Page 22 of I Don’t Need Your Protection (Harrington Bay Academy #1)

Addie

My friends and I are eating breakfast in the dining hall the next day.

Caleb is a few tables down, picking at his food while glancing around.

Oddly, we didn’t argue this morning. I’m getting used to being woken up by his trumpet, even if it still ticks me off.

He didn’t have to demand I get ready for school like he did the previous days.

And after he left to his room to dress into his uniform, taking precisely three minutes, he followed me and my friends to the dining hall.

My friends are chatting about different events that will take place this week. Tests and such, a football game on Friday, where our team is expected to win, and Parents’ Day on Sunday.

“Wait, what’s Parents’ Day?” I ask.

“When the parents come and hang out with their kids for a day,” Raven informs me. “Some students look forward to it while others don’t. I can’t wait to see my mom, dad, and little sister.”

Parent’s Day? But what about me? I don’t have any parents, and there’s a high chance my grandfather won’t come. No one is allowed to know who I am.

I guess no family will be visiting me.

“My parents and brother are coming,” Carly says. “Can’t wait to see my parents, but my brother?” She twists her nose. “Bleh.”

“What’s wrong with your brother?” I ask.

“Nothing. He just gets on my nerves sometimes. Fine, all the time. He’s a year older and goes to the local high school back home. He used to break my dolls’ heads off their bodies when we were younger.”

“You’re lucky you have a sibling,” I tell her. “I’m an only child.”

Sophie holds up her hand. “Same here.” She’s wearing a solemn expression on her face. “But it wasn’t always like that. I had an older sister and brother who died in a car accident. I was only three and barely remember them.”

I pat her arm while Carly rubs her hand and Raven her back. “What happened, if I may ask?” I say.

She pushes a brave smile on her face. “They were in high school. It was a party, I think. They weren’t drinking or anything, but their car collided with another and they flipped over. They died instantly. My brother was driving.”

“I’m really sorry,” I say.

She smiles sadly. “Thanks. I just wish I remembered them more.”

“Do your parents talk about them?”

Her shoulders droop as she sighs. “Not a lot. I think it’s too painful for them. When I was younger, I asked many questions and they tried as best as they could to answer them all. But it got to be too much and I eventually stopped.”

“What were your siblings like?” I say.

“Very competitive, especially in sports. They were twins, but they were so different. My brother, Adam, was a huge flirt and very goofy, while my sister, Gina, was more serious. She loved to read, too. Most of the books in my house are hers. I wanted to bring some here freshman year, but I was worried they’d get lost or damaged. ”

I smile. “It’s great that you have a connection to her.”

“Yeah. And I think I share the craziness with my brother.”

Raven is about to say something, but heels clack on the floor. Clarissa struts to our table. She wears a bright smile on her face as she comes to stand above me. “Hey, Addie.” She takes in the others. “Hey, guys.”

Sophie, Carly, and Raven exchange confused and suspicious looks. I know what they’re thinking—why is she here and talking to us? But she seems genuine enough, just like she was at Nila’s party.

I smile up at her. “Hi, Clarissa.”

She sizes up my uniform. I think I look pretty cute. Maybe not as pretty as her, though. She doesn’t seem to think low of me as she still wears that bright smile. “You mind if I sit?”

Again, my friends exchange a glance .

“Why?” Raven asks with furrowed eyebrows and uncertain eyes. Her body is poised in this protective mode that I haven’t seen on her yet.

Clarissa giggles. “Relax, Raven. I’m not up to no good. I just realized that we don’t talk much. You guys are the brains of the school and it’s a shame we don’t know anything about each other.”

I notice her friends watching from the popular table.

They’re just as confused as my friends are.

Warner is also at the table, but he’s busy messing around with his buddies and doesn’t pay attention to us.

Or me. We’re meeting after school to work on our project.

I wonder if he’s as excited about hanging out with me as I am with him.

It seems like Clarissa doesn’t care that her friends are shooting her “what the heck?” looks. She’s the queen, anyway, from what I gather, so I guess she doesn’t care what they think of her.

She sits down and smiles again. “So…what are we talking about?”

Raven narrows her eyes, Sophie’s a little wary, while Carly seems to be warming up to her a little.

I don’t know her well, but I want to give her a chance. Maybe she really does want to get to know us scholarship kids better. “Parents’ Day,” I tell her. “We’re all looking forward to it.”

I can’t help being a little jealous and sad. Their parents are coming. Mine are no longer with me, and the only family I have left needs to keep his distance from me .

Clarissa rolls her eyes. “My parents are only coming because they need to show what great parents they are. You think they give a darn about me or the school?” She snorts. “They’d rather take the jet and fly to some exotic island where they can forget they even have a daughter.”

“Wow…really?” I blurt.

She shrugs as she flicks some dirt off her blazer. “Well, I’m sure they have some love for me somewhere in their hearts. Deep, deep down. But forget about me. Are your parents coming?”

