Chapter 37

Dylan was still trying to make sense of the workbook that had just come down on his head. He exchanged a look with the other boys. They looked as lost as he felt.

Elise was Miles's sister? His actual sister?

Come to think of it, Miles had once mentioned a little sister who'd gone missing when she was small. His family had found her again recently. That was Elise?

He'd hardly spoken about her afterward. They'd assumed the two of them weren't close and hadn't given it another thought. Now, apparently, she was the most important person in his life.

Miles had set aside his feud with Jade for her. He was studying for a few words of praise from her. All this time, their terrifying friend had been a devoted big brother waiting to happen.

Dylan found that harder to believe than the girlfriend theory. Miles would hit someone over the slightest disagreement, yet he had a little sister he wanted to protect from everything.

What kind of world were they living in?

Having worked off his temper on Dylan, Miles used the workbook to fan the sweat from his forehead.

His phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out with his free hand, then paused at the name on the screen.

Blake Turner.

Miles had different friends for different things. Dylan and the others were the boys he hung around with, talking nonsense and killing time. Blake shared his interest in racing.

In his previous life, Miles had inherited a fortune from his parents and spent his days doing very little with it. He hated studying. Racing had given him something to do, and gradually he'd needed more excitement to keep himself entertained. Once he'd tried everything he could on race circuits around the country, even those had begun to bore him.

Then he'd met Blake, who'd introduced him to mountain-road races and events that nobody had sanctioned. They were dangerous. Things went wrong easily. That was part of the attraction.

After the family went bankrupt, Miles had entered those same races for money. He'd gambled with his life and ended up in the accident that ruined his leg.

Now he wanted to knock some sense into his former self. Even before the bankruptcy, surviving those roads unhurt had been pure luck.

“Hey,” he said, answering.

“You're back?” Blake exchanged a few pleasantries before getting to the point. “There's a race the night after tomorrow. Western outskirts, that stretch with the bend everyone says is the tightest around. You wanted to try it, remember? Ten o'clock. Want me to pick you up?”

They were about the same age, and they'd hit it off over the same complaint: ordinary tracks had become too predictable. Blake had always liked the way Miles came alive when he called about a race, grateful to have something worth getting out of bed for.

He made a point of inviting him whenever a new event came up. Miles was good, too. Turning up with him gave Blake something to boast about.

This time, Miles sounded uninterested.

“No, thanks.”

Blake hesitated.

“So you'll make your own way there?”

“I mean I'm not going.” Miles explained it again, patiently. “Don't call me about those races anymore.”

For several seconds, Blake said nothing. Had Miles suddenly become someone else? He'd always been eager before. Now he didn't even want to hear about the next one?

“What's going on with you? Something happen? You've lost interest in racing?”

Blake frowned at his end of the call. He'd liked Miles's nerve, the way nothing on a road seemed to frighten him. Had he suddenly lost that, too?

Across the plaza, Elise turned lightly on her skateboard. Jade and the girls around her cheered. Watching his sister, Miles felt his expression soften.

In his previous life, he'd had money to burn, no real purpose, and brothers he barely spoke to. He'd taken his car up those roads without much concern for what happened to him.

Now he watched Elise skate back toward her friends.

“Nothing happened,” he said quietly. “I just don't feel like it anymore. You can still call me about sanctioned races.”

Once, there hadn't seemed to be anyone he needed to stay alive for. Now there was someone he wanted to look after.

If Blake thought he'd lost his nerve, fine. Miles was afraid of getting hurt again. If something happened to him, his sister would have one less person in the world to protect her.

Elise was still flushed and excited from skating when they got home. She hadn't quite reached the door when Daniel came out to meet her.

“Miss Elise, the tutor Mr. Whitmore arranged for you is here. Would you like to meet him now, or a little later?”

For a moment, she stared. Then she remembered.

English composition was still her weak point. She'd worked through books on essay technique, but they had only taken her so far. Something about it continued to elude her. In her other subjects, her practice scores kept stopping seven or eight points short of a hundred.

Julian had seen how seriously she took her studies and offered to find her a tutor.

In her previous life, she'd stayed at her old high school. Its teachers and teaching resources couldn't compare with Northbridge's. She'd never been one of those students who understood everything at once. Three years of hard work hadn't got her into the university she wanted.

This time, she had the advantage of having lived those years already. She remembered what she'd learned throughout high school, and she hadn't stopped studying during her four years at university, either. High-school questions came far more easily now. She'd kept working at them since coming back, determined to make the most of the chance.

This time, she was going to get into her dream university.

And a tutor Julian had chosen would surely be good. Perhaps this was what she needed to get past the point where she'd been stuck.

“I'll meet him now,” she said at once.

