Chapter 52 THE HOT NEW GUY.
SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW.
I read the lines of the script in my hands, as I tried to memorize them. For some reason, Ms Vale had decided to give the lead role in the play.
"No! You're not my father!" I said, trying to act out the scene, but for some reason, it felt wrong.
Discouraged, I dropped the thick file on my desk and groaned in frustration. I'd been at it for three hours now, and honestly, I felt like telling her I was the wrong pick for this.
"Having trouble?" A voice says, jerking me, as I sat up immediately. It wasn't anyone I could recognize.
I stared at the unfamiliar guy before me, as my heart pounded for some silly reason. He leaned against the door lazily, as his dark eyes ran up and down my body. Suddenly, I felt raw as he walked towards me without breaking that smirk.
"Anything I can help with?" He asked as he stopped in front of me. His hands darted out and grabbed the script from the table before me.
His eyes ran up and down the pages before he smirked again and dropped it back on the table. "Looks good. May I ask the title?" He asked, and I could detect a hint of an accent..... Australian?
"The masquerade unmasked," I uttered, and a knowing smile crossed his lips as he hummed. As though he understood something I didn't.
"I don't think I've seen you here? You're new, aren't you?" I asked, realising I had never seen him before.
His jacket wasn't the color of the scholarship kids, so he was one of the elite kids. But he definitely was new, because none of the elite kids hid themselves so much that I would never have known any of them.
"Yes. Ace Everhart. Charmed to make your acquaintance."
Smiling slightly, I took his hand and introduced myself. "Sloane Bishop."
His eyes ran over me again, this time, slower, as he maintained his smirk.
"Nice to meet you, Sloane. Mind showing me around? I have no idea where I am, and I don't want to get lost." He said, and for some reason, I felt a chill run up my spine, and goosebumps rose on my skin.
With a hesitant smile, I shook my head negatively and refused his offer. "I'm sorry. I have to be somewhere now." I quickly picked up my bag and the script, got up, and walked to the door.
But his voice stops me in my tracks, before I could cross the exit, as his next words made my eyes widen in shock and confusion; "Be careful, Sloane. No one turns me down."
Without turning to see what he looked like as he said that, I picked up my pace and left the once-empty classroom.
My phone dinged as I headed to the part of school Lucien had reserved for me alone, so I could go there whenever I needed time to myself.
"Where are you?" Lucien texted. A smile I could not control broke on my lips, and I typed my response.
"Who is this?"
His reply was swift, and for some reason, it made me giddy with excitement. "Sloane Bishop's boyfriend. Why are you with my girlfriend's phone?"
Still smiling, I replied, "She says she wants me, and not you anymore. I'm hotter, sexier, and richer than you."
"Don't fuck with me, Sloane. You know I don't like it when you refer to yourself as someone else's"
"Gotcha!" I snickered as I took another turn.
"Come to the field. It's tryouts, and I need to see you."
A reminder flashes in my mind as the memory of him telling me he would be picking the new players for the hockey team comes to mind.
"On my way."
I texted and turned around to head over to him.
But before I could get to the field, the voice of someone familiar stopped me in my tracks.
"You promised me Lucien would be mine! So why the hell is he still with that schlorship bitch?" Roxanne hisses.
"Patience, Roxanne." Eldric's voice follows, and with shocked eyes, I listen in on their conversation, as my fingers tighten on my phone. "He was never something I could promise to anyone. Besides, he's someone e;se's now. But this is strange to me as well."
"Why?"
"Because this was never the plan. Lucien told me last year that he caught the interest of a girl. I had thought it was some fleeting passion, that it would never last. So I allowed him to have her brought over to Ravenscroft as a scholarship student. I thought he would get over it after some time, but he still likes that plain girl."
"Exactly! I don't know why he still likes her. It was supposed to be a stupid bet. I told him he would never get her to like him, or date him, or even sleep with him, but for some fucking reason, she did. And now I'm with that bullying fool who can't even fucking afford anything, and I can't get Lucien back! Fix this."
My heart pounds, and pain courses through me. It's not the kind of pain I've ever felt; it's burning, consuming, as my legs weaken, and I fight the urge to break out in sobs.
"You made a bet with him?" Eldric asks.
"Yes. Why else would he ever like her? It was supposed to be a harmless joke. He would entertain that plain girl for some time, et ove rhis stupid foxatio over some charity case, and after a week or two, or at least, after he's fucked her, he'd be back to me!"
"So why are you with someone else?"
"I was bored! I was angry too, because I never thought he would leave me for her."
I was a bet?
Lucien was only with me because of some bet?
My tears roll down my cheeks, and I grip the wall, and I clenched my other hand in a fist.
"Well, there's nothing I can do. Because Lucien is engaged to someone else. I'd suggest you get over him and focus on your boyfriend."
Before I can even process the information I’ve just received, my body is suddenly weightless, as I am flung into the air. A moment later, I slam into the pool, the violent splash ripping through the silence, as my body makes contact with the ice-cold water.
The cold water engulfs me, dragging me under, and panic claws at my chest as the realization hits me: I can’t swim. My eyes widen, and my arms thrash, and it's burning against my resistance, but the water is merciless, as it forces its way into my lungs, stealing my breath, as my chest burns with the need for oxygen.
Every second feels like forever, as my broken heart shatters further with each gasp, filling my mouth with even more water, until the darkness seeps in, swallowing me whole.
But I don’t fight it. Instead, I let it consume me.
I welcome its cold embrace, as the words,
'You're nothing but a bet' echoes in my mind like a broken whisper.