Chapter |5|

Eden ended up in an empty stall in the girls' bathroom. And because she was a glutton for punishment, she had taken a detour to get her phone from her locker, searched out Everly York's blog and was now reading what she had written word for word, not just skimming like before.

Ironic that the one thing she had been avoiding finally happened. Eden hadn't turned on her phone since she got home from the hospital because she was scared of what would be up online about her and Ripley's accident. She imagined a lot of people would want to fabricate a story that would seem more interesting to the public.

Like Everly York, who wrote extensively about what she thought had happened. How odd was it Eden couldn't remember not just the most basic things about her best friend, but how exactly they had crashed? How odd was it that the police had called it an open-and-shut case because Eden was a minor and her family claimed she was suffering from post-trauma?

For someone so influential, you'd expect her to have better sources who didn't feed her erroneous information. Everly was just like all those scandal-thirsty journalists, who wouldn't rest until Eden admitted to the whole world that the accident had been her fault, not machinery failure.

Burying her face in her hands, Eden took several deep breaths to calm down. God, this was an utter mess. She didn't know what to make of it or what to do next.

She had made a plan. New school, a well-known academy filled with bright, intelligent kids. Then came Eden Pereira—normal, average Eden in her senior year—transferring because of a minor health complication. A nobody. Merely one out of several of New York's finest. It was how Eden had been viewed her whole life. Other than her accent and skin color, she passed under the radar when teenagers from notable, affluent families were a dime a dozen.

That was how it was supposed to be. That was her life.

No, that would still be her life. Whatever happened, she didn't need to bitch and moan about it. Yes, all this attention was suffocating and upsetting, but it wasn't too late to fix this. She didn't know how, but she would. This would still be her fresh start.

After a few more minutes to herself, she came out of the stall and walked in front of a mirror. Sighing, she focused on her reflection as she loosened and retied her hair in a bun, adjusted her uniform, and cleaned her hands.

Lunch was almost over so she should be heading to class. She stepped out and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw looked up to find everyone in the hallway just staring at her. This was what Eden was talking about. She had no idea how to get them to stop treating her like a circus monkey.

She was about to go search for Sharpay when the blonde found her first, appearing out of nowhere and grabbing onto Eden's arm to lead her away.

"Fucking Everly York," she swore under her breath, confusing Eden.

"Did something else happen?"

"Yeah. Someone vandalized Everly's locker and left a printed note behind warning her to take down the post about you. Most people think it's you."

Eden gaped. The hell kind of school had she come to? Something told her it wasn't just her, that they lived and breathed drama at this school.

"Don't worry, no one with a modicum of sense would blame you. It happened during fifth period while we were in class, and besides, security cameras caught a guy leaving the scene but no one knows who he is. They're not even sure he did it. Whoever it was, they're smart, they knew how to evade all the cameras and that's no easy feat."

Eden finally found her voice. "Someone did that for me?"

"Seems that way. Still think you don't know anyone here?"

Eden blinked in awe, still trying to process. "You don't have any idea who it may be?"

"No clue. Thanks to attendance, every student is accounted for at the time."

Eden frowned. "Who told you all this?"

"School tried to keep it quiet, but Everly was hysterical and crying to anyone who'd listen about the snow globe that was in her locker with her things and got broken. Apparently, it was a gift from her grandmother before she passed away."

Eden grew even more dumbfounded, but her voice remained even. "Someone destroyed the late Queen's property for me."

Sharpay studied her carefully. "How are you holding up? Is this causing you too much stress?"

Eden's face immediately hardened. "I'm fine. We're at my next class, I'll see you later."

Sharpay said nothing as she watched Eden turn away, still watching till Eden entered the classroom.

The rest of the day didn't get better. While Eden kept to herself, managing to ignore the annoying glances she got, a number of people were brave enough to walk up to her and ask questions like, "Did you really kill your best friend?"

It seemed the damage was already out there even though Everly had deleted the post, and Eden checked to confirm. To the students of Tomas Brixton Academy, Eden was now a psychopathic mastermind who grew jealous of her best friend and planned out an elaborate murder.

She might have felt better not being alone throughout, but she never saw Sharpay again. It was probably for the best, she didn't want to go forming an attachment to her.

When school was finally over, Eden remembered to go pick up her uniform in the administrations office. She met Alicia again, her mom's little spy apparently.

"Eden, hello. How was your first day?" she greeted with a big smile.

It was absolutely shitty, but Eden didn't care to give her a bullshit or homest answer. "I'm here for my uniform."

"Ah, yes. All three sets are in here." Alicia picked up a bag by her side and placed it on her desk in front of Eden. "Are you in a hurry to leave?"

Well, school was turning out to be an awful, hastily-made decision. Home was tense and extremely lonely with her siblings. Eden didn't know the answer to that question herself. "What is it?"

"We were informed you'd been at home on bed rest for a few months, so you missed the beginning of your senior year. The school suggested finding you a tutor and your guardians agreed it would do you a lot of good. So, I'll get back to you later this week on your first lesson."

Who on earth told them to get her a tutor? But Eden already knew. This had her mom's controlling fingerprints written all over it.

"Also, have you thought of any activities you'd like to join?"

Taking out the sign-up sheet from her bag, Eden slapped it against the table.

Alicia picked it up and took a look, before setting it down and pushing it back toward Eden. "An excellent choice you made, but you still have two others to add."

Eden rolled her eyes. "That's the only activity I feel like joining, and it wasn't even up to me."

Alicia's smile was annoyingly placating. "I'm sorry, but you must pick at least two other activities to join. Or we let your guardians decide. And if they can't, we do so ourselves. I'm sure you'd much rather have a say in how you spend most of your afternoons."

Eden inwardly groaned as she picked up the folder and shoved it back into her bag.

"I'll start processing the application for your first choice," Alicia went on. "You'll get your practice uniforms tomorrow and your actual uniforms by the end of the week. Since the season's already started, you'll also be expected to begin tomorrow after school."

"Awesome," Eden said, already backing out of there.

"Goodbye, Eden."

Her too bright smile followed Eden all the way to her car. She got in, started the engine and drove out of there wasting no time.

At her sister's building, no one was home when she let herself in so she went straight to her room. Once inside, she locked her door and chucked off the blazer before settling into a seat at her vanity table where she'd left her music box. Her fingers found the switch and turned it on, before she laid her head down on the table to watch the horses spin.

Eden smiled sadly as she thought of how her day went. About all the damage that had been done. About all the information she had gotten. About how strangers knew more about her than she knew herself. She really should check for the videos Sharpay had spoken of.

Not now though. Any glimpse into her past always left her feeling like the floor was crumbling beneath her feet. She couldn't handle that now.

So, for the next few hours, she lost herself in her thoughts, playing the music box over and over again when it stopped. Until she was finally able to catch some sleep.