HEART OF THE CHOSEN (CASTE BOOK 1)

Chapter 1

Present-day, St Alleyn's High School, London

Finally, I was going to be part of Alleyn’s elite. And while that may seem futile for any teenager, it was vital for me to start this year off on a better footing. The cause came down to a three-week relationship with Cedric Fabre. This asshole had spread the rumour that I had gone completely insane after our first kiss. And when I say insane, the word is not strong enough. Without explanation, he had ruined my reputation in a matter of hours. I had finally concluded that my oral performance was so disastrous that a campaign of slander was the only way for this fool to break up with me for good. My previous flirtations had not complained so far, but I had to admit I could count them on the fingers of one hand. Still a virgin of all carnal relations, I was happy not to have taken the plunge with Cedric. Anyway, he was now in college, and for my part, I hoped to start a new life.

My name is Everliegh Burberry. Not quite eighteen. At one time, not so long ago, I thought I was attractive and pretty curvy. With my milky skin, my long jet black hair and my big green eyes, I felt I had nothing to complain about, even if a slight gap between my incisors gave me a little complex. I would spend a lot of time getting ready in the morning in front of my mirror, but the Cedric Fabre story had destroyed the little esteem I had left, not to mention my perception of the male s*x had taken quite a beating. So I considered nothing was worth the slightest effort, especially if I had to get up half an hour earlier every morning.

I had been living in London for two years, including the previous year, which seemed to last a century. My adoptive father, Samuel Gregory, alias Sam, worked in the army, which led us to move very often. But life in the London region seemed to suit him this time, so we were here for an indefinite period. But, because of my high school reputation, one last move would help. But Sam seemed to be happy.

I owed everything to Sam. He took me in when my father, Nathan Burberry, died when I was only four years old. A suicide. Sam refused to talk to me about it and thought he was protecting me. It bothered him to mention his name, and when I tried to talk about my father, he behaved oddly. He was his cousin, and from the few answers I had gotten from him, I had formed the image of a charismatic and loyal father. Alas, all I had left of him was a photo faded by time. I discovered the reasons for his suicide on my own. My mother had died a year after I was born, trying to give birth to her second child, my unnamed brother. I had assumed that my father must have gone through a slow and painful depression before killing himself on my fourth birthday. It had taken him three years to realise that he would never recover from these two losses.

I had no memory of any of that, and it was better. My family story was like a real Greek tragedy, and I wanted not to suffer anymore. Without Sam, I would have spent my life in a foster home with all the consequences this entails. My objective was to make him proud by all means, but my reputation as a psychopathic high school girl was not helping. That was why I had to do everything to rehabilitate myself.

Olivia, my best friend, was in the middle of the yard waiting for me with a smile on her devilishly plump lips. She was the only one not to change her attitude towards me after that scandalous story.

“Hi, Miss Burberry!” she said, holding her arms out to me.

“Hi, Liv. So, ready for a new year?”

“Of course! Well, provided that there are attractive males this year, new ones I couldn’t refuse!”

Olivia wasn’t the kind of girl to be shy, and her experience, compared to mine, was like a long scroll next to a post-it. She also kept a list of all her conquests, and the best of the school were among them. Long-term relationships weren’t her thing because she got bored quickly and always noticed the slightest flaw as an excuse to break up. She thought of boys as giant Kleenex, and I often pointed out she had a guy mentality in a girl body. Olivia was beautiful and natural blond (to be specified because, according to her, the fakes were bitches, jealous of a dying minority), with blue eyes, measuring about six feet tall. A good ten centimetres taller than me. She always displayed ironclad self-confidence. Besides, I very much envied this trait which I was lacking.

“You know hanging out with me won’t make it easy for you to catch some handsome guy. You forget I’m crazy!”

“Exactly, it’s all planned! No competition! And who said I liked it easy?” she said before displaying a pleasantly surprised look. “Oh, but aim a little to your left. There are two who can’t take their eyes off us!”