Miles followed her inside and heard the exchange with some surprise.

She was that enthusiastic about studying? Julian had even hired someone to teach her at home.

When she'd urged Miles to work harder, he'd thought she was simply worried about him. Apparently, school mattered to her this much all the time.

Northbridge reviewed its course groups through placement assessments at the midpoint and end of each semester. If he could get into her group, he'd have more chances to spend time with her. And with her own brother sitting in the same class, nobody would dare bully her again.

Her grades had been average in their previous life. If he worked hard enough to reach the school average before the next assessment, perhaps they could end up together.

The thought gave him a fresh burst of determination.

On her way to the living room, Elise stopped and turned. Her brother had been making an effort lately, too.

“Miles, do you want to meet him with me?”

His face stiffened.

He'd started paying attention in class today. Even if her grades were ordinary, she was still a long way ahead of him. He remained firmly at the bottom.

The tutor would find him out in minutes. Worse, Elise would be right there to see it.

“No. We're working at different levels. I'll study in my room.”

He hurried upstairs before she could ask again. He really was going to study. By the next placement assessment, he was going to be good enough to join her class.

Elise considered his answer. It made sense, so she let him go.

Julian looked up as she entered the living room. The severity left his face immediately.

“Ellie, come here. This is Mr. Collins.”

Finding her a tutor had given him a considerable headache. Having promised, he'd wanted the best teacher he could get.

Mr. Collins had experience, standing, and a long list of students. An even longer list of families wanted him to take their children on. He guarded his reputation carefully, which meant he was extremely particular about whom he taught. Quite a few of his former students had gone on to the country's most selective universities.

Julian had begun by treating him with the respect due to an accomplished teacher. He'd requested a meeting several days in advance. Mr. Collins had proved remarkably difficult to pin down. Daniel had tried persuasion, generous offers, and pressure, only to receive the same answer: the man couldn't find the time.

His meaning had been clear enough. He didn't want to teach Elise.

Eventually, Julian had run out of patience and used the advantage he'd been trying to leave out of it: who he was.

If that was what it took to get his sister a good teacher, he could live with it.

Mr. Collins was in his late forties, with deep lines running from his nose to the corners of his mouth. They gave him a severe look even before he cast a proud, displeased glance over Elise.

He'd helped many students prepare for university. Few tutors in the state could match his record of getting them into the very best schools. As his reputation grew, he'd raised his standards for accepting new pupils. Clever students with strong academic foundations stood a better chance of winning those places, and every successful applicant added to his name.

His lessons were extraordinarily expensive. Even so, money alone wouldn't persuade him to take someone without the ability. If a struggling child went around telling people who their tutor was, his reputation would suffer.

Then Julian had come looking for him. How many children from families like that were willing to work?

He'd tried putting him off several times. Unfortunately, the head of Whitmore Group could be very forceful when he chose. Mr. Collins had finally come to the house, unwillingly.

He already had a plan. A few lessons should be enough. The girl would complain that the work was too hard, fail to keep up, or refuse to make an effort. Then he'd have a perfectly reasonable explanation for ending the arrangement.

A child who wouldn't study and lacked the ability to learn was hardly his fault.

“Hello, Mr. Collins. I'm Elise.”

She stood in front of him politely, without a trace of the spoiled defiance he'd expected. Some of his irritation subsided.

“Which subjects do you need help with? Or...” He paused and reconsidered the question. “Which subjects do you feel confident you don't need help with?”

Even as he asked, he thought it was a waste of breath. He'd seen her scores from last semester. They were thoroughly ordinary across the board.

Elise gave the question serious consideration.

“Composition is my weakest area. There's room for improvement in all my other subjects, too.”

As he'd thought. His expression cooled, and he turned to Julian.

“I'll put together a detailed schedule for your sister. First, I'd like her to work through some practice papers so I can assess her level.”

“Of course,” Julian said.

Testing her first was sensible. He gestured to Daniel, who bent toward him to listen.

“Pay him three times his usual lesson fee.”

Mr. Collins's reputation spoke for itself, but his reluctance had been obvious. Perhaps a better fee would persuade him to give Elise the attention she deserved.

Daniel had cleared out a room and equipped it with a blackboard, desks, and teaching supplies. It looked like a classroom in miniature. Once Elise went inside, Julian returned to his study and began working.

When he finished the work in front of him and checked the time, it was ten o'clock.

He frowned. More than two hours had passed since Elise went into the room. Did the tutor usually teach for this long?

Julian got up and stepped out of his study just as Mr. Collins emerged with a bundle of papers in his arms.

The man's face was flushed. Excited scarcely covered it. He looked as though he'd been handed something he'd never dared hope for.

