Chapter 2

Two years later,

Senior year. Last year before Cambridge.

Can I skip the entire thing and somehow still end up in

Cambridge?

According to the obligatory grades’ system, that’s impossible.

The Mini Cooper swerves in the school’s car park so hard, the tires

screech in protest.

I gasp. “Kim!”

She grins at me as if she didn’t almost run us into a pole. “What? Silver

almost got the spot and I’m not letting that bitch walk all over me

anymore.”

My lips pull in a smile. I’m so proud of how far Kim has come during

this summer. She went on a camping trip for self-spirituality and came back

as this confident, smiley girl.

If only I could let go of my inner chaos as successfully as her.

She stares at her face in the rearview mirror. “How do I look?”

Another thing about Kim’s trip? She lost more than twenty pounds and

returned with this model-like body. Even her face has thinned, giving her

cheekbones an alluring edge. Although I do miss her chubby cheeks. Themint-green coloured highlights make her appear like a fairy. She wore her

skirt short, too short. Like a gust of wind can show her underwear, short.

I release my seatbelt. “You were always pretty, Kim.”

“Only to you, Ellie.” She rolls her eyes. “And my dad, but you guys

don’t count.”

“Hey,” I scowl. “Rude.”

She sticks out her tongue. Determination sparking in her deep green

eyes. “Today, I’ll show all those suckers what I’m made of. I’ll walk with

my head held high like you.”

I can’t help the awkward smile breaking free. Kim thinks I’m that

courageous, but she doesn’t know the entire truth.

Silver bangs on Kim’s window, her nostrils flaring. “You fat bitch!”

Two of her minions follow after her like she’s their mama duck. They’re

all huffing and puffing, but I doubt it has anything to do with the weather.

Silver Queens is every bit the cliché of a mean girl. Blonde. Tall.

Slender. Her mother is a member of the parliament. Her father is a minister.

She also belongs to the school’s best students. Aka, the top ten per cent.

She has it all and makes sure everyone in Royal Elite School — or RES

— knows it.

Kim lowers her window, grins at Silver, and flips her middle finger.

“Fuck you, bitch.”

Silver and her minions’ jaws drop so hard, so fast, they turn speechless.

I’m speechless, too.

My best friend doesn’t curse and she certainly doesn’t flip people off —

or bullies, to be more specific.

Kim didn’t only change in appearance. Nuh-uh. The world needs

whatever self-confidence training she had.

“Let’s go, Elle.” Kim opens her door, pushing the dumbfounded mean girls back

I take my backpack and exit, too. I hold my head high as I stare down at

Silver.

“What are you looking at, Frozen?” Silver snarls.

Of course.

The beloved nickname at RES.

But it’s not because of the Disney film. No.

Since the first day I walked into RES, I’ve been instantly marked as an

outcast.

Kim and I were the butt-end of every fat and nerd joke. While Kim –

the old Kim – hid in the garden behind the school until everyone went to

class, I walked the hallway with my head held high.

Aunt and Uncle didn’t raise me to be stepped on. I kept to myself, but I

never let them touch my dignity.

Apparently, I have an epic resting bitch face. Thus the nickname.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” I keep my expression neutral as I meet Silver’s

malicious eyes. “You’re not important enough for me to stare at.”

I interlace my arm with Kim and walk into the school’s huge doors. The

ten towers appear eerie like they belong to a horror film, not a prestigious

old architecture.

But then again, that’s how I categorised RES since that first day.

My hands turn clammy and my body tightens as if I’m off to battle.

Kim smiles, but it’s forced and makes her nose twitch in anxiousness.

“We’ve got this,” I say more to myself than to her.

One more year in this hell.

One more year until Cambridge.

Kim’s head bobs up and down, causing her mint-coloured strands to

bounce.

“If we die,” I joke. “I want to go in full Shakesperian mode. Tragedy.”

She laughs, the sound is throaty. “For thy love of thee!”We break into a fit of laughter as we head down the vast, main hallway.

The school’s golden logo, Crest-Lion-Crown decorates the entrance hall

and the announcement board.

The moment we cross the entrance area and step into the hallways filled

with other students, the real nightmare starts.

“Hey, Frozen. Did you freeze any beaches this summer?”

“Where’s your fat friend?”

“Is she stuffing her pregnant belly with carbs?”

Kim’s grip tightens on my arm. I can’t believe they don’t even

recognise her.

Truth be told, I had to look at her twice after the summer camp to make

sure it was her.

“Are you still swallowing cocks, Teacher Sl*t?”

I bite my lower lip against the rolling wave of anger. That particular

rumour makes me want to hit someone.

Two years ago, after the entire class went out, I dropped my pen in

biology. When I dropped down on my knees to pick it up, my hair got

caught in the table — cliché, I know. Mr Silvester, the biology teacher,

helped me out by untangling my hair.

Apparently, one of the dickheads here saw that moment and spread the

rumour that I was giving our biology teacher a blowjob before he fucked

me in class. Right before the exam — that I had a perfect score on.

Since then, I’ve been labelled a teacher sl*t.

Whenever I get a perfect score, it means I slept with the teacher.

But of course, no one talks about how Levi King, the oldest of the two

kings, slept with a teacher. For real. They were caught in the act by the

principal himself.

Nope. He gets a pass. The teacher gets thrown out of the educational system and she had to flee the country, basically, and his guardian, the mighty Jonathan King, CEO of King

Enterprises, got an official apology from RES.

Levi King got out of it unscathed. In fact, he became more popular,

more loved, more admired.

Why? Because his last name is King.

And the Kings hold more power than the actual queen of this country.

Levi King was idolised for fucking the teacher.

I’m called a teacher sl*t for unfound rumours

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