Fireheart [Fanfiction - Alternate Universe]

A Hell of an Entrance

[Header image of Sam Cortland]

Sam Cortland was early to school on the second day of classes, as he wanted to get a feel of what people were thinking, what the mood was and what people's patterns were. He knew Celaena had been around the premises multiple times before the term had started, but he hadn't expected to be joining her until only a few days ago. Arobynn had approached him a week before and threatened him in a way that made him comply with being his spy. He hated it, but he didn't really have any other viable options.

He was sitting on a bench by the entrance waiting for the bell to ring and watching people come and go. A few of the girls had approached him and said hello, some had even asked which classes he was attending and tried to flirt a bit. Reality was that he wasn't interested in any of them, and he didn't have time for romance anyway, he was technically at work. He had been polite and nice to each of them regardless, because he had an image he wanted to portrait. He wanted to be the good guy that everybody could count on, the one they'd trust with their secrets.

The loud rumble of an engine and the sound of squealing tires took him out of his daydream, and he looked up, his brows shooting up in surprise.

"So much for being one more in the crowd," Sam muttered under his breath.

Right in front of the entrance's stairs he saw a black motorcycle that had just parked up. The bike's sinuous and seductive lines were perfectly in harmony with the curves of the girl that was getting off it. It was a sight he was used to, at least under different circumstances. The whole crowd had turned their heads around, and everybody was already whispering, watching the girl jumping off the bike.

Sam had to give her credit, Celaena did look fantastic as she jumped down, lifting her flexible and long leg high up and giving the whole school a pretty decent view of her inner thighs. She stood next to the bike for a second, probably making sure that there were enough eyes on her before she took the black helmet off, shaking her blond hair around and then brushing it back with a hand.

"Wow, who's that?" A girl whispered next to him.

"What a slut," another one murmured under her breath, Sam barely heard her as she walked past him.

"You gotta be shitting me," he heard Dorian Havilliard say as he elbowed the guy next to him, which Sam was pretty sure was the president of the student's council.

"What is it?" The brunette guy asked.

"That girl, she's staying at my family's hotel," he replied.

"Celaena, the new exchange student?" The president asked, furrowing his brows.

"Yes, I ran into her in the lobby yesterday, I can't believe I didn't notice her at school!" Dorian said, and then the pair started slowly walking towards Celaena, as if wanting to watch her from closer.

Sam hid his smile behind a hand, pretending that he was coughing. He wasn't surprised at all that Celaena had managed to run into him on her first night at the hotel; she was amazing at what she did. Cunning came to her almost as second nature.

Almost, because it hadn't always been like that and Sam could still remember the broken girl that had shown up lying limp on Arobynn's arms all those years ago.

"Who's that?" Sam had asked, standing on his tiptoes to look at the girl's face.

Her coat had been dripping water over in the foyer as Arobynn walked towards the staircase.

"Her?" He had asked disparagingly, "She's my lottery ticket," he had said as he quickly walked up the stairs.

Sam could still remember the hushed whispers around the mansion on those first days, the planning and plotting. Arobynn had wanted to get a ransom for the girl, but had finally concluded that it was most likely that she was wanted dead, so it would be a safer bet to use the girl until things were certain; until he came up with a better plan.