Stuck With The Four Hotties

I smile, and he smiles back.

There’s a knock on the door, and Miranda calls my name.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

“Just a minute,” I shout back, looking at Zayd. He seems … like maybe he’s strung a little tight? But a lot of that shame he was carrying is gone. “Did you come here to kiss or to talk?” I ask as I reach up and struggle to get the earring through the hole in my lobe. Zayd scoots closer, and takes over, helping me get them both in.

Once he’s finished, he reaches out and cups the side of my face.

“You’re leaving tomorrow?” he asks, and I nod. It feels almost bittersweet, like the end of an era. I know that’s not true, but there’s something about the

soft sunshine filtering through the windows, the call of the gulls, and the lapping of the ocean that makes it feel that way. “Then I guess we sort of … need to talk turkey?”

My mouth flattens out into a neutral line, and all that anxiety and angst I’ve been feeling rises to the surface.

“I just don’t understand how you could hate me, and then …” I trail off as Zayd drops his hands into his lap. He has so many tattoos, these gorgeous twists of color made up of stars, guitars, birds, musical notes, women, and butterflies.

“I don’t hate you, Marnye,” he says, exhaling and then running the fingers of both his hands through his hair. His emerald eyes turn to mine, and catch my gaze. I can’t look away. “Maybe at first, yeah, I did.”

“Why?” Just that one word, a whisper.

“You … came in swinging. You were smart, and you play music like a goddess. You’re pretty and driven, and you don’t care what someone’s last name is or how much money they have. You came to Burberry, and you didn’t have to pay an arm and a leg, and I guess … we got the wrong idea about your scholarship.” He looks at me with a genuine sort of expression etched into his handsome features. “We really did want you gone because you’re a threat to everything we know and understand.”

I try to swallow, but there’s a lump in my throat, and I get choked up.

Zayd is quiet for a moment, watching as I tease the earrings with my fingers. It’s a thoughtful gift, something that money can’t buy. I feel like Zayd’s learned at least something from spending time with me. Maybe I should try to learn something from him, too? Everybody has some lesson that’s worth teaching.

“And then-I’m not sure when, exactly-we all started to … warm up to you, I guess? Must’ve been just after Halloween, I think, when you marched into that party with bright red hair and a devil costume.” Zayd grins, and I flush. That was a bold move for me, but one that I definitely don’t regret. “Anyway, we’d already made the bet, so-”

“With who?” I ask, even though I’m pretty sure the correct grammatical question would be: with whom? Sounds so formal though. Or maybe I’m just nervous, so I’m babbling incoherently in my own brain?

“Harper, Becky, and Anna,” Zayd says, pursing his lips. “Whichever boy won would get a trophy from the girls. If we’d failed, and you hadn’t shown

up to the graduation gala with anyone, we’d agreed to take the girls on a trip together.” He exhales, and closes his eyes, like the story is painful to tell.

Let me be honest with you: it’s painful to hear, too.

“Just before winter formal, the girls made another bet at an Infinity Club party.” He opens his eyes and looks right at me. “They bet each other that they could get you to do what Zack and Lizzie couldn’t.”

“What was the prize for that one?” I whisper, wrapping my arms around myself. I feel suddenly cold, even though it’s nice and warm in here. What’s my life worth? is what I’m really asking. For Zack, it was his family fortune. For Lizzie … it was simply a sponsorship to the Infinity Club.

So what now? What am I worth now?

“The Blueblood girls made the bet against some of the Plebs.” Zayd chews his lower lip for a second and snaps his fingers, like he’s trying to remember names. “Clarissa, maybe? Kiara, before she was in the Inner Circle? I’m not sure. Anyway, the bet lasts until graduation. They’re going to keep coming at you until you leave Burberry Prep.”

“The stakes, Zayd,” I choke out, doing my best to keep my breathing even and steady.

“If the Bluebloods win, they get exclusive contracts for their businesses, between them and the businesses of the girls they’re up against. If it goes the other way around, there’s a pool of money worth about … three million dollars that they’ll split, no trust fund BS or strings attached, something they can spend now without their families breathing down their necks.”

Business contracts. Three million dollars. That’s what my life is worth.

“Thank you for telling me,” I whisper, and then I move to stand up. Zayd grabs my wrist and holds me in place. When I look back at him, I can see his confidence warring with his shame.

“We wanted you to leave Burberry Prep. If you un-enroll, the bet is null and void. That’s it. They’ll stop. As long as you’re there, they’ll be relentless.” Zayd stands up and pulls me to him. I’d forgotten how nice it felt to have his inked arms around me. No, no, I didn’t forget: I bloFked it out. “This goes further than the academy, Marnye. The Infinity Club … it’s not all fun and games. People like the du Ponts or the Platters, they’re watching their kids’ bets. They have a stake in them.”

“Wow. I guess money really is a disease, huh?” I ask, fighting to stay calm, when on the

inside, I want to freak out.

“These millionaires and

billionaires, they have nothing better to do than play around with my life?” “I’m sorry, Marnye. We … should’ve just told you what was going on from

the beginnin

g.”