Page 2 of Reign of the Queen
"Oh, I am sure it will come to you where we have met before, but in the meantime, I'm Mia Stratford." I smirk at her curious, self-righteous face, not bothering to offer her a hand or anything else in greeting.
Just as I prepare to grab Raegan's arm and extract us away from Melinda, promptly dismissing the red demon bitch, the back of my neck tingles and a shudder runs down my spine, alerting me to the king's presence at my back. I shift my body slightly so I’m not at a disadvantage with them behind me, turning Raegan simultaneously so she moves a step or two in the direction I want her to go.
I hear the sound of a groan and a sharp intake of breath reaches my ears before I'm accosted with various tantalizing cologne scents.
"Rae, who's your friend?" Carter asks Raegan while slowly undressing me with his grayish-blue eyes. Ones that to this day still haunt my nightmares.
I cock my brow dismissively, appraising them one by one with a smug expression on my face. When I get to the last one, Theo, I make sure I grimace as if I find him the most appalling; I add in a quick repulsed look, too, just for good measure.
"Carter, always a shitty way to start a day with you speaking to me; thanks for that. My friend's name is Mia, and she's a hundred percent not interested in catching a disease from you." Raegan turns to face me and lets out a loud snort.
"Mia, whom?" Theo raises his eyebrow in question, clenching his strong jaw, irritation pouring off of him.I guess he doesn't like to be dismissed.
I give him a pitying look filled to the brim with distaste. "Stratford, if you must know. Mia Stratford, of the Manhattan Stratford's." Straightening my posture to reflect the queen I am from the east coast and making sure my poker face is on tight.
"A New Yorker, huh? I definitely don't know any Mia's from New York." Melinda lets out in suspicion, her penetrating glare still fixed firmly on me. Maybe she’s hoping to scare me away with that look?Good luck with that, bitch. I'm not going anywhere. Stronger than you have tried and failed.
"Well, pretty Manhattan lady, let me introduce myself. I will be the guy you'll be spending as much time with as possible, also known as Mateo Cabano." He reaches out to take my hand and then proceeds to bend and kiss the inside of my wrist.
I yank my wrist back from his grip and warm lips, giving him my most charming, seductive smile. "Will I now?" I give him a slow, heated look from his white Nike Air Jordan donned feet to the top of his messy, dark, wavy chin-length hair. He inhales a small breath when I edge closer to him. He leans slightly forward, bringing his delicious scent closer, and then I whisper-shout, "I don't see why I would."
Raegan lets out a snort-filled laugh, not even attempting to hide her satisfaction at my comment. Mateo straightens his posture, staring at me with disbelief. I guess he can't believe there are girls out there that don't immediately fall at his shitty entitled feet when he puts on the charm. Finn tilts his head, lifting his lips into a smirk at Mateo's failure.Interesting.
Finn reaches out his hand as if in offer to shake mine.
"Welcome, Mia. I'm Finn. The charming idiot you've already met is Mateo, the idiot to my right, Carter, and behind you is Theo." When I don't offer my hand back, he lets his fall back to his side, eyebrow raised.
I give each of them a slight nod. "Charmed, I'm sure." I raise my eyebrow and look at Raegan, who is absolutely enjoying this whole interaction; she's just missing popcorn. "Shall we go, Raegan? I will need to locate my locker."
"Yeah, of course." Raegan moves forward with me as I head toward the school's front steps.
We slow our pace, taking the stairs one at a time as my gaze moves over the different groups of students standing around waiting for classes to start. I turn my neck and tune out everything around me so I can try to catch the sound of their voices and conversation.
I stop to offer a blond-haired boy who's gawking at me one of my practiced dazzling smiles. As he catches my unexpected smile directed at him, he almost falls down two steps. I move quickly to grab his elbow to stop him from falling. "You, ok?" I ask in the sweetest voice I can produce, loud enough to ensure the others can hear our conversation.
"Umm yeah… sorry… yeah, thanks." He stumbles over his words, a deep flush creeping up along his long neck and painting his cheeks with a shade of crimson.
"What's your name?" I ask him, giving him another flirty smile.
"Ahh, umm, Spencer Simcoe, and... you are?" He straightens his lanky body to his full six-foot height. His eyes are so wide open, I'm half expecting him to hoot like an owl. He's actually kind of cute in a dorky Dan fromGossip Girlway.
I give him my hand to shake. "Mia Stratford. I'm new here."
He looks at my hand, first unsure of what he should do with it, as if a female has never offered to shake hands with him before. Then he shrugs, takes my hand into his warm one, and gives me a firm, short shake. "Very nice to meet you, Mia… um, welcome."
"Well, I should go find my locker. Hopefully I'll see you around, Spencer." I lift the corner of my painted lips to give him a lopsided smile, then stroll back to where Raegan is standing watching the show.
"Lord, that poor boy looks thunderstruck; like he just met God, or something. Bless his sweet little heart." Smirking, she climbs the stairs. "You should have seen their faces, watching you interact with Spencer. If looks could kill, poor Spencer would be getting ready for a casket based on the look Mateo was giving him."
"Too bad for Mateo, assholes don't appeal to me." I shrug. As I turn back toward the building, I take one last look outside and see the "kings" approaching Spencer with Melinda hot on their heels.
The first line of attack: Commenced.
Mia 2, Kings 0.
"Did that actually just happen?" I drag my hand roughly through my hair, gripping the ends and look around at my friends.
"You mean did that hot as fuck girl just completely walk away from you and "Mr. Latin Lover" over here? Yeah, pretty sure that just happened." Finn chuckles.
