The Elite

Elena

8 months ago

This car ride feels like a punishment. Silent. Heavy. Air thick with things neither of us are brave enough to say.

Elias grips the steering wheel as if its holding him together, jaw tight eyes locked on the winding road that cuts through perfectly trimmed pine trees and too-green hills. He hasn't looked at me once since we passed the city limits. But it's fine. I haven't been looking either.

He came back two weeks ago-as if years of silence could be undone by one knock on my bedroom door.

"Elena, I'm sorry."

"Elena, I didn't know."

"Elena, we need to talk."

But none of it mattered. Not to me. Because Julian was gone. And Elias he'd always be the one that had gone. The one who had left.

"You okay?" he finally asks, his voice is hoarse, almost as if he doesn't know how to speak to me anymore.

I want to answer, tell him a lie, but instead I stare out the window, pretending I didn't hear. Sometimes it just feels easier that way. My backpack digs into my lap, fingers clenched so hard around the strap my knuckles ache. My stomach twists-nerves, resentment, probably a mix of both.

But Elias doesn't push. He never does.

We pass an iron sign carved into the stone wall: ROSEWOOD ACADEMY: Excellence is Born, Not Made

It feels like a threat.

I twist in my seat, my eyes finding Elias' for the first time the whole car ride. "I don't want to be here." I whisper.

"You need to be somewhere safe, Elena," Elias says, still not looking at me.

"But this isn't safe," I protest. "You're sending me away."

He sighs through his nose, running a hand through his hair. "I'm trying to help."

"We're leaving Julian alone."

His grip tightens on the wheel. "Julian wouldn't want you near the mess at home, El. Rosewood will give you a chance to start over. A real one."

I want to scream at him. That this isn't just a mess. I want to tell him that I'm not the one who destroyed things in the first place. That I don't want a fresh start-I want my brother back. The one person who stayed. The one person who didn't leave me behind.

But instead, I turn away again.

The gates to Rosewood creak open like something out of a fairytale...or nightmare.

When Elias first told me he was sending me here, and I didn't have a choice, I stalked Rosewood on google for hours. I knew that it was big and beautiful. A fancy boarding school meant for kids born with million dollar trust funds, but this was unlike anything I had ever imagined.

The campus looks like a castle lost in time. Ivy-choked buildings with spires that seem to scrape the sky, golden statues of winged lions, and even a lake in the front. Students wander the cobblestone walkways, already in their pressed uniforms and perfect posture. Everything about this place screams money and legacy.

I definitely don't belong here.

"I'll get your bags," Elias says softly as we park. For once I don't argue. Numbly, I move out of the car, nervously fumbling with my backpack. "You sure this is all you need?" Elias asks me handing the singular suitcase I brought.

"I'm sure," I say quietly. Before I can beg him not to leave me here, A tall blonde girl with perfectly sleek hair and pear earrings comes skipping down the front steps.