Ever After (East Raven Academy Book 1) Read online

  Zoey has awesome hair. It’s dark brown, but it’s perfectly straight and thick. I know it’s naturally straight because I saw her with wet hair in the dorm, earlier. She’s one of the lucky few who has awesome hair right from the shower. She’s got dark brown eyes and she wears dark-framed glasses.

  I wonder if all the girls on the dance team are as cute as the three of them.

  “Are you going to try out for the dance team?” Penny asks me.

  I shake my head. “I don’t like to be in the spotlight so much. I am trying out for the soccer team.”

  “What’s the difference in people watching you dance or people watching you play soccer?” Zoey asks.

  “Um, well... when I play soccer, I’m focused on the game. If I danced, I feel like I’d be trying too hard, and would lose focus. Plus, to be honest, I am not a good dancer. I’m really doing you guys a favor by not trying out,” I say.

  They laugh.

  “None of us were that good when we started,” Penny says.

  “Penny was,” Zoey says. “The rest of us weren’t.”

  “Whatever,” Penny says, then looks at me. “I did ballet growing up, but it’s a lot different than what we do here.”

  “She's the best dancer on the team, by far. She was our first-ever sophomore captain,” Sam says, obviously proud for her friend. At my old school, people would stab their friends in the back for that kind of title. It's nice to see that they encourage each other here. Or, at least these three girls do.

  “Thanks,” Penny says, her cheeks turning red. She looks at me. “So, every year, we girls get together with a few friends and have girls’ night in the dorms. A night where no guys are allowed to hang out. It's fine to just have a drama-free, fun night where we don't have to worry about dressing cute or fixing our hair. We will probably have one soon. Do you want to come and hang out with us?”

  “Yeah, definitely,” I say, feeling shocked that they're inviting me.

  “Awesome. Text me your number,” she says, pulling out her phone.

  She gives me her number and I add her contact in, followed by Zoey and Sam too. They all promise to text when the girls’ night will be, and to be honest, I'm looking forward to it.

  8pm.

  When is my life ever fair?

  As I’m headed back inside, I end up running smack into somebody else.

  “I’m so sorry,” I say, as I back up.

  “Watch where you’re going,” a girl snarls at me.

  “It was an accident. I’m truly sorry,” I say, as I look at the girl.

  She’s tall, a few inches taller than I am, and thin. She looks like she came off the cover of a magazine. Like the kind of girl who is so beautiful that photographers try to recruit her off the street to be a model.

  The girl has dirty blonde hair with streaks of lighter blonde throughout. Her waves hang just below her shoulders. Her face is... well, perfect. Her nose is small, and her lips are big.

  But she is frowning at me.

  “Who are you?” she asks.

  “Phoenix Underwood,” I answer. “I just transferred here.”

  “What kind of name is Phoenix?” she asks, laughing. “I get that you’re new here, but you’d better stay out of my way.”

  Wow.

  She is suddenly less pretty.

  “Like I said, it was an accident,” I say, then step around her.

  That’s great.

  My second day here and I’ve already made an enemy.

  Of course, I have a feeling she and I wouldn’t have gotten along no matter what the situation when we met.

  “Don’t mind Paige. She’s always like that. It’s not personal,” a guy says, as he steps in front of me. “I’m Landon Prescott.”

  “Hey, I’m Phoenix Underwood,” I say, glad to know that I’m not the only person that mean girl, Paige, talks to like that. Back home, I would have Charlie to protect me. But not here. I’m on my own.

  “I know. I’ve seen you around,” Landon says.

  I look at Landon, trying to see if I recognize him, but I don’t.

  “You came and watched all the guys play football,” he says. “I was playing and noticed you sitting by Teagan. I was going to introduce myself, but you left before I could.”

  “Sorry,” I say, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear. I look down at my feet to avoid looking at Landon. I don’t understand why. Sometimes, I am completely fine talking with somebody, and other times, I get bad social anxiety. I can’t explain it, but I wish I wasn’t like that.

