CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
adrianna saint laurent
perspective
a/n : i would advise you to read "sinful elite" and "fragments" to understand the impact of louise's death on these characters' lives :)
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"START FROM THE BEGINNING." Theo murmurs, leaning on the wall, still processing everything that had been revealed to him.
"You two knew about this, right?" Kota frowns, pointing at Elijah and Nico. His frown only deepens when they nod their heads.
"Assholes. I'm offended that no one told me about this," Theo hisses, rolling his eyes at the two boys while I look away from Theo's hard gaze.
"How rude! I should have been the first one to find about this shit!" Kota gasps, rolling his eyes, putting his hand on his heart as if he was offended.
"You're pissed because you're not the first one to find about this rather than me hiding all this from you?" I arch an eyebrow at Kota, holding back my smile.
"Why would I be pissed at you? You're still my best friend no matter what." Kota shrugs, grinning at me.
"Mhm, now I want to know why you did this," Theo looks into my eyes, arching his eyebrow at me.
"Spill it, Annie," Kota demands, leaning back on the wall, his eyes looking into mine.
"I really don't know where to start," I murmur, pressing my lips into a thin line, "Well, you see, I was a really bad student at my previous schools-."
"You still are," Elijah mumbles and I give him a small glare, slapping his arm lightly.
"Just how bad were you?" Theo arches his eyebrow at me, crossing his arms at me as he waits for a reply.
"I got expelled out of nearly every school I attended. Well, actually, before they could officially kick me out, I just walked out." I murmur, trying to avoid their gazes, most of them had their eyes widened at me in shock.
"What were the reasons?" Theo muses, letting out a laugh as he steps closer towards me.
Ah, my favourite question to answer.
I smile at him, taking a deep breath in, "I took a whole class of seniors down and they had to be sent to the hospital. I threatened a boy with scissors, broke someone's arm, burnt a building down, broke a teacher's arms and legs, threw paint on -."
"God, that's enough." Theo mutters, "You weren't a bad student. You were a fucking delinquent. That list is making me fear you."
"Oh, should I tell you the worst thing I had done?" I smirk, glancing into Theo's eyes but he shakes his head at me.
"You two deserve each other," Theo snorts, pointing at Elijah and me, "You two are the most terrifying people in my life."
"Thank you, Ambrose," I grin at Theo, patting his shoulder while he rolls his eyes at me.
"Continue, Annie," Kota grins, waving his hand at me, gesturing me to continue, "I wanna know more."
"Mhm, so I came back to New York and my father gave me one last chance. We made a deal and the deal was to attend this school as an unknown, scholarship student and be on my best behaviour. I had to redeem myself so I couldn't do any of the shit I had done in the past or else I would be sent back to Paris," I sigh, glancing at them.
"What's so bad about Paris?" Nico murmurs, staring at me.
"I would have to attend East High," the moment I say the school's name, the colour on almost everyone's faces disappears except Elijah's.
"Yeah, I didn't want to go back there," I murmur, laughing at their reactions. They all looked like they had seen a ghost and it was how most people would react.
East High was notorious for its troubled kids. It was an institute attended by the delinquents and the children from mafia families. And yes, I had attended that school for almost a month.
"You went to that delinquent school?" Theo gasps, widening his eyes at me.
I furrow my eyebrows at his reaction, "Yeah..." I murmur, "But you just called me a delinquent before that so it's not that surprising, is it?" I chuckle.
"You're terrifying, you know?" Theo chuckles, shaking his head at me with a smile.
"I've been told so," I smile at him, "But besides that, you're not angry at me for hiding this, right?"
"Of course not!" Theo snorts, rolling his eyes at me, "This doesn't change anything. Although, I'm a bit disappointed that you didn't tell me this but you told them," he scoffs, pointing at Nico and Elijah.
"You're still my best friend," he grins at me and I smile at his words, "It should be a new trend to have a delinquent as your best friend."
"I always knew you were something more than a scholarship student," he murmurs, grinning at me.
"Well, your instincts were right because I am," I smile, tilting my head.
"So this is the only bomb you are going to drop right? Because my heart can't fucking take another bomb." Kota glances at me, taking a deep breath in.
"Mhm, this was my biggest secret and that's it. I have nothing else to hide now," I shrug, throwing him a small grin as he sighs in relief.
"No more secrets, Annie," Kota narrows his eyes at me before engulfing me in a hug, tightening his hold around me.
