The Price of Gold | Fortune's Fool #1

02 | secrets are weapons

• [ s e c r e t s   a r e    w e a p o n s ] •

♥ gabriel ♥

AS SOON AS little-miss-entitled invited me to her table, the whole Academy seemed to have lost their shit and exploded into talk. My eyebrows furrowed as I leaned to the right of Lexi, who was sitting beside me, to survey the people behind me; the majority of their eyes were on me. A small smirk grew from the corner of my mouth as I held their attention.

This was fun.

The sound of a cough brought my attention back to the seven people sitting around me. I wasn't an idiot and I certainly wasn't oblivious to the power the group seemed to hold over the rest of the people here - they seemed to be treated as equivalence to royalty, with their peers worshiping almost every step they took.

My attention returned to the ash blonde haired boy who had not so discretely coughed to gain my attention. He was clad in a gleaming suit that seemed to radiate elegance and sophistication, a quality that all six of them seemed to carry in unison.

I held back a laugh at my revelation; the one thing that linked them all.

They all seemed filthy rich.

Rolling my eyes, I looked down at my suit that was certainly not in the same price bracket. Sure, Nanna was pretty wealthy but when compared to the lavish possessions that these guys seemed to have (cufflinks and watches and diamond necklaces) her inheritance and my suit were diminished.

"I'm Arlo Kimberly," he said, shooting me a weak attempt at a glance as I nodded at him, discretely trying to push away the foot that was rubbing against mine under the table, bent upon playing footsies.

Lexi's persistent doe eyes towards me gave away the pursuer. The girl certainly failed to take a hint. Ever since Nanna had enrolled me here earlier today, she hadn't left my side despite my obvious withdrawals.

What could I say? I was simply irresistible and ladies couldn't seem to keep their hands to themselves.

The only good thing she seemed to have done was lead me to was the raven-haired beauty who had invited me to sit here. She was damn gorgeous. I had seen her in English but the lesson had ended before I could approach her. As I harshly kicked Lexi's right foot under the table to get her to stop, I suddenly processed what Arlo had said.

Kimberly Designs was the largest textile company in the US, shooting up in value within the past decade and led by the famous Michelle Kimberly. The similarities between Arlo and the woman were astonishing - the same icy eyes and pale hair. I folded my arms, my lip twitching. She was certainly the mama bear.

I was definitely right about the filthy rich part.

The others introduced themselves in suit, the boy with tight curls and oak skin being Prince Al-Zahrani and the blonde girl, who seemed way too ditzy for her own good, being Ashlei Kovalenko.

I raised an eyebrow as I surveyed the brown-haired girl with light green eyes who was preoccupied glaring at some sophomore girl to notice that everyone seemed to be waiting for her to speak.

Eventually, the raven-haired girl whispered something in her ear and she broke from her gaze to look at me. "Huh? Oh yeah, I'm Talisa Lisin."

I chuckled, as I observed her unnaturally dilated pupils and slightly bloodshot light green eyes. The tell-tell signs didn't go unnoticed by me as I wondered how long ago she had her last snort. Someone was certainly an addict.

On the other hand, my douchbag of a conscious taunted me snidely, it takes one to know one.

Oh, shut up Gabe.