  “I heard from somebody that you’re from California,” he says.

  I look up at him. “Yeah, um, I’m from Malibu. I recently moved to New York City with my uncle, though.”

  “I’m from the city, too,” Landon says. “Upper East Side. To be honest, East Raven is a nice change from the city. I love coming out here.”

  “I can imagine,” I say. “I sometimes feel claustrophobic in the city.”

  Because, thank God, I don’t live in New York City. Not that it isn’t a great city. It is. I love it. I just love it for a few days at a time, and then I love getting on a plane and going back home. I can just breathe easier in Malibu.

  “Exactly,” Landon says.

  From the corner of my eye, I see Jason walk over to us and sling his arm around me.

  “Hey, Bae,” Jason says. “What’s up?”

  “Why do you insist on calling me by that stupid term of endearment?” I ask, removing his arm from around my shoulders, and scooting at least a foot away from him.

  “Because I know it annoys you. Duh,” he answers. “Sup, Landon?”

  “Hey, Thor,” Landon says. “How was your summer?”

  “You know my dad... I spent the summer interning at his company,” Jason says. “It sucked, but at least his company is based out of Manhattan. I got to go to The Hamptons every weekend. It was sweet. What about you?”

  “Spent a few weeks in Bora Bora, a month in Japan, a few weeks in France, and the last of my summer was spent in the city,” Landon tells him. “It was awesome.”

  That does sound awesome.

  My family travels a lot in the summer when we can, but my dad has been so busy in D.C. and my stepdad just took over another company, so Charlie and I spent the majority of the summer on the beach. Not that spending the summer in Malibu is a hardship or anything, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

  Charlie and his friends like to surf. I do, too, but I’m not that good at it. Charlie gave me some pointers, and I tried to go out with him every morning and do it. My mom always tells me that I’m too pale, because I spend a lot of time on my computer. It’s not that I want to be on my computer all the time, it’s just I’m not so good at making myself go out.

  Boarding school will definitely be good for me. It’ll force me out of my anti-social bubble. It already has, some.

  Jason and Landon are both looking at me, and I realize now that they asked me a question, but I have no idea what, because I was not paying attention.

  “I’m sorry, what?” I ask.

  Thankfully, Estaine walks up during the very painful and awkward conversation and rescues me.

  The three of them start talking and I pull out my phone, so at least I have an excuse to zone out. I have a couple of texts.

  MOM: Call me when you get a chance. I want to hear about boarding school!

  I make a mental note to call her and dad in the morning.

  UNCLE MATTY: Training starts in the morning at 05:00. Don’t be late.

  I groan.

  Seriously?

  Five in the morning.

  Does he not realize that I am a teenager, and teenagers need sleep. Especially on the weekends.

  So.

  Not.

  Fair.

  But, then again, it’s also not fair that my life was turned upside down by a group of psychos either. When is my life ever fair?

  11pm.

  Definitely worse.

  After the mixer, Teagan and I go
back to our dorm room and just hang out. A few people said something about going to hang out at the docks, where I still haven’t been, but Estaine said he wasn’t going until tomorrow night, so I’ll wait until then, too.

  “So, what’s the deal with the docks?” I ask Teagan, as I put my hair into a bun on top of my head. It feels good to put my hair up, after having it down all day.

  “It’s just where we hang out. I’m not sure who started it, but I’ve hung out there since I was a freshman. It’s hidden away from the school, and we’ve never gotten caught out there,” she says. “The curfew at this school is kind of ridiculous. I mean, eleven on the weekend and ten through the week? I haven’t had a curfew since I was ten years old.”

  “Me, either,” I say.

  Really, since I can remember, my parents have let me do whatever I want, as long as they know where I am or who I’m with. Though, considering I was usually with Charlie, they always knew I was safe.

