my dorm. Once inside, I dumped everything out on the bed and started hanging it all up in the closet. I saved the best for last, and when I picked up the black leotard and ballet slippers, my heart squeezed so hard it almost hurt.

Running my fingers over the fabric, I felt a sudden rush of gratitude for my grandparents.

These purchases hadn’t been cheap either, but unlike the cute, trendy outfits I’d bought, I knew the exact value of these—and they were worth every fucking penny. My old leotard was stretched and worn, the shoes battered beyond repair. So when I’d seen a specialty dance store nestled among the other fancy boutiques in Roseland, I’d pulled Leah inside like a woman on a mission.

I traced the outline of one of the slippers with my finger. I hadn’t been en pointe in a long time, not since before my legs had been broken four years ago. I was sure it would take a lot of hard training to get back there.