by Eden O'Neill
“December, hello,” Mrs. Hastings said, the one in the suit, not the yoga gear. Her grin widened. “Why, how nice of you to visit.”
I panned between the two women, mirror images of each other. After my initial shock of finding two when I’d meant to meet one, I obviously concluded these women were twins. Uncanny. I’d seen twins before but never so ridiculously gorgeous. The women looked like they should be walking down a runway together, and I remembered holding similar thoughts when meeting Mrs. Hastings originally. She was simply stunning then, and her sister was now.
Her sister, the other Mrs. Hastings in the yoga gear, glanced between Mrs. Hastings and me. “December?” she asked, looking back at me. “December… Lindquist?”
I blanched but professional-looking Mrs. Hasting chuckled. “Yes, Daisy, and doesn’t she look so much like her sister?” The woman’s laughter again resembled wind chimes. “You’ll have to forgive my darling twin. Her memory seems to escape her that one of my favorite students had a sister. Well, this is her, Daisy. December?”
They both knew my sister? My gaze shifted between the two, but the yoga Mrs. Hastings, or I guess Daisy, didn’t. She stared right at me, full on.
“Right,” Daisy said, her smile small before completely lighting up her eyes. She nodded. “You do look so much like her.”
Silence between us all before Daisy covered her mouth. She laughed a bit before facing her twin. “Sorry. It’s just… I didn’t expect her. Why didn’t you tell me you’d be seeing her?”
“I didn’t know.” Mrs. Hastings said this with nothing more than her warm smile. “But it’s such a delight, though.”
“Yes.” Daisy’s attention shifted to me. “And sorry. We both knew your sister. I used to volunteer at the school. Help Lena out. Lena was the…”
“Prep team coordinator, yes,” Mrs. Hastings confirmed. She squeezed Daisy’s arms. “And my sister graciously helped me out. Your sister was a part of the program freshman year.”
I recalled that picture, being surprised that my tomboy sister would be a part of something so social. Mrs. Hastings had been in that picture, but no doppelganger, no Daisy.
Swallowing hard, Daisy pushed hair out of her face before hugging her sister. “I have to go I’m afraid. I shouldn’t have been here as long as I was.”
She didn’t say why she was here but that wasn’t any of my business. She probably just came to visit her sister or something.
Mrs. Hastings squeezed her in return, kissing her cheek before framing her face. “Anytime, my love.”
Daisy smiled, the expression a bit stiff. I quickly got out of her way so she could pass me, and though she did, she stopped in the hallway.
She lifted a hand. “It was so nice to see you, meet you, December.”
“And you,” I said, hugging the journal to my chest. “Any friend really I could meet of my sister’s.”
Smile tight again, Daisy gave me a wave before pushing her arms through her coat. She placed it on as she headed down the hall, and Mrs. Hastings widened the door for me.
“Well, come in,” she urged, and I did, angling around her into an office that let in so much light. She had windows literally in the formation of rays of sunshine, perfect to let just the light in and not the chill of the season. Her office was professional but homey, couches and armchairs in one section while her desk and a couple other chairs were on the opposite side of the room. She also had a dance floor, and I eyed it.
More of that wind chime laughter in my direction when she noticed my attention on it. She pushed hair behind her ear. “I do music and dance therapy too. I guess you could call me a jack-of-all-trades.”
I guess so, and when she reached for my coat, I took it off and gave it to her.
“Can I get you a drink or anything?” she asked, hanging my coat on a vintage coat hook. She grinned. “I have water. Soda?”
I passed on both, but if I changed my mind, I’d ask. I took a seat on a chaise lounge, and she joined me by sitting on the chair across from it.
She crossed her legs. “Now, to what do I owe this surprising, yet delightful visit from you? Have you decided to take me up on sessions? Therapy? I have some spots open next week…”
“Oh, no,” I started, but closed my lips.
Do better.
