"I thought you were going to stop this habit of getting in trouble. Starting a fire – you're lucky you weren't expelled," she says, exasperated, when Nick finally gets in.

The lady who calls herself his mother is seated at the table, her trembling fingers clasped together, and she stares at him, looking distraught. She looks almost as though she actually cares. Something in his chest aches but Nick swallows thickly and shakes his head.

Thinking it's better if he just gives his explanation on things, Nick begins, his voice quiet, "I didn't –,"

"I called you," she says, her voice low.

Nick lets out a tired sigh. There is no point in giving his story, he knows. She already thinks he's an asshole – which he is, but still.

"I know," he says, but it's the wrong thing to say because it invites more conversation and all he wants is to sleep.

It's been a long day.

He'd forgotten how teachers could be such assholes. Ah, the gentle bliss of ignorance.

"Then why didn't you pick up?" she demands. "Why did I buy you the phone, if you're not going to use it?" When he doesn't answer, his mother says, her voice taut and stern, "Nicholas."

Nick looks at her.

He wonders if she's sick of him.

Instead, his mother just looks disappointed and lets out a tired sigh, identical to his own. She lifts herself from her seat. "You should sleep," she says. "I – I just wanted to make sure you got home alright."

He looks up at the clock and realises it's almost half past one. Guilt lurches his stomach and Nick parts his mouth to apologise, maybe, but his mother has already left the room. The butler is eyeing him with derision and Nick rolls his eyes at him.

He has no time for the butler's judgement.

"You should be respectful to your mother," he says, his voice low. "Do you know what she's done?"

"Yeah." Nick smiles cheerfully. "Abandoned me as soon as I was born."

*

She's still furious with Elliot, so the next day, when her driver asks if they'll be picking up Mr Bradford before school starts, Madison says tautly, "No."

Lunchtime rolls around and it doesn't take long for the rest of their friends to realise that something is wrong but Audrey and Lula are wise enough not to probe Madison or Elliot. Maria glowers at the two of them but knows better than to put her thoughts on her tongue. They enter the school gardens just as they always do to eat their lunch, Madison's demeanour more frosty and cooler than usual, and she seats herself demurely against the gazebo that was crafted just for them, while the rest of them eat their lunches.

The others, including Elliot, fill the stiff air around them with nervous conversation but Madison only stews coolly, hungry despite herself.

Mother's dinner party had gone perfectly, to Mother's delight. There had been no commotion or distraction and whatever Becky had done, must have worked. Madison had been secretly hoping that her mother might comment on the lavish decorations and her hard work but she had not minded when Mother hadn't said anything, either. Mother was busy – so busy, that she had had to jet off to Toronto, for another meeting, before dawn had broken over. Before she could say goodbye to Madison.

The roar of a motorbike breaks Madison out of her thoughts.

She doesn't have to lift her head to know who it is. There's only one fool in this school who would willingly continue to drive a motorbike, which everyone knew had gone out of fashion in the nineties.

A dark shadow flickers over her, breaking up the soft rays of sunlight, and Madison purses her lips, to huff at one of her friends to rid the pest next to her. She parts her lips to call for Maria but the Hawthorne boy sets down his tray of overflowing food, making her stomach grumble and Madison wrinkle her nose in distaste, and speaks before she can.

"You're the one who tried to get me expelled."

Her gaze flickers over him idly, unimpressed.

He's a handsome boy, that much Madison can freely admit.

The Hawthorne boy is tall and broad-shouldered too, a hulking figure that towers above her and the rest of the students around them. If she stands, she'd be dwarfed by his giant Spartan build. Clearly, he's never missed leg day, Madison thinks but she forces herself to hold his steady gaze, looking as cool and impassive as ever. He continues to stare down at her, his dark eyes narrowed together, and the sun cants against his chiselled jaw.

"You're Madison Sutton," he says, but his voice is less firm and more of a question, as though he's not quite sure of his own words.

Madison wants to roll her eyes but stops herself.

"I'll give you some leeway, because you're new. But yes, I am," she says coolly, refusing to look at her friends who have stilled automatically and are moving towards her in her defence. "What do you want?"