With limited time, he'd selected representative questions at different levels of difficulty from the papers for each subject. He hadn't finished marking them, but he'd stood beside Elise as she worked. His expression had gone from surprise to disbelief and finally to delight.

He hardly needed to finish grading to see how much she'd answered correctly. Her essays did have the weaknesses she'd described. In everything else, she was only a few points away from a perfect score.

Mr. Collins clapped Julian on the shoulder.

“Your sister is going to do extraordinary things for this country! I've taught all sorts of students, and I've never met anyone so bright. It's an honor to have her. Once I've taught her, I could retire a happy man.”

Julian slowly lowered his gaze to the hand on his shoulder.

What had happened in that room?

The man had gone in looking as though everything offended him. Now he seemed to be someone else entirely.

“And please don't bring in another tutor,” Mr. Collins added earnestly. “I'm the one who can teach her properly. I will teach her properly. You can leave her to me.”

Julian raised an eyebrow. He wasn't quite sure how to answer.

Then he remembered his instructions to Daniel. Three times the fee.

So even a distinguished teacher could be won over with money? It hadn't taken him long to change his attitude.

Julian let none of that show. He smiled faintly.

“Then... we'll be counting on you?”

Mr. Collins nodded, smiling so broadly his eyes almost disappeared.

Another future student at one of the country's most selective universities. He could already see the addition to his record. How could he contain himself?

He'd let his prejudice get the better of him. Apparently, even a family this wealthy could produce an exceptional student.

As he headed downstairs, his voice carried back to Julian, loud with pleasure.

“I'll be telling people Elise is my student. A student like that needs a teacher like me. Ha!”

Early the next morning, Elise ran into Miles on her way downstairs.

He couldn't stop yawning. When she looked more closely, she could see red threading the whites of his eyes.

“Miles, did you get any sleep last night?”

He opened his heavy eyes and nodded at the question, his bag hanging loosely over his back.

“I stayed up working on problems.”

He'd never worked this hard in his life. His handwriting was as ugly as ever, but after a whole night of exercises, at least he recognized some formulas. The pages no longer looked entirely incomprehensible.

He looked at her expectantly.

Elise was surprised. Ever since she'd encouraged him, he'd been growing more enthusiastic. Praise really did work on him.

But the sight of his tired face worried her.

“It's good to work hard. You need to look after yourself, too.”

His eyes brightened. She was worried about him.

A single sentence, and he could almost forget how tired he was.

Downstairs, Adrian was sitting at the breakfast table, looking nearly as sleepy as Miles.

“You're back?” Elise asked.

She hadn't seen him for days. When she'd asked Julian, he'd only said Adrian was busy with something.

Adrian had been slouching in his chair. At the sight of her, he immediately perked up.

“I am. Did you miss me, Ellie?”

Then Miles appeared behind her on the stairs.

Adrian's brow lifted in displeasure.

“What's he doing here?”

Julian glanced at his brothers and went on eating with composed, unhurried movements.

“He moved back in.”

Miles and Adrian had never got along. Neither of them was particularly restrained by nature. Miles resented his second brother's attempts to tell him what to do, and Adrian found almost everything about the short-tempered boy irritating.

He'd arrived after midnight. For the past few days, he'd been dealing with the business of leaving his record company. As soon as he'd finished what he needed to do, he'd caught the next flight home.

While he was away, he'd kept messaging Elise to remind her he existed. She was always in class or studying, and her replies had been painfully brief.

Thinking about them still made him feel neglected.

He'd gone to school to help her over the ruined backpack, only for Julian to steal all the attention. She treated their eldest brother so differently. Just as Adrian had been trying to work out how to make her notice him, the record-company business had forced him to fly away again.

Now he'd finally come back, and there was Miles to contend with, too.

Why had the boy changed so suddenly? Julian had been the same. Had Miles discovered what Hannah had done to Elise and begun feeling guilty? Was this his attempt to make up for it?

Adrian remembered his brother's record of hitting teachers and bullying students. His brow drew tight.

“Watch yourself at school. Don't you dare bully Ellie.”

There was no telling what Miles would do when his temper went. Having him at the same school as their sister hardly seemed safe.

Miles gave a cold snort.

“You're never home, and you're lecturing me?”

Adrian could talk all he wanted about looking after her. When Miles had returned, he'd been nowhere to be seen.

“Even when I'm away, I check on her,” Adrian retorted. “You took off to amuse yourself as soon as summer break started.”

Miles had no answer for that.

He hadn't come back to this life then. If he'd known, he would never have gone on that trip. He'd have spent every possible minute getting close to his sister.

The subject only made Adrian angrier. In their previous life, Miles had been closest to Elise in age and still managed to ignore her.

His expression grew unusually dark.