The Eye of the Heir

I watched as the morning dew that had collected on the window trickled down, connecting droplets in one wet stream until it disappeared out of my sight. My fingers twirled a lock of my curly black hair absentmindedly, and I was so deep in thought that I didn't even hear the teacher calling my name until Jasmine, the girl who sat in front of me, twisted around to glare, capturing my attention.

"Answer." She hissed, and I let my eyes drift to the teacher, my breath catching in my throat. Beside her was a boy who looked like a damn underwear model. He also had curly hair, but it was a looser curl pattern that was short and dark brown. His eyes were the color of honey and bore into me expectantly.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Loften, what did you say?" She conveyed her annoyance through a heavy sigh.

"We're going around the room introducing ourselves to Aiden Elliot, the new student. Please say your name and one thing about yourself." I could feel the furrow of my eyebrows as I contemplated why someone would transfer schools halfway through their senior year, then decided swiftly I didn't care.

"Esmeena Greywell and I like to be left alone."

"Not like you have a choice; you're a social pariah." Emily Cormick, the girl who made it her mission to harass and degrade me, snorted the retort over her shoulder, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear.

"You have the intelligence of a worm, Emily, hardly someone worth conversing with." I clap back dryly, in the calm, monotone voice I tended to use with everyone.

"That's enough, ladies; let us keep the introductions moving so Aiden can take a seat." The class finished with their names and trivial facts before Mrs. Loften sent Aiden to sit beside me in the only empty seat.

Emily spun around, facing him with a seductive smirk.

"So, your father is Bruce Elliot?" She practically rested her ample chest atop his desk as she purred.

"Uh, yeah," Aiden responded, pulling his textbook from his bag as the teacher instructed. Next, Jasmeen chimed in.

"Why does a billionaire's son need to attend a private school? Don't you have a teacher you can hire?"

"What, and miss out on this life-changing interrogation?" I mumble the retort with an eye roll, moving my gaze back to the window and my dew droplets. I thought I heard Aiden stifle a chuckle, but whatever I thought I heard was muffled by Emily's annoyed growl.

"Excuse me, Esmeena? You want to say that to my face?" I ignored her, eyes fixed in a bored stare out the window.

"I think she's scared." Even I had buttons, and while I viewed myself as morally superior ninety percent of the time, that ten percent was reserved for the immature desire to prove I wasn't scared of anything. I had a mean competitive streak, too, but when incels surround you, being better than them is hardly worth bragging about.

I rolled my eyes, stopping them briefly on Jasmine before sliding my unblinking gaze to Emily.

"Maybe he's here at St. Meridian as some kind of billionaire's social experiment." I perk up in my chair, eyes widening as I pretend to know classified information.

"Maybe he needs to live amongst the commoners and throngs of thirsty, desperate, gold-digging women," I shifted my eyes back and forth between the two girls as I said each adjective. "So that he knows exactly what to avoid when he comes into his inheritance." Finishing my statement, I let my genuine demeanor slide back into place as I leaned back against my seat once more, arms crossed as I continued to stare at Emily.

"Not the poor girl pretending she's better than us."

"I'm not poor, Emily; I attend the same private school as you."

"Just barely." Jasmine pouted her bottom lip and gave me a look of mock sympathy. I glared at her with a look that questioned her intelligence.

"I'm smart, Jasmine, unlike the two of you riding on the backs of your parent's donations."

"You're just mad your parents can't do anything for you now." Emily sneered, but even Jasmine sucked her teeth.

"Emily..." She said under her breath, her tone reprimanding.

"She started it; I was talking to Aiden." Her tone softened as she said his name.

"Leave it to you to bring up my dead parents. It wouldn't be the first time, but the only thing I'm mad about is you two are planning on going to college for careers that affect the lives of others. Doctor," my eyes slid to Jasmine. "Lawyer," I looked towards Emily, "and you plan on paying your way through that too. Only to end up with the lives of others in your hands and no parents to pay you through court cases and surgeries."

"You don't respect education, and it's sickening, but you know what? I do apologize for interrupting; it seems you two becoming gold-digging trophy wives is actually the best thing for the entire planet. "

"Miss Greywell, is there something you want to share with the class."

"I was just apologizing for interrupting their conversation," I smiled politely. Turning my attention back to them, I said, with the same mock sympathy Jasmine offered me, "I'm so sorry; please carry on."

"How about that back corner just pays attention for the rest of class, or the four of you can spend more time together in detention." Aiden raised his arms as if to suggest this had nothing to do with him, and he was right. I just let my eyes drift back to the window, glazing over the rest of the lesson entirely.

I'd always been a dark child, a lover of black and all things spooky, but I'd been a dreamer, too. My mind ran wild with creative intrigue, but since my parents died mysteriously during a business trip, I hadn't been the same. My life hadn't been the same.

Now when my eyes drifted off, it was into a void of black. Nothing existed there because I'd rather think of nothing than the warm smiles my mother would give me as her way of letting me know she was fully supportive of whatever decision I made, she let me paint my walls dark grey and then paint black vines with red roses around the entirety of my room, not caring when Aunt Giselle scolded me and said I needed therapy. Then again, my mother who had owned Trinity City morgue, wasn't exactly deemed sane by the rest of the family either. Still, she opened her own business and married a billionaire, silencing the concern for her future, that's when they turned their attention to me.

Speaking of billionaires, my father was also another image I couldn't stomach, my reflection also wasn't easy to look at because we had the exact same green eyes, both flecked with gold and several shades of green. When I saw them, I saw him.

Unlike my mother, whose passion consisted of working over the bodies of the deceased, salvaging the last of their humanity so that their families could see them and say goodbye, I wasn't really sure what my father was passionate about. As far as I knew, he was a successful investor. He had his hands on several projects, and I remember taking trips on his private jet, arriving at all sorts of work sites. Some of them for construction, some of them for research, once we'd even been a part of an archeology project.

I remember him telling me I could come, and we wandered the unveiled walls of tombs and underground mazes for hours, inspecting everything. I loved those times; I missed those moments.

The sting of those memories brought tears to my eyes, and I cursed myself for letting them go. Raising from my seat, I gave Mrs. Loften a look that we had silently established meant I needed a moment and she nodded back, carrying on as if I hadn't moved.

I grabbed my bag off the floor stepping around my seat to head to the door.

"Are you alright?" I heard the bass of Aidens voice and that alone sent chills through my body. I froze, unsure of how to respond.

"Are you talking to me?" I asked staring down at him, I hardly noticed the way the room began to shuffle around us. I was mostly fixed on his eyes, and the way they bore into me, seeing more than I wanted to be seen. Of course he was talking to me, he was staring right at me and that look was unwavering. He said nothing, so I sighed.

"I'm fine," I lied.

"Then sit down." His command was authoritative in nature, and I wanted to obey with every fiber of my being. Still, a greater part of my mind despised being told what to do.

"I beg your pardon?" Tucking a lock of hair behind my ear, I stared down at him.

"I said, sit." He repeated, his brow furrowed in confusion and agitation.

"I said I beg your fucking pardon?" My confused expression shifted into sheer annoyance. I couldn't tell what look came over him: surprise, annoyance, curiosity, maybe all three.

"We're supposed to partner up. Did you not hear her?" I looked over at Mrs. Loften, who was floating around the room writing down partners. She wasn't paying attention to us, but Emily was, and most likely Jasmine, had I cared to turn and look.

"I can be your partner, Aiden." He didn't so much as look at her, his eyes still fixed on me.

"I'm alright," he said flatly, dismissing her.

"No, I insist," I scoffed, stepping around the desk and heading towards the door.

Just who the hell did he think he was?