Anastasia Wentworth, an 18 year old senior at St. George's Boarding Academy, dreads her last year of high school.
When her best friend abruptly decides to switch schools, and her ex moves on, she's convinced this year will be her worst.
And trust...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Waking up to a loud banging on my door, I squinted my eyes and checked my phone. It was eight o'clock on a Saturday morning. Who the hell was knocking so loudly? Throwing on some shorts over my underwear, I got up out of bed and answered reluctantly.
"Kennedy?" I looked up with a grimace, already annoyed at her for waking me up. "What the fuck are you doing here so early?! Come in." I said with a sense of urgency, arms crossed around my stomach as I was only wearing a sports bra.
"Sorry..." she apologized in a bittersweet tone. "You know I'm an early bird. Anyways, what are you up to today? I just thought maybe you'd wanna go out this weekend? I invited the boys too."
I already knew that "the boys" she was referring to were Jaxon and Carson, due to the sickening smile on her face, and despite what happened after the welcome back party, I had absolutely no interest in spending my weekend with Carson. In fact, I'd rather do anything else. I cracked the window next to my bed as I lit a candle to help with whatever was making me feel so nauseous.
"Who else is coming?" I inquired, hoping it wouldn't be just the boys, leaving her and Jaxon to roam off as a couple and Carson and I to awkwardly make small talk.
"Well, Jaxon and Carson of course. Then Ashleigh Pierce is coming too, you remember her right? She's a junior this year."
"Yeah, I do. I think she did theatre with me. Uh, I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but I didn't think you two were friends?" I questioned, cocking my head slightly in confusion.
"Oh, we're not." she laughed slightly at the remark, "I honestly don't really like the girl, but she's Carson's new rebound." The words slipped off her tongue nonchalantly.
My face went numb as I tried to process what Kennedy just said. Even though I had no interest in getting back together, I still couldn't believe I was so incredibly stupid for believing anything he said was the truth. For God's sake, we had sex two nights ago, and he's already hooking up with Ashleigh fucking Pierce. The most rich, most popular, upperclassmen at St. George without a doubt. Also the most obnoxious, tone deaf person I ever met. Trying to recollect my composure, I sighed.
"Well, they deserve each other I guess." I pursed my lips, trying not to let Kennedy sense something was wrong. "I could go with you guys. Just promise me we'll keep busy because I cannot stand the thought of ending up as a fifth wheel."
She inches closer and gave me a tight side hug. "Of course Ana, you know I'd never put you in that position. Besides, I was thinking of going to this club for a girls night, minus Ashleigh, and staying over at this Airbnb I found in Paris. On me, of course."
"You realize Paris is a five hour drive from Genéve right? Not to mention it's in France? We could get in so much trouble for leaving the country, Ken, you know the rules." I bit my fingernails as my mind raced. Normally I wouldn't care about rules, but ever since I got my scholarship, I've tried to avoid doing anything that could possibly get it revoked. While our school allowed for upperclassmen to go out on the weekends, it was to be strictly within a twenty mile radius of the city, and Paris was far from meeting those requirements. Bickering to myself once more, I finally caved. "Okay...it sounds like a fun time, but we would have to get back Sunday, 5 PM, no later." I looked at her sternly as I remembered I had to meet Damien in his office at that time.
"Sunday, 5 PM, no later. No problem." she smiled giddily, bouncing up and down. "Okay, now go get ready and pack a bag. The car is waiting, and we leave in an hour."
Before I could detest any further, she left.
Looks like we're going to Paris.
****
My bag was packed, and although I felt extremely uncomfortable at the thought of seeing Carson and Ashleigh together, I took this opportunity to look at the bright side of things. Who knows, maybe I'll find a sexy Parisian man who can take my mind off what an utter disaster this year has been so far. Or at least I'll be able to drink my pain away. Before heading out, I called my mom to let her know I'd be out this weekend and to tell her how much I'd been missing her. She didn't pick up, so I left a brief voicemail and went to meet everyone outside. Walking out of my dorm, I was greeted by a familiar face. Damien.
"In a hurry, are we?" he looks me up and down, with a cocky smile as he sips his cup of coffee. He looked much more casual today than in his usual attire, with a fitting white tshirt that accentuated his toned arms and a pair of gray sweatpants that accentuated something else. If you know what I mean.
"Yeah, um, I'm just going to meet some friends. Kind of a last minute trip planned." I smile back nervously, silently cursing myself out for using the word "trip".
"Well, have fun and be responsible." he says beginning to walk off before turning around and adding "Oh, and by the way, I've read the introduction of your essay. I think we both know it doesn't require any revisions." he winks and makes his way into the teacher's lounge, leaving me breathless and feeling like an absolute idiot.
