Passing the long line to the downstairs toilet, she headed up the stairs scattered with writhing bodies. Upstairs, the landing was as imposing and spacious as the rest of the house. Large grotesque modern art hung on the wall above equally hideous ceramic sculptures positioned on tacky white plinths. Downstairs, Nicki Minaj’s Starships started to play, followed by a roar of cheers from the partygoers. Distant to Elivia, she searched the dark corridor, checking every door with a small push until she found the bathroom. Squatting over the toilet, she peed quickly and washed her hands thoroughly, filthy from the visit to Jet’s apartment in Barnstaple. She dried her hands on a soft towel hanging beside the sink and left. She was shoved aside by a couple making a beeline for the bathroom. The door promptly slammed shut behind them. Elivia’s nose wrinkled at the thought of what they were about to do, glad she’d used the amenities first.
With a sweeping gaze, she viewed the ocean beyond the panoramic windows of the landing. Below, a narrow strip of grass was all that stood between the cliff edge and a large pool lit up and circulated by partygoers. No one was insane enough to be in it tonight, even if the rain had stopped.
A door opened nearby. Elivia turned to make a quick escape, not wishing to see anything she shouldn’t, when curiosity got the better of her and she found herself staring back at Summer.
“Lil.”
Elivia glanced at the closed door behind her friend. “What are you doing up here?”
“I didn’t want to pee in that communal hole in the ground downstairs,” Summer said, straightening her blouse as she strutted across the landing. Her fringe looked damp, her long blonde hair dishevelled and frizzing. She didn’t seem to notice as she looped arms with Elivia and led her down the corridor away from that door. It was a plausible answer.
So why do I know she’s lying?
She didn’t get a chance to interrogate further. At the bottom of the stairs, Summer detangled herself and disappeared again. Elivia was left standing alone with more questions than before. Her intrigue grew upon spotting the boy from earlier, Chuck, slouched against the doorframe to the lounge, guzzling a bottle of beer with an increasingly furious look on his face. He noticed someone watching him and turned to look. She quickly shuffled into the crowd, grateful for once that she was smaller than most people her age.
She found Robert in the kitchen. He passed her a drink. She was burning with questions but knew asking would be a waste of breath. Secrets were practically mandatory at Hillside Academy; everyone had one and no two were the same. Who was she to judge? She was holding just as many secrets in her Gucci handbag. Nonetheless, it was in her nature to ask questions and the last time she’d ignored that instinct was the last time someone had controlled her.
Run me out of school.
Out of my life.
Elivia may have agreed to stay but she wouldn’t play Damien’s game. If she wanted answers, she would have to be smarter about how she got them.
“Everything okay?” Robert asked.
“Who’s Chuck?”
Robert swallowed his mouthful of beer and glanced behind her. She looked and found no one she recognised. He took hold of her hand, tugging her closer to where he was perched on one of the stools at the kitchen island. “Charles Miller. He goes to the local high school.”
“Is Damien friends with –?”
He guffawed. “God no. He can’t stand Chuck. None of us can.”
“So why are we here?”
Robert’s mouth twisted with uncertainty. She clung to the hope that the boy she’d once spent summers with was still in there. “Damien has business here.”
“The drugs?”
He clasped her hand tighter, shaking his head. “We don’t talk about it.”
“Why did he take me to Jet’s?” The question she needed the answer to the most. It was one thing to learn Damien, with all his wealth and power and titles, the son of a Lord, was a drug dealer. It was another to be dragged into it with him. He didn’t like her, he’d made that very clear that night at the pub. So why would he risk bringing her into his illegal activities?
He wants to see if he can trust me…
Can he?
“Elivia.” Robert exhaled that weary sigh whenever she asked too many questions. She got the hint. She’d heard enough anyway.
“Can we dance?” she suggested. Her boyfriend’s face filled with relief.
Taking her cup, she led him towards the lounge where the music was blasting out of the impressive speakers. The room was suffocatingly hot, shadowy with only the strobe lights illuminating the bodies inside. There was a tightness in her chest at the prospect of being packed into that sweaty crowd. Just when she felt like turning around, Robert pressed his body to hers and she felt safe all over again. As the two danced, Elivia forgot her burning desire to know the truth. She even forgot that moment upstairs with Summer. She existed entirely in those hot seconds, kissing Robert’s lips and rocking her body to the music, comforted in the knowledge that her past couldn’t reach her here. But like so many of the good moments in Elivia’s life, this too came to an end.
She was shoved from behind. Screams and shouts followed as Robert navigated her away from the chaos ensuing in the middle of the lounge and into the dining room. As he moved to return, Elivia got her first glimpse of the commotion. Unsurprisingly, Damien was at the centre.
Hillside Academy: October (Volume II) Copyright © 2024 Jodie May Mullen