Lunch with ‘The Eight’

I scanned the group for a familiar curly, dark-haired boy fruitlessly as we walked over, before letting my disappointed gaze rest on Charlotte's.

She was the one who'd invited me to sit with them after all.

"Can my friend join us?" I asked once we reached them, my voice void of emotion. I just wanted to eat already and get this drama over with.

Charlotte's cold grey eyes flicked sharply to Brittany who was shaking slightly behind me.

Her scrutiny ran long and deep, and I could almost hear Brittany audibly squirming behind me underneath Charlotte's cold, marble gaze, until the corner of her lips quirked up slightly into a semblance of a smile.

It wasn't exactly a smile. But it was something.

She let her gaze flick back to me, and I could see the dissatisfaction in her eyes. I held back a snort and resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"Sure." Charlotte finally said, her voice cold and curt. She clearly did not want Brittany there, but she seemed to have noticed that her presence was my ultimatum.

Brittany and I, or neither of us.

I put my tray down on the table and reached over to an empty table behind us to pull out a chair, then placed it beside mine for Brittany, who was still shivering as she took a seat.

I sat down.

And the buzz of the cafeteria noise picked up again instantly.

I hadn't noticed it, but the whole cafeteria had practically been holding its breath. Every eyes curious for gossip straining over, watching my every move. Hoping for something dramatic to happen.

"New girl," Roman drawled beside me, his deep voice raising the hairs on the back of my neck as I noticed, with sudden irritation, how close our chairs were.

His arm was brushing against mine, as was his thigh underneath the table, and a jolt of electricity bolted through my spine as I turned to look at him.

My eyes sunk into the abyss of his icy, midnight gaze.

"The name's Jade. Surely, you'll pick up on that sooner or later," I bit out sharply with a brow raised, and I watched distastefully as a smirk appeared on his lips.

"Why are you so tense, Jade?" He said my name with such fondness, as if we'd known each other for a lifetime, and my stomach knotted as my frown deepened.

"Relax, I'm not going to eat you. Although," he leaned closer so his lips feather-brushed my earlobe.

"That's very tempting," he laughed with his lips still brushing against my earlobe, and the sound of his laughter sent several waves of electricity through my body.

I resisted the urge to shiver as I firmly grabbed my chair by the sides, then shifted until there was several inches of space between us, and I could breathe properly again.

"What? You have some crazy cannibalistic kink?" I cocked a brow once the distance between us was safe. "I mean, not to kink shame, but I'm not into cannibalism."

My expression was smug, and I watched the amusement dance around in Roman's eyes until he burst into laughter.

I dug into my jollof rice in a bid to hide the tiny smile that was playing at the corners of my lips. I was pretty proud of myself for that remark, not gonna lie.

I don't want to talk about how I know about things like kinks.

When you're a teenager who's locked up in the house your entire life, with endless access to the internet, you get to know a lot of things.

A whole lot.

"So, Jade," Charlotte's Irish-accented, self-important voice floated to my ears as I speared a piece of chicken with my knife, and brought it to my mouth.

"What school did you transfer from? You don't sound like you're from around here. You sound almost...American."

Her gaze remained locked with mine as I chewed my chicken and swallowed. I took a sip of my water before looking back at her.

"I'm not American." I said simply, purposefully being evasive with my response.

"Hmm," she gave me a fake, sugary sweet smile. "So where are you from then?"

"London."

"Oh! You don't sound English."

"No, I don't."

"And why is that?" Her cold, marble gaze pierced mine with the unwavering precision of a needle.

"I travel a lot." I gave her a smile, my eyes boring into hers with the same precision with which hers pierced mine.

I felt a prickling, cold shiver run through my spine as she cocked her head to the side and narrowed her gaze. She was sizing me up. Like a lion does to its prey before attacking.

It seemed as though she was trying to pry my mind and my thoughts apart with her mere gaze, and I watched a shadow of annoyance darken her grey eyes at some point when her efforts proved futile.

"Interesting," She finally said, her voice as cold and sharp as glass. Her expression turned blank again. The momentary shadow of annoyance was gone as if it had never even appeared.

