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Prologue
CONNOR COBALT
“Nah white cards with crimson lanyards attached
“Richard Connor Cobalt” I gave her an amiable smile
She procured the corresponding na “Welcome to this year’s Model UN, Richard Good luck” Her last phrase—while nothing less farewell—punctured a part ofat a nerve
Good luck
I liked having control of my fate And luck meant that I had none That I’d have to let soes were biased,over people wasa slot machine or a computer
People were malleable People were predictable
I would beat the judges I would win
Instead of wearing ave her another relaxed s at rownbeneathbecause I was only just fifteen
“You should remember my name,” I said
She laughed hesitantly “I’ll try, but there are a lot of you”
“And yet, I’m the only one you’ll see win every year”
Her uncertainty only grew like did I hear you right? Did you mean what I think you did?
My eyes barely flickered to her laestured absent is out of place Rolland coain “Good luck, Marianne You’ll need it”
I was a prick
An asshole
A conceited, arrogant son of a bitch
But tothan being deeer than whohts, my ideas never mattered to most adults To have someone seriously listen to me, as an equal, was nearly ient kid but not one whose thoughts superseded theirs
I would never talk down to an infant the way that people talked down to me, a fifteen-year-old
I knew that I’d gain respect with age I had to wait on soht Life was bullshit, and the only way for it to not grate at
And so I always did
She stared at me, open-mouthed and unsure
I waved her goodbye, and rin spread across my face as I walked down the lobby hallway,on my shoulder
After I signed in, I headed towards the elevators The hotel had sectioned off a nu School for Young Boys would take the sixth floor with three other preparatory schools
Fourteen to eighteen-year-olds already rode up and down the glass elevators in boredom or with actual places to be, like me
Guys in burnt orange blazers shuffled off the elevator I entered and pressed the sixth floor button, tempted to hit the “close doors” button as well But I waited, watching two girls approach The taller one with glossy brown hair had these hellfire eyes that struckNo matter which direction she turned Her rily as she talked
I couldn’t hear her, toothe hotel
I scrutinized the girls froned in yet Both wore navy-blue plaid skirts, their white-collared blouses tucked in I caught sight of the e the breast pocket: Dalton Academy
I didn’t have any preconceived notions of the co-ed private school Last year, we beat them And the year before that, we had no trouble I assumed this year would be the same
“No, I’irl cursed They slipped into the elevator, the girl too pissed to realize that she needed to press a button, and I was too curious to interrupt
“The nation She had a slender fra, red braid
The other girl placed her hands on her hips, fu She choked the elevator with each heavy inhale
I grazed her froh heels, dark red lipstick, sleek brown pony and those tyrannical yellow-green eyes, burning holes into the glass I was sharing an elevator with a tempestuous, electric storm that I refused to calm I alished to be swept into madness, if only for a moment, to truncate the mundane, ordinary moments of my existence
“His argu-sized bed, but three boys can’t So we have to take the worse rooement booked the same suite twice Do you see how ridiculous that is?”
“It’s true though Boys are bigger than us” Lydia shrugged
The elevator doors slid shut and we rose
“We’re sleeping in the suite ere assigned,” the girl refuted “They can take the smaller room”
“They won’t agree to it,” Lydia said
“You just don’t want to argue with theirl retorted “If you want to stay quiet, that’s fine, but I can’t let the Faust boys win Half of theold and the other half walk around like they created the earth and sky”
I lowered rin I was part of the latter half
She continued, standing taller, “Their heads are so inflated that I will cheer when someone decapitates them at the neck”
I could barely hold back fro upward even more
I’d never heard a girl like her before
Never in my life
I had ement double-booked the sa one of them to
move
Lydia softened her voice “The Faust boys are inti Delegation every year”
“Every year that eren’t here,” the girl rebutted
That pushed me to speak “I don’t think we’ve irls shifted their stances, finally acknowledging the third person on the elevator
They both perused rowing My wavy brown hair was styled perfectly, my brow arched in mock contemplation, and I wore a black blazer with a crimson tie
Faust’s uniform
The girl’s nose flared, especially as she eyedBoys typed in small script below Richard Connor Cobalt
Lydia paled
I held out my hand to her first “Nice to meet you”
She shook it, her palrip limp
When I turned to the other girl, she crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her heel repeatedly I waited for her to introduce herself I wanted to know her name Badly I ached to hear it Any part of it
I told her, “You’re reatest competition” I hoped she’d soften at the compliment Whether I spoke true or not, I had no clue yet She rean to slide open on the sixth floor, my floor
She didn’t answer me She pushed past to exit
Lydia sprinted to catch up to her friend “Rose,” she called out
I stepped into the hallith a wider grin, and Rose glanced over her shoulder with a scathing glare, knowing Lydia just unleashed what Rose denied ain I was 643, one of the balcony suites that overlooked the café and courtyard in the middle of the hotel
I thought, for a split second, that maybe I was in the double-booked room too The chance was microscopic, but it wasn’t improbable
As soon as I saw Dillon and Henry waiting at the door —I realized that I belonged to this fight too
“Manage keycards to the blond-haired sixteen-year-old
The second I approached, her brows knotted in confusion
“Dude” Dillon nudged irls”
I didn’t take rabbed Dillon’s keycards and passed them back to Rose
Realization washed over her face
This was my suite too And no one ever took as ave it to theive her this room I didn’t want to cra room, the extra desk, the couch, more quiet space to study