MOTH TO HIS FLAME

ADDISON

The SUV parking right outside the massive gate of BRIGHTON ACADEMY sent panic right through my very being.

“Please don't abandon me, Nolan,” I begged, desperate. It was a last attempt to change my fate.

“Don't be dramatic, Addie, this isn't prison, and I'm not abandoning you,” my brother said, getting out of the car and rounding up to open my door.

I glared at the tall gate that dwarfed even the surrounding trees, then at the security guards outside and the CCTV camera.

“It might as well be. What kind of school has such a high gate and such tight security?”

He smiles. “It's for your safety, Addie.” I scoffed. Right, of course!

“Look, little sis. I'm sorry you're not happy with this, and trust me, I don't like it, either. I wish there were something I could do, but Mom has already made her decision. This is for your own good.”

“You call this good? I was forced to leave all my friends behind, and Poppy,” I whined. My little Siamese kitten, I was going to miss her growing up.

“You should have thought about all these before you set your chem lab on fire.”

“That was an accident.”

“What about spray painting the school and putting slime all over your teacher's office, which had led to him fracturing a hand and his hip bone?”

“That ... that wasn't me,” I muttered, voice low, ashamed of what I'd done.

“You were caught on CCTV, Addison,” he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. He looks so stressed that I feel bad for adding to his worries. “You're lucky, he didn't press charges and only accepted compensation, this can't go on.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

In hindsight, I should never have gone out that night, but I'd been so angry when I came home, and there was no one.

My mom, as always, went on a trip without even telling me. My sisters were ignoring me. Ever since the scandal, everyone has gotten even worse; everyone is doing their own thing.

I was worried too, and I just wanted someone to explain to me what was going on. The only thing I knew was what I heard from the media outlets, and the fact that in just one night, we'd gone from wealthy to nothing.

Everyone thought of me as a kid and refused to tell me shit. So I went out with my old friends. Cool kids or bad kids, as some might argue. Kids I never hung out with before, pretending I was one of them, trying to drown out my misery.

I'd smoked weed for the first time and dumbly accepted a dare. Not only did I start a fire in the lab, which was a total accident, but I'd also spray-painted the school, though I'd been so fucking scared doing it.

But I'll have to admit that while it was a thrilling experience, putting slime all over our physics teacher, Bald McCarthy’s office, and watching him dance the disco before falling had been fun.

It just wasn't worth it, knowing I'd hurt someone had been terrible. But that shouldn't have been the deciding factor in my banishment.

I agree that what I did was bad, but I'm a teenager with too much time on my hands. My entire life has just come crashing down like a house of cards, and no one wants to deal with my teenage tantrum, as they call it. So I make dumb mistakes.

Despite my privileged upbringing. I was a good girl with straight A’s. I've always done great at school, and I thought that my performance would earn me my parents' love and approval.

But all I got was their disappointed looks. I don't want to be here, but I hated going back to my old high school even more.

That said, I should make my peace with it, except now that we're here, I have this uneasy feeling.

God, I wish I could go back in time and wipe the last six months away. Maybe help my dad stay away from jail, though I don't even know how I could do that. Maybe then I wouldn't have to come here.

“Please, Nolan, I'll never do it again. Can't you try to talk to Mom? She listens to you… I could stay at home, go to the local high school, and…and find a job,” I ramble.

“I'm really sorry, but it's done,” he said sympathetically. “Just keep your head down, get your high school diploma, and you'll be back home before you know it.”

He looked at the time on his watch. “Now I really have to go, little sis, I have a meeting I must return to before I'm late.” He gave me a big hug and quickly let go.

“Smile, Addie, I'm sure you're going to like it. With your personality, you'll be making friends before you know it.” Yeah right! With that, he got inside the SUV and drove away.

“Smile, Addie,” I muttered to myself, unenthusiastic as I dragged my suitcase towards the massive gate, which instantly sprang wide open. “Middle-class scholarship student, remember? No scandals. No attention. No one can know who you really are.”

