Read Taking The Reins (The Rosewoods Book 1) for Free Online Page A

girl here. Well,” she gave me a goofy grin. “As normal as any of us are.”
    I gave her a smile. “Really? So I don’t have to pack?”
    She shook her head. “Not for many months.”
    I dropped back down onto my bed. “Thank God. It was a big enough job getting unpacked.”
    Emmeline—Emmie—smiled and nodded toward her luggage. “That’s my job for today. I’m still exhausted but kind of wired; I’m still on France time. And based on your accent, you sound like you know what I’m talking about.”
    I nodded. “Yes, but I’ve been in the States for a few days visiting my grandmother before I came to Rosewood. My parents are still back in London, but we’re originally from here.”
    “I wish my parents could have sent me on my own,” she said, stretching her arms above her head until I heard one of her shoulders crack. “But they like to visit their investment at least once a year.” She ended her stretch and did air quotes around the word investment.
    I frowned. “They consider you an investment?”
    “Hardly,” she said, laughing. “The Somerville library is their contribution to the school. It’s the big red building in the back; a bunch of classrooms and a new library. They like to throw their money around and Mom attended here, so...” she waved her arm, not bothering to finish her sentence.
    “What do your parents do?” I asked. They had to do something impressive to have funded their own building on campus.
    She shrugged, “Fossil fuels mostly. You know, dig-up-dead-dinosaurs-and-kill-the-earth stuff.” She looked around the room obviously finished with that topic of conversation. “I guess I should start unpacking, although all I want to do is go back to bed.”
    “Won’t they give you a break today since you just got in?” And you’re a VIP , I thought, but kept to myself.
    She shook her head and stood up, stretching again, taking a few steps on her tiptoes. “I don’t want a break. I want to be like everyone else.” She combed her fingers through her hair and cringed. “And I can’t exactly let everyone see me like this, so I’d better get moving.”
    It was still early; breakfast wasn’t until 8 and classes were starting late after our 9 a.m. welcome assembly with the dean, for this, our first day. “I can help you unpack,” I offered.
    Emmie’s eyes lit up. “Really? You’d do that for me after how heinous my parents were to you last night?”
    Smiling at her, I said, “Sure. I may be new around here, but your parents aren’t my roommates and from what I hear, Rosewoods look after each other.”
    Emmie smiled back. “You are shockingly nice. Thank you.”
    But what turned out to be shocking between us had absolutely nothing to do with me.

Emmeline Reinvented
    E mmie pushed me toward the bathroom, telling me she needed a few minutes to wake up and get herself sorted, so I may as well shower and get ready for my day. Not needing extra encouragement to take a hot shower, I left her to it and enjoyed a nice long one, washing off the sleep and some of the stress over starting at a new school.
    So far, Rosewood was turning out okay—the room mix-up had been solved quickly, the food had been good at dinner the night before (Celia had said with all the wealthy families, they couldn’t get away with anything less than a five star chef) and all the girls I’d met so far were really nice.
    And then there was Will. As I dried my hair, I allowed myself to think about him and wondered when I’d get to see him again. Chelly had said we’d have lots of opportunities to see the Westwood boys, but when?
    I smirked at myself in the mirror; I was a little obsessed maybe, having met the guy once and already smitten. But that smile, the blue eyes, the cut of his angular face, not to mention his sense of humor and the attention he gave me. Who wouldn’t be?
    Although, if I was being honest, Evan, or Jenks , as Will had called him, was pretty fine, too. I normally wasn’t into