"Promise," I smile, "There's nothing to hide anymore."
"Good," he smiles, breaking the hug, "I don't want to die early of a stroke."
"Mhm, that's why you should start exercising," I tease, grinning at him as he narrows his eyes at me.
"I will, only when you join me," he grins, knowing I will never join him or do any sort of activity that will physically drain me.
"Yeah, that's not happening, love," I scoff, shaking my head at him.
"You're so unhealthy, Annie," Kota mocks, rolling his eyes at me.
"She took down two boys down without breaking a sweat. Do you still think that she's unhealthy?" Elijah lets out a chuckle, glancing at me with amusement in his eyes.
"Not at all," Kota murmurs, "I think you should be my personal bodyguard," he suggest, patting my shoulder with a grin on his face.
"Mhm, that sounds fun," I chuckle, "But I don't think you need one. No one could even think about attacking you, Kota. You're like a cute, little baby."
"I don't know if that's a compliment or an insult," Kota frowns, narrowing his eyes at me.
"It's an insult, obviously," Nico replies, letting out a laugh.
Kota sends him a small glare, slapping his shoulder lightly as we all start laughing at him.
"Ah, shit. I'm supposed to meet my dad back home," I mutter, clicking my tongue in annoyance.
"Ah, you're allowed to leave early cause of the mess," Nico states and I nod my head at him, feeling thankful that I wouldn't have to stay here any longer.
"And you're supposed to go to your classes," I mutter as I hear the bell ring, "You guys should go, I'll call my driver to pick me up," I smile, gesturing them to walk away.
"Don't call anyone, I'll drop you off," Elijah states, keeping his hand on my lower back as he glances at me.
"Well, we're going to leave. I'll see you tomorrow," Theo smiles, walking towards me and pulling me into a quick hug.
"I'll miss you, Annie. Now, I'll have to suffer with these two," Kota groans, wrapping his arms around me, resting his chin on my head.
"We should be the ones saying that," Nico scoffs, rolling his eyes as Theo nods in agreement.
"It's alright, Kota," I chuckle, patting his back, "You'll be fine with them and I'll miss you too."
"Take care," he murmurs, breaking the hug as he kisses my cheek, smiling at me, "I'll see you soon," he grins at me.
"Bye, guys!" Kota grins as they wave at us before turning around and walking away from us.
"Come on," Elijah mumbles, holding onto my hand as we start to walk across the hallway.
I glance at him as we walk out of the building, "I know that you're purposely dropping me off so you can kiss me goodbye," I laugh, "Or even better, you'll just kiss me now."
"And why do you say that?" Elijah raises his eyebrow at me, "Do you think I can't live without your kisses?"
"Yes," I smile, "That's exactly what I think because of the way you act," I glance at him as we stand in front of his motorbike.
"And you, my love, are right," he gives me a small grin, keeping his hands on my sides and he lifts me, placing me sideways on his motorbike, "I thought I told you that I'm addicted to everything about you?"
"Well, tell me that again. I want to hear it again." I hum, wrapping my arms around his neck as I look into his eyes.
He chuckles, moving his lips closer to my ear, "I'm addicted to you and everything about you. You have no clue how crazy you drive me, Adrianna," he whispers, his voice low and hoarse, erupting a whole ocean of butterflies in my chest.
"Mhm, just one kiss and you're dropping me home," I whisper as he places his hand on the side of my neck, tracing his thumb across my jaw.
"Since you're being so nice, I'll take the offer of stealing one kiss," he muses before brushing his lips over mine. He kisses me softly for a few seconds, allowing me to experience heaven through his lips. He smiles against the kiss before biting my lip, the softness of the kiss disappearing into thin air.
He kisses me roughly with passion. Just how I liked it and I bite his lip before reciprocating the same energy back. I feel his hand rest on my thigh, slowly moving it up, going under my skirt.
I pull away, breaking the kiss and chuckle at him, pointing at his hand.
"And what do you think you're doing exactly, Winchester?" I arch an eyebrow at him as he squeezes my thigh, "We're in public, for your information, and we aren't going any further than a kiss. Uh-uh, definitely not."
"I know," he murmurs, "But you didn't say that you didn't like me touching you. Just tell me to stop and I will," he smiles, moving his hand down to my knee and slowly moving it up my thigh again, creating a series of sparks on my skin with his touch.
