by Eden O'Neill
“Did you tell my dad about Hershey?” Any heroism he may have shown I threw out the window at the possibility, and such an act seemed just dark enough he’d actually do it. He’d been right that day in the hall when he let into me. I didn’t know him.
Royal got to his back, coughing as he shook his head. “Of course I didn’t. The reason I’m here is for her. I’m why she’s here and not at a pound.”
None of that made sense. How would he know Hershey was even at the pound to get?
“Mira,” he let me in on. “She gave your dad an anonymous tip at his office. I guess she saw us that night at the pumpkin patch. Her dad’s the other owner, and though she doesn’t live on the property, she happened to be there that night. Fuck, she probably watched us the whole goddamn night.”
The disgust of that I ignored for the red I saw. “She told?”
“Yeah, caught her bragging about it to some of the cheerleaders.” He rose up, dangling muscular arms over his knees. “After I heard, I called around, and when I figured out where Hershey was, I had my uncle come and get her. This is his vet clinic. I was coming to get her now to take her to Windsor House. I figured, better than the damn pound.”
“Why?” My throat was thick again, tight. “Why would you do that?” He’d been ignoring me, made others ignore.
He faced me. “Because I’m putting my neck out for you for some reason. Because I keep putting my neck out for you, fuck.” He forced fingers through sooty blond hair. “It’s like I’m a goddamn glutton for punishment or something, helping you out as some sick way to do right by Paige and take care of her sister while she’s gone or something…”
He’d ranted, that I knew.
But that didn’t stop the fact that he said it.
Royal Prinze had spoken his truth, and I’d been completely there for it.
I dampened my lips. “So was screwing me looking out for me too?”
Royal’s eyes flashed like he just realized, like everything he said he was suddenly there for too. “December…”
“No, it’s fine.”
“December. Em—”
He grabbed my arm, but I pulled away.
“You don’t call me that,” I said, shaking my head. “Only my sister calls me that.”
His lids lowered. “December, let me…”
“No,” I gritted and reaching into my pocket, I took out the ring I found on the tracks. I threw it at him, and of course, he caught it easy. My jaw worked. “I found that on the tracks that day at Route 80. It’s evidence I’m not the only one who thinks you and your Court are a bunch of assholes.”
He said nothing as he’d been lifting up the ring, and by that time, the fire trucks and EMTs had finally come. The building burst into flames behind us, a manifested end to the fucked-up-ness that was my start with Royal Prinze.
Twenty
Royal decided to opt out of going to the hospital after getting checked out by the EMTs. He’d been deemed fine and had no reason to stay, so he didn’t. He left so quick, in fact, I’d barely seen him leave, and just as well. He was the last person I wanted to see right now, and though I’d been told I was fine too, I did decide to go to the hospital. It’d give me more time to figure out what I should do now that I was homeless and with a little dog. I’d also been told they’d have someone come to the hospital to check Hershey out since I inquired, and I wanted to make sure she was good too. They let us ride in the back of the ambulance and everything, but any thrill that might have come from that burst into fiery flame just like the vet clinic that burned when we ventured away from it. I had no idea what’d been up with the fire or how it happened, but it sure did expose a lot of bullshit. I wanted to leave it and everything about this place behind, and now that I had Hershey back, there was really no reason to stay.
I dangled my feet for a long time as I sat on a white hospital bed, my arm covered in a white bandage. I’d caught an ember or something trying to escape the fire, and the doctor here wanted more of a look at the work the EMTs did on me. While I waited, my puppy currently had the time of her life in the children’s ward of the hospital. She’d also been given a clean bill of health by a local vet they brought in. The only reason she wasn’t here now was because the nurse wanted to show her around to some of the kids who wouldn’t be getting out of here tonight for various ailments. It gave Hershey something to do and me a minute’s ease to get my head together. I basically had no choice but to go back to my aunt after this. She’d been called and gave me an earful for running into that building after a dog. She was happy I was okay, though, and after I begged to go home, she said she’d look into getting Hershey and me a flight. Aunt Celeste had several dogs growing up, so she said the new addition would be okay. She just wanted to make sure I was sure about coming home.
I hoped I was.
After the doctor gave me the all clear, he stepped out for a second, and that’s when half the basketball team came into the room, Birdie ahead of them. Several nurses attempted to fight them all back, but Birdie was able to make her way through as the staff said, “One at a time.” It turned out she was that one, and after waving off the team, Shakira and Kiki amongst them, Birdie joined me near the examination table, nothing but a wild panic on her face.
“Holy hell, girl,” she said, noticing my arm immediately. It looked worse than it actually was, a first-degree burn. “Shit. It’s true. You and Royal were in a fire? What the hell?”
“How did you find out?” I asked, actually happy to see her despite how she and the others had been ignoring me. I guess I couldn’t help but long for friendship in a time of vulnerability.
“The news,” she said, looking up from the bandage to my eyes. “You two are all over it.”
I forgot they’d been there, asking questions I didn’t want or know how to answer about the fire and ones Royal had flat-out refused to answer. He’d been on the other side of the lot, but I’d watched as he held a hand up and washed his hands of the media. He’d zoomed away in his Audi quickly after that, nothing more than a bandage to secure a cut on his forehead, and his thoughts definitely hadn’t been on me. He’d left without checking to see if I was okay.
