Defiant Princess (Boys of Oak Park Prep #2) - Callie Rose Page 0,8
gave me the rest of the day to get settled in.
As the Uber driver pulled through the black metal gates onto campus, I clenched the door handle so hard my knuckles turned white. I had the strongest urge to dig through my backpack and pull out the little black book in there, as if it could provide some kind of shield to keep me safe from the Princes.
You have to get close to slip the knife in, Tal. This is good. It’s how it has to be.
The student lot was full, but the driver pulled around to the south side of Craydon Hall. “Here you go. Need help with your bags, or you got ’em?”
I didn’t answer. My gaze was locked on the large white building with the red tiled roof. Two other buildings ran perpendicular to it on either side, forming a rough U-shape. It was all so familiar, yet somehow foreign, as if I’d visited this place in an extremely vivid nightmare. As if the Talia Hildebrand who’d gone to school here last year wasn’t actually me, but someone else.
“Um, you good?”
My hand was still on the door handle, but I couldn’t move.
“Miss!” The driver sounded slightly concerned. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.” My voice was thick, but I nodded on autopilot. “I’ll get my bags. Thank you.”
He nodded, shooting me a curious look as I finally pushed the door open and stepped out. The warm, hazy California air hit me again, and I let it bolster me as I dragged my bags from the trunk and pulled them up the stairs and into the building.
I went right to the registrar’s office to pick up my class schedule, ignoring the startled looks I got from the few students passing by. It was mid-afternoon, and eighth period was in session, so I didn’t see any of the Princes, Leah, or Adena and her crew, but my skin still prickled with every new gaze that landed on me. By the end of the day, I was sure everyone at Oak Park would know I was back.
The woman behind the desk handed me my schedule and room key, and I took them both and hustled across campus. Since I was late again this year, my dorm was in the Wastelands just like last time, but as far as I was concerned, that was perfect.
My uniforms were sitting in the closet in my bedroom, a perfect row of white dress shirts, red ties, navy jackets, and matching navy skirts with white bands around the bottoms. I unpacked the rest of my clothes in a hurry, then carefully pulled out the worn stack of papers from my backpack and slid them into the bottom desk drawer.
I left the black leather notebook where it was. It was small enough to fit in the side pocket of my backpack, and I wanted to keep it nearby at all times.
When I glanced up, my heart suddenly slammed against my ribs. Classes must’ve ended while I was unpacking, and now the Princes strode across campus, shoulder to shoulder, just like I remembered them. I could feel my pulse in every part of my body as twin desires to fight and flee raged through me, and I couldn’t tear my gaze away from them—not even when Mason’s head turned toward Prentice Hall, tilting slightly.
When they disappeared into their dorm, I let out a heavy breath. Then I snatched up my phone and called for another Uber.
I’d only been on campus for thirty minutes, and already, I was itching to leave.
The driver texted me twenty minutes later to let me know he’d arrived, and I grabbed my small purse and made a beeline for the door. I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go, so I just had him drop me off near a strip of shops in Roseland. Erin had been able to successfully argue with the judge that in addition to my tuition, I’d need a reasonably high disposable income given the cost of living in Roseland, so I had more money in the bank than I’d ever had in my life. And that was only a small portion of what the trust my mom had set up contained.
It made me curious to know where she’d gotten the money from. Had Jacqueline and Philip not cut her off financially when she’d left town? And if my mom had had so much money, why had she ended up in a dingy, blue-collar town like Sand Valley?