Temptation

«L'habit ne fait pas la moine.»

«The vestment does not make the monk.»

~~~

"Oh my Gosh, Xe! Can you believe I am finally here?"

Thea's enthusiastic chatter was the only thing that filled the silence during the entire car ride. Her excitement was evident; the way she screamed in my ears just now before jumping out of the car was proof of that.

"Mhh," I muttered dully, "yay."

I, on the other hand...was not so happy to be here.

Here I was once again at Trinity Fox Academy, the school of my nightmares. I never thought I would be back in this wretched place. You could say I was not too fond of here. The level of toxicity that roams these halls is unmatchable. The harsh years I had once spent in this establishment were all thanks to the harassment and bullying I endured. I thought that I was out for good, but the merciless clutches of fate chose to drag me back.

I stepped out of the car as the shameful scents of the Axe body spray and Chanel perfume in the air stung my nostrils. It's quite disappointing, to say at least, that all these kids went to such a rich-person school and still had no taste. The disgraceful smell reminded me how much I did not miss here at all.

I dusted my skirting in an attempt to ignore the looks of students that I passed as I walked.

"Is that Xemina Royale?" One of them mumbled. "What is she doing here?"

I was just curious as to the next guy. Why did I get sent back here? I left this campus a year ago due to a scandal, which I was not even responsible for anyway.

My mother pulled me out of Trinity and sent me off to the States. I was hauled to a private school in San Francisco, which was, indeed, quite the punishment. How was it a punishment, you might ask? Well, the students there had something serious against rich people. They always felt the need to pick a fight with me, trying to make me feel less than by supposing that I only got in because I was rich, whereas they got in for their intelligence. Using that highly biased argument, they would continue to harass me, and I found myself bullied daily. Indeed I eventually took the matter up with the principal. Even after the boys threatened to assault me, which frightened me, the principal did nothing about it. I even spoke to the supervisor, who said he could not help me because there was no evidence to support my claim. It goes without saying that I would have eventually tried to put an end to the bullying myself— or at very least, fight it off. The inevitable happened; I got into a fight in one of the chemistry labs and, in the haze of the commotion, set an unintentional fire, leading to my expulsion.

Expulsion. My mum did not like the sound of that one bit.

It was back to Trinity Fox for me. The matter was not up for discussion; I protested for a long time, but my mother had her mind settled on torturing me.

Thea tried to cheer me up, saying it wouldn't be bad at all, because this time... I had her on my side. Having her around would be a huge emotional support, and maybe there was a chance that things will not go as wrong as they went before.

Thea was my only friend in San Francisco; she was the only one that would talk and sit with me. We became best friends. A beautiful African-American with dyed purple hair and brown eyes was full of energy—that was Thea, the girl who became my best friend. Thea was the kind of friend that loved to go out, as long as you would pay. She loved talking about herself, always rambling about what she wanted and what was on her mind. It never bothered that at all. I did not particularly enjoy talking about myself or anything, so I liked to listen to her.

After she proposed the idea to come along, I convinced my lawyers, the school board, and my mom to have her accepted and, definitely not without the hassle, she got the spot.

The driver and a guard took our baggage to our dorm while we meet Mrs. Vermont.

"Welcome back, Miss Royale." She said, smiling happily at me, "and Welcome, Miss McDale." She took a turn to Thea with a warm smile; then she shook our hands. She ranted on and on about the school's history while giving us a tour. I knew the school like the back of my hand, but it was pleasing to see the surprised look on the student's face as we sashayed down the hallways that thought I was gone forever. Thought you got rid of me, hunh? Nope, thank you to dearest mommy; I was back bitches!

Gosh, I hate that woman.

Trinity Fox Academy was not a bad school; it is the third-ranking campus in the world. It was a couple of steps up to your regular high school. The school was packed with students who were either rich or famous. The majority of us were sent here by our parents who wanted us to take on the family business early rather than letting us go to traditional schools in the US, which they thought wouldn't do us as good. I have been here since I was fourteen, for two years before I got out to San Francisco. And now I am seventeen and back.

