Excerpt Monday Round 2

 

Excerpt Monday is the fabulous brain child of Mel and Bria.  To catch all the action, zip over to their site and check out other authors’ posts.  You can get there by going HERE.  And stay tuned…at the end of this excerpt is a list of everyone participating.

Just a little warning - while the characters are in high school, they do use foul language.  So, Ye Be Warned! 

~Redd~

Chapter 2

 

            “Heaven Nelson?”

            My eyes flicker forward as I raise my arm.  My iPod slips undetected from  my hand into my backpack.  I flip open my textbook, refusing to acknowledge the snickers that accompany my name.  I’ve come to expect it.  Heaven is a torturous joke because in reality I’m so far from it.

           Mr. Roberts teaches first period Ecology.  As the only senior in the class, I sit in the back row.  The freshmen are curious.   I’m annoyed because I’m not allowed to take chemistry, like the rest of my senior classmates. 

           Last year’s little explosion in the chemistry lab had no less than three of Chattanooga’s full size fire engines screeching across Baylor’s campus.  My father donated a healthy portion of my trust fund to pay for the damages and keep me in school until the end of the spring semester.  All with the promise my parents would enroll me elsewhere my final year.  Baylor was fun.  Probably one of the few boarding schools I enjoyed.  I found it easy to latch onto a bunch of earthy, hippie type kids with too much money…little parental supervision, and extremely creative ideas…  Meth lab on campus my ass.  Someone had the bright idea to experiment with the color spectrum of various chemicals – to see what burned what color.  The freaky Campbell kid tweaked and started mixing liquids of every sort, even the dangerous ones.  Poor guy lost his eyebrows, and he was lucky.

           So, I’m stuck in Ecology with a bunch of freshmen.  They take turns whipping their heads around to stare at me.  Thank God, it’s a small class.

           Roberts continues to call roll, and I doodle on my notebook.  I glance at the clock, counting the minutes till this class is over.  Not that my day gets any better.  European History is followed by Advanced French.  Lunch period for the entire school is from noon to one, after that I have my elective – Acting class – then study hall, and last is Senior English. 

***

            Ah… the dreaded cafeteria of a boarding institution; a cesspool of cliques, loners, faculty and misfits swirl into one grey glob as they scrutinize  each other as they pass.  I figure if I keep my head low that will be a deterrent.  I can’t be much of a curiosity to them.  After all, this is a delinquent depository and new students pop up all the time.  I take my tray of mystery casserole that slowly seeps into my corn tinged Jell-o and search for closest empty spot I can find.   Thank God that my milk’s in a sealed carton.

            Deep, rich mahogany tables fill the matching dark paneled dining hall.  The sunlight is the brightest thing that penetrates the room.  It pours in through long casement windows that arch to a point near the ceiling.   I feel like I’m in church.    

            To my dismay, my first goal to avoid contact upends – like a tray of food during a school fight – a minute after my uniformed butt hits the wooden seat. 

            “Nice shoes.”  A brunette slides her tray across from mine, and scoots her chair closer.  I look up to find her studying me with curious brown eyes.

            “Thanks.” 

            “Jillian Carothers.  What are you in for?”

            I stifle a groan.  I prefer to keep my past to myself.

            “This and that.”

            “Right.”  She opens her milk carton, and shoves a straw in it.  “So, what’s your name?”

            Picking up my fork, I focus on pushing around the questionable yellow-green glob.  I avoid her gaze, hating to watch people react to my name.

            “Heaven Nelson.”

            I hear her choke on her milk, a cross between a snort and a cough.  Good, I hope the milk went up her nose.

            “Heaven?  What kind of name is that?  I mean, it’s pretty and unique.” 

            And some kind of freak joke.

            “Yep.”  I scoop up the glob and watch it slide through the fork tines.

            “Holy shit!  I just saw Jason Carde sitting in the Headmaster’s office.”  A guy’s voice attracts my attention.

