Heirs

TEN

Aria's POV

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My father called.

It was a quick call, informing me he was very mad.

Originally, he had planned to come next week for my birthday and to speak with me about a mission, but he changed his mind. Now he's coming this weekend, they both are.

Everyone left my dorm room not long after I answered my dad's phone call, especially since Aunt Sarah called Luca within the same five minutes. Henrik and Helena went to the usual hangouts spots for upperclassman in an attempt to snoop around. If anyone was talking, they would know about it before the person got the chance.

I knew I needed to talk to Saint and make sure he would keep my confession a secret, but I couldn't do it now. If anyone saw us talking, my friends included, they would be suspicious. Our constant bickering and remarks in class have proved to everyone our hate for each other. His dad kidnapped my mom and uncle Ben, though, what do you expect?

I decided I would talk with Xavier first. I asked him to meet me in our usual spot, the garden. The hedges and maze-like landscape made the garden more private. Few people ever went there because there was nothing fun or interesting, just a bunch of greenery. Before I left I made sure to put make up over my hickeys. I was surprised no one else saw them, but they definitely would've pointed them out if they did. I think my jacket collar keeping them hidden, but who knows.

Campus was pretty much dead on my way there. The clouds were starting to gray and the humidity in the air made it clear a storm was coming. The only person I saw was Ellie Grayson, who was crying as her parents yelled at her over the phone. When I got to the middle of the garden, Xavier was already there, pacing. He stopped once he saw me, eyes shooting daggers.

"It was you, wasn't it?" He asked, coming closer.

"You can't come forward." I tell him, but my eyes were pleading for him to understand.

"Aria, the police are involved. They're doing a fucking hair test. Not only will I be expelled, I'll face legal charges. It would ruin my family!"

"And you think it wouldn't ruin mine!" I yelled back, becoming just as angry.

"You'll get expelled, so what?"

"I won't be getting expelled. You have no proof, no confession."

"Please." He scoffed. "I knew you were up to something, if I told them that they wouldn't even have to look through your records to know you did it."

"Go ahead, come forward with what you, which is nothing, and maybe they will keep a closer eye on me. Don't you think they would be suspicious of you though? The kid who is quick to try and blame someone when he knows it will get him out of a drug test. Not only that, but the fact that he is willing to go to great lengths such as blaming his girlfriend!" He froze, not even thinking of that angle.

"As if everyone thinks we have feelings for each other." He scoffed. That was his comeback? Really? "Aria the only difference between you and every other girl at this school is that we have a label, I'm still fucking all of you the same amount." 

I blacked out. Everyone knew of his infidelity, but we never spoke of it out loud. Truly it wasn't even that he admitted it, but how. The words fell from his mouth laced with venom, piecing me everywhere. He wasn't stricken by guilt, or fear, or worry...he was proud. 

I punched him. 

My right fist flew across his face, easily breaking his nose. I punched him again and again and again, until his face was swelling and dripping in blood. He tried to fight back. I'll admit, Xavier is strong, but he has no skill, no training. I shouldn't have let my rage take over the way I did, but I couldn't help it. Everything came out. My anger with him for cheating with over half the school. My sadness that he uses me for nothing but my looks and reputation. My disgust with myself for staying so long, letting him treat me the way he did. All of those feelings that I have felt for three years came rushing to the surface, and I let them.

By the time I was done he had stopped fighting back, laid out on the ground with me on top of him. I could keep going, I wanted to, but the only thing holding me back was the amount of trouble I was already in. I grabbed the hair on the back of his head, roughly holding his head up and causing his eyes to go to mine.

"You've known for years that I have many secrets, many things I cannot explain to you. I will never explain them to you. I can tell you this, though. I am capable of much more than you think, just because I prefer to play the part of the fun popular girl, doesn't mean I can't play others. You've seen what's happened to people that have tried to snitch, don't ever think you're excluded from the same fate. If you even think about coming forward with anything, evidence or no evidence...I'll come after you myself." I threw his head back down before getting off of him. I attempted to shake some of the blood of my hand but it was no use. By the time I had finished, my knuckles were almost as bloody and bruised as he was. "By the way, we're done."

It started to rain right as I walked away. I can't believe I stayed with him for three fucking years. I knew we weren't good together. There were so many times when we broke up that we should've stayed that way. For some fucked up reason I just couldn't stop running back to him. In a way though, I'm proud of myself. 

I've always been stubborn. No one can ever tell me right or wrong from anything, I always have to cross the line and test it out for myself. No matter who told me Xavier was bad, no matter how many times they did, I wouldn't stop going back to him. I knew he was bad for me, I knew he wasn't going to be my forever, but I kept going back. I kept going back until I knew that I was done.

Constantly going back was hell. In the long run, it probably caused me more damage than necessary. Now I know though. I know he will never change. I know there is no hope for us to be together and be happy. I know he can no longer hurt me, because he already has in every way possible.

I'm finally fucking done with Xavier, and I'm never going back.

Instead of going back to my room, I decided to head to the nurses office and get my hand looked at. I don't think I did any serious damage to it, but if I did it needed to be aided as soon as possible, I could never risk having a weak spot. As soon as I walked in Lucy smirked at me.

"I figured it wouldn't be long before you made a visit." She laughed, motioning for me to sit down on the table.

Lucy was a slightly older lady, but she was by far the kindest woman on the planet. Everyone loved her, including myself. Being a first year is always the hardest. Kids like us are used to being away from our parents, but not our homes. When I was a first year I remember she would always give me warm milk before bed and talk with me until I was tired, writing me excuses to sleep in.

I've never gotten into a fight, but Lucy has already had to patch me up plenty of times. Not only am I the clumsiest person alive, but I alway wind up hurting myself at parties, setting up pranks, or having injuries that need attention when I come back from missions. She never asked any questions, she would always wait for me to talk or just give me a smile as if she already knew.

I watched her as she cleaned up my hand. She got all of the blood off and I was able to see a few cuts and bruises as it was already swelling. She examined it and felt around, checking for broken bones. She was always so focused, making sure nothing was wrong before someone left her office.

"You might have a little sprain, but nothing too serious." She smiled, gently releasing my hand. She walked over to a cooler and pulled an ice pack out before giving it to me. "I'm going to suggest icing it and keeping it elevated for the next few days. I'm sure we can both guess what happened, but I would suggest taking a break from that as well." She laughed.

"I will, thanks Lucy." I smiled.

"I would suggest putting some ice on those too." She smirked, pointing to her neck. I immediately flushed in embarrassment. 

Clearly my makeup didn't work too well.

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