Ever After (East Raven Academy Book 1)(24)

I walk around his room, inspecting it. Though, there isn’t much to inspect. He doesn’t have any pictures up. His desk is perfectly in order. His bed is even made. I’m positive that I’ve only made my bed one time since arriving at East Raven.

“Where are your pictures?” I ask.

“Pictures?” he asks, just watching me walk around.

“You know... of your family and your friends back home,” I say.

“Oh. I don’t have any pictures,” he says. “But I have a ton online.”

Online.

Sigh.

I miss social media.

Apparently, when you’re in the witness protection program, you’re not allowed to have any type of social media accounts. I mean, my old accounts are still active, but they haven’t been updated since I got kidnapped.

Stupid terrorists.

“You should add me,” Estaine says, pulling out his phone.

“I don’t do social media,” I say.

Lie.

I love social media.

“Why?” he asks. “I thought girls loved Instagram.”

I laugh.

Okay, I really do love Instagram. But he can’t know that.

“I guess I don’t want to be one of those people who are constantly on their phone,” I say, which isn’t a lie. Even before all this happened, I tried to limit my phone time. “Talking to people in real life is so much more fun.”

“Valid point,” he says.

“Plus, I don’t want everybody knowing all of my business,” I say.

“You are a pretty private person,” Estaine says. “All I know about you is that you live with your uncle, your parents are dead and you have a stepbrother. Oh, and you’re from Malibu, but live in New York City now.”

“That’s pretty much all there is,” I say.

“There has to be more. I know there is more. You fascinate me, and I’d like to know more.”

“Well, I like soccer,” I say. “And I totally kicked butt at the tryouts.”

“You really did,” he says. “I was impressed.”

“I can also surf. Kind of,” I tell him. “I’m not very good, but it’s still fun. My stepbrother Charlie taught me how. He and his friends surf every morning.”

“I am a terrible surfer,” Estaine admits. “Last time I actually rode a wave, I ended up with a mouth full of sand.”

I laugh. “Now I want to go surfing with you.”

“Come to The Hamptons with me for Labor Day Weekend,” he says. “My parents have a huge beach house that they rarely use. I always bring a bunch of friends with me. It would be a lot of fun. You can give me some surfing pointers.”

Yeah, as fun as that sounds, I know that the secret service won’t let me go.

“I’ll probably just stay on campus. Uncle Matty is kind of strict,” I say.

“I can talk to him.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I say. “He’ll say no right off.”

“That sucks,” he says.

“What about your parents?” I ask. “Are they overprotective?”

“No, definitely not,” Estaine says. “I did just tell you I invite a bunch of teenagers over to stay at The Hamptons, right? My parents don’t give a crap what I do. As long as I make good grades and don’t embarrass them at social gatherings, they leave me alone.”

That’s incredibly sad.

My parents aren’t strict or anything, but they do love me. They make time to hang out with me. Even my dad, who is always super busy. I love him for it. I can’t imagine having parents who ignore me.

“What else do you like to do?” Estaine asks, changing the subject away from himself.

Huh.

Guess he’s not the only one who doesn’t like talking about himself. Though, I have a good reason. I am having problems lying about my identity. And I keep letting things slip. Eventually, the lies are going to catch back up with me. Like they almost did with Brooks, earlier.

“I’m learning MMA,” I say.

“MMA?”

“Mixed martial arts,” I answer.

“Right. I knew that,” he says. “That’s pretty cool. Why are you doing that?”

Because my secret service bodyguards are forcing me. “I guess I just want to know how to defend myself,” I say. “In a couple of years, I’ll be going to college. Even though I’ll have Charlie around, I know he can’t always be there to defend my honor. So, I’ll just have to defend it myself.”

The fact that my arms are going to be toned for the first time ever is just an added bonus. Charlie will be proud when I go back home and he doesn’t have to open jars for me anymore.

“That’s smart,” Estaine says. “How old is your brother?”

“He’s three months older,” I answer.

“Why isn’t he here too?”

“Because he didn’t get kicked out of school. I did. This is my punishment, or whatever,” I say. “Not really that much of a punishment. I kind of like it here. Charlie’s pretty much trying to find a way to get in trouble so he can come too, but I highly doubt it’s going to work. His dad can get him out of anything...”