Chapter 32

When Elise got home, she asked Daniel about Vivian and learned that she had already left.

That was quicker than she'd expected. Vivian wasn't the sort to give in so easily. Julian must have told them to hurry, to get her moved out before Elise came home. It would save the two girls running into each other.

Daniel followed Julian into his study almost as soon as he entered.

“Mr. Whitmore, what would you like done with the jewelry in Miss Lawson's safe?”

Julian took off his jacket and handed it to him. Daniel hurried to receive it.

“Put it all in Ellie's safe,” Julian said, frowning slightly.

A moment later, he reconsidered. However valuable those pieces were, they had belonged to Vivian. He didn't want to give Ellie things that still carried her associations. His little sister deserved better.

“On second thought, dispose of the lot.”

Daniel inclined his head. “There are some new pieces coming up at auction.”

He'd worked in this house for years. He could see perfectly well that Vivian no longer had a place in Julian's affections. Elise was the one he treasured now. And he remembered Julian's promise to fill her safe. It seemed a useful moment to mention the auction.

Julian gave him an approving look.

“Bring me the catalog.”

Daniel promptly put it into his hands. Julian went through it with a pen, marking one piece after another. By the time he handed it back, he had circled well over half the jewelry.

“Go on my behalf. Buy everything I've marked.”

“All of this?” Daniel blurted out.

He understood wanting to spoil Elise. But surely there was a limit. Was Julian planning to buy out the auction?

He generally kept a low profile in those circles. When he attended an auction, it was usually in the name of charity, and he bought a piece or two. Nothing remotely like this. Daniel could already imagine the commotion it would cause in the room.

Julian opened his laptop, apparently unaware that he was proposing anything unusual.

“It isn't much.”

He'd promised to fill Ellie's safe. This wouldn't even be enough.

Daniel swallowed. He was beginning to understand how his workaholic employer meant to win his sister over.

Spend money. Spend money. Then spend some more.

The next day, Elise and Nora were still adjusting to the change in their classmates. The studied indifference had disappeared. Neither girl quite knew what to do with all this attention.

Elise glanced at Kayla's empty seat, then Vivian's, and considered them for a moment.

After a lesson, the girl sitting in front turned around.

“Do you know why Kayla and Viv... Hannah aren't here?”

Nora had meant to hold on to her dignity a little longer. Curiosity defeated her. She leaned forward.

“Why?”

“They had that fight yesterday, didn't they?” The girl gave a low laugh. “They're probably covered in bruises. They're hardly going to come to school looking like that.”

Another girl turned toward them, too.

“I wouldn't show my face either. Imagine having everyone find out what you'd been doing behind their backs. Kayla used to pick on me, too. Elise, you were amazing yesterday. I've wanted to see someone stand up to her for so long.”

Elise smiled faintly without answering. Several students in the class had suffered at Kayla's hands. The way they looked at her now, almost as though she'd personally delivered them from something, made her uncomfortable.

“Elise. Nora. I... there's something I'd like to say.”

Elise looked up. A girl in glasses stood hesitantly beside their desks, heavy bangs covering half her forehead.

Claire Sutton. Elise remembered her because she was one of the class's strongest students, consistently among the top three. Sometimes Elise compared her own practice results with Claire's scores to get an idea of where she might stand at Northbridge. From those comparisons, she thought she could reach the school's highest-ranked course group at the next placement assessment.

“What is it?” she asked gently. “Go ahead.”

Claire usually kept her head down and studied. She hardly spoke, and seemed about as likely to cause trouble as the books she carried.

Now her face was red. As people began turning to look, she clenched her hands and forced herself to continue.

“I'm sorry. I didn't lead everyone in shutting you out, the way Kayla did. But I stood there and watched. I didn't try to help either of you. I'd like you to forgive me.”

Elise's eyebrows rose a little. Their classmates had become much friendlier, but this was the first time someone had come over specifically to apologize for watching them be excluded.

Claire hadn't started it. She was apologizing for having let it happen.

The room had been watching her approach. After she spoke, it went quiet. Looking around, Elise thought she could read embarrassment on quite a few faces.

