Cheyenne: Fruit of the Withered Vine

Chapter 1

"Good luck, Cheyenne!" Rinnan Hearst called out cheerfully from the window of the white limousine that had dropped Cheyenne Martin off for her first day at Easton Academy. "Remember, don't study too hard!"

"Thank you, Rinnan!" Cheyenne responded dutifully, and her stepmother smiled back. Then Rinnan's face vanished as the tinted window rolled up and the limo started off on the hour-long drive back to Manhattan.

Life is just not fair, Cheyenne thought to herself as she watched her stepmother's limo recede into the distance. My family were captains of industry back in Victorian times, and now we barely have a couple million left in the bank. Meanwhile, she gets ten million a picture and her face splashed on movie posters all over the country. Cheyenne knew that only her father's marriage to Rinnan Hearst had saved them from having to mortgage the country house in Litchfield, but she still resented Rinnan for breaking up her parents' marriage and forcing her mother to live in Jersey, of all places.

The limo driver had already taken Cheyenne's luggage to her new room in Bradwell Hall, so Cheyenne decided to explore around campus a little. As she walked across the neatly-trimmed lawn, Cheyenne thought about Ivy Slade, her best friend from middle school and now her roommate at Easton. Cheyenne and Ivy did everything together: dancing at cotillions held by what was left of the Astor Four Hundred, CTY camp at Dickinson College, showing hunters and jumpers on the horse-show circuit. Cheyenne realized again how lucky she was to have a friend like Ivy, someone she could rely on, someone she could trust with her life.

Of course, Cheyenne and Ivy were different in many ways too. While Cheyenne was petite and blond, Ivy was tall and raven-haired. Where Cheyenne loved history and politics, Ivy's passion was computers. Like Cheyenne, Ivy came from one of Manhattan's best families, but unlike the Martins, Ivy's family still had a ton of money. Because of this, Ivy was not nearly as obsessive about her birthright as Cheyenne was. Still, Ivy understood Cheyenne better than anyone else, and Cheyenne knew they'd be Best Friends Forever.

"Watch out!" a guy's voice shouted. Cheyenne turned her head toward the voice, and a small leather ball struck her on the side of her head. She saw a cute guy jogging toward her, a lacrosse stick gripped in his left hand.

As the guy drew closer, Cheyenne realized he wasn't just cute; he was drop-dead gorgeous. Wavy black hair, ice-blue eyes, a lean, well-muscled body…Cheyenne closed her eyes, then opened them again, wondering if this handsome stranger was a concussion-induced hallucination, but he was still there.

"God, I'm sorry about that!" he said earnestly, running his fingers through Cheyenne's hair. "I don't feel a bump or anything. You'll probably be okay."

He grinned and extended his hand to Cheyenne. "Damian Cross, of the Main Line Crosses. Pleased to meet you."

Cheyenne smiled back as she introduced herself, even though she was still a little self-conscious about her braces. Damian rested his hand on Cheyenne's arm and leaned in a little closer with a worried look on his face. "Maybe I should walk you back to your dorm. You look a little dizzy."

"That sounds lovely," Cheyenne said, meaning every word of it. As Damian led her across the quad, Cheyenne realized that for the first time in her life, she was totally and completely falling in love. This was not a gradual feeling; it came from out of nowhere and struck her full force, just like the lacrosse ball hitting her head. Now all I have to do is get him to love me back, Cheyenne thought as they approached the heavy double doors of Bradwell Hall, and my life will finally be complete.