Eva.
“Where have you been?” Natalya asks the moment I enter the cafeteria that evening.
Heat floods my cheeks as I sit in my usual spot. “Studying in the library. I have a lot of work to do.”
Her brow furrows, but I’m thankful when she doesn’t press me any further. “Fair enough.”
Azira clears her throat. “We were thinking of having a movie night in Adrianna’s room since she has a TV. You in?”
I nod in reply. “Sounds good.” I need to keep my mind off the fact that someone sitting in this cafeteria has images of Oak and me fucking last night.
“You alright?” Adrianna asks, nudging me.
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”
She shrugs. “You look a little vacant.”
I spoon a fork full of macaroni and cheese into my mouth and ignore her comment. I wish I could discuss the crazy shit that’s happened with my friends, but I know I could never tell them about Oak.
Once I’m finished eating, Azira heads to the counter to grab some snacks for the movie.
“What movie are we going to watch?” I ask.
Natalya shrugs. “We’ll pick something on Netflix.”
Adrianna nods. “A chick flick, of course.”
I groan inwardly, as I wouldn’t say I like those kinds of shallow movies, but I say nothing. My preferred genre is a psychological thriller or drama, something I have to think about.
Azira returns with a large bag. “Let us get out of here.”
I stand and follow my friends, only for Jeanie Doyle to step into my path.
She glares at me, crossing her arms over her chest.
I try to side-step, but she matches my movements. “Get out of my way.”
“Or what?” She asks, her eyes dipping to the leg they stabbed, fully healed now.
I move toward her and straighten, so I’m standing taller than her. “Or I’ll make sure this time you’re the one that gets stabbed.” Not that I’d stab her, but she pales at the threat.
“I’d like to see you try,” she says.
At this point, my friends realize Jeanie has stopped me, returning with furious looks on their faces.
Natalya speaks first. “Get out of her way, Jeanie.”
She glances at the three girls now ganging up on her and then returns her attention to me. “Whatever. You aren’t worth it, anyway.” She steps out of the way, glaring at me.
“No, not worth the risk of being sent to Luigi again, hey?” I ask, smirking as her face pales. I walk toward my friends, thankful that it didn’t escalate further.
Azira loops her arms with mine, smiling. “You tell her. She’s a pathetic, jealous bully.”
“That’s what we should watch,” Adrianna says, drawing our attention to her.
“What?” Nat asks.
“Mean girls,” she says, looking pleased with herself.
The other two laugh, nodding in agreement. “Deal,” Azira says.
It sounds like a terrible idea, but I can’t say that since I’ve never watched the movie. “Have you seen it before?”
Adrianna raises a brow. “Of course, who hasn’t?”
I hold my hand up. “Me.”
“No freaking way,” Azira says, dropping my arm and gawking at me.
“How have you not seen it?” Natalya asks.
“I’ve never been into chick flicks.”
You’d think I’d just offended all of their families by the look on each of their faces.
“Challenge accepted,” Azira says, taking my arm again. “We’ll convert you tonight, I guarantee it.”
I laugh as we head into the dormitory wing and down the corridor to Adrianna’s room. Her room is the largest of the four of us and decorated extravagantly with a huge sixty-inch television on the wall.
“Why is it that your room is so big?” I ask.
Adrianna looks a little sheepish, shrugging. “I guess because my parents paid more.”
Natalya sighs. “Yeah, she’s got the richest family out of all of us. After all, she’s cartel.”
I swallow hard at the word, wondering how vicious her family is. The cartel is renowned for being a step above the rest for violence.
Adrianna waves her hands in the air. “Enough about that. It’s time to convert Eva into a chick flick lover.”
“I don’t think that will ever happen,” I say as the girls flop down on Adrianna’s huge couch. Curling my legs beneath me, I sit on the end and get comfy while Adrianna finds the movie on Netflix.
“Buckle up. You’re in for one hell of a ride,” Azira says, winking at me.
I shake my head and get comfortable, smiling to myself. When my parents sent me here, I was sure I’d be friendless because I didn’t belong in these girls’ world. They know I don’t have any interest in life in the mafia, but they accept me. It’s more than I can say for most of the girls at my last school.
I’ve never felt I belonged anywhere, and the last place I expected to belong was at a school for criminal heirs. Perhaps the saying, don’t judge a book by its cover, relates to this school.