            Fabulous, they have multiplied like Gremlins (those furry demon monsters from that old movie).  I glance across at the tall, lanky boy with messy brown hair.  He slides into the chair beside Jillian.

            “Why are you sitting over here?”  The boy glares at her.

            “Because the Ice Queen isn’t in the cafeteria today, and her court has scattered.  Besides, I wanted to be the first to meet the new student.”  Her eyes dart to me.  “I am the first?”

            I sigh.  “Yep.”

            “Good.  Heaven this is Topher, resident pest and computer slut at large.”

            “Ah Jills, I didn’t know you cared.  Did you hear what I said?”

            She rolls her eyes.  “I don’t care. Goober, this is Heaven Nelson.”

            “I already know. 

            My mouth drops, but before I can reply Jillian answers, “The only reason dork, here, is allowed to hang is because he’s handy with a computer – too handy.”

            I look at Topher.  He appears normal, but then those are always the ones to watch.  “Oh, I take it Pemberly’s mainframe is an easy target?”

            Jillian snorts.  Topher rubs his apple on his sleeve before sinking his teeth into it. 

            I watch with raised eyebrows as he chews with deliberate slowness.  “What’s the point in hacking the student records?”

            Jillian spoons a bite of the jiggling glob into her mouth.  “Blackmail,” she replies between bites.

            “Blackmail is such a… negative word.  I like to consider it my reputation stimulus package.  I’m guaranteed complete toleration by the popular kids, and no one fucks with me.”

            “Yeah, tolerate is the operative word there.”  She twitches slightly like she has a shiver.

            “It’s just a little hobby.”

            “You have more?”  I lower my chin and stare.

            “Not as many as you, Miss Heaven Amelia Nelson.  Or should I call you Redd.”

            I cringe, and dig my fork in to the Jell-o.

            Changing my focus, my gaze drifts to the far end of the room.  My eyes linger on five guys as they saunter across the dining hall.  The midday sunlight gleams through the beveled windows, throwing their shadows long and lean across the flagstone.  Even in Puritan drab they stand out, a pack of male hunks.  I can’t take my eyes off them, especially the blonde in the middle.  He aimlessly walks behind a dark haired guy and one with shoulder length, auburn hair.  Two more take up the rear, carrying trays.  The first guy snarls at a freshman, who sits alone at the last table in the corner, while the red head pulls on the puny kid’s chair.  The boy grabs his tray and scurries off.   The brood claims his spot, like it’s their marked territory.

            “Don’t worry.”  Topher’s voice jars my thoughts.

            My eyes waver back in his direction.  “Worry about what?”

            “Everyone at Pemberly has something on their records, some just more… interesting than others.”

            “All but the Pets,” Jillian adds.

            “The pets?”

            Jillian bites her lip, and Topher answers, “Headmaster Grave’s pets.  They don’t get kicked out of boarding schools.  They don’t do anything illegal, and I think they like being here.”

             “Oh, you mean teacher’s pets.”  I laugh.  “For a second there, I though you actually meant animals.”

            Jillian snorts.  “Funny you should say that.”

            I arch my eyebrow.  “Funny how?”

            Jillian glances over her shoulder.  She shakes her head and presses her lips together.

            I look back at Topher.  “Why would anyone want to go to school here?”

            “They came with the headmaster.  All orphans or something.  They live up at Haven’s Rest, and go to school here.”

            “What’s Haven Rest?”

            Jillian jerks her head toward the casement window.  My eyes flicker to the glass.  In the distance, I see the monstrous grey manor house looming on the hill.

            “That’s Haven’s Rest?  That’s the queen’s friggin’ summer home.”  My mouth drops, and Jillian coughs, snorting her milk again.  “You’re telling me, they’re orphans and live there?”  I poke my fork toward the window.

            Jillian shrugs.  “They all have huge trust funds or something.”

            Topher clenches his jaw, annoyance visible in his eyes.  “They’re the only ones without any kind of record.  Nothing, zilch, cleaner than white laundry on a line. ”

            “Oh, that’s a shame.  Can’t find anything to blackmail those unfortunate kids into being your friend?”

