by Mia Harlan
“Fine.” Silas bites his lower lip and my eyes lock on his piercings. “I apologize if you got upset.”
It feels more like an insult, yet he speaks the words as though they taste bitter.
“That’s not an apology.” JJ moves closer to my side and gives a strand of my hair a tug. “I wouldn’t accept that if I were you.”
Silas’s eyes blaze but he clearly wants to smooth things over with the guys. He takes a few deep breaths and then spits, “I’m sorry, Roonie.”
I don’t know what to say. I don’t even know if I can bring myself to speak. Then, a warm hand squeezes my shoulder and I feel grounded again. I look up at Tate gratefully.
“Do you accept his apology, Roo Roo?” He asks.
Do I? If I say yes, Silas will think I’m too stupid to see how much he resents me. If I say no, then I’m the one ‘trying to start shit’ as Silas put it.
“It’s completely up to you, Roonie,” Charles says gruffly.
I try to speak but my voice fails me. I can’t open my mouth for fear that I’ll drown in the tension around me. The timing is terrible, but for some reason, my thoughts turn to mermaids. If they can’t drown in the sea, can they drown on land? Is that what’s happening to me right now?
Silas sighs impatiently.
“Good thinking.” JJ’s eyes twinkle. At the question in mine, he adds. “If I were you, I’d wait a couple of days. Make him grovel.”
“I’m not…” my voice barely comes out above a whisper, my eyes pleading.
JJ winks. Charles chuckles. And Tate squeezes my shoulder again.
“Can we just get this over with?” Silas demands. “I apologize. There.”
“Okay,” I tell him. Not because I accept his insincere apology but because I just want this moment to end. I don’t think Silas even hears me, my words are that faint, but he sees my nod.
“Glad we got that out of the way,” he mutters, then quickly raises his hand to placate my glaring princes. “Can we just please focus on rehearsal?”
“Give us a minute?” JJ asks. Without waiting for a response, he adds, “I need to borrow Roonie.”
He winks at me and pulls me out into the hall. Tate follows. So does Charles.
As soon as I’m out of Silas’s range, my voice returns. “You guys should go back in there. You already missed half the rehearsal because of me.”
The guys all give me odd looks. Tate shrugs. “We’re only a few minutes late. It’s no big deal.”
I glance at the time on my borrowed phone and turn the screen toward him. “I thought it started at two?”
“Crap.” He runs a hand through his hair. “Bookings always start 15 minutes past the hour. Everything on campus does: classes, tutorials, club meetings. I’m so used to it, I didn’t think to mention it.”
“It’s fine.” And entirely my fault. If I’d been a student here, I’d have known. It’s yet another reminder that I don’t belong.
“Come on.” JJ takes my hand and pulls me down the hall.
“Where are we going?”
“There are washrooms just around the corner. I thought you might want to get cleaned up.”
Dejectedly, I nod. I must look like a complete mess.
When we reach the door, JJ stops and leans closer. “Want me to go in with you?”
My eyes widen. Is he hitting on me?
Not that I want him to, when Tate and Charles are standing right there. When I meet their eyes, Charles shrugs his huge shoulders and Tate rolls his eyes.
JJ winks. Again.
He’s probably so used to flirting with girls he doesn’t even realize he’s doing it. Because there’s no way he’d be interested in me. Not when I look like this. Father’s right. No guy would ever want me.
I suddenly feel like a beast—not the handsome Charles, but a truly despicable fairy tale creature. I wish I could just disappear, so I settle on the closest thing. I slip into the bathroom, alone, to get cleaned up.
Chapter 25
Once I look presentable, my princes escort me back to the rehearsal room. They sit me down on the piano bench and gather around me; all of them except Silas.
“What’s she still doing here?” He scowls, drawing attention to his pierced lip.
“I invited her to watch our rehearsal,” Tate explains. Charles nods.
“We all invited Roonie.” JJ sends me a wink before turning back to the Dark Prince. “What’s wrong with you today, Silas? Got up on the wrong side of the bed?”
“Maybe if I’d gotten any actual sleep.” Silas runs his hand through long, dark strands. Then he turns to me and I have to fight the urge to back away. “Roonie…” he says my name slowly, tasting it. “I’m sorry I snapped at you earlier. I’m not usually like this.”
He sounds like he actually means it. My eyes widen. I was the one who interrupted him while he was writing a song. If I can just get out an apology, maybe we could put it all behind us? I open my mouth to speak, but no sound comes out.
Silas turns back to JJ. “It’s not just today, man. It’s this whole fucking semester. Auditions are next week and all we have is a half-written song.”
“About that—” Tate starts to say, but Charles interrupts.
“We’re all stressed about the audition, Silas. But we don’t take it out on other people.”
“I know. Look, I just need to get my shit together so I can focus on this song.” He licks his lip piercing. “Do you guys think I could crash on your couch? Just until after auditions?”
I freeze. Their couch? As in the couch I’m staying on?
Technically, Charles is staying on it while I’m staying in his room, or at least he did last night. Tonight, I might be back to being homeless.
Actually, there’s no maybe about it. They know Silas better than me. They’ve known each other all semester. They’ve sung together, rehearsed together. I know where their loyalty lies, and it’s not with me. Silas is the one who’s in their a cappella group. Silas is the one writing their audition song. Silas is the one who’s going to get that couch.
My plan to stay a few more nights so I can figure out my next steps goes out the window. What do I do now? I can’t go back to Father. I just can’t.
