Kings of Quarantine (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep #1) - Caroline Peckham ,Susanne Valenti Page 0,12

for me. He took pride in his appearance too, though he always styled his black hair in a way that looked like he hadn’t bothered at all. But I knew for a fact that casual, I-didn’t-even-make-an-effort look took him the best part of fifteen minutes with a hairdryer and half a can of hairspray to perfect.

Kyan was nowhere to be seen, which wasn’t a surprise. He turned up late for everything if he even turned up at all. Everything aside from football practice anyway. Coach Monroe would have his balls and his spot on the team if he pulled that shit with him. He was about the only fucker in this school who held any real sway over us. Mostly because he gave no shits if we pissed money or were born to be the next leaders of this world. He only cared about one thing. The game. And if we did anything to negatively affect that, he’d cut us without so much as a blink of concern for what revenge we might cast his way. And I could respect that. Especially because his hard ass ways meant we were the best damn team in the high school league.

We headed out of the huge oak door which fronted The Temple and I fell into step with Blake as we walked up the hill towards the dining hall. Though calling it that was kinda like calling my family yacht a boat.

We had a classically trained chef running the kitchen and we sent over our meal orders via the school app in advance.

We walked through the trees up the steep hill towards the stone building which housed the Redwood Dining Hall and one of the Unspeakables darted ahead of us to open the door. I didn’t thank him, didn’t even offer him a smile like Blake did. What was the point? But I would have beaten his ass if he hadn’t done it.

Our table sat waiting at the head of the room, positioned horizontally so that we could look out over the rest of the students like we were sitting at the top table at a wedding. I cut a path around the gathering masses and headed to the centre of it as Blake paused to talk to people.

I wasn’t a mingler. It took a lot more effort than I had to waste and at least ninety eight percent of people weren’t worth the bother.

The room was huge, big enough to hold the entire student body of two thousand people beneath its high ceiling. To the right of the dining hall, the entire wall was made up of glass windows which looked out over the lake and the mountains beyond. In the summer, the windows would be thrown open and we could eat out on the terrace, but it rained here more often than not so those days were few and far between.

No sooner had my ass hit the padded cushion on the mahogany chair than a member of the kitchen staff arrived with my breakfast. Two slices of whole wheat toast, crisp but not burned, creamy scrambled egg with crushed avocado and just a hint of seasoning. Even an idiot could cook that right, but if they’d managed to fuck it up they’d be hearing about it in their letter of employment termination. I’d only had to get three assholes fired before they’d figured out how to get it right. My mom ran the school board, so pissing me off was a pretty stupid mistake for a member of staff to make.

A triple shot espresso and a glass of freshly squeezed grapefruit juice appeared before me in the next breath and I turned my attention to my food as the rest of the tables filled.

The chair to my left scraped across the wooden floor as Kyan arrived and he dropped down into his chair, spreading his legs wide and slinging an arm over the empty seat on his other side.

“Your balls are just that big, huh?” I asked as his knee knocked against my thigh.

“You know it,” he replied cockily, his gaze skimming the room. “Where’s the new girl then?”

I looked up too, scanning the sea of familiar faces for a moment before shrugging. “If she makes a habit of running later than you then there’s no hope for her anyway,” I said dismissively.

“The way Blake told it last night, she could be later than the devil to a church service and you still wouldn’t kick her out of bed,” he