Again, all as well.
I owed him nothing, and he owed me nothing.
“You okay?” she asked, frowning. “That looks pretty gnarly.”
It really did look worse than it was. I shook my head. “I’ll be fine. Just a small burn. The doctor is actually getting my final paperwork now so I can leave.”
Her head bobbed twice, that big fluffy ponytail always on her head. She gazed at the table, and I moved so she could sit.
She folded her hands. “Is it true you ran into a building after a dog? That Royal did too and saved it and you?”
If information and hot gossip were the only reason she was here, she could go somewhere. I frowned. “Is that why you’re here?”
“No,” she said, lowering her head. “I’m here because I’ve been a shit friend.”
That much was for sure. She’d abandoned me just because Royal, and most likely the others, wanted her to. One crossed him and the Court, and one put a mark on themselves, a mark she clearly didn’t feel I was worth branding.
“I’m sorry, December.” She lifted her head, breathing hard. “This is just a fucked situation.”
“What happened?” I asked, really not knowing the details or anything. “Did Royal ask you not to talk to me or…”
“No, it wasn’t like that. He didn’t ask anyone not to talk to you, but there were rumors going around that you two got into it.” She sighed. “The Court can ruin lives. I guess we all went chicken shit, but it was dumb. The Court and Royal Prinze don’t rule me, and Shakira, Kiki, and the other girls feel the same.”
Still, I wouldn’t want them to ruin their lives over me. Especially since I planned to leave.
“I get it.” I did. Royal scared me quite a few times, the power he had over the school and even the adults in this town. The only person who seemed t
o elicit any type of fear in him had been his dad, and that completely made sense—the man was scary, and I wouldn’t want to cross him. Everyone else basically bowed down to Royal. Well, everyone but me. I did stand up to him.
“I keep putting my neck out for you…”
I swallowed. “Are people saying anything about us?”
Birdie frowned. “There are some rumors, yeah. Mira saying stuff. Saying she saw you two and…”
So now, I was a whore. All of this was so close to home and what happened in LA before I came here it was scary, but I wasn’t about to have a repeat of all that.
“I’m going home,” I told her, making her eyes widen. “I thought coming here might convince my sister to come back. I was stupid.”
“Don’t go because of all this. Me? December, I’m so sorry for what happened, and Mira is a complete bitch. You’d give her exactly what she wants by running off.”
I sighed. “I don’t really have anywhere to go, B. My dad kicked me out tonight. It was actually about the dog Royal saved. My dad doesn’t want one in his house, and…” I shook my head. “I have nowhere else to go.”
“That’s not true.”
I panned, my eyes widening at the presence of my father. He’d been called too, along with my aunt, actually the first to be called, but they hadn’t been able to reach him. I figured he’d been busy, or rather didn’t care. He’d shown similar lack of care before.
He was here now, his sport coat on and his hands in his pockets. He gazed at my arm with a stern look on his face, and my heart sunk. I was in for a second round of what started tonight.
“I’m going to wait outside, okay?” Birdie stated, squeezing my shoulder before allowing my dad in. She acknowledged him with a nod, and then he was standing before me.
I slid off the table. “Dad?”
Why would he even bother coming? He spoke his position before. He said if I came back with a dog, I might as well not come back, the complete opposite of what he’d just said.
He approached. “The hospital just got to me. I saw the rest on the news. You went into the building after that dog? December, what were you thinking?”
See… more of this, and I wasn’t taking it. I touched my bandage. “You don’t have to worry. Aunt Celeste is getting me a flight back to LA. You won’t have to deal with me anymore. Just like Paige.”
I watched that flash across his eyes, and sliding his hands out of his pockets, he sighed.
“I don’t want you to feel that way,” he said, surprising me. “And I don’t want you to think that I feel that way about you or Paige.”
How were we supposed to feel? He’d always been that way, to both of us after Mom died. He may have been hurting, lashed out at us, but we were hurting too and needed him. We needed our dad, not all this judgment he constantly threw at us.
“I’m disappointed by what you did tonight,” he continued. “But I’d be remiss in saying I didn’t have anything to do with it.”
Surprised again, I found his eyes, the man nodding as if to confirm to me what had been said.
His jaw moved. “You ran after that dog because of me and you went into that building because of me, and I own that. I suppose my initial reaction was because of your lies and not the dog itself.”
“I didn’t want to lie,” I said, the truth. I felt I had to because I could never talk to him.
He acknowledged that, lowering his head. “And I feel like you’re being honest about that. I don’t make it easy. I know that.”
He’d said the words towards the window, anywhere but me. This was all hard for him, that I knew, and it was hard for me too. This was probably the longest conversation I had with my dad in a long time. Probably since before Mom died, and we were all a family with Paige.
He dampened his lips. “I didn’t do well with your sister. I gave up on her, and I’d like not to do that with you too.”
Out of his pocket came something pink, something with a silver bell and a name tag. It was a collar, the name “Hershey” clearly written into a bone-shaped dog tag.
