The Heirs Scholarship Girl

Cassie's POV "Did you see her shoes? Those are from last season's clearance rack." I heard someone say as I walked past a small group at the entrance. "I heard her mom works three jobs just to keep her here." I kept my head down, clutching the strap of my worn out bag. Five months into junior year and I still hadn't learned to make myself invisible enough. The scholarship letter had promised me an opportunity, but what I didn't expect was to pay for it in humiliation every single day. "Well, well, if it isn't Charity Case Cassie." I didn't need to look up to know that voice belonged to Madison Hartley, queen bee of Lincoln Prep and my personal nightmare. Her perfume hit me before I saw her, expensive, probably worth more than my whole wardrobe. "Leave me alone, Madison," I muttered, trying to sidestep her and her pack of designer-clad followers. She grabbed my wrist before I could pull away. "What's this?" My heart dropped as her eyes locked onto my necklace, the only thing of value I owned, a simple silver chain with a small compass pendant, wrapped around my wrist like a bracelet. That chain meant everything. "Don't." The word barely left my lips before she yanked it off, the chain breaking with a soft snap. "Oh, how pretty," Madison cooed, dangling it in front of her friends while they broke into mock laughter. "Real silver, or did you get it from a gumball machine, princess?" "Give it back!" My voice shook, but I forced myself to stand straighter. "That was my dad's." "Was?" Cruelty flashed through her eyes. "Right, I forgot. But dead dads don't need jewelry, do they?" The courtyard had gone silent. Even her own friends looked uncomfortable. "Madison, that's not..." one of them started. But Madison was already walking, heels clinking against the pavement. "Come get it, scholarship girl." I had no idea where she was going, but I ran after her, pulse thundering in my ears. The pool area was empty, water still and blue under the skylight. Madison stood at the edge, holding my necklace over the deep end. God, no. "Madi, please." I tried one more time. "That's all I have left of him." She smiled, and somewhere in my chest, I already knew I'd lost. The necklace dropped in a silver arc, hitting the water with a small splash before it sank. I watched it disappear, the compass my dad had pressed into my hands the night before he died, and something in me broke quietly along with it. "Oops," Madison said, hand against her mouth in mock shock. "It slipped. Guess you better start swimming." "I can't swim." She laughed. "Not my problem." I don't know what I was thinking. One second I was standing there, the next the water swallowed me whole. The cold wasn't what I expected, the fire in my chest was. I kicked, trying to remember anything I'd seen in movies, but my clothes were heavy and the water was in my nose, my mouth… My lungs burned. My eyes caught the necklace glinting somewhere below me, and with the last of my will, I reached for it even as my vision blurred. This is how I die, I thought. Drowning for a necklace in a prep school pool while Madison Hartley watches. Then, just as I let go, something grabbed me. Arms, strong arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me up. My head broke the surface and I gasped, choking on air and water. I couldn't see who was holding me, only felt the solid warmth of him keeping me afloat. "I've got you," a low voice said against my ear. We reached the shallow end and I could finally stand, coughing, my fingers twisted into someone's vest. When my vision cleared, I looked up. Ethan Cross? Of course it was Ethan Cross. Everyone at Lincoln Prep knew him. Captain of the swim team, student body president, heir to Cross Industries. Girls stopped talking mid-sentence when he walked by, and I'd caught myself more than once thinking about how his eyes did something to the butterflies in my belly when he smiled. I'd had a crush on him for months, the kind you don't admit even to yourself, especially not with him standing inches away. His dark eyes were locked on mine, water dripping from his hair. "Are you okay?" he asked. I could barely breathe, and it had nothing to do with the water in my lungs. He was close enough that I could see the gold flecks in his eyes and feel his chest rising and falling against my hands. "My necklace," I managed. He followed where I pointed and moved fast. "Stay here," he said, and before I could answer, he was gone, diving back into the deep end. I stood there shivering, watching him move through the water. He was down there long enough that I started to panic, and then he surfaced, my father's necklace gleaming in his hand. He swam back, water streaming down his face, his white shirt plastered to his chest, and I forgot how to function. "Here," he said, pressing it into my palm and closing my fingers around it. His hand lingered a second too long. "Is this what you risked your life for?" I didn't love the edge in his voice. "It was my dad's. He died when I was twelve." Something shifted in his eyes. "I'm sorry." We stood there, his hand still on mine, and I became aware of everything at once, his wet shirt, the small scar above his eyebrow, the fact that he hadn't let go yet. Any second now he would… He'd remember who I was, what this looked like, and pull away. "ETHAN!" We both turned. Madison stood at the pool's edge, not alone anymore. Half the school had shown up, phones out. She was toeing off her heels. "Oh my God, Ethan, help me!" she cried, and jumped into the water with the grace of someone who'd definitely rehearsed it. She surfaced, struggling. "Ethan, I can't, I need..." She looked pathetic. I was sure of it, but when I scanned the crowd, I seemed to be the only one immune to her performance. Ethan's hand was still on mine, but his body had gone still, his eyes on Madison. I saw his jaw tighten, and in that split second I knew exactly what was about to happen. Even Ethan was falling for it. He was going to let go and save her instead. He was going to leave me standing there soaked and humiliated while everyone recorded the moment the scholarship girl actually believed Ethan Cross would choose her over Madison Hartley. I held my breath and waited for him to let go.