Page 28 of The Darkest Note

Finn rises from his chair.

The brothers look somber and formidable.

He releases me and I wilt against the wall, a hand to my chest as my heart bangs against my ribs.

I look up through the fringe of hair that’s falling in front of my face. Dutch is prowling in front of the instruments, his stare burning with disdain for me. I’m barely human to him. Barely worth respect.

Tears prick the back of my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. With what’s left of my dignity, I pin the hole in my shirt closed.

Since I was a kid growing up in the shadows of poverty, I was always desperate. Gasping for air, for a chance to be free. With mom strung out and my little sister looking to me for food, I had no choice but to wear my poverty on my sleeve.

There were some in my neighborhood who could hide the stench of neglect and hopelessness, but I wasn’t one of them. I wore my pain like a badge around my neck and kept my brokenness right at the surface.

It’s why I was so elated when I heard that Redwood Prep still used uniforms. Finally, I could blend in and be something close to normal. Finally, people wouldn’t be able to look at me and know.Knowthat mom’s arms were riddled with needle marks. Know that our beds were inflatable mattresses for most of my childhood. Know that hot meals were a commodity and hot water was a magical unicorn that existed in storybooks.

Leave Redwood Prep?

I think about Viola and her excitement when she heard I’d gotten into Redwood.

‘You’ve got to be kidding me? That’s so cool. They’ve got, like, all the coolest kids there. I follow all of their make-up channels!’

She’d be heartbroken to see me leave the castle in the clouds, not only empty-handed but a quitter.

Because of Redwood, my sister had hope the way I did. A way out. A different way. One that had nothing to do with selling her body or her dreams to scrape through the bottom of the barrel for opportunities.

It means too much. Redwood. The scholarship. It means everything. And I won’t let Dutch Spawn-of-Evil Cross pry it out of my hands.

“I don’t care what you do,” I cry out hoarsely, “I’m not leaving Redwood unless they’re carrying out my cold, dead body.”

His sinister laughter is the last thing I expect, but it bursts out of his mouth and it’s somehow more frightening than any of the scowls and glares that came before it.

The laughter tells me he’s not concerned in the least. It tells me I’m a mouse in front of a lion, one whose demise is inevitable and he’ll toy around with his meal until it bores him.

The weight of what I’m up against presses into me when I see Finn and Zane trot to Dutch and flank him on either side. They make a formidable picture with their broad shoulders, long legs and chilly, beautiful faces.

“Let’s see how long you hold out.” He glances at his brothers. “I gave her a chance. You satisfied?”

Finn dips his chin.

Zane frowns.

Hazel eyes burn into me. “Just know that we asked you nicely first.” He steps forward, his sneakers kissing mine. “Welcome to Redwood Prep.”

If I wasn’t sure that his brothers would block me, I’d grab his guitar and bash it in his face.

Instead, I lift my chin and stalk past them. They let me, not chasing me even when I throw the door open and stalk outside. Students stop in their tracks when they see me leaving their private practice room. Astonished gasps ripple like pops of fire.

‘What was she doing in there?’

‘Is she dating one of the Kings?’

‘Who is that girl? I’ve never seen her before’.

Their whispers follow me as I charge away from The King’s lair and stumble down the hallway like a woman possessed.

Did that just happen? Or was it a nightmare ripped straight out of a horror novel?

No, no, no.