[1.1] A Crash Course in Valentine Family Politics

Room 3-A was located at the end of the east hallway, third floor, last door on the right.

I found it with approximately forty-five seconds to spare.

Crisis averted. Barely.

The classroom was already half-full. Students milled around in that chaotic first-day way, clustering by the windows, comparing schedules, catching up on summer gossip. The air smelled like fresh notebooks and expensive cologne.

I scanned the room for an empty seat near the back. Somewhere I could close my eyes for five minutes without anyone noticing.

"ISAIAH!"

Or not.

A body slammed into me from the side. Arms wrapped around my shoulders. The impact nearly knocked me off my feet.

"Bro! My guy! My compadre! My brother from another mother!"

Felix Beaumont. Son of the Beaumont Culinary Group. Heir to a restaurant empire spanning three continents. Roughly two hundred and forty pounds of enthusiasm crammed into a five-foot-ten frame.

Also, tragically, my best friend.

"Felix. You're crushing my spine."

"I haven't seen you in two months! Two months, Isaiah! Do you know how boring my summer was without you?"

"You went to Paris, Tokyo, and Milan."

"Boring! No one there appreciated my humor!"

"That's because your humor is terrible."

He released me, clutching his chest like I'd wounded him. "You're so mean to me. After everything we've been through."

"We've been through one freshman year prank war and that time you got food poisoning from gas station sushi."

"That was a bonding experience!"

"You threw up on my shoes."

"BONDING."

I sighed. This was my life now. This was what I'd signed up for when I'd made the mistake of sharing my lunch with Felix Beaumont on the first day of freshman year. Three years later, he still hadn't left me alone.

Some mistakes haunt you forever.

Felix slung an arm over my shoulder, steering me toward a pair of empty seats near the window. He was grinning that grin of his. The one that usually preceded either disaster or entertainment.

"Dude. Dude. Have you SEEN who's in our homeroom this year?"

"I just got here."

"Look. Look look look." He pointed toward the front of the classroom with all the subtlety of a neon sign. "Window seats. Second row. Tell me what you see."

I looked.

And immediately understood why Felix was vibrating like a caffeinated chihuahua.

Two girls sat by the windows. Identical in every way that mattered. Same wine-red hair. Same purple eyes. Same devastating beauty that made the morning sunlight seem inadequate by comparison.

One of them was laughing, talking animatedly with a group of classmates who hung on her every word. Her hair was styled in twin tails with pink ribbons, and she had approximately seven accessories visible from this angle. She radiated warmth like a space heater in human form.

The other one.

The other one was staring directly at me.

With murder in her eyes.

Ah. Coffee girl.

"Valentine sisters," Felix breathed, his voice reverent. "Two of them. In our homeroom. Isaiah, do you understand what this means?"

"That you're going to be annoying about this all year?"

"It means OPPORTUNITY. It means DESTINY. It means—"

"That I need to find a different seat."

I started to move. Felix grabbed my arm.

"Wait wait wait. Why are you running? This is a gift! A blessing from the high school gods!"

"The angry one wants me dead."

Felix blinked. Looked at the sisters. Looked at me. Back at the sisters.

"Which one is the angry one?"

"The one glaring at me like I kicked her dog."

He squinted. "They look exactly the same."

"One is smiling. One is plotting my demise. It's not that hard."

Felix studied them for a long moment. Then his eyes went wide.

"Wait. Wait wait wait. Is that... is that CASSIDY? Cassidy Valentine is glaring at you?"

"Is that her name?"

"Bro. BRO." He grabbed my shoulders. Shook me. "What did you DO?"

"Spilled coffee on her shirt."

"You WHAT?"

"It was an accident."

"An ACCIDENT? Isaiah, do you have any idea who you accidentally assaulted with coffee?"

"A very angry girl with expensive taste in dry cleaning?"

Felix released me. Ran a hand through his hair. Started pacing in a small circle like he was processing a great tragedy.

"Okay. Okay. Let me. Let me break this down for you." He pulled me toward our seats, pushing me into the chair by the window before taking the one next to me. "The Valentine sisters. You know them, right? Everyone knows them."

"I know of them." I'd seen the name. Billboards. Magazines. The brand was inescapable. "Fashion company or something."

"Or SOMETHING? Isaiah. Valentine Holdings. Maison Valentine. V-Girl. They're basically fashion royalty. Their dad was Richard Valentine. THE Richard Valentine. He died like two years ago, and now their mom runs everything."

"Tragic backstory. Got it."

"There are FOUR of them. Identical quadruplets. All gorgeous. All completely different personalities." He leaned closer, dropping his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "And you just made an enemy of the most dangerous one."

I glanced toward the front of the room. Cassidy Valentine was still staring at me. She hadn't looked away once.

That's actually impressive commitment to hostility.

"Which one is she again?"

"Cassidy. The wild one. The rebel. The one who's been suspended like four times and somehow keeps getting away with it because her family literally funds half this school." Felix shuddered. "She's got a reputation, man. Fights. Parties. Boys. The tabloids call her the 'Problem Child Valentine.'"

"She seemed more like a 'Rage Problem Valentine' to me."

"This is serious! She's basically the most promiscuous girl at Hartwell, and you just became her enemy number one!"

I processed this information. "How is her being promiscuous relevant to me spilling coffee on her?"

"It's NOT. I'm just, you know, providing context. Background information. The full picture."

"You're gossiping."

"I'm BRIEFING you. There's a difference."

There wasn't, but I let it slide.

Felix continued, apparently incapable of stopping now that he'd started. "The other one in our class is Harlow. The sweet one. She's basically the opposite of Cassidy. Everyone loves her. She runs the fashion club, has like two million Instagram followers, and she's never said a mean thing to anyone in her life."

I looked at Harlow Valentine. She was currently helping a underclassman find something in their bag, smiling like the act of assistance brought her genuine joy.

Two million followers for being nice. There's a business model I don't understand.

"Then there's Vivienne. The perfectionist. Student council VP, top of her class, basically runs this school behind the scenes. She's the one who's probably going to inherit the company."

"Is she in our homeroom too?"

"No, thank God. I don't think I could handle that much intensity first thing in the morning."

"And the fourth?"

Felix's expression shifted. Something almost reverent. "Sabrina. The mysterious one. She barely shows up in photos, never does interviews, and basically treats the entire school like we're beneath her notice. I've gone to school with her for three years and I've heard her say maybe twelve words total."

"Sounds peaceful."

"It's TERRIFYING. She's like a ghost. A really hot ghost." He paused. "Actually, all four of them are stupidly attractive. It's unfair. The universe gave one family all the good genes and the rest of us got stuck with..." He gestured at himself. "This."

"You're not that bad."

"Bro, I gained fifteen pounds this summer eating my way through the Beaumont Tokyo locations. My dad called it 'quality control.' My doctor called it 'concerning.'"

"You're cultivating mass."

"See, this is why you're my best friend. You get it."

I didn't get it. I just didn't have the energy to be mean before 8 AM.