Immediately reverting, I waved my hand. “I mean, I’m more so here to just talk about my sister in general. Stories about her and her life here before I arrived. You know, for now?”
This was better, making things seem like a casual and friendly visit to discuss memories regarding my sister. Like my initial plan with Ramses, I did need things to appear normal. I didn’t know what was bothering the boys about me poking. But something did bother them, so any questioning I did needed to stay on the DL for now. If anything, so as not to get back to them that I was prying.
Mrs. Hastings’s smile returned, her nod light before placing hands on her knee. “I understand, but I have to say, anything that was exchanged between your sister and me during her sessions is strictly confidential.”
“I know. I guess I just…” I pulled the journal forward, showing it to her. “I wanted to talk about her with you as her friend, I guess? The journal really helped.”
Sitting back, Mrs. Hastings’s eyes crinkled hard in the corners. “I see. Well then, this requires something a little less formal, then, doesn’t it? Come. Let’s get away from the therapy couch and to more casual seating. We’ll talk there.”
As it turned out, I liked the switch across her office to lounge chairs. It felt less therapist and patient and more talking about someone we had a mutual relationship with.
I took the seat with ease, studying the collection of photos Mrs. Hastings had on the end table and coffee table. There were many of her and her sister, Daisy, the two on vacation with each other in places like Paris, London, Australia, and even Disney World. They’d definitely been adults with no kids in that last photo, Mickey Mouse ears on their heads and the two with their arms around each other. They were obviously incredibly close and the sole picture she did have with Principal Hastings was their wedding photo. That was weird. I turned away, watching as Mrs. Hastings sat down with a cup of coffee.
“Your sister is nice,” I said, as Mrs. Hastings blew the steam off her coffee. Seeing me notice her photos, the light shined across her face again.
“She is and very fun as you can see.” She nudged her coffee cup toward the table, pointing out a few of the photos there. “She got me to go to all those places. I seriously hate flying.”
“Really?”
“Oh, loathe it.” Chuckling, she stirred her coffee. “Definitely more of the adventurous type.”
Sounded like me and my sister. Paige had always been the one to do all the running, free unlike me. I found myself easily bound by mental handicaps when they came, where she just said to hell with any problems she had. They always so easily rolled off her back.
Mrs. Hastings placed her cup on the table. “So the journal helped? I’m glad. I didn’t know if it would or not.”
I ran my hand over the cover. “Leave it to my sister to doodle when she should be writing her feelings.”
“Oh, those were her feelings, December. So many. Your sister was very expressive but in her own way.”
“Can you tell me about her? I mean, not the therapy stuff, of course, but just who she was now. You know we lived apart.”
“I do.” That made her sad, the expression reflecting its way across her eyes. “She was very excitable, but I wouldn’t say not happy. She had a lot of good support here. She and Royal Prinze were inseparable. And of course Lance Johnson, Knight Reed, and Jaxen Ambrose. I only counseled her freshman year, but there wasn’t a place she went where those four didn’t go too, real friends until the…”
I looked up, knowing why she didn’t finish.
Her smile saddened. “I’m sorry. What I meant was they were really good friends. You didn’t have to worry about Paige. At least, when I knew her
. She was very determined, always there fighting for herself and others. Many people admired her.”
I admired her too, my hand on the moleskin. “I know you counseled her freshman year, but did you know anything else about her?”
“In what way?” Crossing her legs, she leaned in.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. About the stuff she was into now? Was she still on the prep team?”
“Not that I know of, and to be honest, I think she did that mostly as a favor to me. Turnout was never great for the program, and she did me a favor by joining. Your sister was so popular. She got so many of the girls at school to come out for it.”
I smiled. “Anyone she was close to on the team or…” That might be my in, my everything. My sister had a predominately male relationship range, and if she did prep team this one year, a team full of girls, that might be where she’d met the one.
Thinking about it, Mrs. Hasting picked up her coffee. “Honestly, I can’t remember. She could have. Why do you ask?”