When neither girl immediately answered, Claire grew redder still.

“To show you I mean it, I could help you with your... with your schoolwork. Tutor you, if you'd like. Studying's about the only thing I'm good at.”

Her voice dwindled until the last words were barely audible. With everyone looking, she seemed less certain of herself by the second.

“All right,” Elise said. “I accept your apology.”

Claire looked up at once. For a moment, Elise's smile distracted her completely.

Sunlight fell through the window beside Elise's desk. Resting her chin on one hand, Elise turned toward Nora.

“You don't need to tutor me, though. Help Nora instead. Math's her weak spot. You could help her work out what she's missing.”

Claire nodded hard. “Of course.” Then she hesitated. “You don't need any help?”

She'd heard that Elise had come from an ordinary high school, where her grades had been ordinary, too. Unless she improved, she might drop out of their course group at the next placement assessment.

Elise shook her head.

“I don't think I do.”

She had tested herself. Her results were higher than Claire's, higher than anyone else's in the class.

Claire couldn't understand it. Tutoring could help her improve. Why say she didn't need it?

A derisive laugh broke the silence.

Grace Miller had been resting with her head on her desk. Now she raised it.

“She said she doesn't need you. Why keep offering?”

Then she added, “You come over to apologize and offer tutoring, and she won't even appreciate it. That's what you get for trying so hard.”

Claire clutched her textbook, her face flushing again.

“That isn't what Elise meant!”

Grace gave another little laugh and settled back onto her desk, plainly finished listening.

If it hadn't been for Vivian and Elise, would she have made such a fool of herself outside the student affairs office?

At first, she'd disliked Elise because Vivian said she was vicious. She knew now that Vivian had fooled her, that she'd misunderstood Elise. It didn't make the memory of that humiliation any easier. Without the two of them and their business, she would never have got involved. She wouldn't have embarrassed herself in front of all those students.

Everyone else could decide Elise had done nothing wrong. Grace still couldn't stand the sight of her. And watching the whole class suddenly fall over itself to please her only made it worse.

Elise understood. Claire wasn't the person Grace wanted to hurt.

“I didn't refuse her apology,” she said evenly. “I said my grades don't need tutoring.”

Grace lifted her head again, laughing in disbelief.

“And what makes you think you don't need it? Have you looked at your grades? She's apologized to you. Do you really have to act so superior?”

“You've misunderstood,” Claire said quickly, as the exchange began to sharpen. “Elise isn't acting superior. That's not what she means.”

Grace's expression didn't change. She seemed determined to find fault with Elise, whatever anyone said.

Elise looked at her for a moment.

“How about this? If you don't believe my grades are good enough without tutoring, let's put it to the test at the monthly assessments.”

Her practice results might not be an exact guide. She wanted to find out where she actually stood in this class.

Grace raised an eyebrow, interested now.

“Test what? Who gets the higher score?”

“Yes.” Elise smiled. “Add up all our subjects. Whoever has the higher total wins.”

Claire's eyes widened. Grace was the physics representative. Even Claire would have to study through the night before the exams to be sure of catching her. Elise wanted to compete with her?

“Fine by me,” Grace said.

Comparing grades was the last thing she was afraid of. At last, she had somewhere to put the resentment that had been building in her for days. She could beat Elise at schoolwork, thoroughly and publicly.

Elise considered the terms for a few seconds.

“The loser apologizes to the winner at a class meeting, in front of everyone. She admits she's a poor student and promises to learn from the other person.”

An apology and a promise to learn from her? That was all?

Grace almost rolled her eyes. Elise must be terribly unsure of herself to suggest such a mild penalty.

She smiled.

“I'll add something. The loser takes all the winner's classroom duties and cleanup turns for the whole semester.”

A murmur went through the room. Both jobs rotated weekly. Imagine getting out of all that work for an entire semester.

“All right,” Elise said, lifting an eyebrow. She'd meant to keep the stakes light. Grace was the one who'd insisted on raising them.

Nora tugged anxiously at the hem of her clothes.

“Don't rush into this,” she whispered. “Grace is the physics representative. She's first in the class in every science subject. Why would you make a bet with her?”

