1Brandon folded the last pair of jeans and put them in the dresser before shutting it with a sigh. He stretched for a moment before checking his watch. He missed dinner but he really didn't care, he wasn't hungry. As soon as he and Vivian had arrived at Crestwell, she ran off to find her leader, Madeline. Brandon sat down on his bed and grabbed his laptop and pulled up his email. He had a few new reviews on a story he posted online but nothing that really caught his interest. He shut his computer and lay down on the bed looking up at the white ceiling. A few minutes later and the door to his room burst open as his roommate and two of his rugby teammates stumbled into the room.
"Brandon! You're here man, what do you say we go down to the field and practice a bit." His roommate Emerson said. Emerson was tall and well built with short black hair and dark brown eyes. He smiled goofily at his captain, adrenaline rushing through him from his jog across campus with the guys.
"Yeah Brandon! Come on man, let's go, all the babes will be down there watching us!" Maddox said as he jumped up and down in place turning his head to the side to crack it. Maddox was the horn dog of the team and he got around pretty well. Tall, tan, muscular with sandy blonde hair and sparkly blue eyes, Maddox got any girl he said hello to.
The last teammate of Brandon's stood behind the guys, standing quietly as he looked longingly out the window.
"Aaron, what's wrong man?" Brandon stood up and looked at his teammate with slight concern.
"Nothing, just ready to get out there and kick some ass this year!" Aaron smiled at Brandon. Aaron was the second in command on the team and also their full back. He was one of the best players on the team besides Brandon and Maddox. Aaron was short, wiry but quite muscular, his long black hair was pulled back into a ponytail and his green eyes were dark almost black with a sparkle in them.
Brandon nodded and stood up, grabbing his jersey and some shorts.
"All right guys. I'll meet you down at the field in ten minutes and we can practice a bit. I'll have to talk to headmaster about when I can set up tryouts."
The guys cheered and clapped Brandon on the back before walking out of the room again. Brandon laughed at his teammate's excitement and closed the door behind them so he could change. He pulled off his skinny jeans and shirt and pulled on his shorts and last year's jersey. On the back, bright blue letters spelled out Maxwell with the number 23 underneath. The blue contrasted nicely with the pitch black of the jersey. Brandon pulled on his cleats and walked out of his dorm room heading towards the rugby pitch. He waved to a few people and said hello to a few on his way but didn't stop to chat. He wasn't in the mood for talk, he wanted to practice and push himself on the rugby pitch.
"Captain!" The guys cheered as Brandon walked onto the field. Brandon smiled at the guys and one of them threw the ball at him. He caught it in mid air, never breaking his stride as he made his way towards the guys. Already there were a few girls sitting in the stands getting ready to watch the guys as they practiced.
A few hours later the boys finally stopped. They had run laps, suicides, drills, anything just to get ready for tryouts in a few weeks. They were sweating and breathing heavily, all of them had taken off their shirts. A few girls had been kind enough to bring them water, a few underclassmen too nervous and dazzled to speak as they handed the boys the water bottles.
"Brandon darling! There you are!"
Brandon groaned and turned around, seeing his sister and Madeline walking towards him. Madeline had grown up down the street from them and they were playmates. Madeline and Vivian instantly bonded while Brandon had been wearier of the trust fund princess. Brandon smiled at his sister and turned back to the guys for a moment.
"I'll see you guys later. As soon as I talk to headmaster I'll tell you when try outs are. Just because you losers were on the team last year doesn't mean you'll be on the team again this year." He smiled at his friends and turned back to his sister who was now standing in front of him.
"Brandon darling, I was just talking to Madeline and she was telling me about her vacation in the Hamptons. Don't you remember the summer daddy took us to the Hamptons and Madeline too?" Vivian looked happy as she remembered the good old days, when money wasn't tight.
"Uhm, yeah. How are you Madeline?"
"Oh I'm well, just a little let down I guess." Madeline put on a small pout, knowing she'd get to Brandon.
"What do you mean? What's wrong Madds?" Brandon hated seeing a girl sad and he did grow up with Madeline so it made it worse for him to see her sad. She shrugged and let out a sigh before looking at Brandon.
"Oh, it just seems as if Crestwell is letting in anyone these days. Our boarding school used to be for the social elite, the top of the chain. Now there's a new girl, Haven. She's dirt poor I hear and she happens to be my roommate."
Brandon made a face of disgust. Madeline would never change, she always loved being rich and reminded everyone of it every chance she got. Brandon shook his head and looked around the rugby pitch. He hated that the wealthy used their status against everyone.
"Oh look, there she is now. Isn't that her Madeline? On the arm of Graham? Ugh, even though he's gay he still has more status and could hang with someone a little bit more… upper-class?" It was now Vivian who had a look of disgust on her face.
Brandon looked over to where Vivian's gaze was drawn. Brandon saw Graham and smiled. He and Graham were okay friends; they had talked a time or two last year in a few classes. On his arm was a tall girl, with long red hair and pale skin. Her legs looked miles long in her black skirt as she walked along the grass, laughing at something Graham had said.
"Hey Graham! Come here for a minute."
Haven and Graham turned to look in the direction of the shout. Sitting beneath a large oak tree was Kale.
"Oh Haven, I'll be right back muffin. If I'm lucky though, I'll meet you in the café for breakfast tomorrow?" Graham gave Haven a mischievous grin and jogged over to where Kale was sitting. Haven turned and looked around at the rugby pitch. Some girls were flirting with a few of the boys, giving them water after their long practice session. Haven took a few steps in the opposite direction when Madeline and another girl stepped in front of her.