  Teagan is about to say something else when our door busts open and Emma comes through. She’s been crying, and there is mascara running all down her face. She walks right over to Teagan’s bed and Teagan wraps her arms around her friend.

  “What did he do this time?” Teagan asks her.

  I’m assuming the he she’s referring to is Bryce.

  “He was... flirting...” sob, “with...” sob, “Paige...”

  Paige.

  That was the snobby girl from earlier.

  Why would anybody want to flirt with her? I mean, yeah, she’s gorgeous, but beauty fades. Her bad attitude is forever.

  “They deserve each other,” I say.

  Teagan’s eyes widen as she looks at me.

  Guess that was the wrong thing to say.

  I clear my throat. “I mean, you deserve so much better than Bryce.”

  “You’re right,” Emma says, sitting up. “I do deserve better. Bryce is a terrible boyfriend.”

  “So dump him,” I say.

  “But... I love him,” she says.

  Teagan just rolls her eyes.

  I’m beginning to see why she didn’t room with the girl. If this is how she is every night, I feel sorry for her roommate.

  “You’re sixteen. You’ll find love again,” I say. “Preferably with somebody who isn’t a complete jerk.”

  “He’s not always a jerk,” Emma says, defending Bryce. “He can be a really good boyfriend.”

  Uh.

  Seriously.

  I look at Teagan, who is shaking her head.

  “I thought you were happy this summer when you and Bryce took a break,” Teagan says.

  “I was. Kind of. I mean, I missed him,” Emma says. “But then he showed up at my parents’ beach house a week before school started, and he was telling me how much he loves me and how much he missed me. And I missed him, too. So much. That must mean that we’re meant to be together.”

  “Look, I’m not going to argue with you about this,” Teagan says. “It’s pointless. You’ve made up your mind to be with Bryce. I’ve tried to help. I’ve talked to you about this for two years, now. This is why I can’t be your roommate. I’m sick of the Bryce drama. Either dump him, or make up with him, okay?”

  “You’re right,” Emma says, wiping under her eyes. “I’m so pathetic. I just... we decided that we would date until the end of high school. We know we’re not good together, so we’re going to different colleges. But I want this time with him.”

  “It’s sounds like he’s using you,” I say.

  Teagan shakes her head slightly.

  Again, the wrong thing to say, I guess.

  “I mean... umm... what if you could have a healthy relationship in high school with somebody else?” I ask. “What if you’re wasting four years on a frog when your prince is just waiting.”

  Teagan discretely gives me a thumbs up.

  “I didn’t think of that,” Emma says.

  “I was being serious when I said you deserve better,” I say. “I don’t know you all that well yet, but you seem nice. And maybe Bryce genuinely loves you, but he’s never going to learn how to treat you right if you constantly put up with him treating you like trash.”

  TRANSLATION: dump him. He sucks.

  “I know, but he promised he would change,” Emma says.

  And here we go again.

  “He’s been promising to change for the past two years,” Teagan says.

  “I know, but he really meant it this time,” Emma says.

  “If he meant it, then why are you in here crying and why is he flirting with Paige?” I ask.

  Which causes Emma to sob harder.

  “I think I’m just making this worse,” I say.

  Teagan nods.

  Yep. Definitely worse.

  “I’ll just... go,” I say, grabbing my phone from the nightstand. It’s eight o’clock in California, so I am going to call my mom.

  I walk down the hallway and go into the stairwell at the back of the building. Hardly anybody uses the back stairs and most of the girls are either asleep or at the docks, so I know I won’t be disrupted. I push my mom’s number and wait anxiously for her to answer.

  “Hello,” my mom answers on the third ring.

  “Hey, Mom,” I say.

  “Phoenix, it’s so good to hear your voice,” Mom says. “How are you? How’s school? Are you making friends? Are there any cute boys? Tell me everything.”

  “One question at a time,” I say. “I miss you.”

  “I miss you, too,” she says. “So does Charlie. He’s been walking around here looking so glum. The house just isn’t the same without you here.”