Elise could solve problems quickly, certainly. That didn't mean she could outscore Grace.

Elise gave her a reassuring look.

Claire, seeing that the terms were already settled, spoke urgently.

“If there's anything you don't understand, please ask me. I'll help you. I mean it.”

Losing would be embarrassing. Losing by a huge margin would be worse. The least she could do was help Elise close the gap, so the result wouldn't be too painful.

Several girls had already gathered around Grace. They felt guilty about the way they'd treated Elise, and tried to talk Grace out of going through with it.

She refused to listen.

“It's fine. If she wants to humiliate herself, I'll let her.”

Everyone had changed their tune over the last couple of days. All that admiration had gone to Elise's head. Grace would use her grades to bring her back down, hard enough to make her see sense.

The bet occupied the class for the rest of the day. Even after school, girls crowded around Elise and Nora, talking over one another. They worried openly about Elise's chances. When she continued to look perfectly calm, however, there was only so much more they could say.

Their enthusiasm had come on quickly, and Elise still wasn't quite sure what had caused all of it.

When they drew her into a shopping trip near the school after lessons, she began to feel helpless. She really needed to learn how to say no. Otherwise, she could have been at home studying by now.

She took out her phone and messaged Ethan, asking him to collect her a little later.

“Elise, what's it actually like having four older brothers?”

“Why ask? It's something you're never going to experience.”

“One brother's plenty for me. I can't imagine four.”

“The others would be fine,” another girl said. “But Miles? No, thank you. He's terrifying.”

The girls exchanged looks of shared unease.

“Why hasn't he come back yet, anyway?”

Only then did Elise really think about her fourth brother. School had been back for nearly a week, and he still hadn't appeared.

“I don't know,” she said honestly.

They could understand that. Even they were afraid of Miles. Elise probably didn't dare bother him either. Perhaps that was why she wasn't close to him.

Once they started, everyone seemed to have a story.

“Nobody at any of the schools around here dares mess with your brother.”

“There used to be these guys hanging around, extorting money from students. I heard Miles dealt with them. Put someone in the hospital once.”

“And the teachers didn't even punish him. The parents of the kids they'd been threatening wrote letters to thank him.”

“I know he was helping, but still. That's so violent. He could have called the police or told a teacher. Instead, he beat somebody badly enough to put them in the hospital.”

Elise found it difficult to take in. In her previous life, she hadn't transferred to Northbridge, and her old school was some distance away. After the Whitmores found her, she'd barely seen Miles. She had never heard these stories about what he was like at school.

“My brother was... like that?” she asked uncertainly.

The Miles she remembered after the family lost its money had been withdrawn and gloomy, all his energy gone. Before the bankruptcy, had he really been so brash?

“He's always been like that. Nobody around here picks a fight with him.”

“Well, him and Jade Mercer. Those are the two you stay away from.”

Elise looked up immediately at the name.

“What's wrong with Jade?” Nora asked.

She'd heard a little about her. Jade was a girl from a neighboring school. Nora sometimes got nervous just speaking to a teacher; Jade and the girls who hung around with her smoked, had tattoos, fought, and cut classes. Their teachers couldn't control them. Nora could hardly imagine a girl living like that.

Elise's eyes brightened.

In her previous life, she and Jade had been friends. Before any transfer to Northbridge, some troublemakers had followed her one day. Jade had appeared and driven them off. She might have looked like a delinquent, but she wasn't nearly as frightening as she seemed. There was something decent about her.

They'd met again a few times, got to know each other, and become friends. After the Whitmores went bankrupt, Jade had even come to find her with money, wanting to help.

In this life, they hadn't met yet.

The girls' gossip continued around her.

“I heard she and Miles can't stand each other. Whenever their two groups meet, there's an argument.”

“They're both scary. If I see either of them coming, I cross the street.”

Then, all at once, they stopped talking.

“What?” Nora asked.

One of the girls mouthed a name and nodded toward something ahead.

Jade.

