Page 5 of Wicked Games

I nodded. “Yes. How did you know?”

“I recognize all my students, but I didn’t recognize you, so I put two and two together. I’m Professor Garrick.”

“Nice to meet you.”

He smiled again and gestured to the array of desks in the room. “Sit anywhere you like.”

I scanned the room to assess my options. Some students looked up at me, but from the dirty looks they shot me, I could tell that I wasn’t welcome to take the empty seats beside them. A couple of guys raised their brows, signaling that I could sit with them, but the smarmy looks in their eyes gave them major douchebag vibes.

At the back, a blonde girl lifted her hand and waved at me.Sit here,she mouthed. I nodded and headed over to her, grateful forthe friendly face and the offer of a place to sit without feeling like an intruder.

The girl smiled as I sat down. “Hey,” she said. “You looked a little lost, so I figured I’d invite you over here.”

“Thanks. I’m Carey. I’m new here, in case that wasn’t completely obvious,” I said with a wry grin.

“It’s totally obvious. Sorry.” She grinned back at me. “I’m April Garrick.”

“Any relation to the teacher?” I asked, glancing at the front of the classroom.

“Yup. He’s my dad. That’s why no one ever wants to sit with me in here. They think I’ll act like a snitch or something.”

“I thought it would be the opposite,” I remarked. “I’d assume your desk-mate might get the occasional special attention because of their close association with you.”

April nodded. “That’s exactly what I think! But nope. Always alone in English class,” she said. “You’re new here and didn’t know any better, so I successfully lured you into my trap.”

I laughed. “Well, it’s like shooting fish in a barrel for you, because I’ll take all the help I can get around here.” I paused and looked back at Professor Garrick. “You must get discounted tuition as the child of a faculty member, right?”

An oddly confused expression crossed April’s pale face. “Um… well, it’s true that faculty members can get cheaper tuition for their kids if they want.”

“Don’t worry, I’m here on a scholarship. No judgement from me for not being one of the Richie Riches.”

April still looked confused. Then she laughed. “You really don’t know who I am, do you?”

It was my turn to be confused. “Uh… what?”

“Sorry, that made me sound like such a dick.” She shook her head and went on. “I just meant that people usually recognize my surname immediately.”

I whipped out my phone. “Guess I should Google it?”

“Go ahead. But I can explain too. My family owns Garrick-Graystone. As in the aerospace and defense conglomerate.”

“Oh, right. I’veheard of that before. I just didn’t make the connection,” I said, glancing down at the search results on my phone. The Garrick family’s net worth was in the billions.

“My dad teaches here because he loves literature and didn’t want to go into the usual family business. But anyway, we don’t take the staff discount because we don’t need it. It feels… unfair.”

“That makes sense.” I could feel my cheeks flushing with heat, and I knew they were probably bright pink. “Sorry, I hope I didn’t offend you with my Richie Rich comment.”

“Of course not. It’s totally fine.”

“I guess I should’ve known that almost everyone at this school is the child of millionaires or billionaires.”

An amused expression flickered in April’s eyes, and I was immediately certain that I’d just said something stupid again. “Want to know a secret?” she asked.

“Sure.”

“I guess it’s not actuallya secret. But I’m always surprised that hardly anyone seems to have heard about this.” She leaned closer, voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “Okay, so… quite a few of the so-called billionaires in this world aren’t actually billionaires at all. Especially those who send their kids to places like this.”

My forehead wrinkled. “They’re just pretending to have tons of money?”

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