❝Power doesn't corrupt people, people corrupt power.❞
— William Gaddis
It's a human weakness.
Of course, this, once again, depends on how a person views it but according to me, it's a weakness instead of a strength. The strong prey on the weak just because they can - it's their way to display their dominance and authority.
I'm talking about power here.
It's always in the eyes, you see. Just by looking into someone's eyes, you can take a guess whether the person is a hunter or a prey. Whether they've been corrupted by the taste of power and money or not, or whether they're just making it through the day because someone holds something against them. Something that could destroy them. A secret is a fair example of it. The greatest weapon you can hold against someone.
A single look in his eyes tells me he's corrupted. He's probably powerful here - people here are scared of him but at the same time, they respect him as well. One look, and I can tell.
That he's corrupted and yet is somehow able to mask the feeling that if his secret is out, he'd be destroyed in a second.
Of course, I won't do that just yet. I may know his secret but he doesn't know mine yet. As long as he doesn't, I can think.
"So you're Harley," Asher Hale whistles as he sits down right next to me. He's too close but I make no effort to push him or scoot away from him. He notices this, of course, and leans in towards my ear. So close, I can feel his breath. "How much did you pay?"
I don't turn. "I didn't pay."
"Oh really?" he laughs, moving away again. "You're a pretty little thing over here, Harley. You don't seem like the kind who'd study for twenty hours a day and actually score a ninety seven."
I shrug. "I didn't pay," I repeat myself because it seems as if he didn't hear me clearly the first time.
He sighs, resting his elbows on the table. Summer Laurent sits next to Jude. She's even prettier in person - she has strawberry blond hair and almond coloured eyes. The old me would've initiated a conversation with her and asked about her skin care routine or done something embarrassing. But the new me? Nah, never. I hate her.
"I don't believe you," Asher says dully.
"Don't remember when I asked you to do that." Jude coughs on her orange juice and tears immediately spring up in her eyes as she tries not to laugh at my response. Summer looks at her with a concerned look and offers her water, which she accepts.
"Do you know who you're talking to?" His face has dropped and I try my best to hold back my sadistic smirk.
There it was, the line. The proof that he's drunk on power. The proof that he's not used to being opposed to. The thought of it makes my heart churn in excitement.
"Asher Hale, student body president, national level tennis player but you don't play professionally anymore since you're on the student council."
He blinks. "Whoa," Jude mutters. "So you do know this school after all."
"You're pretty famous here, Asher. Even a new student would know you."
His lips tugged upward in a smirk and he shakes his head. "You better watch what you say, kid."
"Kid?" I echo. "Did I say something wrong, though?" I look at Summer, my gaze telling her that the question is directed towards her.
She's taken aback by me but then catches herself and nods. "You didn't. Asher, stop making a fuss out of this. Not here."
Not here.
The words were solely supposed to say that he shouldn't make a scene out of it. However, the way she said it, it seemed like she was saying 'We'll sort it out in private'. Maybe I was over analyzing things. But it's better to assume the worst. Just so you can't be any more disappointed.
"Fine," Asher says in a sing-song voice. "But for real, Harley. Your attitude might make you end up in trouble sometime. You may seem academically excellent but your grades? They can't help you predict what may hit you when you least expect it." The last part of the sentence is more hushed than a whisper and I barely caught it. However, it doesn't surprise me. I'd expected this from him.
"Is that a threat?" I raise my eyebrow.
He leans back, looking into my eyes with a smirk on his face. He doesn't reply and I get my answer. Getting up from my seat, I flash a quick smile to him and Summer.
"I'm going. I'll see you in the room, Jude."
She looks up, scrunching her eyebrows. "It's Jade."
I ignore her and start to walk to the counter to keep my empty tray when I hear Asher whistle and call my name, making the people around us stop their chatter and look up at me or him.
"See you at the party," he says. To a passerby, it may have seemed like a casual invitation, or something someone would say to their friend.
But I knew it wasn't. It was in his eyes. The mischief. The scheming. He was thinking. He wanted to play this game of figuring me out. He had found his new prey.
But he didn't know that this prey could hunt him down in a second.
Author's Note
Hi! I'm sorry for the short chapter, but there's a double update today because I'm feeling good and need validation. Also, the first part of the book is just the build up and introduction so it may feel like you're reading a cliché high school rich kids Wattpad book but I promise it gets better soon. Just stick around for a little while and bear with me ksjdhfkjdhs
— evy