“The damn pet store had no reception,” he said, handing the collar out to me. “I would have been here sooner if I’d gotten the hospital’s calls. Your dog’s Hershey, right? Like the candy bar.”
I took the collar, not knowing what to say. I swallowed. “Yeah, that’s right.”
It was so pretty, thoughtful, and nothing like my dad.
He turned his hands to his pockets. “Now, there will be rules with this. There are places in the house she won’t be able to go. You’ll keep her mostly in your room and in the house common areas.”
Completely okay with that, I told him so, my heart squeezing. “I promise,” I said to emphasize I would.
He smiled, just slight but he did. “And I expect you to clean up after her, take her out and feed and water her. That won’t be Rosanna’s job…”
“Rosanna?” I asked.
“Yes, I hired her back after you ran off, and with a handsome raise for the inconvenience. I was angry at you and took it out on her, and I apologized. She’s gratefully agreed to come back, but she won’t be cleaning up after that dog—”
“She won’t.” I shook my head. “She won’t. I’ll do everything. Hershey’s with one of the nurses. They said I could get her after I got checked out.”
“All right, then,” he said. “We should probably go see what’s up with that, then head home. The doctors tell me you’re okay. I’m glad.”
He actually meant that, and for the first time, I believed it. I had no idea what was happening here, but after my dad told me he’d go see what was up with the doctors so I could check out, I didn’t care. I just wanted to stay.
I wanted to try if he did too.
Twenty-One
I had to give it to Mira. She made sure word traveled fast about Royal and me, and what that meant for my reputation at Windsor Prep Academy equated to something similar to what I’d already gone through. I left a lot of bullshit back in my old life, and coming here, starting anew where no one knew me, that had been the one relief about starting over. No one did know me. No one knew my past, and I thought I left that life back in LA. It all came back with Mira’s not-so-tall tales about Royal and me at McAlester’s Pumpkin Patch, but the difference was I didn’t regret what happened between Royal and me. I didn’t own up to it since it was no one’s business, but I wasn’t ashamed I’d done it. I’d wanted to be with him that night because I’d trusted him. He hadn’t gone out there with certain intentions. Us being together just happened, and because of that, the rumors that followed me now didn’t break me. They didn’t roll off my back by any means, but their foundations were different. Therefore, the way I handled them was different.
It only helped that I had friends who actually stuck by me this time rather than run away with the rumor mill. Birdie and the rest of the basketball team hung in there with me. They stood up for me when everyone else either whispered around me or stopped talking completely when I walked into the room. They didn’t stop talking to me and hassled anyone who did. I had Amazon-sized women acting as a force around me, and I had to say, it felt pretty damn good.
The days in Maywood Heights started to feel good. At least when it came to everything but Royal. He was still around, and I saw him, but we didn’t talk to each other. We were like passing ships, a lot of words whispered around us, but none of them shared between us. He actually missed quite a few days of school after the fire, the thing deemed a freak accident in the end. It turned out the fire had been completely electrical, and from what I understood, Royal was fine but had been missing classes for some reason. I saw him more in the days leading up to homecoming. He’d been at the pep rallies and, of course, at the parade with the rest of the Court jocks. He rode on the lacrosse float while I stood at the sidelines. He looked at me then, looked at me long with a bare chest covered in spirit paint and a face sectioned off in the tones of navy and orange. So many unspoken words were between us.
&n
bsp; At least on my part.
I opted out of the homecoming dance itself. Besides the fact that no one asked me (oddly enough, being the girl Royal Prinze slept with left me pretty lonely when it came to dates), I’d been focusing more on school and home life. I tried to be home when my dad got in, just trying to be around, and I noticed he did too. He didn’t work late for the most part, and his weekend trips and social events were few and far between. He was trying too, and though he wouldn’t admit it, I caught him tolerating Hershey quite a few times. When she nipped as his leg, he didn’t stop her. He even fed her some of his breakfast in the morning instead of toeing her away. He was learning to live with me and a dog, and we were learning to do the same.
Birdie: I can’t believe you’re not going to the dance tonight! I’m going to feel so bad about posting everything online with you at home. :(
I’d gone shopping with Birdie and the other girls for the dance and everything and assured them then that me not being there was fine. They could post all they wanted. No FOMO, or “fear of missing out,” would be made in my neck of the woods.
Me: You know it’s cool. Have fun.
I had every intention of spending homecoming night with Hershey, me, and a box of pizza. We’d probably take a walk too since, at some point, we wouldn’t have too many more of these nice fall days before the winter hit. This wasn’t like California.
I scratched behind her ears while she burrowed in my bedding, about to call for that pizza when Rosanna called me downstairs.
“You got someone here to see you, December,” she said somewhere in the house, and I picked up Hershey, putting her in her own cute dog bed Dad had bought for her. He could say what he wanted, but he was starting to like this dog. He came home with stuff for her every once in a while, this bed being one of the gifts.
I smiled at her, watching as she played on her own before heading downstairs. I passed Rosanna at the foot of the stairs along the way, the woman wiping down a dish with a coy smile.