"Well well well, look what we have here Vivian. Little miss middle class is all alone with no one to protect her." Madeline smirked and crossed her arms over her chest. The other girl, Vivian gave her a dirty look and followed Madeline's actions, crossing her arms over her chest as well.
"You're not wanted here. Crestwell is for the wealthy, not poor little girls who walk off the street like you." Vivian looked down her nose at Haven.
Haven didn't know what to say at first. True she was much poorer than the other kids at Crestwell but she worked for her scholarship here and she wasn't going to let someone hold it over her head. Haven glared at the two girls before standing up straight and pointing her finger at the two.
"I know that I'm not rich like everyone else here, but I earned my scholarship and I have worked for everything I have. You two are just trust fund princesses with daddy's credit card. I'm not sure you even know what it means to work for money."
Vivian gasped, no one had ever talked to her like that, no one had stood up to her and she didn't know how to respond. Madeline was a bit surprised to know that Haven had an attitude but she recovered quickly.
"Whatever Haven. I'd rather be rich and on top than dirt poor and at the bottom of the chain. You will never be anything Haven, you won't ever have anything either."
Just then a shadow covered the three girls, standing behind Vivian and Madeline was Brandon.
"Madeline, Viv, leave her alone. She's new, just back off already god. Go find someone else to harass, you don't need to take it upon yourselves to welcome the new students."
Viv pouted but walked away as Madeline gasped, before glaring at Brandon and Haven and walking away with Vivian. Brandon turned to Haven and smiled at her, holding out his hand.
"I'm Brandon Maxwell and I assume you're Haven Jefferies."
Haven smiled and shook Brandon's hand, blushing as she stared up into Brandon's dark eyes.
"Yeah, I guess news gets around fast here."
Brandon nodded and smiled, dazzled as he stared into Haven's bright eyes.
"Well you are the new kid in school so that doesn't help much."
Haven nodded and looked down at their clasped hands. They were still holding onto each other's hands even though they weren't shaking anymore. Haven blushed furiously and pulled her hand away as did Brandon. He cleared his throat and looked around for a moment. Just then the guys came up behind him, jostling him as Maddox was shoved into him.
"Brandon! Keeping all the new meat to yourself? She's hot too, come on man! Share and share alike."
Haven blushed as the guys looked at her. She squirmed slightly under their gazes, feeling unconscious at his comment. She wasn't looking for any hookups, she was here for school.
"Maddox, get some manners please. Jesus man, learn how to treat a woman right. Sorry about him Haven, he's a horn dog." Brandon looked at Haven feeling slightly embarrassed at his friend's behavior.
"Well I can't help it if I see a pretty girl and I forget everything but her beauty. I'm Maddox by the way." Maddox held out his hand and Haven shook it, blushing at his compliment. Maddox kissed Haven's knuckles gently before releasing her hand.
"Maddox, knock it off man. This is Aaron and Emerson." Aaron tipped an imaginary hat and Emerson smiled politely. Just then Graham came walking over to Haven with a bounce in his step and a smile on his face.
"Muffin! I have tons to tell you, come on." Graham grabbed her arm and pulled her back towards the dorms. Haven smiled meekly back at the guys, waving her goodbye.
"Nice meeting you guys!" She called out as Graham pulled her across the grass.
The guys waved back to her smiling like idiots as they stared at the girl they suddenly couldn't stop thinking about. Slowly they all snapped out of it, cracking jokes about random things but Brandon didn't care, he didn't even pay attention. He was staring at the receding red head that he was suddenly intrigued by. Someone slapped him on the back and he shook his head turning back to the guys.
"Come on Brandon; let's go to Maddox's room. He has the gaming systems all set up and we have two days until classes start. I say we order pizza and veg for the weekend." Emerson spoke excitedly at this prospect as Brandon nodded and all the guys made their way to Maddox and Aaron's room.
"Haven! Tell me, what were you doing hoarding four of the hottest guys in Crestwell to yourself?! Come on muffin, spill! Your first day and you already have them? You're so lucky!"
Haven blushed as she sat on her bed and Graham rummaged through her closet. Haven barely even knew them, they just said hi to her because Brandon was standing there talking to her. Haven sighed and lay back on her bed, staring at the posters on her ceiling as Graham tossed something on her bed.
"I don't have them hoarded Graham. They were just being friendly and said hello to me. Besides, Brandon was only talking to me because he rescued me from Madeline and Vivian."
Graham came over to Haven and sat down on her bed with her, bouncing up and down for a minute.
"Wait a minute, Brandon saved you.. from Vivian?!"
Haven sat up and looked at Graham, pulling her legs onto the bed and crossing them.
"Yeah, is that bad or something? Madeline and Vivian came over to me as soon as you left and they were just rubbing their money in my face."
"Muffin, Vivian is Brandon's twin sister. The fact that he saved you from her means something. Usually he doesn't get involved when it comes to his sister's business. He likes to stay as far away as possible from that."
"Oh. I didn't know that. Brandon has a twin sister?"
Graham nodded and uncapped some nail polish before grabbing one of her hands and focusing on her nails. Haven stared at one of her Metallica posters as she thought about how this year was going to be. She had come here for school, to hopefully turn her scholarship into a good reference and a scholarship into a good college. Maybe she'd come out of this with a new love, Brandon was handsome and seemed very sweet but who was she kidding. Brandon was the rich golden boy and Haven was the underprivileged poor girl.