THE DON'S HEIR

CHAPTER 5 - FIRST PLACE

First Place

— Damien POV —

I have been second place my entire life, and I have made my peace with it.

That is what I tell myself every term, sitting in the same seat, waiting for the same announcement.

Rachel takes first. I take second. We represent Blackthorn at the annual competition together, and

for two weeks I get an excuse to sit across a library table from the girl I have liked since grade nine

without anyone asking why. It is the best arrangement I have ever had, and I would never admit to

anyone how much I depend on it.

This term, I was almost cheerful about it. Gordon was here, which meant I finally had my best

friend back, and I had convinced myself that nothing could go wrong with a year that started that

well.

Mrs. Miriam, the vice principal, walked into our classroom just after first period with a folded

sheet of paper and the expression of someone about to enjoy herself.

"Good morning, class. As you all know, the annual inter-school competition begins two weeks

from now, and this year Blackthorn is hosting." She paused to let that land. "Only the top two

students from this term's assessments will represent us, so I will not waste your time."

Beside me, Gordon leaned back in his chair like this was nothing more than the weather report. I

leaned over and whispered, "Congratulations and good luck in advance."

"Let's hear the names first," he whispered back, with that small smirk he gets when he already

knows something and is choosing not to say it.

I did not like how calm he was.

Mrs. Miriam took her glasses out of their case, put them on, adjusted them slowly, and unfolded

the paper. Across the aisle, Rachel looked at Gordon, then at me, then at the vice principal, her pen

frozen above her notebook.

"In second position," Mrs. Miriam began, "Rachel Charles."

The room went dead silent.

Rachel had never been second. Not once, not in any subject, not in any term since I had known her.

I watched her face go through three different expressions in the space of a heartbeat and settle on none of them.

I was already starting to relax. If Rachel was second, I had to be first. It was the only arrangement

that made sense. I had worked harder this term than I ever had. I let myself smile.

"And in first position," Mrs. Miriam continued, "Dan Gordon."

I stopped smiling.

— Gordon POV —

Every head in the room turned toward me at once, and for a moment I understood how it felt to be

an animal in a very bright light.

I kept my expression flat. It was what I had trained myself to do. But inside, I was already doing

the arithmetic of what this meant, and none of the results were good. I had not come to Blackthorn

to take anything from anyone. I had come to disappear for a while. First place had always followed

me from school to school like a shadow I couldn't shake, and until that moment I had never once

thought of it as something that could cost me.

"Gordon and Rachel," Mrs. Miriam said, folding her paper, "congratulations. You will represent

the school. Prepare well and do not disappoint us."

She left. The room erupted.

"Second time in three years Rachel's not first," someone whispered behind me. "Who is this guy?"

Someone else was already clapping. The boys from the basketball team shouted my name across

the room like I'd scored the winning point. Damien turned to me with a smile so smooth I almost

believed it.

"Well done," he said, and held out his hand.

I shook it. It was warm and steady and completely wrong. I had known Damien since we were

seven years old, and I knew exactly what his real smile looked like. This was not it.

"Thanks," I said.

"Don't mention it." He let go and turned back to his notebook. "You earned it."

I did not answer, because he did not need me to. The rest of the school day dissolved into a blur of

congratulations and side glances, teachers stopping me in the hallway, girls I had never spoken to

suddenly finding reasons to walk beside me. Through all of it, I kept catching sight of two people

not talking to me. One was Damien, sitting a little too straight at lunch, laughing a little too easily

at jokes that weren't funny. The other was Rachel, who did not so much as glance in my direction for the rest of the day.

When the final bell rang, I caught up with Damien in the hallway.

"Hey. Wait."

"Yeah?"

"I just want you to know," I said, choosing each word carefully, "whatever happens with the

competition, Rachel and I are going to be classmates. That is all. Nothing more."

He looked at me for a long moment. Something moved behind his eyes that I could not read.

"I never said it would be anything else," he said quietly.

"I know. I just wanted to say it."

"Okay." He put his bag over his shoulder. "I trust you."

It should have been enough. But as I watched him walk away, I realized I had made a promise I

was not entirely sure I could keep. I hadn't lied to him. I believed every word of it when I said it.

But I had also seen the way Rachel looked at me in that doorway, and I had been trying not to think

about it ever since.

I was still standing there when I heard footsteps behind me.

— Rachel POV —

I had rehearsed what I would say the entire walk from my mother's office, and none of it survived

the moment I saw him.

I had gone to her first, because there was no way to avoid it. My mother was at her desk compiling

the term's results, and she did not look up when I came in. I stood in front of her with my eyes on

the floor, feeling like a student in trouble rather than a daughter.

"I'm sorry, Mom."

"For what?"

"For coming second."

She set down her pen. When she finally looked at me, there was no anger in her face, which

somehow made it worse. "You have an annual competition to prepare for," she said calmly. "Find

your partner and start studying. This school is hosting. We cannot afford to lose on our own

ground."

"Yes, Mom."

"That is all."

I left the office with my chest tight and my head buzzing, and I told myself the whole way down

the corridor that I wasn't angry at him. It wasn't his fault. He had simply been better. That was all it

was.

I found him standing alone in the hallway, staring after Damien like something had just been taken

from him. He turned when he heard me coming.

For a second I forgot every word I had practiced.

"Hi," I said.

"Hi."

"My mother says we should start studying for the competition." I made myself hold his gaze. "I'll

be at the library after school. Don't be late."

I did not wait for an answer. I turned and walked away before he could see whatever my face was

doing, my heart hammering in a way I refused to name.

Behind me, I heard him say quietly, to no one in particular, "Well. That went better than expected."

And at the end of the corridor, half hidden behind the corner of the lockers, a familiar figure was

standing very still, watching us both.

Damien.

He was not smiling anymore.