“Ewww that is gross. I wish we had a spare room in our house, I’d love another girl to balance out the testosterone in that place.”

We chat away until we reach one of the valet stations and a familiar face steps out. “Starling,” Angelo says with a bright smile. “How you doing?”

“Hi, Angelo, I’m good thanks, this is my friend Sammy.”

“Hey, Sammy,” he nods, glancing at her briefly then turning back to me. “I haven’t seen you around, I thought you might come visit me.”

“Er, yeah, it’s been a hectic few weeks, settling into school, making friends.” I shrug.

“Yeah, that’s cool. Maybe you’d let me take you out some time?” he asks.

“Ohhh, er.”

“Ahh someone snapped you up already, didn’t they?”

“No, I don’t have a boyfriend, it’s just.” Wrinkling my brow I try to decide what to say. “Er, it’s complicated.”

Angelo nods, his smile dimming. “I get it. But if things uncomplicate themselves, or you change your mind, you let me know.”

“I will,” I nod, offering him a small smile.

Another valet arrives with Sammy’s car and I climb into the passenger seat, not glancing in Angelo’s direction as she pulls away from the curb.

“He was cute, why did you say no?”

“I don’t know, he is cute, but he doesn’t really do anything for me.”

“Hmm,” she says, smirking knowingly at me as we drive through the entrance gates and onto the road.

“This is the first time I’ve left campus since I got here.”

“What?” she gasps. “How come?”

“I don’t have a car and the closest bus stop is like twenty minutes’ walk from here.”

“You ride the bus?” she asks appalled.

For the first time in years, I remember how ignorant of the real world the wealthy and entitled are. “Yeah, that’s how normal folk get places when they don’t have a car.”

“Wow, I sound like a stuck-up bitch, don’t I? I’m sorry, there’s just no way my parents would let me take a bus anywhere, they think I’m too young to even be in school, they wanted me to defer my place at Kingsacre and stay home for another year.”

“It’s fine, it’s just been a few years since I was around the überwealthy. The tiny town we lived in, in Maine was just full of fisherman and their families, the nicest car in town was the shiny new school bus.”

“But your mom married Daddy Warbucks, so you’re like rich now too. Also, fuck you very much for not telling me exactly who your stalker and your housemates were. The Lockwoods, Morrises, Rossbergs and Jansens are like American royalty, they’re not just rich, they’re next level rich and insanely powerful. To be honest, if I’d known you’re basically a Morris I think I’d have been too intimidated to speak to you that first day.”

“I’m not a Morris. I’m a Kennedy, just the plain old normal daughter of a fisherman from Maine, Starling Kennedy. My mom married into all that, not me.”