Chapter 5: lion's den
The cafeteria at St. Jude's Academy was less of a lunchroom and more of a five-star glass cathedral. Sunlight poured through floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating white marble tables and students who looked like they had just stepped out of a high-fashion editorial. The smell of truffle oil and seared sea bass hung in the air a sharp contrast to the greasy scent of the convenience store that usually clung to April's clothes.
As April pushed open the heavy glass doors, Chloe trailing slightly behind her with a look of terrified excitement, the hum of three hundred conversations died instantly.
It was a literal wave of silence.
April felt the weight of every gaze pitying, mocking, and intensely curious. She adjusted the strap of her bag, her fingers brushing the spot on her neck where Jaden's skin had touched hers only an hour ago. The phantom sensation felt like a brand, a mark that signaled to the entire school that she no longer belonged in the shadows.
"Just keep walking," Chloe whispered, her voice barely a breath. "Don't look at Marcus. Don't look at the 'Exotics' table. Just... oh god, April, don't look at Vanessa."
Naturally, April looked.
At the center of the room sat the "Royal Table." It was a circular slab of black granite reserved for the families whose last names were on the city's skyscrapers. In the middle of it all sat Jaden. He looked bored, his chin resting on his hand as he stared at a plate of untouched sashimi.
And sitting in the chair right next to him the chair April was supposed to take if they were truly "dating" was Vanessa Von Wright.
Vanessa was the definition of "Ice Queen." With hair the color of spun platinum and eyes that looked like frozen emeralds, she was the only girl in school who could make the elite uniform look like a coronation gown. She had just returned from Paris, and she looked like she had brought the winter with her.
"She's staring at you," Chloe hissed, ducking her head. "She looks like she's calculating which part of your soul to eat first."
April didn't look away. She couldn't. This was the moment the contract was truly tested. If she backed down now and sat at the "scholarship corner" near the kitchen, the rumor that she was just a temporary toy for Jaden would become gospel.
"I'm not going to the corner, Chloe," April said, her voice surprisingly steady.
"Wait April! What are you doing?"
April ignored her friend's panicked squeak. She began to walk, her cheap shoes clicking rhythmically against the marble floor. Every step felt like walking through deep water. Her heart was a frantic drum, but she kept her chin tilted up, just the way Jaden did when he was being particularly arrogant.
As she approached the Royal Table, Marcus let out a low, mocking whistle. "Look who it is. The guest of honor has arrived."
Vanessa didn't move. She didn't even look up at first. She just picked up a silver fork, her movements slow and predatory. "Jaden, darling," she said, her voice a smooth, melodic purr that carried through the silent room. "I was away for one week. One week in Paris, and I come back to find that you've developed a... charity project?"
Jaden finally moved. He turned his head, his grey eyes sweeping over Vanessa with a coldness that would have frozen anyone else. "She isn't a project, Vanessa. And you're in her seat."
The entire cafeteria let out a collective, muffled gasp.
Vanessa's hand froze mid-air. She finally looked at April, her gaze traveling from April's worn-out shoes up to her defiant eyes. A small, cruel smile touched her lips. "Her seat? Since when does St. Jude's allow the help to sit at the granite table? I thought there were rules about hygiene."
April felt the sting of the insult, the familiar heat of shame rising in her throat. But then, she caught Jaden's eye. He was watching her, his expression unreadable, but his hand was gripped tightly around his water glass.
He's waiting to see if I'll break, April realized. This isn't just a deal. It's a test.
"The only thing unhygienic here is your attitude, Vanessa," April said, the words cutting through the air like a knife. She stepped right up to the table, ignoring the way Marcus leaned back with an entertained smirk. "But I suppose a week in Paris wasn't enough time for you to learn basic manners. Jaden told me you were... predictable, but I didn't think you'd be this cliché."
Vanessa's emerald eyes flared with a sudden, dangerous light. She stood up, her chair scraping against the marble with a sound like a scream. She was taller than April, draped in the effortless confidence of someone who had never heard the word 'no.'
"You have no idea who you're talking to, you little scholarship rat," Vanessa whispered, leaning over the table. "You think because Jaden held your bag that you're suddenly one of us? You're a distraction. A toy he's using to annoy his father. By next week, you'll be back to scrubbing floors and smelling like grease, and I'll still be a Sterling-to-be."
Vanessa reached out, her long, manicured finger aiming for April's shoulder, intended to shove her back.
But her hand never reached April.
Jaden moved so fast it was a blur. He stood up, catching Vanessa's wrist in mid-air. His grip wasn't violent, but it was absolute. The "Golden Boy" mask was gone; in its place was the JD-Zero glare the look of a man who was used to crushing his opponents without mercy.
"That's enough, Vanessa," Jaden said. His voice was a low, dangerous rumble that sent a shiver down April's spine.
"Jaden! You're hurting me!" Vanessa gasped, though he wasn't. She was shocked by the rejection.
"I said," Jaden repeated, leaning in until he was inches from Vanessa's face, "you are in her seat."
He released her wrist and looked at April. For a heartbeat, the silence in the room was so profound that April could hear the ticking of the massive clock on the far wall. Then, Jaden did something that no one not even April expected.
He walked around the table, grabbed an empty chair from the next table over, and placed it right next to his own. He pulled it out with a flourish, his eyes locked onto April's.
"Sit," he said. It wasn't a suggestion. It was a command, but there was a strange, raw vulnerability in his eyes that only April could see. "You're late for lunch, April. I don't like waiting."
April felt the world spinning. She walked forward, her legs feeling like lead, and sat down in the black granite circle. She was now sitting between Jaden Sterling and Marcus, in the very heart of the school's power structure.
Jaden sat back down, his shoulder pressing firmly against hers. He didn't look at the crowd. He didn't look at the crying Vanessa, who was being consoled by her terrified friends. He simply picked up his chopsticks and placed a piece of high-grade tuna onto April's plate.
"Eat," he muttered, leaning in so his breath tickled her ear. "You look like you're about to faint, and I can't have my 'girlfriend' falling over in the middle of the cafeteria. It would ruin the optics."
"I hate you," April whispered back, her heart doing a frantic, confused somersault.
"I know," Jaden replied, a ghost of a smirk appearing on his lips. "But right now, everyone in this room thinks I love you. So, start acting like it."