Page 112 of Broken Princess

Forty-Three

Jordanna

Ifinish retelling my story and sit back on Pepper’s couch, exhausted at how much has happened to me and how much I’ve done in such a short amount of time. One full school year at Van Der Borne University has changed me, and I can’t say with absolute certainty that it was for the better. Kassidy says I’ve gained a new level of confidence in my body and the way I move through the spaces I inhabit. But what did that do to me?

“Why don’t you look like you’re enjoying your triumph, dear?”

“I’ve watched them. I’ve learned from them. But, I never wanted tobethem. There’s a thin line between confidence and heartless bitch. I worry I’ve crossed it.”

She signals for lunch to be served, and says, “I wouldn’t worry about that.”

“Why not?”

“If you’re thinking about the line, and worrying that you’ve somehow overstepped it, then that means your heart is still beating in the right place.”

“I wanted to get back at them, and I did, but I don’t know if anything has really changed. They’ve proven they can’t be trusted. There’s always going to be a new kid. A new bet. I may have found a way to make things better for me, but I just feel bad for the rest of them. And don’t get me started on learning about my so-called family history. It’s gonna take two lifetimes to untwist that mess.”

“Things can change at the school if you want it to.”

Shaking my head, I say, “Nothing will change without new leadership.”

Pepper sits back, a satisfied smirk on her face. “Exactly.”

She’s fucking crazy. Conniving and shrewd, and just like that I see the gameshe’sbeen playing. “You want me, the charity case, to take a run at Bella, knowing everything that had to happen for Logan to lose his spot? It’ll never happen.”

“You have just as much right to be in charge as any of them, dear. You know that.”

“What Ihave is circumstantial evidence of a buried pedigree. What Idon’t haveis the support for a vote.”

“But you could get it. Your family is a founding member of the town. You’re set to inherit shares in ECS shipping. Bella is a distant cousin. Your status beats that every time.”

The look on Bella’s face when she opened that email with the family tree. If I could have capturedthaton film, I would have. “I just want to finish out next year and be left alone.” I gesture to the clothes I’m wearing. “It was fun playing dress up with your friends, when you took me to meet them this morning, but this isn’t me. And I don’t want to be them.”

“Then be you. With all the power your name gives you.”

“I don’t wanna be known as a Summer or Bendevires either.”

Squeezing my hand, she says, “You can use any name you want, Jordanna. It won’t change your lineage.”

Forty-Four

Jordanna

He's on the ferry that's whisking me away to the island. It's like we've come full circle. It's been eight months since that weekend when I went to him and agreed to be his girlfriend. I had no idea I was opening the door to destruction by giving him my heart. There was no way to predict how I would let the hurt consume me afterwards.

I should've known he wouldn't let me walk away. Not without saying his piece, and I guess I owe him that, at least that.

“Why Jordanna? I trusted you. I let you in. Why would you go through with it?”

I stare out over the water. Even after all I did this semester, the strength of my voice still surprises me. “Kill or be killed. That’s just the way it is at VDU, and this was the only way I could be free of you.”

“You really cared so little about me, that you wanted to hurt my father too? My mom, my sister. My brother? Those are the people you put at risk by what you did. They’re innocent.”

“Did you care aboutmysister?Mymother? The people who were already trying to move past one humiliating experience? I never wanted to come to this fucked up school and you know I needed that scholarship back to Carryville. You know that was my only chance to have my grad school tuition covered, and I needed that internship to help my mother whose deep in debt because the IRS took all of our money after Penn was arrested, and in the beginning she paid that asshole’s legal bills.Youtook my family’s stability away from me. So tell me again, why I should give a shit about yours.”

“Don’t you get it? People have been looking for ways to knock down my family’s media empire for years. That article gives them the ammunition to do that. All those things you face, you’d be bringing them on us. If this story gets out, my father won’t let that go. You think you have nothing to lose now, haven’t you learned anything at all? Itcanget worse, Jordy.”

Both of our eyes are fixed on the horizon. We’re standing side-by-side, but there're miles of space between us. His anger clashes with my mine. Pride against pride. Neither of us is willing to back down, and I’m more than ready to burn his house to the ground to protect my family.

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