Chapter Two
Royals, Revelations and Romance
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Blake Amherst P.O.V.
I stood with Greg at the doors to the hall. He was leaning against the wall studying each girl that came in. I stuck my hands in my pockets, thoroughly bored.
"I don't see why you have to check out every single girl before the start of the semester. You'll see them all in school at some instant," I pointed out to him.
"Yeah but this way I get a head start," he said, waggling his brows. Then he straightened, running his hand through his shaggy brown hair, his sky-blue eyes lighting up.
"We have incoming," he said and grinned. In walked a group of girls I instantly recognised, having been smothered by each of them at some point last year. One of the girls glanced over to us and then tapped the shoulder of the girl next to her. The other girl turned and her long, platinum blonde hair floated around her face, Baywatch style. It was a move - I knew - that she had practiced plenty of times. Her clear indigo eyes sparkled as she looked at me and she pouted her full, rosy lips.
Janelle Devereux turned to her protégés and raised her chin, displaying her authority over them. She said something and I knew her voice would sound smooth like silk. They all turned their heads and looked at the two of us. I swallowed nervously while Greg grinned like a loon. Nell began to make her way over, long strides that made her hips swing, and the pack followed her, two steps behind.
"Blake," she purred as she arrived in front of us. She reached up and ran her hand through the hair at the nape of my neck and I had to stop myself from shuddering at the random touch. She placed her hand on my chest casually, as if staking a claim. I fought the urge to step back or shake it off. I wouldn't humiliate her publically.
"You never called the last holidays. You didn't even send me an email." She puckered her lower lip, looking forlorn and sultry. I didn't bother to mention that she never contacted me either. She expected everyone to come running to her.
Then she took her hand off my chest and flipped her hair behind her shoulder. "Not that I would've been able to see you or anything. I was so busy with all the camps and practising. I just thought that you were totally rude not to even WANT to talk to me."
I was saved having to say anything by Greg who suddenly gripped my arm. He was enormously strong, thanks to his dance prowess, and the clamp he had on me made me wince. He was looking over the heads of the girls surrounding him, vying for his attentions, and I followed his gaze to the entrance. A petite blonde was standing there in black denim shorts and a loose white singlet top. She looked like she was waiting for someone to catch up and called something out. I only just heard her, not able to decipher any words, but could hear that she had a tinkling voice. She was obviously in her first year; she looked like she should be starting high school rather than college.
I looked at Greg, confused. She was totally different to his usual 'first day pick'. He liked tall, dark-haired gypsies. Not cute blondes. He looked over at me and his eyes were wide with amazement.
"She is the one," he said breathlessly.
I groaned and shook my head in disbelief. "You said Belle was the one, and then you dropped her mid-way through the year. This girl is NOT the one, G!"
"No, no. She is SO the one. God, would you look at her?" A dreamy smile crossed his face and I sighed, giving in to the fact that he had a new girl to hound into loving him.
Throughout all this, Nell was looking on amused while several girls sulked or glowered at the new interest.
"Maybe I could get to know the kid," Nell drawled. "You know show her around, introduce her to the people to know, the people to avoid."
I stiffened. I hated the way she put people under labels, or into groups, as if her opinion of someone should be everyone's opinion. Another of the reasons why I had to talk to her, privately, about breaking our relationship - if you could call it that - off. Someone tapped the microphone and the sound boomed out of the speakers that lined the walls.
"Could everyone take a seat please," Ms Dart said in her high pitched intonation. "Let's get this underway."
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Leah Fox P.O.V.
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I dawdled barefoot toward the hall, my shoes in hand. One sole had torn right off, ruining the shoe, so I'd had to take both of them off to walk evenly. I would've gone back upstairs to my dorm to get another pair but Haezel said we were already late. She was ahead of me now, just inside the hall.
"Oh would you hurry up! Basically everyone has seats!" she called out, a huge excited grin on her face. I'd wondered, in the last twelve hours, if that was permanently glued to her face. I had expected to find it hard to make new friends, I was naturally quiet, but she wouldn't let me NOT be friends, immediately acting as if we'd known each other since kindergarten.
I continued to dawdle.
"Could everyone take a seat please," a high-pitched girly voice sounded on the microphone. I cringed at its tone. "Let's get this underway."
"Oh, come on!" Haezel beckoned and rolled her eyes. I sighed and walked a little faster.
As I stepped into the hall I instantly noticed a large group of people moving to get seats. They were mostly girls but the heads of two brawny guys stood out over the top. The taller one had short black hair and a lean build, but with well-defined muscles. One girl was walking so close to him I wondered how he didn't trip over. She kept looking up at him, pouting her lips and saying something that seemed to irritate him because his shoulders kept stiffening.
The other guy was a lot burlier, his biceps standing out while he was relaxed and his shoulder were broad. His hair was auburn and messy. His head turned and he glanced at me, his blue eyes slamming into mine. I refused to look away and stared back, uninterested. He looked away anyway, his attention moving to Haezel. I saw something light up in his eyes when he looked at her and unexpectedly felt a surge of protectiveness toward her. I wouldn't let this guy, who surrounded himself with girls, mess around with my new friend.
"Let's sit," I said quickly, before she could look up and see the gorgeous guy staring at her. I led her along to the back row, which was entirely empty. We sat and the long, boring speeches began. I mostly ignored them, the 'welcome' and the 'rules' lectures were painful to listen to. I was nearly asleep when I heard something that interested me.
"I'm sure you've all read you schedules," - I had not - "and are excited to start a new term. We are too. For you new students don't be afraid to ask the elder ones, those in their last two years, for tutoring, private or to join their night classes which will start next week. It is part of their learning to be able to teach, so asking them for help will in the end help them."
Someone up the front groaned loudly and people around him laughed.
"Thank you, Greg," said the speaker sternly. This earned more laughter from the front of the hall and the addresser cleared his throat and continued. "Many of you joined to improve your dance technique, acting performance or your singing skills and most likely lack talent elsewhere. These tutors will come in handy if you are determined to be graded well."
I shot a look at Haezel, who was enthralled by the speaker.
"We don't actually have to do all the different arts, do we?" I whispered nervously, pulling her out of her reverie. How could I have missed out on that when applying here?
She looked at me as if I were missing a few brain cells. "Of course. This is a PA school."
I sank down in my chair, squeezing my eyes tightly shut. Dance? Act? No way. No one could force me to do these things... could they?