"I want an apology," he says, and she blinks in surprise, but he's already continuing. "I know it was you who tried to make me quit this school, but I've got news for you, princess. I'm not going anywhere."

She bristles at the nickname, her jaw taut.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Madison says, biting out her words viciously, and lifts herself demurely to her feet. She is right, he does dwarf her completely. "Now –,"

But the boy has reached out to grab her arm, to stop her from moving, and there is a slight hush against the crowd that has formed. "I'm not done with you, yet," he says. "You thought you could expel me."

He ignores or doesn't notice the brewing crowd around them.

Either way, he is stupid.

Madison glares at him.

"Let go of me, you giant," she bites out, and the boy lets go of her arm as though he's been burned. "Before you start throwing about accusations like the thoughtless oaf you are, you should remember who you're talking to." Before he can interrupt her, she continues. "And if you're so threatened by a silly few school initiation pranks, perhaps you should run back to whatever hole you crawled out from."

He blinks at her, clearly surprised that she would be so venomous. But Madison has never felt so furious, has never been so badly treated. Everyone knows her name and once this Hawthorne boy knew the value of what she was, he would be grovelling on his knees, too.

Instead, he rakes his gaze over her and looks just as unimpressed as she feels. Madison doesn't let her surprise show on her face. He raises his eyebrows, the beginnings of an amused smirk pressed against the curl of his lips.

"You think I care who you are?" He's laughing at her. "You're just another shallow pretty girl, who thinks about nothing else but her designer shoes. And you know what I think?" He steps closer to her, glaring down at her. "I think, if it's a threat you're trying to pull on me, you're going to have to try harder."

Madison doesn't think she's ever hated anyone more.

The air crackles around them, sparking and brewing over with unfiltered emotion. Madison is breathing hard and the Hawthorne boy is glowering at her. She glares right back at him, ignoring the hissing crowd around her. Her friends are torn between wanting to defend her and knowing that Madison can tear someone to shreds, without breaking a sweat. The students around them are watching her breathlessly

Another shallow pretty girl?

What does this boy think he is, pretending he knows anything about her? Making assumptions, like he has any right? Just like a boy, she thinks viciously. Threatened by a girl, so he resorts to name-calling, like a primitive ape.

What a judgemental prick.

"Believe me," she bites back, "if it was a threat I wanted to get across to you, you would know." Madison scoffs at him dismissively. "Get out of my way, Hawthorne boy. Don't you ever even dare to think that you can talk to me like that again or I will wipe you out of this place so fast, you won't even have time to bleed."

There's a slight surprise within his features but he lets out a careless laugh even as he moves aside for her, performing a mock bow. In the same instant, the Hawthorne boy has reached for something and he flicks the lighter, too close to her face. A quick burst of red-hot flames erupts and Madison recoils instantly, instinctively, before she can stop herself, her heart hammering away within her chest.

The fires are warm against her cheek but Madison glares fiercely at the boy, the fire within her burning brighter. His eyes are widening slightly, his breaths slightly taut. Clearly, he never meant for the flames to grow so close. There is a beat of a moment where they hold each other's gaze stubbornly, both unwilling to look away, and suddenly, the glowing flare of the flames is drawn away from her face.

The beating of her heart grows slower.

The Hawthorne boy is pulling out a long, white cigarette.

Madison thinks she might kill him.

There is another hush rippling across the crowd around them, all eyes on her. Someone whispers, "She doesn't like cigarettes."

"Well, princess, welcome to the real world," he drawls. "Sometimes, people are going to do stuff that you won't like and you're just going to have to deal with it."

His eyes are fixed on her, smirking at her, as he lights his cigarette with slow, languid emphasis. He takes clear joy in her discomfort, never taking his eyes off her.

Madison has had enough.

In one swift motion, she reaches forward, plucks the slender cigarette from his fingers, and jams it down into his plate of food. Grey ash trickles into the perfectly cooked steak and filters against the white rice, creating a contrast of colours. Everyone around them lets out a satisfying audible gasp but the Hawthorne boy continues to watch her still. He is not so good at hiding the quiet flicker of surprise that flashed briefly in the light of his eyes but Madison spots the soft curve at the edge of his lips.

Madison does not say anything more, stalking past him without a look back.

*