Foul Play

Evelyn Senior year was supposed to be easy. Mine came with a one-way ticket to the west coast. I turned the music up louder until it filled every corner of my room. “Sue me, I wanna be wanted…” I sang along to my current favourite song - “sue me” by Audrey Hobert - at the top of my lungs. My voice was messy and unfiltered, as I held the white hairbrush like a microphone. I didn’t feel like someone who’s almost running late to school. With my bare feet on the hardwood, and my head tilted back I failed to grasp how fragile time really is. But sue me, because I really did want to be wanted. My voice echoed off the walls again, louder this time, drowning out everything else that came before it. And I let it. I’d spent most of my life in the background. Just another girl people passed by without ever noticing. A wallflower. The kind that fades into the hallways like she was never really there to begin with. But not today. Today, I was done being invisible. A thick, dark liquid brushed through my lashes, coating them until they looked longer and sharper. A frosty pink lipstick glided across my lips in a slow, careful sweep, leaving them soft, luminous, and glowy. I carefully pulled out the pin curls I’d set the night before, letting them fall one by one into soft, imperfect waves. I opened the door with trembling hands. My heart was pounding against my chest. I swallowed hard. Only now was it sinking that that I was actually starting over at my new school. My outfit was picked out. My hair was done. My makeup was flawless. My backpack was packed and waiting calmly by the door. Everything was ready. Except for me. I took a deep breath in, letting the cool morning breeze fill my lungs and calm the storm in my chest. I can do this. I have to. I glanced down at the gold watch on my wrist, the one with the tiny pearl in each corner. Usually, it made me feel better. Today it did nothing. A drop of sweat dripped down my forehead. Shit. s**t. s**t. 7:51. I shook my head, giving myself a small slap on the cheek. Get it together, Evelyn. It’s just a school. Just a fancy building with people you’ve never met before. I took one last breath. Then, before I could talk myself out of it, I opened the door and stepped outside. ༺♥︎༻ My new school looked nothing like my old school. Damm it, it didn’t even look like a school. It looked like those kind of places rich parents would send their kids to in movies. The building stretched across the campus in red brick and cream-colored stone, with towering windows and an arched entrance so grand it looked like it belonged to a university rather than a high school. Flowering trees lined the walkways, their white blossoms bright against the perfectly trimmed lawns. Everything about this place screamed expensive. Soo expensive that it was intimidating. Like someone had taken every cliche about elite private school and brought to life. For a moment, I just stood there staring. Was I on the set of gossip girl? The towering brick building, the perfectly manicured lawns, the students spilling across campus in a perfectly fitted school uniform. It all looked suspiciously close to Constance Billard. Except, Heathside was a co-ed. And still, standing there beneath the massive stone archway, it wasn’t hard to imagine Serena Van Der Woodsen strutting around right next to me. Then reality hit me. My scholarship paperwork was sticking out of my backpacks Perfectly visible for everyone to see. Right, I wasn’t Serena. I wasn’t Blair, either. I was the girl who got in because she couldn’t afford to be here otherwise. My gaze drifted across the courtyard. All I could see was navy blazers, pleated skirts, and crisp white buttons up. Everywhere I looked everyone was dressed exactly the same, like they’d all received a handbook on how to belong. I looked down at myself. Vintage Levi’s, a green coloured lace top, and white converse. And don’t be fooled, I liked this outfit. I’d spent twenty minutes this morning just putting it together. The problem wasn’t what I was wearing. It was that everyone else looked like they belonged in the same picture. And I looked like I’d wandered from a completely different one. A light tap on my shoulder pulled me out of my thoughts. A tall girl was standing in front of me, smiling warmly. Long blonde hair fell down her shoulder like a silky curtain, not a single strand out of place. Her eyes were a striking shade of blue, the kind that almost looked unreal in the California sun. I lowered my head. Unlike me, she looked perfectly at home here. Somehow the perfectly tailored Heatside High’s uniform managed to look completely effortless on her. White gold jewellery caught the light every time she moved. Everything about her looked polished without trying too hard. The kind of girl who belongs in a place like this. She smiled a little brighter, as if she already knew me, or at least knew how to make someone feel like she did. “Hey,” she said in a light voice. “You’re Evelyn, right?” I nodded, once too quickly. “Uh-huh” A small pause. She didn’t rush to fill it, just tilted her head slightly as if giving me space to think without pressure. “I’m