Fallen Stars and Broken Dreams - C.C. Masters Page 0,61

because of the morning drama. “That sounds great. Do you usually eat on campus?”

Abby shrugged. “Yeah, there’s a bunch of options. The cafeteria is pretty good; they have a sushi chef there on weekdays. There’s also a café if you just want a sandwich or something.”

She pulled open the heavy door into the building, and I helped her hold it open so we could both pass through. “This is the home of our athletics, and probably what you’re the most interested in, since you’re a dancer?”

I nodded. “Yeah, ballet specifically.”

“Cool. Off to the left is the basketball court. Our team sucks, so no one cares.”

I chuckled at her obvious brush off. “Over here is the ice rink. We have a couple of figure skaters aiming for the Olympics, and our hockey team is nationally ranked. But you probably already knew that?”

I glanced at her. This school trained people for the Olympics? I thought the headmaster had said that he considered sports to be a hobby? There was no way these figure skaters could train enough to get to the Olympic level without making sacrifices in the academic area. Did he have something against ballet or something against me personally?

“I haven’t done any research on the school,” I admitted. “I’m going in blind here.”

Abby looked at me in surprise. “I just meant because of the Wilder brothers. How they’re literally carrying the hockey team to the championships? And Maverik is just about to start his senior year, so this will probably be their best season yet.”

“Huh, I didn’t know they played hockey,” I admitted. “We don’t exactly sit around chatting all day. More like occasionally exchange threats to stab each other.”

Abby laughed uncomfortably and pulled me to a stop. “They’re kind of a big deal here.” She looked around the hallway and leaned in. “There are some things about this school and your new brothers that you need to know.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”

“Like how everyone needs to know their place,” she whispered nervously. “There’s a pretty strict social hierarchy that’s been in place for years.”

She bit her bottom lip before continuing. “I know you guys live together and everything, but you should probably stay away from them if you don’t want to become a target, especially if you’re saying they won’t protect you.”

“A target for what?” The more she talked, the more confused I got.

Abby sighed. “The Wilders are some the wealthiest students here, but they weren’t born into this like everyone else. Their dad is first-generation new money, and he stepped on a lot of toes to get where he is right now. The kids with older money only grudgingly tolerate the new money group because they’re outnumbered.”

“What about students who come from no money?” I asked with a roll of my eyes.

Abby giggled. “There’s no such thing, at least not in this school.” She got a serious look on her face again. “Richard Wilder has been crushing other companies as Awake grows. Kingston and Maverik have been slowly moving toward the top of the hierarchy since they’ve been here. It helps that they’re both hot, great at sports, smart, and their dad is a billionaire.”

I gave an irritated sigh. Was everyone a member of the Wilder fan club except for me?

“But there’s a bunch of guys that have seen their fortunes decrease as the Wilders’ increase. They’ve also been pushed down the social hierarchy as Kingston and Maverik got promoted to kings of the school,” Abby whispered cautiously.

I shrugged. I didn’t care about how one group of rich assholes hated the other; they were all the same to me. “Can I just stay invisible to both groups? I don’t want to get involved in any of that.”

The whole feud seemed pointless and stupid to me. Who cares how many generations your family has had money for? I swear, rich people cared about the pettiest shit.

Abby seemed disappointed at my lack of response. “We shouldn’t be talking about this here, anyway.” She straightened up abruptly and put her happy face back on. “Do you want to peek in at the ice rink before we go downstairs to the dance studio?”

I shrugged, surprised at how quickly Abby could change gears. “Sure.”

Kingston told me to head to the ice rink when I was done, but I could just stop in and let them know I was going to lunch with Abby. It would serve them right if I just disappeared, and then they had to explain to their father how