They all tell her yes, while my gaze drops to my food. I feel bad for her that her parents don’t make time for her, but at least she has parents. Even if they fight or aren’t close, there’s always a chance to fix that. To be close again.

“What about you, Addie?” Clarissa wants to know.

I snap back in and find all pairs of eyes on me. I force a smile. “Oh, I’m not sure yet. But hopefully.”

Clarissa talks about random things before she tells us she had fun chatting and then joins her friends at their table.

All four of us watch her go, Raven scowling. “I don’t like what just happened,” she says. “Not one bit.”

I shrug. “She seemed nice.”

“Yeah, that’s the problem. She’s never spoken to us before. Either she pretended we didn’t exist or she made faces at us.”

Carly keeps her eyes on Clarissa’s table for a bit. “I don’t know. Maybe Addie is right and she does want to be friendly with us.”

We turn to Sophie to hear her opinion .

She holds up her hands. “I don’t want to try to figure out what goes on in her brain. Can’t I just read my book?”

“Sure you can,” Raven says. “But I’m keeping an eye on her.”

I want to tell her she’s starting to sound like Caleb, but I bite my tongue. Instead I go with, “I’m giving her the benefit of the doubt. I think people can change.”

Carly says, “But why would she all of a sudden talk to us?”

“Because she’s trying to be nice?” I supply.

“Maybe because she sees Warner is getting close to you and she wants to get to know you better,” Carly suggests. “Maybe she thinks you’ll be part of the popular kids now.”

Raven makes a face. “I don’t think so, but fine. If you want to give her the benefit of the doubt, I won’t argue.”

“You have a good heart and see the good in people, Addie,” Sophie adds. “So maybe you see something in her that the rest of us don’t.”

“Thanks.”

As I turn to look at the popular table, my eyes catch sight of Caleb.

His eyebrows are knitted as he watches me.

Did he hear the conversation we had with Clarissa?

Is he suspicious as well? Well, I don’t care what he thinks.

I’m going to have an open mind and judge for myself whether she was genuine or not.

And right now, I’m convinced she was just trying to be nice.

The bell rings. The others and I exit the door and I find Caleb walking among the throng of students. I rush to catch up to him .

“I have a question,” I whisper.

“Is it important?”

“Yeah, kind of.”

He stops walking, causing many other kids to bang into us as they scramble to leave the dining hall.

Caleb pulls me into a room that looks like a huge pantry. My mouth gapes open as I look around. “That’s a lot of food,” I say in wonder.

“Your question?” he asks. “And please make it quick. We’ll be late for class.”

We’re standing close, even though there’s enough room in here. “It’s about Parents’ Day. Have you heard about it?”

He dips his head.

“How does that work? I mean, I’m assuming my grandfather isn’t coming.”

“You’re assuming correctly.”

Even though I suspected it, it’s a little disappointing that no one will be visiting me. “Won’t it be suspicious that no one will come?”

“A man and woman will be arriving as your parents.”

I stare at him. “So…fake parents.”

He dips his head again.

I don’t know what’s worse. Having no parents or fake ones. My throat tightens as I think about Mom and Dad who will never see me in this uniform or attend this prestigious school where I have every opportunity to chase whatever dreams I want.

Caleb must notice the look on my face because his eyes soften. He bends close to whisper, “I know this isn’t the life you envisioned for yourself. I’m sorry, but it has to be this way.”

“Yeah. I mean, I get it. Unless I want to return to my grandfather in a coffin…”

He searches my eyes. “I don’t think your safety is something to joke about, Addilyn.”

I throw my hands up. “How else am I supposed to handle the fact that there are people out there who want to kill me?”

“I understand this is hard.”

“Understatement. I don’t want fake parents. I want my…I want my…” My voice chokes up as tears flash in my eyes.

His face fills with even more sympathy and that just makes me want to get as far away from him as possible. I don’t need or want his pity.

Just as he makes a move to reach for me, I twist around. “I’m going to class.”

He doesn’t say anything as he follows me to first period. My friends were wondering where I was and I make an excuse that I had to take care of something.

After I sit down, I feel eyes on me. Caleb, sitting in his usual seat where he has a clear view of me, watches me. He doesn’t have that pity expression on his face anymore. Now it’s intense, like normal.

I didn’t have a chance to ask him if anyone is coming to see him on Parents’ Day—fake or real. Knowing him, he’ll probably hide himself while watching over me as I spend the day with my fake parents .

“Mom, Dad,” I whisper. “I miss you so much.”

Tears enter my eyes and I try to blink them away. Through the blurriness, I find Caleb still watching me, but this time, there’s alarm and worry in his eyes. He looks like he wants to leap up and protect me from harm.

Not wanting him to see me like this, I turn away from him, subtly swiping my blazer sleeve over my eyes.