The Heiress Club

Chapter 4: The Calm Before the Storm

It's barely a week into the school year when Sparky calls me. "Hey Valentina," he says.

"Hi dad," I respond, "how's Manchester?"

"Great. Have you made friends?"

"Yeah. I know Tae Seung-jun—his dad does tech in South Korea. And there's Manon Allard. Her family are landlords for half of Andorra." I list off the others in our group, carefully excluding a certain Rochester.

Sparky listens in silence until I finish my list. As the silence lapses longer, I hear something in the background of the call. Something that sounds like ... "Dad, are you on a boat right now?"

"Yeah, that was what I was gonna ask about," he says. "I'm on this guy's boat right now in Monaco. Not Manchester; Manchester's been great, but I met him and he suggested we come out here for a weekend. He's a cool guy. His daughter goes to Arbourne too, you know her?"

"Well who is he?"

"Anathi Mnisi."

I do a double take. "Yeah, I know his daughter. She's my roommate."

"The two of you get along?"

I think about it for a moment. Noelise has been blunt and remarkably tactless every time I talk to her, but I doubt she's trying to be rude. It's just part of her personality. Most of Arbourne seems to have accepted that Noelise is ridiculous and gone along with her shenanigans. "We're not super close, but we get along fine."

"Great. Make friends with her—Anathi's a great guy. You know, there's a yacht show here in a couple weeks. I'm gonna find a jet to send you over here; it'll be good for getting to know people. You might even see some of your classmates."

That's news to me. I've never attended this show before, mainly since I wasn't in Europe. "When?"

"The 27th. That's a Friday; you can come down here after school."

I grin. "I love Monaco."

"I know."

"I'll make sure to be there and make lots of friends."

Sparky pauses, about to hang up. "Yeah, alright. Make friends with Mnisi's kid. And by the way, don't make anyone your enemy. It's already hard enough. You got that?"

I grimace, but keep silent. A bit late for that revelation. "I got that," I lie easily. "Love you, dad."

"Love you." With a click, he hangs up.

I toss my phone onto my bed, sighing deeply. No enemies, huh. I have nearly no enemies. Just one. Just one big, bad enemy.

Ever since Es's outburst, Jasper and I have been toeing the line between overt confrontation and silent dislike. I don't share any classes with him, a relief, but I see him enough since we're in the same friend group. I talk shit about him behind his back and I guarantee that he does the same. Our group seems to have essentially accepted that the two of us hate each other's guts. I know Seung-jun at least finds it very entertaining.

Sometimes he catches me unawares, observing me. It's almost like he's studying me, trying to psychoanalyse my every move with that cold blue gaze of his. Sometimes I look up and I manage to catch him before he tactfully looks away. It's annoying as hell so I've taken to staring intently at him every time I catch his gaze. Nobody ever said I wasn't petty.

The more I watch him, the more I come to understand what Seung-jun meant when he said he was untouchable. Jasper always does whatever he wants, constrained only by the bare minimum of social expectations. He's brazen and competitive and talented too, so no matter what it is, he usually wins. And if he challenges you, you just can't say no, because you're not supposed to say no to Jasper.