Sure, I could probably have broken the rules and claimed my girl, but I wanted to watch her, to see what she did, see the impact she’d make before I took her. For a whole year I’ve watched and waited, refusing to allow myself to become any more obsessed. I don’t even know her name, all I know is that she’s mine. Now her year is up, and it’s time to elevate her to her rightful place at my side.

“You ready to know?” Clay asks from beside me.

It’s rare I ever let anyone sneak up on me, my little bird is the only thing that distracts me enough that I stop paying attention to what’s going on around me. “Let’s go in,” I tell him, not answering his question just in case anyone else is listening in.

Clay whistles, and both Evan and Hunter’s heads turn in this direction.

“Let’s go,” I say, tipping my head toward the school building.

Standing, they brush off the bunnies that are crawling all over them and head over. Clay and I start to walk and a sudden hush falls over the students that are mulling around. The reverence and adulation should be cringeworthy, and it kind of is, but I’m not going to lie, it’s good to be king.

Being Elite is more than just a status thing, we also have a role within the school we’re expected to play. We maintain peace between the students, enforce the ancient GAA rules and mete out punishments when we have to. The faculty trust us to do what’s expected and in repayment, they turn a blind eye to whatever we do to keep order.

When GAA originally opened it was a boarding school, but thirty years ago the last dorm shut down and the rooms were repurposed. The one room that remains intact and relatively unchanged from all those years ago, is The Elite common room. This room has belonged to the reigning Elites for nearly a hundred years. It’s a sacred space that only The Elite can use.

The familiar smell of old leather, books and cinnamon hits me the moment I push through the door. For every other reigning Elite in the past, this room has only been theirs for a year. For us, this is our third, and as such we’ve left our mark more so than our predecessors. We’ve added a few updates, like a huge flat-screen TV, a PlayStation and a fancy coffee machine. But more than that, this is our private space where we can relax without the constant adoration and scrutiny of the rest of the school.

I wait for the others to enter the room and close the door before I speak. “Tell me everything.”

3

STARLING

Okay, so maybe being a sophomore does come with a few perks. My locker is in a much better position and my homeroom is in the main building instead of being in the cold annex that used to be one of the dorms from back when the school had student housing.