We learned things that were actually beneficial to our career, not the senseless math and chemistry that we would never use in the real world. The grading system was also completely different from the US and Canadian systems, which was less complex.

"And here..." Mrs. Vermont continued, gesturing to the stalls. "This is a bathroom. It is unisex and solely opened when we are using this establishment." She pointed out.

"Don't ever use this bathroom. You're going to catch an infection," I murmured in Thea's ear, not wishing to catch Mrs. Vermont's attention.

"That happened to you already?"

I shook my head as an affirmation, and we let a scandalous laugh out, causing an unamused look from Mrs. Vermont. Our laugh came to an abrupt stop, and the tour continued. After sometimes she left us, and we began to walk back to our dorms.

The townhouses were graciously given to the top-tier students. Since Thea was here because of me, she had one of the average dorms. It wasn't terrible, but you had to share it with someone. Unlike the townhouses, you were alone and only had one neighbor. The walls were soundproof, and you were allowed to have friends over, except there were cameras. I paid to deactivate mine a long time ago.

"Xemina Royale!" Someone yelled my name. We stopped completely, and I rolled my eyes, recognizing the annoying voice.

"Agea Stanford!" I yelled distastefully, turning around with a fake smile.

Not even one hour into my return, and my biggest fan had come back to pick up from where she had left off.

"Welcome back," she said in the least welcoming tone. "One year later, you still..." she looked me up and down with disgust like she was looking at herself in a mirror. "...Basic"

"oh, thanks," I said sarcastically. And you, you still look..." I did the same thing, scooping her up and down with my eyes, with a fake smile, "...like a total bitch!"

Of all the people that I genuinely hate, Agea Stanford was the second on the list. I have known her for ten years, and she is the worse person you will ever meet. She was a cold heart and pure bully. In the last two years, I have learned to stand up to her, and we have been fighting since then. She was a diva; she wore pink designer and expensive clothes and thought everyone was below her.

The first place on my list went to her boyfriend, Julian De Elvero. But It was different; our hate wasn't fueled solely by rash actions that stemmed from the heart but the blood. Both our families have companies that have been competing for decades. This hate carried to Trinity Fox because, just like his girlfriend, he was a big scary bully and the rich kid that thought he was entitled to everything. However, last year, he had been arrested for drugs around the time I left Trinity. Things got worse when he lost his best friend, Jake, two weeks later in a suspicious accident. I was so glad he was not here and might not come ever due to the charges because it was one less asshole to deal with, and I would take it.

However, I quickly realized that Agea most likely didn't stay loyal to him during this year when the third person on my list came up and kissed her in front of us.

"Welcome Back, Xemina," he said with a clown smile, showing his crooked teeth.

My smile dropped, and I took Thea's hand and turned around to pursue our original destination.

"Was that Shawn?" She asked as I dragged her behind me.

Shawn Perron made my life a misery. The whole scandal happened because of him, and now he dared to smile at me, pretending nothing happened and we were okay. I went to San Francisco because of him. He made me the worst version of myself, and I hated him to death.

Thea knew about everyone and everything. I told her what happened and poured my heart into her two nights before we flew here. I was still sour to the fact I was the one that had to leave when this fucker was still here, fucking around with Agea. And, of course, she would date him. With the absence of Julian, she needed to keep her popularity up, and she chose the dirty dog.

"I don't want to talk about it, let's g-." My word got cut off when a black Roll Royce Phantom stopped in front of us, almost hitting me. Two people got out, and my mouth dropped to my feet when I see who the driver was.

"Danm, watch where you are going, Mam-" When he realized whom he was talking to, Julian stopped and took off his sunglasses, smiling vastly like the devil.

"Well, isn't that Xemina Royal?" He gasped. "What a coincidence."

You have to be shitting me.

~~~