- Juliet's POV -
"THEY'RE LIKE, THE richest of the rich," Amanda said snottily.
Juliet wanted someone to shoot her in her head. Multiple times.
All she wanted was to acquaint herself with the campus, not run into this diva and her groupie friend. She bumped into her and then told Juliet to watch it. She further commented on her old people clothing, and made a racist comment about her accent. It wasn't until Juliet realised that this was a Carlton diva who knew almost everything about everybody that she began to play nice instead of smacking her.
Juliet questioned her about the school's students, and Amanda started to rattle on and on like a radio that never ever switched off.
"There's Nathan Ashton, who's this gorgeous, hunky, rude, cold fish. His family owns this enormous chain of luxurious hotels all over the world and he's uber rich. But for some reason, he doesn't seem to like anyone," she said a little hurt. "He refused me when I asked him out on a date! How dare he! As if I'm beneath him!"
"Focus, Amanda," Juliet reminded her calmly. "Don't stray from the point."
"Right. Right." Amanda blinked stupidly. "So, there's Adam Camden, this kinda nice guy who's smart and sweet. The Camdens are literally one of the richest families in the world - but I'm sure you know this. He's good looking but not wow OMG he's so hot! kinda good looking, you know?"
"Sure."
"A bit too soft for me," she added as an afterthought. "There's his twin sister, Nyssa, who's really into sports and basically barks at everybody. She can be really annoying most of the time. Stubborn bitch," she commented sourly. "Then there's Alex Camden. He's the same age as the Camden twins but he isn't a triplet." She leaned in closer to whisper, "he's a bastard child. His dad slept with another woman before he met his wife a few months later and voila! Here comes Alexander, a silent prince of Carlton! He's wicked smart - the heir of the Camden family fortune since he's older by six months. He already owns a huge law firm, and he's only seventeen!" She exclaimed. "No one ever gets into bed with him though. Like he's really nerdy and all, but he's hot too." She sniffed. "And he's almost always busy and so serious and quiet and cold. He is also kind of boring, if you think about it. Worse than Nathan, I swear." She rolled her eyes. "Then there's Cain Andersen," she gushed, "His family owns one of the biggest modelling companies in the world and they are signed up with the hottest supermodels. They earn like, millions, every week or something like that. He has boyish good looks and a witty mouth - has slept with basically everyone. Great in bed, by the way," she whispered and winked, "and finally, there's Marie."
The girl behind Amanda sighed, as if hearing this girl's name brought her immense sadness. "Poor Marie. She's the charity case. She's kind of too nice to everyone, so that's got to be fake, right?"
"Sure."
"So, like, nobody knows how she got to be friends with a power group like that, but she is. She's constantly smiling and there's this annoying bounce to her step all the time. It's irritating. Everyone knows that she's here on a scholarship," she informed, as if it was supposed to surprise Juliet.
Should she gasp dramatically? Juliet kind of wanted to gasp dramatically. It always looked so cool in the movies.
So she tried it.
Amanda looked a little concerned. "Do you have asthma? I won't know what to do if you have an asthma attack, you know."
Juliet sighed. "Nevermind. So, that's basically it?"
"Yeah. And there's of course Hailey Truworth and her sidekick Michelle Jacobs. She, like, follows Hailey everywhere. It's pathetic." The girl behind Hailey nodded vigorously, as was her duty.
Juliet wanted to laugh at the irony.
Amanda went on. "Hailey is convinced that she is at the top of the social hierarchy at this school, and that no one is to associate themselves with the 'royals' except her." Juliet assumed the royals consisted of her brother and the others. "Apparently, she is the only one worthy of their attention," she sneered. "That skanky bitch."
"Is that all?"
"Pretty much." Amanda sighed daintily and then said, "we are right after Hailey and Michelle, of course. Also," she added, eyeing Juliet, "you should do something with your face. It's too..." She shivered. "Bony."
"Sure," Juliet said sharply. "So, thanks. That was very helpful."
"No problem. Also, what's your last name?"
"It's Ashton." Juliet smiled. "So, see you later. Bye, girlies."
The girls stared at her dumbly, their jaws agape, as Juliet walked away from them.