Mia,” she added, then gestured excitedly towards the building behind her like it was the most normal thing in the world. “I was actually asked to show you around today.” I raised my eyebrows, realisation slowly sinking in. “Oh.” I said, dragging the word. “Right. Uh…okay.” I nodded again, a faint smile appearing on my lips. Mia’s smile widened, it didn’t feel performative, it felt like she was truly happy to be there. “You look like someone who’d rather get hit by a truck, than do this whole “first day alone” thing, so I guess I came at a good time.” I almost laughed. Almost. Instead, a small strangled snort came out of my mouth. “You got me,” I said sarcastically, adjusting the straps of my backpack. She cleared her throat, looking down, and then back at me. “Don’t worry,” she said, studying me for half a second. “It’s not a serious thing. I’ll be pointing at classes, and you’ll just have to pretend that you actually care.” I looked at her. There was something disarming about how easy she made it feel to stand there. Like I wasn’t being evaluated, or failing some invisible test. “So,” Mia continued, shifting her designer bag slightly on her shoulder. “What’s the deal with the… uniform?” A pause. Then she added, shaking her head, “not to be rude, of course.” My lips twitched before I could even stop them. “No, I get it. It’s fine,” I said calmly, nodding my head. “I got here this Saturday, so we didn’t have enough time to get one.” Mia nodded her head, tucking a strand of her behind her ear. “Oh! I see.” She paused for a moment, and then said more excitedly “so Evelyn… are you ready to see your new prison-sorry, I mean school?” A faint laughter escaped my lips, as I shook my head. “I really hope you’re kidding.” She turned to me, grinning. “Mostly.” ༺♥︎༻ The entrance hall was even bigger than it had looked from the outside. Sunlight streamed through towering windows, spilling across polished floors that reflected the morning light. Students moved through the corridors in clusters, laughing, talking, calling out to one another as they passed. Mia pointed a finger at the hallway ahead of us. “So…” she said, glancing over at me. “Before we begin, there are a few very important rules at Heathside you have to know.” “Rules?” I asked, barely managing to keep up with her pace. Mia nodded solemnly. “Yes. Extremely important. Life-changing actually.” Something told me she was messing with me, still I decided to play it cool. “Okay…” She held up one finger, as we passed by Girls in navy blazers who were leaned against doorframes discussing summer internships like they were talking about the weather. “Rule number one - if you ever look lost, just walk confidently. People will automatically assume you know where you’re going.” I let out a small laugh. “And if I don’t exactly know where I’m going?” “Then congratulations,” Mia said, “you’re already fitting in.” Every few steps, another door. Another lesson. Inside one classroom, a teacher was helping a student revise a college essay for an Ivy League application. And on the next one, students sat gathered around tables discussing something so eagerly it looked more like a business meeting than an actual class. “Rule number two,” she held up a second finger, leaning closer to assure no one could hear us.“never underestimate how fast gossip travels around here.” I raised an eyebrow. “How fast are we talking?” She pointed at me, lowering her voice, “you’re the new scholarship student.” My eyes widened. My hand began to shake. Mia winced. “Yep. That fast.” For a moment my stomach tightened. Then she nudged my shoulder lightly. “Hey don’t look like that.” “Like what?” “Like you were about to run back from the front gates.” “I wasn’t!” “You totally were.” She tilted her head, nodding. Maybe I had been. “Most people here aren’t nearly as scary as they look,” Mia continued. “There’s only a few boys who actually are scary, which brings me to the third and final rule.” Her expression suddenly turned serious. This felt like the kind of moment that deserved a dramatic drumroll. Unfortunately, all I got was my own rapidly deteriorating sanity. I frowned. “And what’s the third rule?” I asked, almost fearful. She leaned in slightly, lowering her voice. “Stay far far away from Heathside’s basketball team.” I blinked, surprised. “Basketball team?” “If you’re interested in keeping your heart intact, yes.” I nodded, rolling my eyes. “Noted.” There was something funny about basketball players being treated like serial killers. “Good. Because the second you think you’re the exception…” she nodded towards something behind me. “You’re already screwed.” I laughed and followed her gaze. The smile slipped from my face. Oh. I understand the rule. ༺♥︎༻ Hey my lovely girls, this is a new story I’ve been working on. Initially I started writing this three years ago, and it was a bit of a flop. But after writing romantasy for a year now, my heart was longing for contemporary sporty romance, so I decided to pick this book up and edit it! Hope you’d enjoy this first chapter, and for Foul Play to be exactly what you were hoping to read. See you next week! Xoxo, Audrey❤️