Prepsworth Academy

Chaper 74 - "Pinky promise."

Rose

My brother was here. Not only that, but he was a room away from me. I felt like crying or screaming as I thought about Aiden; or Miller, as he was going by now. It wasn't exactly subtle, being known by your high school nickname, but it was very on-brand.

He hadn't changed much since he left. He still had the same winning smile, that had helped him become oh so popular at Prepsworth. He still had the same annoyingly tousled blond hair; due to laziness other than style. Still had the same knowing smirk, the same arrogance and bravado. He had the same temperament as me, the same ability to manipulate, the same recklessness and arrogance. But, whilst I was the token mean girl, he was the golden boy. Aiden had perfect grades, a perfect spot on all the sports teams, perfect looks, perfect family and a perfect girlfriend. But this was all on the surface. When you looked closer; you could see the bags beneath his eyes from spending all night studying, the tenseness that occurred whenever he moved after long nights of training that happened far too often. His smile becoming too plastic, too forced, slightly manic. And then we have the family and the girlfriend. The family; your typical vapid, rich socialites who work far too much. And then there was me. The headstrong, fierce little girl. And the girlfriend? Oh, she was overprotective, insanely jealous; all that jazz. She still haunts my dreams, on the worst nights. When it all comes together, Aiden was your typical rich golden boy struggling beneath the surface. Except when you look at three key facts.

1. The girlfriend had secrets,

2. She'd do anything to keep them,

3. I stood in her way 

Amy

"What thehell is going on?" I murmured furiously to Lukas as we walked through thepolice station.