  “I miss Charlie so much,” I say.

  “Enough about that,” she says. “Let’s talk about happy things. Tell me about East Raven Academy.”

  “It’s good, Mom,” I say. “The school is beautiful. And the kids are all pretty nice. I mean, there was one mean girl, but I suppose every school has them. I have an awesome roommate I actually get along with. She’s on the soccer team.”

  “That’s perfect for you,” Mom says. “What about the boys?”

  “There must be some kind of rule that says only super-hot guys are allowed to be admitted, because, oh, my gosh, Mom. These guys are so hot,” I say.

  “Don’t tell me you already have a boy you like,” she says.

  “No way,” I say. “I just got here.”

  “Good. You’re too young to settle for just one guy. Date a lot of guys.”

  I laugh. “You’re my mom. You can’t say stuff like that to me.”

  “You’re only young once. Enjoy it,” Mom says.

  “Okay, enough about my very nonexistent love life,” I say. “I should probably get off here. I don’t want anybody to catch me talking to you. I’d have to pretend that you’re Uncle Matty, and I’m just so sick of pretending.”

  “Hold your head high. You can do this,” Mom says. “I love you.”

  “Love you, too.”

  I hang up the phone and walk back to my room before I start crying. I have to be strong. My life literally depends on it.

  Sunday, August 20

  Just try not to kill me. Please.

  I sit with my head between my legs, trying to breathe.

  Seriously, is the air in Massachusetts thinner than it is in California? Because I kind of feel like I’m about to pass out.

  “I thought you played soccer,” Uncle Matty says.

  He’s annoyed that I’m sitting down.

  “I do,” I say, between breaths. “I just didn’t play all summer. It’s not my fault you’re making me run a mile. I’m not a runner.”

  “Well, you are now,” he says.

  I roll my eyes.

  Seriously, this is torture.

  And I swear Uncle Matty enjoys every second of it.

  “Get up,” Uncle Matty says.

  “I can’t,” I say. “My legs are noodles.”

  Uncle Matty looks at Jake, who is standing beside him.

  “The
sooner you get up, the sooner you can go back to doing whatever it is you were going to do today,” Jake says.

  This causes me to stand up.

  “If you want to train me, fine,” I say. “But remember that I am sixteen. And this is hard. I also have soccer tryouts on Tuesday and I need to be able to use my legs if I’m going to make the team.”

  “Fine. No more running until you get used to soccer,” Jake says.

  Uncle Matty grunts.

  He’s obviously unhappy with Jake’s decision.

  “But you have to learn self-defense,” he says.

  “I thought it was your job to defend me,” I say.

  “We can’t always be there,” Uncle Matty says. “I mean, we could. But that would require us to follow you around the school. All day. Every day. We’d be there twenty-four seven. When you’re hanging out with friends. When you hang out with boys...”

  “Okay, okay,” I say. “I get it. I have to learn how to fight. Whatever. I’ll learn. Just try not to kill me, please.”

  An hour later, I am lying on the floor, looking at the light at the ceiling. Every time I blink, I see a black spot where the light is, but I’m too tired to look away.

  A figure comes and stands in the way of the light.

  “You did good, kid,” Jake tells me.

  Uncle Matty has already left.

  “I don’t think Uncle Matty likes me,” I say.

  “Don’t take it personally,” Jake says. “He likes you, he’s just tough. He wants to make sure you’re safe.”

  “I know,” I say, sitting up as Jake sits beside me on the floor. “This is just all so hard.”

  Almost getting kidnapped.

  Leaving my family.

  Coming to boarding school on the other side of the country.

  Lying to everybody about who I am.

  “You’re the same age as his kids,” Jake says. “I think when he looks at you, he sees them. You’re in an impossible situation, and he’s super protective of you. He wants you to be safe.”

  Aw.

  Okay, maybe Uncle Matty isn’t so bad.