BLUE BLOOD

4 | you never trusted me

x

"She can't know," A soft voice said from the door crack of the bedroom. 

A male's voice. "She's your sister."

"And she's your girlfriend," Ella hissed back, her voice raspy. "What's worse?"

Shock filled my stomach as I stopped just in time from entering the room. I stepped closer, catching a glimpse of Ella clutching Calvin's shirt and leaning in to kiss him. A gasp left me but it drowned from all the noise, unheard.

This was the real reason I broke up with him.

I told Ella I never knew, but I did. I just didn't think it was worth losing my sister over. As it turns out, it didn't matter anyway. 

I still lost her in the end.

x

I learned that at Queens Academy, the final bell meant the day had just started.

"What the hell?" 

A heap of envelopes tumbled down as I opened my sleek locker, making me shift backwards in surprise. I bent down, mentally keeping count as I sifted through the stack. Twelve envelopes. All enclosed with wax seals of different shades silver, black, and green.

"Invitations," Camilla's eyes were calculating. "For cadres."

"Twelve already?" I mused, straightening myself. "It's only the first day."

Camilla didn't look surprised. In fact, she looked impressed and... triumphant, as if she had made a gamble and won it. "I knew it."

"Knew what?" I watched her expression intently for a reaction. 

"That you would have nothing to worry about." Whatever Camilla was about to say, that wasn't it. Still, I didn't feel like pursuing an answer and instead, studied the invitations. "You should accept that invitation. Cadre eight."

I heard what she didn't say just by the slight sourness in her tone. I would be one cadre higher than hers. "Do I have to accept it immediately?"

"No," Camilla shook her head, a bright smile appearing. "But then again, no one ever transfers late so I don't know. Standard protocol says you get a week or two."

I stored that information for later. "I'll consider it."

"Are you crazy? Only certain people are invited to cadre eight..." Camilla had this strange expression pass over face, shadowing her features.

"Camilla," I interrupted her upcoming tangent. She was prone to those. "What happens when the school day ends? Do students go home instead of the dormitories or do they stay?"

"Depends." She then had a twinkle in her eyes. "Some drive home. Others, usually the higher cadres, stay at their dorms. But always, there's a party. The first thing you'll learn from having a better cadre is the more exclusive parties you get invited to."

"There's a party tonight?"

"Of course," Camilla looked horrified at the suggestion that there wouldn't be one. "It's Friday, Vesper, Friday."

My lips curved to an amused smile as I tucked the envelopes into my purse. "Right."

"There's a huge party tonight. Everyone will be there since it's one of cadre one's birthday." Camilla hugged me tightly with a squeal as she said this. "I bought my dress a month ago to celebrate."