Prologue
"Hello? Is anyone here?" I called out, walking around the land I (well, technically my parents' credit card) had brought. The land was to be used for a new school, after I had been subsequently expelled from St. Mondrian's School for Girls in London, St. Aubergine's School for Young Women in Austria, Geneva Academy in Switzerland, and the Malibu School of the Fine Arts near Los Angeles.
I had attended the best schools internationally while my parents traveled from place to place, father in the name of business and mother in the name of spa days. I was an only child and they didn't want the hassle of dealing with my education, so they shipped me off to the best academic institutions money could buy.
I didn't care much for the mandatory church services and stuffy school uniforms St. Mondrian's and St. Aubergine's insisted I wear, so I did some things to facilitate their desire to have me leave. The bitchy math teacher at Geneva caught me skiving class to go shopping with my friends one too many times, and at MSFA I interrupted the headmaster's lecture on lame school rules with one of my signature pranks.
My parents didn't care, of course. In fact, Father said to me "Here. Start your own school. Since it's your own, you can't possibly be expelled this time," and handed me a variety of forms, checks, credit cards, and methods of financial support for my new school.
And with that, I got to work. I purchased land in an empty lot that was large enough to formulate a school befitting to my needs, got some pushovers with college degrees (people who wanted desperately to get in with my father and his company, and would do anything I said) to be the principal and teachers, and designed the buildings with the help of an expert architectural team.
The construction of my school was rather genius, if I do say so myself. I had only four large two-story classrooms (designed to look like graduation caps), and the majority of the buildings were "hangouts", places where the students could just chill. I had made jock hangouts for the athletes who would win sporting events and basically trump over all the rival schools. I had also constructed nerd hangouts for the people that had the smarts and GPAs necessary to make my school top-notch in academics (hey, I might be a troublemaker, but for the most part I actually get pretty good grades). And lastly, I had formed prep hangouts, for people like me, who loved all the classy things in life. In fact, the center prep hangout was designated as my private hangout, for me and my friends alone. It even had its own key, and no one, not even the principal and teachers, could enter without my permission. (Yes, it sounds extremely unlikely, but when you have money, you can basically get away with anything).
My thoughts were interrupted when I saw a girl with squinty light brown eyes and light brown hair in a side braid wearing a red tank top with a white long-sleeved, paint-splattered men's shirt over it, paint-splattered light-wash jeans, and the rattiest sneakers I had ever seen. An oval ivory-colored locket was around her neck, and her right wrist sported a tacky black bangle bracelet.
She spoke. "Hey! I'm Autumn. I heard this school was opening today, so I stopped by to check it out!" She looked around my newly constructed school. "This place isn't much to look at yet, but you can make this the best school ever!" She put her hands on her hips and grinned.
Excuse me? I worked hard on the construction and design for my school all summer!
Autumn prattled on. "Anyway, it's nice to meet you! I go to Hearst High. It's right over there." She gestured to a set of large concrete buildings that resembled your typical American public school nearby.
"So you're trespassing…" I commented.
Autumn's faced drooped. "What? No! I was just hanging around here… where I'm not supposed to be… all alone… Okay, so maybe I was technically trespassing, but I wasn't looking for trouble. Are we going to have to fight over turf now or something? Because I left my nunchucks in my other purse… And honestly, I'd really rather be friends." She smiled. I could tell that no matter what I did, I'd be stuck with her for life. She was just like my ex-"friend" Candy from St. Aubergine's, who clung on to me like I was her life support even when I got fed up and screamed at her for a moment to myself.
"Heh. I'm not really used to people being so friendly." I remarked. Some people were just too clingy for their own good.
Autumn didn't detect the undertone in my voice (honestly, few people really can. Even Mother and Father can't tell). She chirped on. "That's me! Super friendly."
"So you're super friendly, and you hang out in empty lots?" I snickered. Obviously, if she was as friendly as she thought she was, she wouldn't be alone like this.
"Actually, I come here pretty often," Autumn replied. "The people at Hearst can be… well, they can be jerks. I've been wanting to transfer to this school ever since I heard it was opening!" Oh dear, I thought. I was destined to be doomed from the start.
"But Hearst High is the most prestigious school in the area… and my dad won't let me transfer." Autumn pouted.
Yay! I smiled to myself. But I doubt Hearst is more prestigious than Athena Academy. Yet again, Autumn interrupted me from my reverie.
"That's why I'm so excited you're here!" she squealed. "Since the school is just opening, it's really up to the people here to improve it. You can make this school even better than Hearst High… and then my dad will let me transfer for sure!" Ugh, I hope that's not the case.
"Awesome! This isn't going to be much of a school if I'm the only student." I muttered sarcastically as a jock guy left the Admissions Office.
I was interrupted from my thoughts yet again when Autumn squealed like a wounded hyena as she ran to a classroom. "This school's first classroom! So exciting! Let me get a picture of you next to it! That way we can look back on this day and remember it was the start of something big. Now smile!"
