Chapter Eight – The Secret
Devon Shade ran a hand through his hair as he sat in his BMW, waiting impatiently for Tessa. She was supposed to meet him ten minutes ago, but apparently she loved to take her time with everything she does.
A minute later, the passenger door opened and the familiar flash of blonde hair caught Devon’s eyes. Immediately he turned to look at Tessa and gave her a lazy smile. Of course she was hot, with the low v-neck t-shirt she was wearing and a mini skirt, clinging around her butt. The only thing that bothered him was the amount of make-up she put on.
“Alright, give me her information.” ordered Tessa immediately as she sat beside him and held out her right hand casually.
Devon looked at her hand for a moment, catching the hot pink colour that was painted on her nails before handing the diary to her.
Tessa smirked slightly as she started to flip through the pages, pausing briefly at a few that caught her attention. Then as suddenly as she begun to flip through it, she closed the diary.
“Okay, I think I know who I could contact and I’ll tell you the plan as soon as I get things sorted out. But in the meantime, let’s go get what you need for the party,” she said, while examining her nails.
Devon reached out and placed a hand on her cheek, so she had to turn and look at him. “Thanks babe,” he replied softly before leaning in to kiss her.
It wasn’t a very long kiss, but it still satisfied him when they broke apart.
Tessa raised one eyebrow, before laughing as she buckled her seat belt. “So if this keeps up, are we going to be a couple again?”
“Only if you want it to,” replied Devon slyly.
****
Where was it?!!
Nicolette looked around her room panicking, trying to find her diary. Today was definitely not going her way. First, Matthew was acting all weird and then some student came up to her to remind her about the detention she had in the principal’s office. Of course she went, but Devon, apparently, was too ‘busy’ for that.
Suddenly, she stopped searching and lifted her head up slowly, as if a light bulb just lit up.
“Devon Shade,” she hissed.
Sure, Nicolette wasn’t one hundred percent sure that he took her diary, but who else was staying in this coed room and would have the nerve to steal one of her most treasured possessions?
She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking about all her secrets that could possibly be revealed to him, including her real identity. Nicolette gritted her teeth for a moment before opening her eyes again. She won’t lose; she couldn’t lose. But what could she do now? She had no idea where Devon was and she didn’t really want to bother his sister…
Suddenly there was a couple of gentle knocks on the door. At first, Nicolette wasn’t exactly willing to get the door, but in the end she let in.
When she opened it, she was surprised to find the same beautiful and radiantly confident figure, Lillian Shade, standing there.
“Oh hey, Nicolette, sorry to bother you, but is my brother here?” she asked.
Nicolette just shook her head in reply. “I have no idea; I was looking for him too because I think he took my diary.”
Lillian’s eyebrows rose up for a moment before she crossed her arms. “Hmm…if he did, I’ll make sure to find him as soon as I can,” she replied with all seriousness on her face. “A diary is a very private item and should definitely not be in the hands of my brother,” she added with a sigh. “I’ll try and talk to him about your diary too, but seeing that he’s not here at the moment, do you mind doing me a favor?”
“Thank you and of course; what kind of favor do you want me to do?”
“Well, I’m the head of the student council and we plan many kinds of stuff, like dances and major events. Anyways, long story short, we’re raising money for a charity organization called Right to Play, and I was wondering if you’d like to help out? Maybe even become a member of the student council?” she asked slowly.
Nicolette listened thoughtfully before speaking. “What’s this charity all about?”
“It gives children in developing nations a chance to get to play and learn many life lessons instead of being involved with war and stuff like that. Oh, although this is slightly off topic, but there was this one child in a village and he was the most popular kid because he had a sweater to roll up into a soccer ball. That really inspired me.”
Nicolette nodded with a faint smile on her face. “That’s amazing, if only it was like that here…” she laughed.
“Thanks so much! Follow me to my dorm; I have two other student council members planning things out right now, so you can help them with that.” Lillian said before walking swiftly out.
Nicolette was a little hesitant for a second, but then followed after her. It was better than doing nothing and it could keep her mind away from what might have happened to her diary.
A few minutes later, Lillian stood in front of a door and slid a key card into the slot. When it blinked green, she opened the door and immediately, Nicolette noticed how it was smaller than the coed room that she stayed in, but it felt much roomier. Two faces popped into view as she went further inside.
“Alright, gather around you two!” said Lillian loudly, “I’d like you all to introduce yourselves to my new friend Nicolette.”
Within seconds, the two girls went up to her, quickly, but calmly.
“Jocelyn’s the name.” replied one girl, holding out her hand, “Are you new to this academy?”
Before Nicolette had time to reply, the girl with long auburn hair cut her in.
“—I’m Melissa Jaspen, team captain of the cheerleading team. If you know what’s good for you, don’t date any of the cheerleaders’ ex-boyfriends, they’re off limits.” she stated, shooting Nicolette a firm disapproving glare.
Right away, she could tell that she wasn’t going to like the second girl at all. Melissa seemed to be like one of those annoying, get on your nerves girls that her friends had described to her about.
“It’s nice to meet you guys,” replied Nicolette with a thin smile.
“Okay girls, let’s get Nicolette up to speed about everything and then while you get back to work, you can ask her the questions you have.” stated Lillian, “Let’s get going now.”