I sat back casually. “I just want to talk to everyone who knew her. It really does help, the grieving process.”
Looking at me, Mrs. Hastings lowered her cup. “I wish I could be of more help. I knew your sister, but it’d been a long time. I didn’t keep up with her over the years as much as I would have liked. I had so many students at that time, December. I’m so sorry.”
It wasn’t her fault, and I did understand. Coming here was a long shot, and I did know that too.
Mrs. Hastings nodded toward my hands, and when she did, I gave her the journal. “Honestly, this may give you more clues about her depth. Who she was at her core and the things she couldn’t always say. Even to me. She told so much in these drawings.” Handing it back to me, she sat back. “I wish you luck, and if you ever need anything, to talk for real, please call me. I’m happy to help. Anything to help.”
Eighteen
December
So many days eased into calm around me following that initial visit to Mrs. Hastings’s office. I should be happy about that. I should be happy things were starting to feel normal around me for once. Days at my dad’s house were easy, the two of us passing ships, and things at school were even easier. Hubert would drop me off. I’d go to class, and the fight between Ramses and Royal quickly became a distant memory to the other drama and scholastic events going on at the school. My life was finally normal.
But I was anything but happy.
I looked for any indicator, something that told my sister had a relationship with anyone else besides Royal and his friends. I got no help from them, not even bothering to ask. I’d been warned about getting involved, so there’s no way they’d be helping on this. The trail was quickly running cold without resources, and anything I gathered on my own wasn’t much. I actually went to the library at one point, searching yearbooks of all things. My sister’s sophomore year didn’t hold much and her junior year even less outside of sports. My sister had been a jock, point blank. She didn’t associate with anyone outside of that, at least on paper. There was no trail, no history.
And Ramses was coming back today.
He’d texted me a few times over the course of his suspension, nothing major or anything. He wanted to know how things were going at school and if things had settled. He wanted to know the fallout and if I was okay. I hadn’t told him about the confrontation with Royal the day of the fight or even that I’d been over to see Royal. I didn’t tell him anything. Mostly because I didn’t know how to deal with him and what we initially had tried to do. I was so far away from our original plans now and, quite frankly, didn’t know how to talk to him about that. My responses to him were very short over the two weeks of his suspension, the halls a buzz the closer he got to returning to school. Royal wouldn’t be long behind, and though I didn’t know his exact date, I assumed not far behind Ramses. He’d gotten a longer suspension since he started the fight, but no one knew for sure when he’d be coming back.
Actually, I was kind of nervous on the day of Ramses’ return. I still was for all intents and purposes his “girlfriend,” but so much had changed since we put that plan into action. Royal had basically admitted to me he wanted nothing to do with that haze, that he had tried to stop her but she did what she wanted to do. It’d been Paige who sought revenge on someone and over something she hadn’t even shared with me, and exposing the Court…
Well, a lot of things had changed.
I waited in the hallway with friends, our meeting place before classes started. The whole school was whispering about Ramses coming back, and our friends were too, asking me how he’d been. I honestly couldn’t tell them. I hadn’t really talked to him, and overwhelmed by all the questions, I ended up making some sorry excuse before he even arrived. I said I had to get to class early or something, walking away, and I didn’t even stay long enough to see what they thought about that. I didn’t stay long enough to see Ramses. I was so lost and confused and just needed to get away from all of it.
Ramses: Hey, missed you before class this morning. What’s up?
A text from Ramses came in the middle of fourth period, and after checking to make sure my algebra teacher was at the white board, I eased my phone out from under my notebook.
Me: Sorry. I forgot I had a meeting with my history teacher. Totally crapping out in that class.