She spoke so quickly, I couldn't even get a word in as Autumn started attacking the camera. As soon as I could, I casually excused myself and escaped to the sanctity of a second-floor classroom. But luck wasn't with me today, as Autumn was right on my heels.
"Look at you, hitting the books already!" she exclaimed.
"I'm not all party all the time," I sniffed. It was hopeless to get away from Autumn, so I went downstairs and headed to the Admissions Office. Maybe if I pretended to act busy with official school matters, she would hop off.
My hypothesis proved incorrect when Autumn saw a nerd guy and a prep girl leaving the Admissions Office.
"What did I tell you? This school has so much potential!" Autumn proclaimed. She whirled around and picked up a handful of pamphlets from a desk in the Admissions Office.
"Now let's see if anyone else here wants to improve themselves…," she muttered, tapping her chin. She threw a pamphlet in the nerd guy's face.
"Thanks! I'm feeling smarter already!" he said sarcastically. I could tell that he was offended by Autumn's insinuation that he needed to improve himself.
Autumn didn't stop there.
"Ooh! What cute decorations!" she bleated. "Let's take some pictures!" She gestured to the nerd guy, prep girl, and me. "Everyone squeeze in!"
She started to take a picture. And another one. And another one. And yet another one. After a long while, I put my hand out.
"Okay… that's… wow. 200 photos of us posing in front of the decorations," I raised my eyebrows.
"I might've gotten carried away." Autumn said.
Understatement of the century.
Autumn's annoyances were put on the back burner when my iPhone chirped with a new message.
"Huh… I just got a text from some girl named Kara. She's demanding I meet her out in the parking lot…" I announced to my friends.
Autumn's face darkened. "That must be Kara Sinclair. She's the head cheerleader at Hearst. She's not someone you want to mess with."
I laughed. "Oh Autumn, you have a lot to learn if you think some lame cheerleader with a hidden inferiority complex intimidates me." I knew that whoever this Kara bitch was, she must consider me a threat if she felt the need to go to all the trouble of finding out my number and demanding a confrontation. So pathetic. If it was me, I'd pretend to make nice with my enemies and destroy them from the inside. I guess simpletons like her never truly grasped the essence of Machiavellian-esque queen bee politics. She had her power just handed to her. She never had to work hard to get it and maintain it in the first place like I had. But that would lead to her downfall, a fact I knew only too well.
"How does she even know your number?" the prep girl inquired.
"Oh, she's an expert in rumors and blackmail. I'm sure it was easy for her to find it. You shouldn't meet her alone…" Autumn replied. Haha, oh Autumn, you have no idea who the real expert in rumors and blackmail is.
"Who said I'm going alone?" I smirked. If the bitch wanted a confrontation, she would get one. But first, time for a touch-up. I went to the center prep hangout… and Autumn, unsurprisingly, followed me. I realized that she was really obsessed with me for whatever reason, and that shaking her off wouldn't do anything. It's time to try a new tactic, I realized.
I unlocked the hangout and went to the bathroom on the second floor. I had it custom-made in various tones of pink and it was notably nicer than all the other bathrooms on campus (but granted, they were pretty nice themselves).
"Whoa!" Autumn cried. "This is so nice! And large." She gestured to the marble sinks and bathtub, shower, and the six powder room stalls (three were actually dressing rooms).
"Like it?" I took my Clinique makeup bag out of my oversized Longchamp tote and blotted my face, reapplied a few coats of DiorShow mascara, spread some Burt's Bees lip balm across my lips, and ran my Mason Pearson brush through my hair. There. Sweet and "natural", not too overdone. Only an über-girly girl would be able to tell.
"I love it!" Autumn beamed. She sat on the edge of the marble tub, bouncing up and down, jiggling her left foot.
"All this could be yours… if you do a few favors for me," I smiled sweetly. If Autumn was going to be an annoying thorn in my side, I might as well get something out of it.
"What favors?" Autumn asked.
"I want copies of all the Hearst High yearbooks from 2000 onwards," I ordered.
"I'll do it," Autumn squeaked. "But why?"
"Don't worry about it," I smiled. Gathering up intel was one of my secret specialties, one that no one knew about. "It's for a little charity project."
I inspected my outfit, a white Theory dress with white Tory Burch flats and my grandmother's pearl necklace at my neck. Hair, check. Makeup, check. Outfit, check. I always made sure I was absolutely and wholly flawless before facing the world. That way, my enemies wouldn't be able to have anything on me. Next, I cued up Facebook on my phone and did a search for Kara Sinclair. I laughed out loud when I saw her face. She applied makeup like a clueless twelve-year-old… it was caked on her face like bees on honey, and it did not look "natural" at all. Weakness found. I quit the app, put my iPhone in my tote, and opened the bathroom door.
"Let's go," I told Autumn.
And with that, we left to confront Kara "Cake-Up" Sinclair.