***
JULIET SAT AT A table at the back of the dining hall. Each table could seat ten to twelve people, and every single seat was empty except for hers. She was literally tucked into a corner.
The dining hall was large, and Juliet realised why there were only two dorms. There weren't too many students - not everyone could afford it.
So, the large common foyer that connected Hamilton and Lincoln? If you continued forward, you entered an enormous basement that was called the 'Commons'. It was filled with pool tables and comfortable furniture and stuff. That same small building connecting the two dorms also consisted of a gym, a swimming pool, a nurse's clinic, a salon, a spa, and god knows what else.
Juliet had chicken for dinner. It was minced chicken meat with mashed potatoes, and it was delicious. It reminded her of her maternal grandmother's food, slavic food.
Juliet was reading up on some Greek History while taking a few big bites of her dinner. Quite a few people peeked at her, and whispers flew around, but no one really bothered her. Thank heavens.
She ate her dinner in peace, and read about the Greeks. When it was time for dessert, she chose chocolate ice cream.
It was simple.
It was classic.
It did no harm.
The ice cream was soft and cool and delicious. Juliet sighed in contentment.
Then, two figures settled in front of her. The figures were female; one was staring at her like she was a puzzle; the other was beaming like a cheshire cat.
Juliet glanced at them, and faltered only for a second when she glanced at Cheshire. She quickly recovered. "Well well well - Clumsy and Cheshire have come to visit. What did I do to deserve to be graced by their lovely presence?"
Cheshire frowned, as if she was surprised at Juliet. Juliet stared at her, studying her face.
She looked so much like Marina...
Nyssa laughed. "Good to see that you haven't lost your charm, goat."
"What would I do without it?" Juliet said drily. "What do you two girls want?"
Cheshire blurted, "sit with us!" She glanced at Nyssa when she sighed and blushed. "I mean," she cleared her throat and spoke more calmly, "sit with us."
Juliet smirked. "You sound like you're trying to seduce me. I'm giving you another chance. Go."
"Sit with us," Cheshire said, with a small smile, looking like she was really concentrating on nailing it.
"You look constipated."
"Sit with us," she looked even more determined.
Juliet examined her for a moment. "Hm. Okay. I approve. Now," she leaned on the table using her elbows, "tell me why you want me to sit with people I barely know."
Cheshire bit her lip worriedly. "Uh. Well. We're best friends with your brother, Nathan!" She said, as if that was a great reason.
Juliet laughed coldly. "You're just making me want to avoid your table even more."
Nyssa pursed her lips. "You and Nathan don't get along?"
"No."
"Oh. That's sad," Cheshire commented sadly.
"Just tell me why you're here," Juliet demanded, annoyed.
"You looked alone," Nyssa replied.
"Thanks. Will that be all?"
"And you're Nathan's sister?" Cheshire offered.
"And I seem to tolerate your presence," Nyssa said finally.
Juliet stared at Nyssa. "Huh. Well." She looked around the dining hall briefly. "Which table is yours?"
Cheshire pointed to a table in the exact centre. In front of everyone's face. "That's our table."
Juliet laughed incredulously. "No."
Nyssa smirked as Cheshire's eyes watered and her bottom lip quivered.
- 5 minutes later -
Juliet sighed wearily as she settled in her new seat. Cheshire smiled at her sweetly, her eyes a little red and Nyssa couldn't stop laughing.
Nathan looked annoyed. Two more boys sat at the table who looked at her with a little interest. One looked more interested than the other. She guessed that was Cain, the infamous playboy.
Cheshire later introduced herself as Marie Thomas after she finished crying and blubbering.
Marie was scarily similar to Marina...
Juliet tried to snap out of it. Just because Marie looked a lot like someone from Juliet's past didn't mean they were the same.
"Juliet," Marie started brightly, "this is Nathan Ashton."
Juliet raised an eyebrow. "I know. We're related."
Marie blinked and blushed. "I forgot he was your twin."
Juliet sighed dramatically.
Nathan simply rolled his eyes.
The softer looking boy stared at her curiously. "You and Nathan? Twins? He hasn't really mentioned you. But you two do have very similar features. I'm Adam Camden, by the way," he added.