"Well, itlooks like we've gotten arrested." Lukas replied nonchalantly. Well, obviously. I swore at him andwalked ahead, my arms crossed over my chest. "It'sgoing to be fine. Completely fine." Imurmured to myself as I looked uncomfortably at the lines of cells."Talkingto yourself. Should I be worried?" Jakequipped. I looked beside me. I'd walked faster to escape Lukas, only to be nextto Jake. Great."Do youhave any idea why we're here?" I asked, ignoring what he'd said before."I mean,we escaped school, Rose probably broke the speed limit, not that that's out ofcharacter, and we caused a massive brawl, which most likely resulted in a few broken bones." Jake answered."Wait.Caused a massive brawl?" I asked, confused and more than slightly worried. Jakeraised an eyebrow and smirked."Did younot see it?" He asked."I sawit. It was more than massive. It was brutal. There was blood all over the floor!" I exclaimed before turning to him andlowering my voice."Youcaused it?" I asked accusingly. Jake laughed."Ipunched one guy, and so did Dylan. They startedit. Hey! Don't look at me like that."Jake exclaimed."Likewhat? So, what did happen?" I snapped."You lookat me like I'm this violent idiot. See, you're doing it again!" Jake answered."I don'tknow what you're talking about. " I said, trying to hold back laughter. Jakegrinned and shook his head."My pointis; Rose only told us to beat up a certain person, or certain people, in acertain place; and it would just explode. Every year's having problems, notjust our year." Jake protested. "You needto learn a way other than violence." I said disapprovingly."It'swhat I was told to do. I'm sorry, and I'm not proud of it, but I had to." Jakemurmured. I tensed and spun sideways to face him."So what,whenever a pretty girl tells you to beat up someone, you will? You didn't have to Jake. You chose to." I mutteredangrily. I couldn't believe it. He hadn't changed at all since Rose had dumpedhim. He hadn't moved on from her, he hadn't become a better person. Not at all."What thehell is going on?" I murmured furiously to Lukas as we walked through thepolice station."Well, itlooks like we've gotten arrested." Lukas replied nonchalantly. Well, obviously. I swore at him andwalked ahead, my arms crossed over my chest. "It'sgoing to be fine. Completely fine." Imurmured to myself as I looked uncomfortably at the lines of cells."Talkingto yourself. Should I be worried?" Jakequipped. I looked beside me. I'd walked faster to escape Lukas, only to be nextto Jake. Great."Do youhave any idea why we're here?" I asked, ignoring what he'd said before."I mean,we escaped school, Rose probably broke the speed limit, not that that's out ofcharacter, and we caused a massive brawl, which most likely resulted in a few broken bones." Jake answered."Wait.Caused a massive brawl?" I asked, confused and more than slightly worried. Jakeraised an eyebrow and smirked."Did younot see it?" He asked."I sawit. It was more than massive. It was brutal. There was blood all over the floor!" I exclaimed before turning to him andlowering my voice."Youcaused it?" I asked accusingly. Jake laughed."Ipunched one guy, and so did Dylan. They startedit. Hey! Don't look at me like that."Jake exclaimed."Likewhat? So, what did happen?" I snapped."You lookat me like I'm this violent idiot. See, you're doing it again!" Jake answered."I don'tknow what you're talking about. " I said, trying to hold back laughter. Jakegrinned and shook his head."My pointis; Rose only told us to beat up a certain person, or certain people, in acertain place; and it would just explode. Every year's having problems, notjust our year." Jake protested. "You needto learn a way other than violence." I said disapprovingly."It'swhat I was told to do. I'm sorry, and I'm not proud of it, but I had to." Jakemurmured. I tensed and spun sideways to face him."So what,whenever a pretty girl tells you to beat up someone, you will? You didn't have to Jake. You chose to." I mutteredangrily. I couldn't believe it. He hadn't changed at all since Rose had dumpedhim. He hadn't moved on from her, he hadn't become a better person. Not at all.TomAfter theinitial annoyance had worn off; I felt bad. Really bad. I'd insultedpractically everyone and lost so much time. I felt like the vindictive,sports-obsessed jerk everyone thought I was. Ishuffled along next to Natasha and Rae. That was another thing. Rae was here. Ihadn't seen her since our (kind of) fight. And, I knew she wanted nothing to dowith me. I also knew I'd been completely stupid when I asked her to come to Prepsworth. In thatmoment, I felt like such an idiot. I'd betrayed Lily, been far too desperate toget a girlfriend, tried to play Rose (stupidly), been so stupid about Rae and had hurt everyone, including Natasha. It'sa weird place to have a random realisation about how idiotic you've been, in apolice station, but it's as good of a place as any. Yeah, that was anotherthing. I'd also gotten myself arrested. I couldn't seem to stop makingmistakes.LilyI staredat the red head who was glaring at me. Everything had gone so wrong. I stilldidn't have any answers and all the questions I'd asked myself seemed to eitherbe redundant or unsolvable. Worse, I'd be neglecting my studies and exercisingfor this stupid idea. And all thepain from the past had come back to haunt me. The only thing that was goodabout the mess was that Rose had promised us answers. Only, I wasn't so sureshe'd deliver. I didn't exactly trust Rose...A head full of blondcurls raced past me, jumping to avoid the roots of trees. I sprinted faster,going through an area packed tight with prickly bushes and dark green vines. Ileaped over the bushes, the hem of my skirt getting caught only once. Soon enough,I arrived in the clearing, a place full of wild flowers and chirping insects. Isat down, and watched the tree line, waiting for her to burst through.Eventually, Rose burst through the trees, her face red."I win!" I exclaimedas Rose walked over to me, panting."That's not fair.You're practically superhuman." Rose complained, before looking at the distancebetween her and me."If you were anyfurther away, I'd have to crawl." She commented as she sat down beside me,brushing the dirt off her gem-studded dress."Thank god we got out!If I had to stay at that hellish party for one more second I'd die!" Rose exclaimed dramatically, flinging a hand against her forehead. "Tell me about it!" Ireplied sympathetically, rubbing the satin of my own green dress between myfingers."Anyway, truth ordare?" Rose asked. I groaned and lay down to stare at the inky black sky,dotted with stars. Truth or dare was always a favourite with Rose."How about we justtalk?" I suggested as Rose lay next to me."Fine. Are youexcited to go to Prepsworth Academy?" Rose asked."I'm so excited. It'sgoing to be amazing. It's going to be so much fun with my best friend there." Iexclaimed softly."I know. It'll be thebest years of our lives. You know, when I'm going your wedding; I'll say"Remember the time we talked about Prepsworth." And you'll nod and smile andthen we'll all eat cake." Rose said, slightly randomly."I'm excited, but I'mscared. I don't want to grow up. I don't want to become like everyone else;dark and gloomy and sad." I confessed, tears leaking out of my eyes. I watchedthe sky blur and contort."We won't. We won'tgrow up until we absolutely have to. And then, we'll still be free .And we'llstill be friends." Rose whispered. I rolled to face her."You promise?" Iasked tearfully."I promise on thestars!" Rose promised me. I smiled a bit and held out my little finger."Pinky promise?" Iasked, joking slightly."Pinky promise!" Roseechoed me. I smiled, satisfied and rolled back to face the stars.It'sfunny how promises always get broken.