Page 8 of Rivals
“Thank you, Daphne. I knew you would understand! Besides, it’s about the charity, isn’t it? This was never meant to be a competition.”
What an utterly stupid thing to say.It’s not a competitionwas something that losers told themselves after they lost.
As she watched Gabriella simpering up there onstage, Daphne reminded herself that it didn’t matter. So what if Gabriella wanted to buy her way into the spotlight? She didn’t have the one thing that really mattered—Prince Jefferson.
Daphne glanced down at the signet ring on her right hand, blazoned with the Washington family crest. It was so small, just a hunk of engraved metal, yet it was the most powerful thing she owned. This ring marked her as a member of the innermost circle of influence.
Of course it was a competition. Everything was a competition.
And right now, Daphne was winning.
“I can’t believe you convinced me to live in the Chalet,” Nina teased, propping open the door for her friend Rachel Greenbaum.
Technically their dorm was named Chalmondrey Hall, but it had always been known around campus as the Chalet. In a school full of Gothic buildings, of gabled ceilings and towering spires and gargoyles, Chalmondrey Hall was the most supremely Gothic of all. It had the iconic stone turret—the one featured in all the King’s College brochures, and on the website—which actually housed three dorm rooms, one on each floor.
Rachel set down her bags and twirled around, arms outstretched. “We have a window seat!Anda spiral staircase! Tell me this isn’t your dream room.”
“It does feel like something out of a fantasy novel. Like we’re princesses in a tower—”
Nina broke off awkwardly, and Rachel pretended not to notice. It just didn’t feel right, joking about being a princess when you’d once dated a prince.
“Although the bathroom situation is less than ideal,” Nina went on in an upbeat tone. Their room occupied the third floor; the nearest ladies’ room was three stories down, on the ground level. Apparently whoever built the turret hadn’t installed indoor plumbing.
“Totally worth it,” Rachel insisted. “Besides, think of howfantastic you’ll look in your jeans from going up and down the stairs so often.”
Nina suppressed a smile. She didn’t actually mind the stairs; she was just grateful to be living with her friends. After all the drama of last year, she could use a fresh start.
Rachel seemed to be thinking along the same lines, because she lowered her voice and asked, “So, have you talked to Ethan or Jeff yet?”
“You know Ethan’s in Malaysia,” Nina said quickly, ignoring the second half of Rachel’s question.
She and Ethan hadn’t spoken for most of the summer. When he’d finally reached out, Nina had felt a pleasant warmth at the sight of his incoming call—and that was it. Not the giddy rush of excitement she’d once felt at the prospect of talking to Ethan.
She may have forgiven him—she knew Ethan was a good person, despite what he’d done to her—but she didn’t want to date him again.
Last year, Ethan had started flirting with Nina atDaphne’s request, to help keep Nina away from Jeff. Even though Ethan had begun to care about her for real, Nina couldn’t get over the way it had all started. She expected such manipulative behavior from Daphne, but not from Ethan.
When Ethan had explained his plans to go abroad, Nina had told him she was glad for him. She hoped he got what he wanted out of this, whatever it was: adventure, perspective, a fresh start.
She and Rachel turned as the door swung open to admit their third roommate, Jayne Chu.
“Look what I found at the bookstore,” Jayne announced, unrolling a poster for the newPride and Prejudiceremake. Nina laughed, but Rachel was vehemently shaking her head.
“No way. We can’t have Mr.Darcy hanging in our common room!”
“What do you have against Darcy?” Jayne climbed onto the couch and held the poster against the wall, leaning back to check the placement.
Rachel reached for the edge of the poster and tugged at it. “When people come over here for parties, I want them to see something sophisticated. Like a black-and-white photo. Or something vintage! Not some random Victorian dude in tights.”
“He’sEdwardian,and they’rehose,thank you very much.”
Nina started rolling her suitcase into the larger of the bedrooms, the one that contained two twin beds, but Jayne interrupted. “Nina—Rachel and I talked about it, and we think you should take the single.”
Nina glanced over in surprise. “Are you sure?”
Rachel let go of the Darcy poster and its edge furled up, so that only half of Darcy’s waistcoat was visible. “Definitely. I’d get claustrophobia in a room that small. Why did they build it in the first place?”
“For the valet,” Nina said, unthinking. When her friends both looked at her, she shrugged. “Back when King’s College was for men only, aristocrats brought their menservants to school with them, to…I don’t know, do their laundry and fasten their cuff links.”
