Elite (Eagle Elite) - By Rachel Van Dyken Page 0,58
company, and Tex is supposed to take over the family business in a few years. I mean, not like Nixon. I guess things happen faster than you realize, but Tex is next and—”
“Wait.” I put my hand up. “Nixon runs your family’s business?”
“Businesses.” She chewed her fingernail. “He kind of oversees everything. Like the CEO to the CEO you know what I mean? Or I guess just the owner-operator. Whatever. Anyways, Tex—”
“Wait, one more question. Why is Nixon even in school?”
Monroe laughed. “I thought you’d been hanging out with my brother for the past couple weeks. You know just as well as I do that he doesn’t actually go to school.”
Oh my gosh. My boyfriend was a dropout. “He quit?”
She gave me a confused look. “Um, he technically already graduated. He was so many credits ahead that this year he decided to take enough credits to be Student Body President, but that’s it. Why do you think it seems like he’s always roaming the halls and has all the access cards to everything? They wouldn’t just give that to a student.”
“But…” Confused, I began to pace. “Why hasn’t he told me?”
“Chill.” Monroe jumped up from the bed and pulled me into a hug. “It’s not like it’s a secret. Everyone knows about it. I’m sure he just assumed someone already told you.”
“Right.” I smiled, even though it felt forced, and hurried through my morning routine. It bothered me that Nixon hadn’t said anything. But what bothered me more was the fact that I had been blindly trusting him for the past few days without ever forcing him to answer any of my questions.
The main one being… Who the hell was he?
Chapter Twenty-three
As promised, Grandpa was waiting outside my dorm at eight o’clock sharp. “Looking good,” I shouted at him once I stepped outside.
The minute he turned around I froze.
All his white facial hair was gone. He was wearing a really nice suit, like the type you see on Armani ads, and his smile seemed… worried.
Was nothing real in my life anymore? My grandpa was a farmer! A farmer! What would he need with a suit?
I approached him and the same black Mercedes I saw him driving last night. “What’s going on?”
“Trace.” He licked his lips. “Let’s just spend the day together and we’ll talk, okay? But not here, honey.”
I nodded. I mean, I really didn’t have any other choice. The car smelt like Grandpa, which was weird considering it was a rental.
The doors were heavy, too heavy to be a normal car, and the glass seemed thicker than normal. Not to mention that the windows were so darkly tinted it would be impossible to see in. I had no idea you could rent cars like this.
“Good news first or bad news?” Grandpa asked once he started the car.
“Bad. Always the bad first.”
Grandpa coughed. “Let me start with the good.”
“Why ask if you were already going to start with the good?”
He chuckled and shrugged. “The good news is that I’m going to be in town for a few months.”
“What!” I shrieked. “Grandpa, what about the cows! You know Wilbur won’t like being left without anyone familiar, and Matilda is—”
“I still regret letting you name some of the animals,” Grandpa grumbled. “And Wilbur and Matilda will be fine. They’ve got Scott. He’s going to watch over operations for a while.”
“Scott. As in, our cousin Scott?”
“Yes, Scott.” We joined the main road traffic. “He’s a good man and wanted some extra money, so I’m going to pay him to watch over things while I’m here.”
And then it hit me. Grandpa was sick. He had to be. Why else would he move? “Are you dying?”
Grandpa shook his head and sputtered. “Why would you think that? Do I look that awful clean-shaven?”
“No.” My breathing returned to normal. “I just… Well, why would you move here for a while?”
“Now, for the bad news.” Grandpa looked pasty white as he got on the freeway.
“What?”
“Everything you’ve ever known… is about to change.”
****
For some reason his words didn’t really hit me as hard as they should have. After all, everything had been slowly changing since Grandma’s death. I just didn’t know how or why.
Things were too weird not to change.
Maybe that’s why I didn’t ask any more questions. Instead, I tried to concentrate on what Nixon and I would do later. I had to. Because if I thought about the fact that Grandpa was driving me outside the city in an expensive car, wearing a suit, I would freak