Secret Heir (Dynasty #1)(19)

“No, it’s all yours,” I reply, eyeing her curiously. I’m not sure why she’s choosing to sit next to me, when the rest of the student body seems to be treating me like a leper.

I turn back to my blank notebook, but I’m surprised when the girl next to me speaks again.

“I’m Dani Larch,” the girl says after a moment, as she settles into the desk next to me.

I don’t reply at first, trying to figure out this girl’s intentions. She has the kind of honest face that makes you want to trust her instantly, but my trust issues make it difficult for me to do that.

“Didn’t you get the memo about staying away from me?”

The girl looks perplexed.

“No …”

She looks around the room, and notices the looks being thrown my way. I expect her to get up and find another desk. But she doesn’t.

“Oh, you must be Jazmine—Jazmine Evenstar, right?”

“How do you know my name?” I ask, quirking an eyebrow.

She looks slightly guilty then.

“Word spreads fast around here—and the word is that you’re the secret heir of the Evenstar Dynasty that they’ve been trying to track down, for months now.”

I nod slowly. It still doesn’t explain the less than welcoming behavior.

“Is that all?” I ask. I’ve never particularly cared what people thought of me, but I may as well know what I’m dealing with here.

Dani looks guilty for a moment, but I give her another nod of encouragement.

“Look, I don’t give a damn what people think of me. But I guess I should know now, so I can prepare myself.”

She lets out a sigh.

“Okay, well the Dynasty heirs …”

She trails off as she looks towards the classroom doorway. I follow her gaze to see the flawlessly beautiful girl with the bright blonde hair saunter into the room. Her skirt is about three inches too short, making her impossibly long legs look even longer and the guys in the front row are practically salivating at the sight. The girl is clearly aware of it, too—she knows she’s beautiful, and she knows how to use it to her advantage.

Those gem-green eyes fix themselves on me as soon as she enters the room, and a look of distaste mars her otherwise flawless features. So, the girl clearly still hates me for whatever unknown reason. Fine.

I return the look with a pitiless glare of my own, and those green eyes flare with indignation. As if she can’t believe that I would even dare to look her in the eye. Well, she has no idea who she’s messing with. Part of me thinks that I probably shouldn’t be doing that to someone who is probably more than capable of blasting me away with some freakish power in the blink of an eye, without even breaking a sweat. But I’ve encountered enough high school mean girls to know that the only way to deal with them is to nip the power trip in the bud from the get go.

I notice that the bitch queen isn’t alone. The short haired girl, who I remember from the ceremony as Keller, flanks her on one side and the other girl, who I think is called Ivy, is on the other. They both flash me a look of displeasure as they spot me at the back of the room. I don’t look away.

Beside me, Dani is visibly cowering. She probably regrets taking the seat next to me.

“That’s Layla Delphine—the heir to the Delphine Dynasty,” Dani whispers as Layla turns away. She’s like the queen bee here at Regency Mount.”

“Yeah, I guessed that part,” I reply, rolling my eyes.

“Keller Aspen and Ivy Hemlock are her two BFFs, and they’re also Dynasty heirs.”

“Right. Got it—queen bitch and her two cronies.”

Dani’s eyes widen in response, and I can’t help but smirk.

The teacher walks in then and the class quietens down.

All of the desks in the front row are taken, but Layla chooses an already occupied desk, and immediately, the offending student gets up and scuttles away to the back of the room like a terrified mouse. Keller and Ivy follow Layla’s example.

I look up at the teacher, who is a middle-aged, stern looking, woman. She watches the scene with a passive expression, as if this sort of thing is totally normal.

“If you didn’t already know—the Dynasty heirs rule Regency Mount. They’re untouchable—even the teachers are scared of them.”

I didn’t know. But I guess now I do, and with that realization comes the sinking feeling that it’s going to be one hell of long year.

We have a pop quiz for the first lesson, which means no talking and I’m grateful for that. I find out pretty quickly that Magnus hadn’t been lying about the schooling being the same as on Earth. Calculus sucks ass on both planets, it seems.

When the bell rings, signaling the end of class, I pack up my stuff and walk hurriedly towards the door. I’m no coward, but I’d like to avoid any sort of altercation on my first day.

Unfortunately, Layla has other ideas. I don’t see that Dani is following me until I hear Layla’s voice behind us in the hallway just outside the classroom.

“Well, if it isn’t the pauper and the bastard whore.”

I feel myself bristle at her words and I turn slowly to face her.

“Say that again, bitch?”

I hear a round of audible gasps, and I then I notice that an audience has formed around us, as students on their way to their next classes stop to gawk at the showdown.