Ever After (East Raven Academy Book 1)(4)

“Are a lot of students from New York?” I ask.

“I suppose,” she answers. “Mostly, everybody is from the East Coast, but there’s one girl from Northern California. Last year we had a transfer student from China, which was pretty awesome. Everybody was bummed when the semester was over and he had to go back home. And Dawson Roland is from London. His accent is so sexy.”

I laugh, thinking that Teagan reminds me of Charlie’s ex-girlfriend.

Charlie dated this girl for a few months who was kind of my friend—well, at least while she dated him. We would hang out and go to the mall, or to the movies, a couple of times a week, and she loved to talk about other guys. There was hardly ever a guy we saw that she didn’t comment on—good or bad. I liked her, but that kind of got on my nerves. I was glad when Charlie finally dumped her, because she was not good enough for him, but I did miss her friendship afterwards.

“Do you have a boyfriend back home?” Tegan asks, as we enter the student center.

“No,” I answer.

“Not even a boy you were interested in?”

“Not really,” I answer, shrugging my shoulder.

Because there’s not.

I mean, there were plenty of attractive guys, just none I would consider dating. I find high school boys to be a bit immature.

“What about you?” I ask.

“No boyfriend, but I am talking to a few guys. Nothing serious,” she says. “There is this one boy who goes here that I’ve crushed on since freshman year, but we’re just friends.”

“It sucks to be in the friend zone, but once you guys finally start dating, you’ll be glad for the time you spend just getting to know one another.”

“You’re right,” Teagan says, grinning at me. “I like your optimism.”

I have to admit, it’s rather hard to be optimistic when you’re whole life has been torn away from you. Right now, I am living a lie, and it’s hard not to be a little depressed about it.

We walk into the auditorium. There are probably about one hundred people sitting, already. All juniors and seniors.

East Raven Academy is a pretty small school of about three hundred and fifty people.

As I follow Teagan up the bleachers, I can’t help but wonder if I will make friends with any of these people. I certainly hope so. I don’t have a lot of friends back home. Except Charlie. People tend to not like me. They think I’m a snob, but really, I’m just not good at talking. I’m shy. And, okay, maybe a little sarcastic. But I make a good friend. Maybe I will make a friend here.

We take a seat by some boys. They both smile at Teagan when she sits down, and seem genuinely happy to see her.

“Hey, guys,” she says.

She sounds so cheerful when she says it.

“This is my roommate, Phoenix Underwood,” she tells them, motioning towards me.

It shocks me for a second to hear Underwood. I’m so used to hearing Phoenix Black.

“Sup,” one boy says, nodding his head at me. “I’m Jason Thorton, but everybody calls me Thor.”

“Not everybody,” Teagan says.

Jason, or Thor, whatever his name is, ironically, has blond hair and blue eyes. Though, he looks nothing like the fictional comic book character. He’s super skinny and really tall. He has a little bit of muscle, but I’m pretty sure I could take him in a fight. He’s cute in a nerdy kind of way.

“I’m Ian Starling,” the black haired boy next to him says, extending his hand.

Ian is cute. His dark brown eyes are so big, and he has long lashes... the kind most girls would kill for. He’s got a great smile and, of course, really white teeth.

I shake his hand, thinking it feels weird to shake the hand of somebody my age.

“Estaine Rinaldi,” the last boy says.

Estaine?

What kind of name is Estaine?

But then again, what kind of name is Phoenix. Rich people name their kids weird things.

Estaine gets up and moves to the spot on the other side of me.

Uh. Why?

“So, what brings you to East Raven Academy?” Estaine asks, as he sits down beside me.

Estaine is definitely the most attractive of the three boys. He’s got dark brown hair and gray eyes that have tiny flecks of blue in them. His skin is tanned, and I can tell he must have spent a lot of time outdoors this summer.

“My uncle sent me here because I got kicked out of my old school,” I answer.

Uh, I sound like such a rebel. Maybe I am a rebel. But I don’t get caught. I’m a good rebel. And I only rebel against rules I think are stupid.

“Kicked out for what?” Estaine asks, grinning at me.

He’s intrigued by me. Which is good, I guess. Maybe I will make friends after all.

“I hacked the school’s computer system. I made it so everybody could go on social media sites from the school computers—undetected,” I answer. “It’s funny, because the school still hasn’t figured out how to get the program off the computers. I would have never gotten caught if people had kept their mouths shut.”

If I’m going to lie about my past, I’m going to at least make it fun.

“That’s awesome,” he says. “You are, seriously, one amazing chick.”

I smile at him.

He thinks I’m amazing.