Page 7 of Filthy Elites

Hmm, I guess people like to say their last names here. That wasn’t the case in Europe. “Nice to meet you.”

“Are you new?”

“Yes, it’s my second day.”

“Where did you transfer from?”

I become tongue tied. I can’t tell her I spent a year in and out of hospitals and was taught by private tutors for my entire junior year. I also can’t tell her I went to school in Barcelona before that. “Eh…”

Her attention switches from me to a good-looking guy who just walked into the cafeteria. He’s tall and athletic, with tanned skin, dark curls, and bright green eyes that have all the girls in the vicinity turning their heads.

He ignores them all and makes a beeline toward us. “Hey, Sage. What’s up?”

“Not much,” she replies softly.

Her cheeks are bright red, and I feel sorry for her. It sucks when your body betrays you like that.

He looks at me. “Hi, I’m Justice.”

No last name. Interesting.

“Nicola.”

The line moves, and that gives me an excuse to not engage in conversation with him. It seems Justice is more interested in chatting with Sage anyway, so I get a reprieve.

It doesn’t last long, and this time, it’s not Jason pestering me.

“Didn’t I already tell you to stay away from my sister?” an angry male voice asks.

I turn and see a blond guy glowering at Justice. He’s shorter than him, and my guess is a couple of years younger, but he doesn’t seem one bit phased by that.

“I was just saying hello. Is that a crime now?” Justice replies almost mockingly.

“Luke, cut it out.” Sage tries to push her brother away from Justice, but he’s like a boulder, unmovable.

I take note of two other guys hovering nearby. They look to be about the same age as Sage’s brother, either freshmen or sophomores. One of them has chin-length, wavy, blond hair and the body of a swimmer. I notice him first because he looks kind of familiar.

“What’s going on here?” Jason asks, appearing out of nowhere.

He glowers at Justice and Luke, then turns to the guy with long hair. “Get your friends in line, Finn.”

Finn arches his eyebrows. “Do you think I can control Luke?”

Jason rolls his eyes and sighs. “Children.”

He grabs Justice by the back of his collar and drags him away from the line. “All right, perv. Time for you to stop sniffing around the kindergarten.”

“Let go of me!” Justice tries to break free, but his effort is halfhearted. I suspect he’s trying to save face but knows it’d be a mistake to truly antagonize Jason.

“You suck, Luke,” Sage snaps.

His gaze softens. “I’m just looking out for you. He’s too old.”

“He’s only a couple years older than me. But it’s not really his age that’s bothering you, is it? You don’t like him because he’s poor.”

Luke’s eyes widen. He looks truly shocked. “I don’t like him because he’s shady.”

Sage pushes him out of her way and strides out of the cafeteria. I debate whether I should follow her, but the decision is made for me when Jason returns to the line. I want to know what he did to Justice.

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