The Classix

(2ND DRAFT) chapter TEN

Note: I'm back. Let's keep it going.

PREVIOUSLY ON THE CLASSIX: Carstan's about to explain himself. Let's hear what he has to say.

EMERAY

"For a good part of my life, I have had the opportunity to view the Famoux from an outsider's perspective," Carstan van Horne tells us. "I know that might sound a little odd, considering that this group has been a part of my family since it's inception, but it's the honest truth."

Like someone who's been practicing their performance, Carstan has been regarding and making eye contact with numerous people at the table while talking. At the end of this particular sentence, his gaze goes to me. While my first instinct is to drop my eyes to the floor, I stand my ground, planting my feet firmly on the floor below my chair.

I'm here, I tell myself. I'm here.

Not in that small town Red back in Eldae. Not in my school. Here.

As easily as they fell on me, Carstan's eyes move on. He's not focusing on me anyway. He's focused on the speech ahead of him.

"As you all know, my grandfather, the great Lennix Dax, ran the first generation of the Famoux, and my uncle, Bendix, was one of those establishing members. As you also know, my mother here stayed behind the scenes, and she ultimately took on the role of manager after her father a few years ago, thus creating the new generation––you guys."

He takes a breath, a pause. "When she ascended that throne, I realized that my fate in the family business was basically sealed––that I would do the same that she did in a few decades time, and I'd make my own generation of Famoux members to watch and manage. So naturally, I rejected that fate. I decided that I didn't like the Famoux, and presented myself as so. The people I hung out with were people who shared that sentiment."

I wrack my brain for some kind of specific reaction from Carstan back at school––for some kind of indication that he might be connected to that glittering, distant world––but I can't recall anything special. For a moment I'm frustrated. How could he have gone for his entire life not boasting about his mother?

Chapter seems to read my mind. "If you don't mind me asking, how were your . . . um, friends not aware of your relation to Norax?"

While his words are diplomatic, his voice is distinctly cold. It makes Carstan wince. As he glances to his mother for security, Chapter hums a laugh. This is not too different from it was at the gala: Chapter being blunt and unapologetic, and Carstan sitting around trying to pinpoint what he did to make him so cross.

After all the dust of the Darkening settled and they met up again, I wonder if Carstan ever asked Norax about it, and what she might've told him in reply. Perhaps she offered some elaborate lie about Chapter actually being a jerk in person. Perhaps she made a quick excuse and dismissed the subject.

Or perhaps she told him the truth––that Chapter is my boyfriend, and that for this reason he hated him by default, because I'm not just Emeray, but also that sad little Emilee Parvenu he used to torment.

But I don't know that for sure. All I know is that Carstan is our new member, and that if his induction is anything like mine, he knows absolutely nothing about our pasts. Looking around the table, I'm stunned to realize just how little of these member's backstories I actually, truly know.

I'm taken out of my thoughts when Carstan speaks again, this time answering Chapter's question. He regards him with as much composure as he can manage.