That was true, but so not the reason for the avoidance. I hadn’t wanted the confrontation with Ramses. We’d have to be fake again, and I just wanted to put that off for a second more. I really didn’t know how to bring up that I was having second thoughts about the whole thing. I mean, he may have had his own reasons for joining the Court, but my sister and I had definitely been the catalyst for it. He’d invested so much, sat out in the middle of the frickin’ woods in his boxers for that ring on his finger, so yeah. I didn’t know how to tell him I was reconsidering some things.
Ramses: Ah. Well, no problem. Just missed seeing you.
I swallowed.
Me: You dork. You did not.
Ramses: So did! All that expensive shit at my house is boring without others like yourself to mooch off it with me.
Happy for a laugh for once, I smiled, covering my mouth since I was still in class.
Ramses: Speaking of. You totally ghosted my ass. What’s up with that? Everything okay?
I had ghosted him, but not completely because I wanted to avoid him. I’d been involved with this new project regarding my sister, trying to figure out who she’d been dating, and honestly, that’s where my head had been at completely.
Me: Just been busy. We’ll talk. Later when I see you.
Ramses: K. K.
No sooner had he said it than the bell rang for lunch. I gathered my stuff and immediately headed for Kiki’s locker. We usually met there, then met up with the others at lunch since her locker was right outside my fourth hour.
“You heard about Ramses, right?” the tall goddess said to me in passing. Seriously, she looked beautiful like every moment of the day. It was hard to believe she actually played sports and sweated. She pushed black strands out of her face. “Like the school is seriously freaking, and you missed it this morning.”
“Missed what?” I asked, pushing the doors open to the lunchroom. We got inside, and all she had to do was point. I spotted Ramses at our usual table and he was actually sitting on top of it. His arms expanded wide, he looked like a frickin’ mage telling a grandiose story. No doubt about his suspension, and I started to laugh until I realized how many people were at our table with him.
I laughed even less when I saw their fingers.
The boys had a shine on their right hands, king rings and the girls underneath their arms wore necklaces. They wore necklaces like mine and that symbol I still wore to keep up with appearances.
“What the fuck?” fell from my mouth, and it’d been loud enough over the chaos for Ramses and crew to notice me.
A loud and vibrant, “’Zona!” shouted my way, and immediately leaving the table, Ra
mses came over. He pounded Kiki’s fist, allowing her to pass before coming to my side. She headed into the lunch line, and shocked, I just stood there.
“What the fuck is this?” I asked him, stunned to hell. Like seriously, half the lunch room was at our table.
He leaned in. “Frickin’ craziness. Watch this shit.” He waved and the crowd at the table hooted, pointing at him, and he pointed back. He hunkered down again. “I don’t know. I just sat down and they all came over. This is wild.”
But was it? Was it really? He’d gotten in a fight with who was the king of the school, a king whose own table was looking a little worse for wear. I noticed it quickly, panning to the place Royal, LJ, Knight, and Jax normally sat at. LJ, Knight, and Jax were still there, but their table was noticeably absent of people, both guys and girls.
I guess we picked up the slack.
There was seriously a circus going on at our table, and after Ramses waved at them again, he faced me.
“Play along,” he said, taking my hand. Before all the drama of the fight and everything else, I’d been more than game to do that.
But now?
Now it felt weird, foreign, and the only reason I didn’t let go was for appearances. I let Ramses guide me over to the table, everyone swarming me just like they had him. Through the chaos, I noticed LJ and Jax looking at me, us.
Knight hadn’t even bothered to look.
He ate his sandwich to himself, doing his own thing as I was forced to sit down between Ramses and another Court-kept girl. Kiki had joined us at this point, and she, Shakira, and even Birdie were chatting it up with some Court guys across the table. The girls were getting cozy, getting used to this.
I settled in while conversation happened around me, smiling when nodded to and talking when prompted to do the same. My gaze fell on Ramses quite a few times during all of it, the storyteller, the mage everyone sat on the edge of their seats for just to hear his next words. It seemed Windsor Preparatory had a new kingpin.
It seemed they had a new Royal Prinze.