            Jillian laughs.  “They are so far from unfortunate, it’s comical.”

            “Which ones are they?”  I scan the crowded room.

            She shares a look with Topher.  Their eyes drift to the far corner table, and I follow the direction of their glance.  My breath catches in my throat as my gaze meets with icy blue eyes under the thick fringe of pale blonde hair, silver in the bright sunlight.  I dart my eyes away, embarrassed.

            “Those guys?  They look like bullies.”

            “They keep to themselves, unless you step out of line.  But trust me, their shit stinks just as much as ours does.  I just haven’t found where the stench is coming from -yet.”

            “Lovely metaphor.”   I push my inedible lunch to the side and chance another peek.

            The five of them huddle together.  And like Topher points out, they keep to their territory and boundaries – no one goes any where near them.

            “Why are you so hell-bent on exposing them?  Did one of them give you a wedgie?  Steal your gym shorts?  Rat you out to the headmaster?”

            My final statement causes his face to brighten and his jaw to lock.  A wicked smile crests my lips.  “Ahh, poor thing.  Listen, I don’t care what you do on your path to expulsion, just keep me out of it.”

            Jillian leans over her tray, emphasizing each word with her fork.  “No one gets expelled from Pemberly.”

            I hear the challenge.  “No one?  Ever?”

            “Nope.  The headmaster is like a superhero saint with patience.  He never makes students leave.  You’re stuck here till graduation.”  She glances at the back table.

            “But it doesn’t mean your actions don’t have consequences.”  Topher slams down his apple core.

            “What do you mean?”

            “The headmaster’s pets, they’re like watchdogs.”

            It’s my turn to snort.  Thank God, I didn’t have milk in my mouth.  “Watchdogs?  Them?”

           “Trust me, you don’t want to mess with them.”

           My eyes dart to the far corner, but the blonde has his back to me.  I stare too long, and his head snakes around with a distinct scowl on his lips.  I turn to focus on Topher.

           “I don’t plan on it.”

           “You’re with us then?”

            I shrug.  “Sure.”

           “Good.  I have a plan and need your…expertise.  We’ll meet tonight.”

           How easily I’m swayed, stepping beyond a polite decline to the offer.  I can tell there’s no refusing this criminal mastermind in the making anyway.  I just hope they’re right about Graves and his no expulsion policy.  I believe Topher plans to test that theory.

~~~

Check out these other authors’ excerpts. Check the ratings some are rated extra steamy, and have mature content.  Happy reading!!!

Mel Berthier, Urban Fantasy (PG 13)
and
Bria Quinlan, Rom Com (PG)

Joining us this week:

Christina DeLorenzo, YA (PG 13)
Bryn Donovan, Paranormal  (PG)
MG Braden, Contemporary Romance (PG 13)
Babette James, Fantasy Romance (PG 13)
Cynthia Justlin, Contemporary Romance (PG 13)
Kaige, Historical Romance (PG  13)
Adelle Laundan, Contemporary Romance (PG 13)
Jeannie Lin, Historical Romance (PG 13)
RF Long, Paranormal (PG 13)
Crista McHugh, Paranormal  (PG 13)
Dara Sorensen, Paranormal (PG)

Evie Byrne, Historical Romance (R)
Grace Draven, Fantasy Romance (R)
Aithne Jarretta, Paranormal (R)
Inez Kelley, Contemporary Romantic Comedy (R)
Aislinn Kerry, Paranormal (R)
Kim Knox, Erotic-  Sci-fi Suspense (R)
Cherrie Lynn, Erotic-  Contemporary Romance (R)
Alina Morgan, Urban Fantasy (R)

Stephanie Adkins, Erotic-  Supsense (NC 17)
Ella Drake, Sci-Fi Romance (NC 17)
Annie Nicholas, Sci-Fi Romance (NC 17)
Kirsten Saell, Erotic – Fantasy (NC 17)