Page 4 of Knox Academy Omnibus
He goes on to say that we are all adults here and will be treated as such, as long as we do as we are expected. I tune out about halfway through his talk when a younger guy enters the room. He takes a seat near the other teachers, and I elbow Elsie and nod in his direction. “Who’s that?” I whisper. Even though I am fairly sure that he is one of my stepbrothers. Call it a familial connection or sisterly intuition or something.
“That is Sawyer Knox... I told you he was hot.” I nod, my eyes not leaving my oldest stepbrother. These guys are the key to being sent back home, I know they are. I just have to make sure I play my cards right.
After we are all dismissed, Elsie walks me to my first class of the day. A class called SELF, Elsie explains that it is a class that deals with the struggles for teens today. It isn’t a long class, but it is a requirement. The whole school has the same class Friday and Monday mornings after Assembly or whatever they call it over here.
Elsie walks me to my class, then says she will find me for lunch to show me how the system here works, before turning toleave for her own class. I wave her off and quickly slip into the toilet before class, not caring if it makes me late.
Someone enters the bathroom once my cubicle door is shut. I hear her talking for a moment, but when no one replies, I realise she is on the phone to someone. Odd, I thought phones were banned?
“I’m meeting Sawyer at the wine bar in town tonight for dinner. He isn’t interested - yet - but I’m working on it… He finally agreed to a date, but I may have to seduce him into a relationship. His family has money and I’m sick of driving around in that beat up old BMW… I need a man so I can quit this stupid job with these miserable children.” I choose that moment to flush and open the door. The poor girl only looks a few years older than I do. Her face goes red, and I smile coldly, washing my hands in the sink next to her. She politely smiles back. As I head for the door, I hear her start talking again.
“My last class is at seven, I do cheer with the girls. Sawyer will meet me there at eight.”
Well spank my ass and call me Charlie. She just gave me an idea for a birthday gift for myself. Operation 'seduce my stepbrother', part one. I know I’m decent looking, not in a stuck-up kind of way, but I always seem to get attention from boys and men that is usually unwanted. Lucky for me, I have my fake ID that Smalls gave me last year. I do turn eighteen on Tuesday anyway, but God knows what the legal drinking age is over here.
Opening the door to my SELF class, I step inside and the door crashes shut with a loud bang behind me. I can add that to my mental notes: the doors don’t shut slowly or quietly here. How embarrassing - I have drawn the attention of the entire class. As if being new and late wasn’t bad enough, I have to make one hell of an entrance.
“Take a seat. Being new is no excuse for tardiness.” I raise a brow and barely contain a smirk, does anyone say tardy anymore?
“Hot damn my future wife is tardy, even the word sounds naughty,” Kalen says loud enough for everyone to hear and titter. “I can spank you later.” He winks at me this time.
“Kalen, enough,” the teacher chastises.
“Sorry, Mum, but she is your future daughter-in-law.” The class laughs loudly at this and the teacher shakes her head, looking like she’s struggling to hold back a smile. I stand frozen. Kalen’s mum is the teacher?
I take a seat in the front row, the only row with any spare seats, and within five seconds Kalen drops down into the seat to the left of mine and throws an arm over my shoulder.
“I will only tell you this once,” I whisper, hoping his mum doesn’t hear as she paces the room talking about bullying. “Touch me again without my express permission, and I will hurt you.” He laughs but makes no attempt to remove his arm.
“Ugh, for fuck's sake, don’t touch me!” I snap and push his arm off.
“Miss Rossi, pack up your things and go to the principal's office.” The teacher’s glare at me would be sharp enough to cut through glass.
“You’re shitting me, right?” I cry throwing my hands in the air. I always was one for theatrics. I blame the Italian blood on my father’s side.
“I assure you, I’m not ‘shitting you’,” she says, mocking my Australian accent, which infuriates me.
She hands me a slip whilst I curse under my breath about how ridiculous this school is. I make a point of slamming the door extra hard on my way out. Susan directs me in her monotone voice through this maze of fucking hallways, straight to the office.
I walk in and spot a very attractive dark-haired guy seated on one of the white plastic chairs that line the wall. I presume they are there for students waiting to see the principal. He watches me with dark hooded eyes as I storm over to the desk the administration lady sits behind, and slam the slip down in front of her. She barely looks up from the computer screen.
“Take a seat,” is all she says.
Huffing in frustration, I turn and take a seat furthest from the boy who looks like an angel but reeks of sin. I surreptitiously study him from beneath my long lashes, and I decide that my initial assessment of him was right. I can almost see sin pouring from his eyes, like tears of a fallen angel. The distance between us doesn’t stop him from staring, his eyes as black as I imagine his soul is.
The door to the principal's office opens and a girl walks out wiping tears from her eyes. The mysterious boy chuckles.
The principal - aka my almost stepfather - Monty Knox glares at the boy before looking my way.
“Amelie, in my office,” he says brusquely.
I stand, slinging my backpack over my shoulder. The black-eyed boy watches me. I wink at him as I pass by. Monty ushers me into his office, pulling out a big leather chair for me to sit on, before he rounds his massive wooden desk and takes his seat. His silence gives me time to take in my surroundings whilst he briefly checks something on his computer. I have a habit of noticing all the possible exits in a room. One door, four windows, all of which look like they are bolted shut. But I think the glass could easily be broken with a bookend from the massive bookcase that lines the entire back wall. Maybe. I’m pretty strong.
“I wouldn’t suggest making friends with Baxter Branson, he isn’t the best company to keep.” That’s the opening gambit my stepdaddy decides to go with? Telling me who to be ‘friends’with? Like I’m going to listen. The dark angel outside just got a whole lot more appealing.
“I don’t know, he seems like my kind of person,” I only say that since he made a point to start our interaction with a warning. Clearly, my mother hadn't informed him of the company I kept back home. I get why my mother would have wanted out. I just don’t understand why she couldn’t have taken her children with her, but I’ve come to terms with that now. Almost. The people I grew up around may not be law abiding citizens, but they care about me and would do anything for me.
“I’m sure you’re aware this is a school for children who have taken a wrong turn in life...some of their crimes are worse than others. I suggest you be careful of the company you keep.” I raise a brow at him, wanting to throw out comments about their so-called clean slates, but I keep them to myself. “Now I hear you made quite an entrance into your SELF class.”
