| 007. Two Years Later |

  The classroom door opened so violently that it reverberated off of the wall and back to the frame again. A few students were too engrossed in their conversations to be distracted, but the majority looked up, eager for the spectacle as a girl stormed furiously into the room. Her shoes clacked on the classroom’s lacquered floor as she made a beeline for Xenia.

  “Xenia,” the girl yelled, stomping purposefully towards Xenia's desk - the one with an unparalleled view of Blake's grounds out of the window. The fact that Xenia didn’t turn to look at her as she approached, annoyed her even more. “Xenia!” she repeated and slammed her open palms down on the desk to reinforce the point.

  Xenia did not flinch. Instead, she dragged her ice blue eyes away from the view to regard first Jessica’s manicured nails, and then the rest of Jessica with a deliberate, undisguised apathy.

  It would be hard to pin-point what part of Jessica’s appearance she hated the most. Somewhere between her stylish bottle-blonde hair, perfectly blended makeup, unnecessary fake tan and lime green contact lenses Xenia’s skin began to crawl. Every time Xenia looked at Jessica she could see beneath the image there was a real person hiding everything that she could. They'd been having this argument for years.

  “Can I help you?” Xenia asked. Her tone was flat. Uninviting.

  “Who did you come to school with this morning?” Jessica demanded. Xenia’s eyebrows rose. For a moment, completely perplexed that Jessica was bothered over whom she spent time with.

  “Could you be talking about Andy?” she asked, and she wasn't being hypothetical. Brandy May was one of the newer residents of the Hughes Flats, although there had been quite a few to move in for the new academic year.

  "Yes?" Jessica leant in and dropped her voice into a whisper. Far too little too late, given the crowd she'd already amassed from her entrance. "Who is she? And why is she so close with Phillip?"

  Xenia's eye twitched.

  Jessica had been notoriously flighty over the past few years - flicking between relationships and boys as easily as she discarded tissues. Xenia had prided herself on remaining impassive on that subject. Given all that had happened, she had shown impeccable self restraint. But Jessica had crossed a line, going after Phillip. He was a good guy, and he didn’t deserve to be taken for a ride. More than that, he was one of Xenia’s few friends.

  "Do you actually care?" she asked.

  “If I didn't, I wouldn't have asked,” Jessica hissed. Her foundation was solid enough to prevent any sign of her angry flush showing through, but Xenia knew her well enough to gauge the degree of anger she’d induced. “Would you please just be on my side for once and let me know what's going on?"

  It was an outrageous thing to say. Xenia knew things about Jessica that would ruin her life, and she’d never told a sole. For Jessica to imply that Xenia had never been on her side was unbelievable. Whatever Jessica believed, Xenia had never set out to take an opposing side. It was just unfortunate that Jessica had been so attached to Lily, and in the end, Lily had to go.

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  Jessica’s eyes were too bright. The lime green contacts became yellow and cat-like in the sunlight.

  "I don't know what to tell you," Xenia said. "Andy's just an old friend of his. And I don't take sides."

  "Oh, that is rich," Jessica said, crossing her arms. “If you don't take sides, then why don't we re-examine what happened to Lily? Whose fault is it she was expelled?”

  Blake’s Academy operated on reputation rather than discipline. Rules existed, but they were enforced selectively — more guideline than law. Students were expected to self-regulate, to understand instinctively which lines mattered and which could be crossed without consequence. It was not a school designed to correct behaviour, but refine it. Ultimately former students knew when they were expected to leave without being asked.

  “I believe it was a mutual decision," she said, coolly, glancing at their audience. Jessica’s nails dug into the desk.

  The moment of silence as they collected themselves was deafening. Even the students who had been engrossed in their personal dramas had looked up for that scene. It was amusing to see Xenia lose her temper. It was one of the things that made Jessica so popular - her ability to take that snobby heiress down a peg or two.

  “You’re always unfair,” Jessica whispered, choked up with emotion.

  “If life was fair, that would mean we actually deserved everything that happened to us,” Xenia replied, and gave Jessica a long, slow look. The implication made her stiffen. Xenia looked away, stifling her sense of guilt. Jessica had decided to make this into a public show. So Xenia had to oblige and play her part. She gestured at the other desks on the back row. “As you can see, Phillip’s not here, so why don’t you go fix your face or whatever’s your top priority these days.” Jessica’s teeth snapped together in a snarl as she let out a hiss of a breath.

  “Whatever,” she muttered, spinning around on her heel and stalking towards the door. “I’m done with you.”

  “We should have more of these little chats,” Xenia said, her voice carrying after Jessica. She didn’t know why she had to get the last word. It was petty and beneath her, but Jessica brought out the worst in Xenia. “I get such a rush when you leave.”

  A manicured hand shot up and flashed Xenia the middle finger as Jessica stormed away, slamming the door behind her for dramatic effect.

  Beside Xenia, Leo Thorne snorted.

  “What?” Xenia asked, looking over and sharing an endearing half-smile. “Too harsh?”

  “You don’t know the meaning,” he said, leaning back in his seat, his hands in his pockets. Xenia often marvelled at his ability to look relaxed no matter the situation.

  “What do you think I should have said?” Xenia checked, propping her head up on her elbow and staring at him. “That you’d happily team up with her to prevent Andy dating Phil?”

  Leo sighed.

  “Don’t joke, Xen. Not about that.”

  Xenia’s smile dropped.

  "I wish you weren’t so set on that,” she said. Leo had candidly confessed that he never planned to date anyone. Never planned to break anyone’s heart by leaving them too suddenly and too soon. She’d tried reasoning with him. Tried consoling him. Tried every tactic she could think of over the years to persuade him to let someone in. Anyone. When Brandy had visited them the Christmas before last and Leo had actually shown some interest in her, Xenia had wished that Brandy would be the one to get through to him.

  "You've said that before," he said.

  “Yeah.” She drummed her fingers on her desk. “Only, she might end up in our class,” she said, and Leo stilled. He understood that to mean that Xenia had once again gotten a hold of privileged information in advance. "You might be forced to spend quality time with her."

  "Thanks for the warning."