The Heir

Chapter 24

The fall recital is always immediately followed by midterms. That's when the true countdown begins; at least for the selected few. The annual Geneva debutante ball is coming up quickly.

I do my best not to think about it. Think about the fact that my parents signed off on this. They gave their blessing for me to be introduced to the world of the elite; to be served on a silver platter to the hopeful men that are sure to be in attendance. I really fucking hope my dad isn't planning on marrying me off.

I know he's not really that kind of guy but if anyone were to do such a thing, it'd be the Don of the fucking Mafia.

So instead I focus on absolutely anything else. Studying hard and spending extra time in the library; my grades are always perfect but it doesn't hurt to put in a little extra work. I've been rehearsing in the dance studio every night as well. After his second attempt at explaining his behavior, Will learned to keep his distance. I don't tolerate jealousy.

The friend group is chaotic at best right now, though. Akio's parents found out about his relationship with Noah. They're pissed, threatening to send him to a different school in Japan. They've demanded that Akio break up with him but the stubborn artist simply will not listen to them. He's been wallowing in his anger ever since.

Noah on the other hand has gone quiet, a very unusual and unsettling behavior coming from him. He keeps trying to convince Akio it'll be okay. That maybe they should break up, even temporarily, to appease his parents. But Akio won't hear it. I know that Noah feels guilty about driving this wedge between Akio and his parents, but it's not really his fault.

Hannah's been acting weird since homecoming. I thought that telling her about my talk with Duke, how I forced him to agree to leave me alone, would help her. But it didn't, if anything she's grown to be even more bitter. Making snarky comments and refusing to sit even remotely near me at meals. I don't really care about this pettiness though; I know I didn't do anything wrong.

Lina, who usually cleans up the emotional damage, has been preoccupied herself. She's gotten a new boyfriend, one that is not Ryan. She's a giggling ball of happiness now, talking about dates and flowers he's bought her. As happy as I am for her, there's another much more important person involved with this.

Ryan. He's like a powder keg just waiting to explode. He hardly talks to anyone but me and I'm pretty sure he's going to grind his teeth to nothing. Apparently he's been killing it at boxing practice but I do worry. I don't know if he has it in him emotionally but physically, he's capable of actually killing someone.

He's come pretty close a few times. In freshman year some older student made a homophobic comment towards Noah and Ryan jumped him. Ryan broke a few knuckles but the other guy, he was in the hospital for more than two months from his injuries.

As long as he keeps his anger in the ring, we should be okay.

Oh, and who could forget about my brother? The idiot let report cards go out without so much as a warning to our parents. They're fucking livid; took away his phone and credit card. But he's still acting like a dick; fighting anyone he can get his hands on. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was itching to go to jail.

The notes haven't stopped either, the charms with them. And each one is creepier than the last. I've started to hold onto them, stockpile them incase I need to reference back, because I need to figure out who the fuck is sending this shit to me. It's gone beyond a crush or even an obsession, this is outright stalking.

The note I got yesterday proved my point even more. This time, there were pictures.

They were all in black and white on real photo paper. One is taken through my bedroom window as I was getting changed. Another is a closeup of the diamond bracelet I always wear. The other two are both pictures of me walking between classes. And I can now say with definitive certainty that it's not Duke; he was in one of the pictures with me.