"Of course we have similar features. We are twins, after all," Nathan answered flatly, as though this information bored him greatly.
"I'm Cain Andersen," the flirty looking boy said. He grinned, showing two dimples.
Juliet examined all of them.
Marie Thomas had short, strawberry blonde hair and big blue eyes. She was a little short, and very pretty. She looked so much like Marina that it nearly hurt to look at her.
Adam had messy brown hair and light blue eyes. He had a faint dimple in one cheek and looked like he smiled a lot. Dark rimmed glasses rested on his nose. Overall, he looked smart and cute.
Cain, on the other hand, had reddish-brown hair and bright blue eyes. He looked very dashing and handsome with his clean, happy face.
Nathan looked like a truck driver with his dark beard and cold eyes.
Juliet asked, "isn't there another member of your 'crew'?"
Marie replied, "yes! Alex! But he's busy right now, with his firm and all. He's busy all the time, actually."
"Right."
"How did you know?"
"Some girl named Amanda kept yammering my ear off," Juliet waved it off.
Nyssa laughed. "God, that girl."
"So," Cain said suggestively, "wanna make out at Jason's party tomorrow night?"
Silence.
Juliet said, sweetly, "No, thanks. I have standards."
Nyssa and Adam chuckled quietly.
Cain sighed. "I suppose you're off limits, then."
"Hell yes."
"Great." Cain sighed sadly and stretched his arms over his head. Girls nearly fell off of their chairs trying to get a peek at his arm muscles.
Juliet looked at them, amused.
"So," Marie asked, "where are you from? You're half English half Slovak like Nathan is, right?"
"Kind of. I'm from all over the place, really." Juliet shrugged. "I've spent the most time at boarding schools in Sweden as a small kid, Slovakia mostly, Germany as a teen, and Russia only last year. I spent a very brief amount of time in Ireland when my school in Germany caught on fire, so we all shifted to a boarding school in Ireland for a year."
They all blinked. Even Nathan.
"Wow," Marie whispered. "So you speak the languages from those countries too?"
"I guess," Juliet replied, "I kind of had to, unless I didn't intend on communicating with other human beings there. I speak English, Slovak, Swedish, German, a little bit of Irish, and Russian. I also learned the languages taught in school like French, Spanish, Greek, Italian."
"Ah! Donc vous parlez français?" So Marie was French, then.
"Oui," Juliet replied. She wanted to internally laugh at how un-linguistic she sounded in that moment.
"I'm Irish," Cain said mildly. "An bhfuil Gaeilge agat chomh maith?"
"Tá. Déanaim," Juliet replied back. "My Irish isn't that great, but I know the basics and can understand it."
"Well," Adam said, "aren't you the over achiever." He smiled at her kindly.
She smiled a little. "I love learning languages."
"So you must understand sister-languages too, right?" Marie asked curiously. She blushed. "I don't know if that's even a word, though. As in, since your mother tongue is Slovak, like Nathan, you probably understand Russian and all that too, right?"
"Yes, actually. With Slovak, I would understand the basics of Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Czech and other Slavic languages. I find hardly any difference between Slovak and Czech."
"That's very impressive," Nyssa admitted.
"Thanks," Juliet said, smiling, "my grandfather encouraged me to learn all of the languages I could. He was the one who helped me with Greek - he was a language analyst in MI6."
"Wow." Nyssa glanced at Nathan. "You never told us your sister was a genius with languages."
"He didn't even tell us he had a sister until a few months ago," Cain snorted.
Nathan gave her a cruel smile, as if to say I don't want to be associated with you. Are you hurt yet?
Juliet smiled sweetly. "My friends from boarding school think I'm an only child, so."
BOOM.
There was silence. Juliet and Nathan stared at each other wordlessly.
Cain finally said, "you should come to the party Jason is hosting tomorrow night. You'll be a hoot."
"Great. I love being a hoot. It's what I practically live for."
Marie smiled warmly at Juliet. "Welcome to the crew, Juliet!"
What have I gotten myself into, Juliet absent-mindedly thought as she smiled back at Marie.
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