I’d rehearsed that line a hundred times since my Mom dropped the bomb that I was going to transfer to a boarding school as a scholarship student three months ago, right after she picked my ass up from the police station.

“Lay low,” she’d said, her voice clipped, though she was smiling, probably thinking a reporter or paparazzi was lurking outside somewhere. Better to be accused of doing something bad than to look bad.

She always says,

“No more incidents. No more shenanigans she'd said. “Our family can't handle more scandals. You’re lucky the police officer has been kind enough to keep a tight leash on the news of your arrest before it blew out of hand. Imagine the scandal this would cause if the press had caught wind of this last night.”

Her head whips back, eyes hard as steel. “You will not embarrass me again. Do you understand?” Although her face was stern, her voice wasn't the strong, proud tone I'd come to recognize all my life.

Right then, I understood our life could never be the same again. Unfortunately, I didn't realize it sooner.

And after one misstep…okay, a couple of missteps after seventeen years of good behavior, I'm being sent away to a freaking boarding school in the middle of nowhere Europe.

Nolan had said I was lucky even to be admitted to Brighton Academy, given our family's current state.

Although I have little to no extracurricular credit to speak of, my grades were the only reason I got this scholarship, with the condition that I at least choose a sport and pass it with at least a B.

So, here I was, Addison Campbell, a totally normal, middle-class nobody. Only my “middle-class” sneakers were limited-edition last year, and my phone is the latest model.

But then these two things and my wardrobe were the only things I was left with after our bankruptcy. My car, my jewelry, and my trust were all gone, poof, just like that.

Nolan had been right. I need to lay low. If I wasn’t careful, one wrong move might give me away. It was fortunate for me that there wasn't much information about the youngest Campbell daughter.

As far as I knew, there were only two times that my face was on the TV. I'd always hated the attention. And that somehow was working in my favor.

If my face were as frequently on the screen as my other sisters and brothers, my cover would be blown before the week was over.

“Addison Campbell?” I looked up at the man sitting inside a golf cart.

“Yes?”

“I'm your ride. My name is Jude, and I'll be taking you to the administrator’s office,” he said as he loaded my suitcases in the cart.

“Hi Jude,” I greeted before getting inside and sitting down.

I glanced at the map of all the school buildings in my hand. I'd gotten it from the administration office along with my whole class schedule.

It said to take two lefts and a right, and there's a building adjacent to the school hair salon? I looked around and didn't see a hair salon there; only the Brighton gym.

But I did see a magnificent three-storey building. Was this the girls' dorm? But then there's no other building here, must be it then.

I took another look at the sleek, mostly glass building, and I have to say I'm impressed. Damn, Brighton sure is even better than I expected. Can't believe this is the dorm.

Biting my lip, I hastened my pace, dragging my suitcases, glad to finally have a place I can rest from the long ass day I had.

There was a desk with a desktop computer and a mobile phone in the foyer, but no one was there. I waited for a bit, and when no one came.

I took the elevator to the third floor. The elevator opened onto a sleek, all-shiny, marbled hallway. Still no sign of people, just where are the girls?

I'd barely taken a couple of steps, my eyes down, dragging at my suitcases, when I suddenly lost my footing and slid across the wet hallway. My eyes widened as dark, stormy eyes collided with mine as I screamed.

“Get out of the waaaaay.” And then I slammed into him. Hard.

There was a loud “Fuck!” and a hiss of pain before we both crashed onto the wet floor with me sprawling flat on the poor guy I'd accidentally collided with.

For a few seconds, I just lay there, eyes closed, chest heaving.

“Get the fuck away from me,” a deep voice growled. My eyes sprang open as he pushed me roughly away.

My ass hit the floor hard, but I quickly scrambled up, wiping my now-wet jeans.

“Oh my god! I'm so sorry…I wasn't watching where I was going. I didn't realize the floor was…” The rest of my speech faded into nothing as my eyes finally took in the sculpted face in front of me.