Ruling silverlake High

The Queen Retailiation

didn't go back to class. I couldn't bear the thought of sitting through two more hours of lectures knowing every word was a countdown to my eviction.Instead, I marched straight to the locker bay during the middle of fourth period, the empty hallways echoing with the hollow sound of my sneakers. My hands shook as I dialed my combination. I pulled out my spiral notebooks, my worn geometry textbook, and the small framed photo of Leo smiling from his wheelchair that I kept taped to the inside door. I crammed them all into my faded canvas backpack until the zipper strained against the seams.It’s over, a voice whispered in my head. The king is gone, and the kingdom just spat you out."Leaving so soon, charity case?"I didn't even have to turn around to know who it was. Tiffany Vance stood at the end of the locker row, her arms crossed tightly over her cheer uniform, a look of pure, unadulterated triumph radiating from her sharp face. Behind her stood two of her usual sycophants, smiling like vultures waiting for a carcass."I hear the administration wing finally cleaned out the trash," Tiffany purred, taking a slow, dramatic step forward. "My uncle told me what happened. Turned out it didn't even take three weeks. You're out by the end of the day."I slammed my locker door shut, the loud metal clang echoing through the empty corridor. I hoisted my heavy backpack onto my shoulders and looked Tiffany dead in the eye, refusing to give her the satisfaction of seeing a single tear."Congratulations, Tiffany," I said, my voice flat and dead. "You used your uncle's signature to win a fight you couldn't win on your own. You must be incredibly proud of your total lack of talent."Tiffany’s triumphant smile instantly faltered, her eyes narrowing into slits of pure venom. "You think you're so smart, Aria. You thought because Zander sat next to you for a week, you were suddenly royalty? He was using you. He wanted to piss off his dad, and you were the perfect, trashy little tool to do it. And look where it got him. He’s locked down at their estate in the Hamptons, his cars are gone, his trust is frozen, and you’re going back to the public school gutters where you belong."

I My heart did a painful, heavy thud against my ribs. The Hamptons. That was hours away from Silverlake. Charles Sterling had effectively exiled his own son just to reassert his control."At least when he was here, he chose to sit next to me," I shot back, taking a step toward her, forcing Tiffany to step back slightly in surprise. "He didn't look at you once all week, Tiffany. Even when you dropped your dignity at his feet along with that sugar shaker. You can kick me out of this school, but you can’t make him look at you the way he looks at me."Tiffany’s face flushed a furious, ugly crimson. She raised her hand, her manicured nails flying toward my face in a blind rage.I didn't flinch. I caught her wrist mid-air, my grip tightening until she let out a sharp gasp of pain."Don't touch me," I whispered, my voice dripping with an intensity that made her friends take a step back. "I don't have a scholarship to lose anymore, Tiffany. Which means I have absolutely no reason not to give you exactly what you deserve."I shoved her arm back down, making her stumble against the lockers. Without looking back, I turned on my heel and walked out of the building, the heavy glass doors closing behind me for what I knew would be the very last time.The three-mile walk to my house felt like a march to a execution. By the time I reached our small, rented trailer on the edge of the district line, the fog had turned into a steady, freezing coastal rain. I pushed the door open, my wet canvas bag dropping heavily to the linoleum floor."Aria? Why are you home so early?" my mom called out from the tiny kitchen. She stepped out, her face pale, holding a piece of paper in her hand. Her eyes were wide with a terrifying mixture of shock and confusion."Mom, I'm sorry," I choked out, the hot tears finally spilling over my eyelashes. "My scholarship... Principal Vance dissolved it. They kicked me out.""Aria, forget the school," my mom whispered, her voice trembling as she held out the paper toward me. "Look at this. A courier dropped it off ten minutes ago."I wiped my eyes with the back of my wet sleeve and took the document. It wasn't a disciplinary notice. It was a certified bank receipt from the Silverlake Medical Center’s billing department.

The outstanding balance for Leo’s physical therapy for the next three years—totaling over forty-five thousand dollars—had been paid in full. At the very bottom of the receipt, under the line for the anonymous donor’s signature, was a single, stylized, arrogant letter written in sharp, heavy ink.Z.My breath caught completely in my throat. The paper fluttered in my hands as the realization hit me like a physical blow. Zander hadn't lost to his father. He hadn't been cut off before he could execute the paperwork. He had executed it. He had sacrificed his own freedom, his own cars, and his own place at Silverlake Prep to buy my brother’s health.He had broken his own crown just to keep my world from falling apart.