Over the next few hours, the four girls snacked on food, asked questions about Nicolette, discussed things for Right to Play and did rough outlines of what needed to be done.
By the time Lillian announced that she was ordering pizza for everyone, it was five PM and they were just chilling on the couch, either watching TV or talking.
“So what classes do you have this semester Nicolette?” asked Jocelyn.
She looked at her, but didn’t say anything because it was then that Nicolette realized that she had completely forgotten to take a look at her semester schedule, and classes were starting tomorrow!
“Umm…”
“Don’t tell me you didn’t take a look at it.” piped up Melissa, looking up from the TV for a moment, giving her almost a dirty look.
“Okay, I didn’t take a look at it,” Nicolette admitted with a sigh. So far, she noticed that Melissa seemed to dislike her the most, making a big deal out of ridiculous things. Why she did it was beyond her.
Lillian laughed. “Well I suggest you check it out soon… I mean you need to get your materials and binders ready as well.”
“I hope you do know what time you have to get up for classes tomorrow too,” added Jocelyn.
Nicolette nodded while standing up. “You’re right; I think it’s time for me to go.”
“Do you want pizza before you go though?” asked Lillian abruptly.
She just shook her head. “I’m fine. I’ll find something to eat in the coed room.”
“Okay then. If Devon’s in the coed room, tell him to find me. I’ll give him a piece of my mind… Actually, you can call my number and I’ll deal with him.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! You ‘re in a coed room…” repeated Jocelyn loudly.
“With Lillian’s twin? Devon?” demanded Melissa, looking even more pissed off then before.
“That sucks. I feel for you girl.” stated Jocelyn before giving a quick glance a Lillian who had a calm look on her face.
“Don’t date him; he’s my ex.”
“Uhh, yeah I know; it sucks.” agreed Nicolette, before rolling her eyes. “And of course, like I’d date that jerk,” she replied sarcastically. “Anyways, I got to go. I’ll see you around.” With that, she walked out of the room.
Nicolette was almost out of Lillian’s dorm when she heard someone yell, “Wait up!”
She looked back to see Lillian walking calmly toward her.
“Look, I’m sorry for the way things had sort of ended today … especially with Melissa. She could have been nicer, but my idiot of a brother just broke up with her. Somehow, you being the new girl here, and you getting the coed room with Devon just annoyed her even more.” she explained.
Nicolette laughed. “Tell her that I’d be happy to switch rooms.”
Lillian shook her head. “No, Melissa doesn’t want to be anywhere near him, but she feels as if nobody can be near him either. Anyways, just be careful around him. I know the kinds of things that go on around here. Everyone knows what he’s capable of, yet still every girl wants to date him,” she said with a sigh, “and every single time, I watch or hear a girl get broken because of him, I feel guilty, knowing I had taken part of making him like this…”
She couldn’t hold it in anymore; she had wondered for a bit why Lillian blamed herself for making him like what he is now. “Why do you blame yourself for this?” demanded Nicolette.
Lillian gave a thin smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes before she spoke. “Okay, I’ll tell you something that not many people know about us…” she said softly, “but please keep it a secret…”
“Devon and I are not twins really; we’re actually triplets. I have another brother named Vincent and he was born very weak, therefore, he always took the attention of my mother. It didn’t help that my father was constantly busy either,” she explained, “Devon was actually a timid child in the past, but he had always craved for the attention of our mother. Then one day, while he was rushing down the stairs, Devon accidently shoved Jared and he fell down them, breaking his arm. What ended up happening after that was unbelievable. My mother just snapped. She couldn’t stand what happened to her precious Vincent and how my father was never there for us. That’s when she ordered a divorce, taking Jared with him.”
If Nicolette could process that all in her head, she would, but she couldn’t believe what Lillian was telling her. She almost felt sorry for Devon, if not for the fact that he wants to make her life miserable. But there was still one thing she didn’t get…
“I’m sorry, but I still don’t understand; how is it your fault he’s like this?”
“He never had the mother or father to protect and support him through tough times. Instead, he did it alone because I was almost never there for him as well. It didn’t help that I had encouraged him to be wild and open… or the fact that I introduced him to a few people whose reputation is so high up the scale. And that’s how his attitude got started.”
Nicolette nodded, feeling light headed with all this new information. It didn’t make her like Devon anymore, but it made her ponder a few things. What is she going to do now knowing this information? Maybe only time would tell.
“Anyways, long story short, you have to be extremely careful around Devon; he knows how to get a girl into bed with him, but the worst part is that if you provoke him too much, he has the power to turn the whole school against you. He will make your life hell. Even for me, there is only so much I can do to help out because of my booked schedule. Just be careful with him and, if I’m not here to help you, try finding Sklyer. He’s a good help too. Maybe one day, we’ll get him back to his old self…”
Her head was officially spinning. All she had wanted was a normal high school life with her old friends. Not this mess. However much one may pity that boy, Nicolette would never do so. She couldn’t; after all, there were people who went through much tougher lives than him and made it out just fine… or at least that’s what she told herself. When her head finally stopped spinning, she thanked Lillian and slowly made her way back toward her floor.
Even if Nicolette had the slightest pity for Devon before, it vanished the moment she entered the coed room again.