"What does your family do?" A bored sounding, feminine voice interrupted the little staring contest Charlotte and I were having, and I turned my gaze to meet restrainedly curious dark eyes.

Sophia.

The girl who had walked by me without so much as a glance of acknowledgment.

My brow raised of its own volition before I could school my expression into one of neutrality, and I angled my head in a way to show my disbelief.

"I don't think you and I, or anyone else here at that, are close enough for all these questions you're asking," my eyes flitted over all of them, one after the other, before coming to rest on Sophia's.

She shrugged halfheartedly. "Everyone wants to know the answers to these questions. You're the new girl," she said and rolled her eyes, as if that was enough explanation for their invasiveness.

My brow raised higher. "And?"

Sophia rolled her eyes again. "You're pretty, and rich—obviously, or you wouldn't be here. Naturally, everyone wants to know everything about you."

I stared in complete bewilderment.

"That's absurd," I finally said after a while of us all just staring at one another, and Roman snorted beside me.

"Welcome to the land of absurdities," he grinned as I turned to look at him.

"So, what do your parents do?" Sophia continued, as if she had explained enough to make me understand, and expected me to comply with their invasive interrogation simply because, "everyone wants to know..."

I carefully speared another piece off my chicken, brought it to my mouth, then proceeded to chew and swallow before looking up again.

"My parents are business moguls," I answered, looking Sophia directly in the eyes.

She kept staring at me, as though she expected me to say more, then she opened her mouth when I didn't.

"Well, what kind of business do they run?" She asked, and I looked around the table for a moment.

They were all staring at me expectantly. All seven of them.

Vasilis still wasn't here.

I let out a feigned tired sigh.

I was angry. Angry beyond doubt. And it was so hard to remain appearing indifferent.

I was so angry, I could almost feel the invisible smokes of my anger radiating and singeing its way through the air. And I was angry at no one but my parents.

I was so angry and equally embarrassed that I didn't even know what they did for work. I'd never thought I could feel embarrassed for not knowing, but here I was, being questioned by my peers and I couldn't even answer the most basic question about my family.

My expression remained bored and indifferent as I opened my mouth to speak. "If I'd known agreeing to eat with you lot meant being interrogated, and not allowed to indulge freely in the deliciousness of my lunch, I would not have come." I sighed, and someone snorted.

My gaze followed the sound and met with Charlotte's cold, marble gaze.

A predatory smirk resided on her lips.

"You still assume you had a choice," her voice was a cold sneer.

My mask of indifference faltered as a spark of fear ignited in my stomach.

She stood up and leaned towards me from across the table, and I don't know if I was seeing wrong, but her features seemed to slowly morph into something twisted and monstrous.

"It was not an invitation when I asked you to sit with us. It was an order. You would have severely suffered dire consequences had you failed to oblige." She sneered, baring her teeth that strangely started to look like...like fangs?

I remained rooted in my seat, frozen in fear, but then her words registered in my mind and anger burst through the fear in my veins at her condescension.

"You will not speak to me like I am some irrelevant thing to trample upon," I stood up too, almost shaking with anger as my fingers curled into fists.

Charlotte's face was barely an inch away from mine as I sneered, my fear momentarily forgotten.

Her eyes bored into mine sharply, almost painfully, and it felt as though she was pulling on a string that was rooted deep inside my mind.

"You will sit down and bow your head respectfully. You will answer all of our questions without holding anything back." She ground out in a terrifying whisper, but anger surged through my system as the string she seemed to be pulling on inside my mind snapped back in harsh resistance.

"I will not!" I thundered, uncaring about the attention I was calling to myself.

"I do not care what foolish hierarchical, elitist bullshit you lot have going on in this hell-hole you call a school. I am here, not by my will, but I will not be roped into the farcical nonsense you've got going on. And you will not attempt to intimidate or bother me any longer." I paused for a moment as I turned to look at Brittany.

Her emerald eyes were wide with fear.

"Nor will you bother Brittany or anyone else I associate with on a friendly level. Or you will pay severely for it."

I let my gaze flick over the rest of them, my anger barely contained, then I grabbed Brittany's hand and we both stormed out of the cafeteria.