Elise followed their gaze. Outside a bubble-tea shop, a slender girl in black was fastening a bicycle to a post. Her locs were tied high on her head, her movements quick and assured. Black tattoos covered an entire arm. Elise couldn't make out the design; against that thin arm, it looked rather intimidating.

Jade finished locking the bike, tossed the keys into the air twice, and went into the shop.

Elise brightened further. They'd been talking about Jade, and here she was.

If you had a second chance, and happened to meet the friend who'd brought you help when you had nothing, would you want to make friends with her again?

Of course you would.

“I've got something to do,” she said quickly. “You go ahead. See you tomorrow.”

She headed straight for the shop.

“Where are you going?” Nora called after her.

The other girls saw the direction she'd taken and grew alarmed.

“She isn't going after Jade, is she?”

“Don't! That's Jade Mercer!”

Elise left their calls behind her and pushed open the door.

The shop wasn't busy. Most of the customers were students from the nearby schools, identifiable by their different uniforms.

Jade and her friends had taken over a table, their legs stretched far into the space around it. Nobody passing dared complain. People carefully stepped around their feet, keeping as far from the table as they could.

Skateboards rested beside the girls' shoes. Jade's was easy to pick out: it had clearly been used for years, its edges and wheels worn down.

The girls laughed and shoved one another, apparently unconcerned that anyone else might be trying to enjoy a drink.

Elise tightened her fingers around her backpack straps. After a moment's hesitation, she went to the counter and bought several cups.

Jade was discussing where to go that evening when someone set the drinks on their table. She looked up.

A girl stood in front of her, long hair falling neatly over her shoulders. Her Northbridge uniform was worn exactly as it should be, a sparkling clip gleaming in her hair. Everything about her looked sweet and well behaved. She was smiling at Jade.

Jade stared back, puzzled.

The whole table fell silent. The other girls, whose clothes and swagger were as conspicuous as Jade's, looked up at the newcomer.

“These are for you,” Elise said. “My treat.”

Jade raised an eyebrow and glanced at the cup in front of her. Passion fruit. Her usual order.

How did this girl know what she liked?

Their table had been the loudest thing in the small shop. When it went quiet, everyone looked over. Once they saw what was happening, several customers looked positively alarmed.

This girl had actually walked up to Jade to start a conversation?

The friends exchanged glances. Jade gave a little laugh.

“You just transferred here?”

Students from the schools nearby usually avoided them as much as possible. They certainly didn't come over for a chat.

Elise nodded, then looked at the skateboards by their feet.

“How about lending me that for a while, in exchange for the drinks?”

Jade looked her over again. From head to toe, she looked like the sort of girl who followed every rule. And she wanted a skateboard?

“You can skate?”

Elise hadn't always known how. In her previous life, after they'd become close, Jade had taught her. Skating was one of Jade's few real passions. Elise had never been as skilled as her friend, but she knew the basics well enough.

She nodded with some confidence.

Jade glanced at her friends. They looked intrigued. She picked up her drink and stood.

“Come on.”

Northbridge stood close to two other high schools. Food and drink shops filled the surrounding streets, and between the three schools lay a public plaza, with a basketball court beside it. Students often came to play after class. The plaza had become a gathering place for all three schools.

People were scattered across it when the girls arrived. They found a comparatively clear stretch and stopped.

Jade set her board down and looked back at Elise.

“Want me to show you first?”

Skating was a good way to get to know her. If Elise could show they shared an interest, becoming friends again would be that much easier.

She shook her head. With one foot, she nudged the edge of the board to turn it into position. Then she stepped on, pushed lightly against the ground with her other foot, and rolled away.

Jade whistled.

“Nice.”

She glanced at her friends. They had squatted off to one side with their drinks, watching with interest.

Elise turned smoothly on the board. She made it look light and easy. The girls began to grin; one cheered. They all liked skating, and there were too few girls around who could do it well. Elise plainly had a solid grounding.

“I like her,” one of them said, making no attempt to hide her admiration. Then she sounded almost regretful. “She's too good, though. She's not really one of us.”

Jade folded her arms and propped one foot on a step.

“What? You've got something against good girls?”

“No. I'm afraid she'll make me feel bad about myself.”

They all laughed.