Claimed by the Devils

Chapter 21

Rowan POV

After Sebastian left, I decided to head to Homeroom, splitting away from the guys as they finished up their lunch.

Living with Aria was supposed to be fun, but this weekend had been tense. I didn’t like the tense. If I wanted to live that way, I’d go back home. There was a lot of tension waiting for me back there. I wasn’t interested in it.

Heather and Aria were whispering.

I saw Heather stroke Aria’s shoulder, and I was getting tired of this girl getting close to ours. She wanted to f**k her, that was clear. Well, she was going to have to get in line. Not that I minded a bit of girl-on-girl action. Now that has possibilities.

I stared at the two girls, their heads close together, and what surprised me was I didn’t f*****g want that.

Aria wasn’t Heather’s. She was ours.

I took the seat at the desk in front of them, spinning the chair around to look.

“What are we talking about?”

“Aria was telling me how clean you guys are,” Heather said.

I gave Heather a look, and she glanced between me and Aria.

“I … er … I need to use the bathroom.”

“Do you want me to come?” Aria asked.

“No. No. It’s fine. You stay here. Keep my space.”

Heather got to her feet and left.

Alone at last.

“What did you do?” Aria asked.

“Nothing. I was sitting right here.”

“And you think I don’t know your tricks?”

I held my hands up in innocence.

“I didn’t do a single thing.”

Aria stared at me, and I kept my focus on her, resting my elbows on the table, my face between my palms.

“You’re right. I’m sorry. I guess everything makes me a little paranoid.”

“Clearly.”

I chuckled.

“We’re not all bad guys.”

“So you’re saying that some of you are.”

I snorted.

“Now that would be telling.”

She breathed out a sigh.

“What was supposed to happen this morning?” she asked.

“I woke up and I was starving. I didn’t want to have an argument, so I just left.”

“Not everything is going to be an argument.”

“You could have fooled me.”

She pushed some of her hair out of the way. She’d pulled most of the length back into a ponytail that landed at the nape of her neck. Some strands had escaped.

Looking at her now, I noticed she looked so tired. Had we caused that?

“Our place at this school is all about image. Clearly, you’ve never considered previous selection processes.”

She wrinkled her nose.

“I don’t like listening to gossip and being nosey. I have my own life I want to lead.”

“And that is perfectly justifiable. We were supposed to show a united front. I know you’re doing this as an unwilling participant, but you’ve got to play the role like a pro.”

She laughed.

“We’re high school kids. This makes it sound like some kind of … ugh, I don’t even know what to call it.”

“This is All Saints, Aria. There is no room for error here. I know you don’t like it, but it’s the way it goes.”

Her hands lay on the table, and I went to touch her, but she pulled away, dropping her hands into her lap.

“I don’t have any diseases.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You’ve got to learn to trust us,” I said.

“Do you think it’s that easy?” she asked.

“I don’t know you guys, and because you picked me you think I, what? Should I be so happy?”

It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her others would have been, but Aria didn’t work that way and to be honest, I was tired of repeating myself.

“Why don’t you see it as you’ve got four boyfriends?”

I wasn’t going to try to get her to see it any other way, and to be honest, I was bored of the same old argument. We could be going around in circles for days. It was time to move on.

“Four boyfriends?”

“Yeah. Rather than one guy getting the hots for you, you’ve got four.”

She laughed.

“I’ve never had a boyfriend, let alone four.”

“Never had a boyfriend?”

She shook her head.

“No, not one.”

My curiosity was raised.

“Not even at your old school?”

“At River High? No. I was more interested in studying.”

“You study a lot. How come you’re not on Heather’s level?”

She smiled.

“Have you just in a roundabout fashion asked me why I’m thick?”

I thought about it and shook my head.

“It sounds that way but no. You study a lot.”

“Heather gets this stuff. I study a lot because it doesn’t always make a lot of sense to me. I figure the more I read and try to understand it, the better I’ll be.”

“Makes sense.”

“Yeah, Drew, my nanny, she was always so encouraging, you know.”

I nodded but I didn’t understand. All my life, I’d never had much in the way of encouragement. My folks were the kind that expected of me, and if I didn’t perform to their standard, it was a failing on me. No one else was there to take full responsibility. Looking back now, life f*****g sucked big time.

“She was the one who told me that I could be and do whatever I wanted. All I had to do was put my mind to it and accept I was going to have to work hard.”

She shrugged.

“So I work hard.”

Drew the nanny. We still didn’t have the full background on Aria’s life.

“Is Drew not in the picture?”

“She died a couple of years ago.”

“It still hurts?”

She nodded.

“Yeah, she was like my parents and my best friend.”

“It’s hard hurting someone you care about.”

“You know how it feels?”

I shook my head. We were connecting, but I wasn’t going to lie to her.

“No. Thankfully.”

She put her hands on the table, and this time when I put mine on hers, she didn’t pull away.

Heather chose that moment to come in. I didn’t mind. This was progress.

Sebastian, Lucian, and Elliot all came in.

Mr. Connors entered and after the register, he went back over the relationship angles. We were on parental leave and to be honest, I turned out.

My relationship with my parents wasn’t something I wanted to dwell on. I wasn’t close to them, and to be honest, I hated their guts.

The most attention my dad had shown me was over the summer when it was time for our initiation process. Even then, he continued to compare me to Lucian. I thought my dad had a hard-on for him, either that or it was the power he held.

My life had been controlled by a bunch of changing nannies. Their faces all mingled together until I reached thirteen. From there, I was able to fend for myself. I didn’t need a babysitter anymore.

Glancing over my shoulder, I looked at Aria. Did she realize she’d pulled her hair back and exposed a couple of telltale bruises? They were only the merest hint of damage, but I saw them. The red tips of a set of fingers.

There was power here. She’d been powerless to whoever marked her. I wanted to ask her about them, knowing they came from a parent. Her mother or father? I wasn’t sure which one it was.

As I ran a hand down my face, my name being called by the teacher drew my attention.

“What?” I asked.

“Would you care to share some details of parental relationships?” Mr. Connors asked.

“No.”

“It wasn’t a choice.”

“And I’ve got nothing to share.”

I lifted my head, sending him a glare. The teachers knew the score, to not mess with me. I played nice as I was asked to, but at any time, I had a short fuse and none of them would be able to f*****g control it.

“What do you mean about details?” Aria asked.

“The intricate balance between a parent and a child.”

“Again, that is way too vague.”

“How can it be vague, Miss Vales?”

“You haven’t given us the entire story.”

Aria pointed at the board.

“I’m not sure I follow.”

“We’re talking about relationships as if they can be put into any one box, when let’s face it, they really can’t. There’s no possible way. Are we assuming every single parent is good? We know that’s a lie. News articles showcase the abuse of parents to their children. There is no one way or right answer. Parents are not magically superior to their kids. Some of them are downright cruel and enforce their viewpoint on their kids. Others are neglectful, and some are perfect.”

Silence rang through the classroom at Aria’s speech.

“I think we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves.”

“Or maybe you need to decide which angle of relationships you want to take.”

The class gave an audible ooh for Aria, and I had to say, I thought I fell in love with her a little bit there. I believed she did that for me, and I was grateful for her to take the attention away.

The bell rang, bringing an end to the class.

“Miss Vales, I’d like to see you after class.”

“No, you don’t,” Lucian said.

“If you’ve got a problem with that, talk to the principal.”

Aria smiled, and I had a feeling we may have surprised her.