God, he was making it so hard for me to resist him. I was weak against his touch and he knew it very well.
I take a sharp breath in, trying to mentally and physically not melt against his touch.
"Stop, Eli," I mutter, glancing into his eyes.
He smiles at me, taking his hand back, "It wasn't that hard, was it?"
"You're really annoying at times," I grumble, hitting his arm as I sit properly on his motorbike. He puts his heavy helmet on my head and buckles it under my chin.
He gets on the motorbike and grabs my hands, putting them around him, "Hold tight onto me," he states as he starts the motorbike.
"Mhm," I hum, tightening my hold around him as I lean my head on his back. The motorbike roars to life and he drives us outside of the academy, leading us out to the road.
I smile when the cool wind dances on my skin while my hair starts to ride with the wind.
And soon we were had reached my mansion. I wave my hand at the security guards and they open the huge metal gates once they see my face.
"That's my dad's car," Elijah mumbles, pointing to the sleek black Aston Martin, standing in front of the fountain, as we get off the motorbike and I remove the heavy helmet off my head.
"Ah, then he must be inside with my dad," I chuckle, "You should join as well. Come with me," I hold onto his hand, dragging him along as we walk up the stairs, leading up to the entrance.
"Now, where would they be?" I mutter as we enter the mansion, looking around the silver interior.
"Ah, I see someone," Elijah murmurs and I turn around, glancing his way.
A woman stands in front of me, her cognac eyes staring into my eyes and my heart clenches as an old feeling, which I hadn't felt for years, burns in my chest. A sharp pain erupts in my head as if all the memories I had buried were coming back to me.
Celine Blackwell-Winchester was right in front of me and there was no way I could have ever forgotten how she looked. She didn't age at all, she looked young as always with her flawless looks.
"Lin," I whisper and she smiles at me, opening her arms for me and I waste no time in hugging her, wrapping my arms tightly around me.
"Adri, my baby. I missed you so much," she hums, kissing my forehead as she wraps her arms around me.
I yearned so much to feel this again. To feel loved by my mother. Even though my mum wasn't here anymore, Lin has always been my second mother.
"I missed you too, Lin," I smile, looking up into her eyes.
"Mhm, look at you," she chuckles, "You have grown into such a beautiful lady, just like your mother."
"I miss her so much, Lin," I sigh, giving her a small smile and she smiles back at me, running her fingers through my hair.
"I miss her too, my love," she whispers, "But I'm sure she wouldn't like the idea of you being sad and miserable. She always wanted you to be happy so make her happy by smiling," she pulls my cheek a little, giving me a small grin.
"Looks like they already met," I hear my father's voice and we turn around to see them standing a few steps away from us.
Elijah was standing next to my father and David, all of them smiling at us.
"Just how long were you going to keep her away from me, Alex?" Celine frowns, narrowing her eyes at my father as we walk towards them.
My dad smiles, shrugging at her, "Oops? I might have been afraid that you were going to steal my daughter from me."
"I might as well," she grins, "I'll take her in and you can take Davie instead. I think that's a very good deal."
All of us let out a laugh, smiling at David who had his eyes widened at his wife, looking heartbroken.
"No thank you," my dad snorts, "He's worse than Adri and I don't think I can handle him."
"I'm not a kid," David scoffs, rolling his eyes, "And Lin, you don't need to take Adri in. She's going to become your daughter anyway."
Celine smiles in confusion, arching her eyebrow at her husband, "What do you mean by that, Davie?"
"Well, you should ask them," David chuckles, pointing at us.
Elijah and I share and start smiling at each other, not realising Celine was looking at us.
I look back at Celine, parting my lips to reply but before a word could leave my mouth, Celine lets out a loud squeal, putting her hands on her mouth as she tries to hide her grin.
"Oh my, you two are dating?" Celine squeals, looking at us with hopeful eyes and we nod, only resulting in her grin brightening.
"God, I'm so happy right now," she smiles, wrapping her arms around me and Elijah.
"I told you that she'll be thanking heavens," David snorts, smiling at my father as they look at us.
"Our wish came true, Lou. I hope you're smiling from up there," she whispers, glancing at the family portrait on the wall as she tightens her grip around us.
i'm still crying over lou's death😔
and again, make sure to read "fragments" chapter ii if you wanna be sad and cry🔪
also check out my new book called "crystallite" - just published the synopsis and aesthetics
love, elle xoxo