Having guessed that they were two representatives of the male s*x, I didn’t look at them immediately. So I faked pain in the back of my neck and slowly moved my eyes in their direction. In passing, I noticed that only the seniors were now waiting for the call from the principal standing at the microphone on the steps of the courtyard.

The school was a completely renovated former hospital. The east wing was original, and the west wing was a few years old. For the record, there were rumours that the refectory was a former morgue! In the courtyard was The Roundhouse, a sort of high school cafe. There were tables, chairs, table football, a billiard table and Arlette. She was a strong woman in her forties who knew how to enforce the rules. Even the worst of the school dreaded her, and she liked me a lot, unlike most students. So I regularly helped her to prepare the lunch sandwiches to thank her for this favour that few granted me. The Roundhouse was my favourite place. I could read there, do my essays and chat with Arlette whenever I had free time. Only today, it was closed, but under the porch, I discovered the two most fascinating faces that, even in a dream, I couldn’t have imagined. Of the two individuals, one was very tall, close-cropped copper blond, his features adorned with a perfectly trimmed goatee and a look that could have pierced a wall from a distance. He looked older than the other seniors. I immediately realised that he had to have repeated classes to still be in high school at his age. From where I was, I couldn’t see the colour of his eyes, but their attention was penetrating. A shiver ran down my spine, and my gaze finally returned to the other. He was only a few centimetres shorter than his neighbour and was so handsome that it was almost painful to look at him. He was quite the opposite; a brunette, his hair dishevelled, and his pale complexion was relieved by two clear eyes. His expression was softer, and his smile could have melted an iceberg. He took my breath away. I could already feel my heart racing and my legs shaking with emotion. I tried to contain the attraction that drove me towards these two individuals while I curiously felt the tingling that agitated my flesh. Even the handsome Cedric Fabre hadn’t provoked such a surge of passion during our first meeting. During my visual inspection, I noticed that the brunette wore a dark leather jacket over faded jeans and black Stan Smith sneakers. I wondered how such a handsome man could still be unknown. Any reality TV show could have relied on his s*x appeal to boost its ratings, that was for sure. And the blond next to him wasn’t left out. He wore military pants, and his open black parka over a close-fitting white T-shirt revealed a well-built torso. With his enigmatic gaze and a sneer on his lips, he looked like a young Brad Pitt in Fight Club, a dangerous-looking but attractive guy.

The brunette tilted his head slightly when he saw me staring at them. I then realised the length of our visual exchange and immediately looked away as if nothing had happened. Damn, but who were those two?!

“... Michel Gomez, Class ES2,” the headmaster continued.

“… Eric and Thomas Panchak, Class L1…”

The two boys headed for the headmaster and climbed the courtyard steps to join their ranks.

Eric and Thomas Panchak, I thought they were brothers!

“Oh damn! They’re in Literature like us!” Olivia raved. “No, but you saw how they were watching us?!”

I remained silent, shaken by this encounter. But thinking about it, I realised I was in my best friend’s eye line. Olivia was much more beautiful than me. So who was I to attract the attention of two such perfect boys?

“... Karim Mezaour, Class S2, Olivia Kaprisky, Class L1…”

“Yes. Yes. Yes!” said Olivia. “The same class as Adonis and Apollo! See you soon, Eve!”

And she rushed towards the new Greek gods of the school.

“… Sophea Chang, Class L2”

“… Everliegh Burberry, Class L2”

Oh no! I had changed classes from last year. I immediately held back my tears and saw Olivia’s face crumble at this announcement. Seeing me walk like a death row inmate dragging herself to the gallows, she smiled at me sadly. Behind her, I could have sworn I saw the two brothers confused as if they didn’t understand this injustice too, but I knew very well that apart from Olivia, no one cared to know that I was going to spend another rotten year in this school! So I lined up at the end of the line of students in my class. Olivia tried to get me to lip-read see-me-at-the-exit. I nodded in agreement while praying that this day would be over as soon as possible.