The Elites

01 | solar systems

Chapter I: Solar Systems

Hi Scarlett,

I finally had the pleasure of seeing this so–called Queen of Harrington. She isn't as beautiful as you made her out to be. I was expecting some kind of goddess. I was sadly disappointed.

Still don't understand your obsession with Celeste Leon. You destroyed yourself trying to live to her standard which was apparently 'perfect' in Harrington: thin, popular, rich. I can almost picture you are sitting with them, laughing with them, being with them but at the same time not being there. Who were you actually, Scarlett?

Wish me luck; I'm going to need it.

Sent by Candace at 6:00 P.M.

***

IF HARRINGTON was a solar system, Celeste Leon would be the sun, the centre of the galaxy. The planets that orbit her would be the rest of the Elites, some closer to her than others. Everyone else were the pesky stars that would never achieve the same power as them. She wasn't this exquisite beauty that everyone had depicted her out to be. Her swirly, ebony hair and plump lips coated in a rosy tint was all part of her act. When she smiled, it was forced, her eyes wouldn't crinkle and there was this certain coldness that flickered through them.

Yet, she was all.

Life at Harrington revolved around her.

The students at this school practically bowed down to her without questioning why, she had everyone wrapped around her finger and, with a flick of her wrist, she could destroy them too.

Indubitably, the goddess sat in the middle of the table besides Madeline Vos, the high school sweetheart, a cup of coffee clutched in her perfectly manicured hand. Celeste laughed daintily at something the blonde bombshell whispered to her when a freshman skittered past them uneasily. It only made me hate them more.

It was no brainer that Madeline was truly like Celeste, but her reputation of being the 'high school sweetheart' said otherwise and that bothered me; I couldn't wait until I proved everyone wrong. See, what annoyed me was how charismatic and perfectly primped Celeste was; she was the embodiment of grace and charisma. You couldn't help but like her or even worse, admire her.

I sat on the floor above them on an empty table on the mezzanine which overlooked the cafeteria. It was the perfect location to stay hidden from everyone, especially the Elites. It was where Scarlett once sat when she first came to this school. I remember her telling me all about the amazing view it had of the cafeteria or, more like, the Elites.

"The view is the best on the mezzanine," Scar grinned, shifting her focus momentarily away from her nail that she was painting to me. "I didn't discover it until my second week there, I wish I saw it earlier. Who knows what I could've uncovered?"

I guess she was right.

Sat on the left of Celeste was Bentley Harrington, the only one insane enough to date her for a grand total of three years and 10 months. He was what people called the 'male version of Celeste'. His dark brown hair was neatly pushed back, revealing haunting brown eyes which scoured the cafeteria before paying attention meticulously to his other half.

As the grandson of the very founder of this school, Bentley consequently owned everyone that breathed in this building, which made Celeste an eminently powerful Queen. Being the heir of nearly half of the skyscrapers across the globe, their relationship was plastered on every newspaper and source of media across the city, not only cementing the partnership between her mother and his father, but claiming their right to the throne which waited for them, their names engraved in gold.