Heady with panic, I reach for my bare collarbone. The fractured necklace in my pocket offers no comfort and I lean against the closest guy, who happens to be JJ.
“I knew you couldn’t resist me.” He chuckles. I start to pull away, but he slides onto the piano bench next to me and pulls me into his side.
“What’s wrong with your place?” Charles asks, his attention still focused on Silas.
“Roommates.” Silas shakes his head. “I haven’t had a decent night’s sleep in weeks.”
“Can’t you wear earplugs?” Tate suggests.
“Doesn’t work. They’ve been throwing parties every night this week.” Silas runs his fingers through his hair.
His various ear piercings take turns peeking out from between the strands. “Yesterday, some chick threw up in my room.”
“That’s disgusting.” Charles grimaces.
“I know.” Silas spits his words past his lip piercing. “I still can’t get the smell out.”
JJ fake gags. Charles gags too, but I don’t think he’s faking.
“Wish we could help.” He shrugs. “But Roonie’s staying at our place right now.”
My eyes widen while Silas’s narrow. Does that mean I don’t have to leave?
“Shouldn’t she have her own mansion or something?” Silas gives me a pointed once-over that ends with a glare aimed at the expensive phone in my hand.
Suddenly, it hits me. I know why Silas thinks my family’s rich. It’s because of my designer clothes and fancy phone. I need to explain, but his eyes hold a barely contained rage that makes me freeze. Our momentary truce is gone. Silas is back to hating me. It shouldn’t matter. As long as I have a place to stay a few more days, what Silas thinks of me shouldn’t matter, but it does.
Tate shrugs.
“She just needs a place to stay for a little while.”
“Can’t she stay in one of the girls’ dorms?” Silas stares at me intently.
“No, she can’t,” Charles growls at him.
Silas’s eyebrows shoot up.
“She could stay in my room,” JJ suggests with a wink. He leans closer, his lip brushing my ear. “My bed’s big enough for two.”
My heart stutters.
“If she’s staying in anyone’s room, it would be mine.” Tate yanks a wide-eyed JJ off the bench.
Charles instantly takes his place. His huge frame takes up three-quarters of the bench, leaving me pressed up against his side.
JJ looks between us and then shoots me a wink. “Invitation’s open if you change your mind.”
“Will you stop it?” Tate asks him. “Silas, if you have a sleeping bag, you could always crash on the floor.”
My heart nearly stops. I can’t stay in the same apartment as Silas. I’m not even sure I can stay on the same campus as Silas.
Silas frowns at me and I realize he’s thinking the same thing. Except he hates me so much he can’t stand the thought of sharing a space with me. His lips turn down, twisting around his lip piercing. “Thanks, but I think I’m good.”
“Then maybe you can crash with your Mom?” Tate suggests. “You could—”
“Yeah, sure, I’ll do that.” Silas spits. “Can we just focus on the audition?” We’re running out of time, we don’t have a song, and we’re not ready. At this rate, we won’t make it to the prelims.”
“Actually, I think we might.” Tate smiles, glancing at Charles for confirmation.
The Beast pulls me closer to his side. “We think Roonie can help with our audition.”
“Her?” Silas scowls.
“Me?” I squeak.
“So, she talks,” Silas mutters under his breath.
“Why don’t we show her what we’ve got so far?” JJ grins. He tugs on a strand of my hair and his eyes sparkle. “Be honest with us, okay Roonie? Brutally honest. No holding back, okay?”
I nod. I already know that whatever they’ve come up with, I’m going to love. My heart feels lighter. I get to stay with the guys a little bit longer and I get to watch a real, live a cappella rehearsal.
I can’t wait for Tate to sing again. And I’ve been dying to hear what Charles sounds like since last night. I glance at JJ. It never really crossed my mind that he might sing too, and now I’m dying of curiosity. The three of them, harmonizing with Silas…It’s bound to be unbelievable.
“This is a waste of time.” Silas throws his arms up in frustration.
“Ignore him.” JJ grins. “Ready, guys?”
Silas groans, but nods anyway. So does Tate.
Charles lets go of me and I miss the warm comfort of his touch. He joins the others, lining up in front of me. “We’ve been working on our audition song since the start of the school year,” he says by way of introduction. He glances at Silas, who scowls.
“It’s our backup song,” the Dark Prince snaps. He emphasizes the word backup as he glares at me, making it clear that I’m the reason they can’t use their main song.
“And we’ve only been working on it since they announced that the theme of the competition was fairy tales,” Tate adds.
“Which was what? Three days into the school year?” Charles asks, sounding bored.
“It was at least two weeks,” Tate throws back.
The two of them start to bicker, while I focus on one earth-shattering detail. Fairy tales? Their competition theme is fairy tales?
It can’t be. Or can it?
There were so many signs that I missed that now make perfect sense. Tate’s interest in my songs. Charles, reading Brothers Grimm. And the guys, who remind me so much of fairy tale princes come to life. The last is probably sheer coincidence, but the rest makes sense.
JJ raises his arms, signaling for the guys to refocus. “Come on. I want Roonie to see what we’ve got.”
Tate and Charles nod, finally agreeing on something. Silas grumbles.
“Let’s skip the warm ups? We’re kind of low on time.” He gives me a pointed look.
The guys don’t notice. They take his lead and move into a half circle with their hands in the middle. Rhythmically, they snap their fingers. Then, Silas guides them into the song. “And a one, and a two, and a one, two, three…”
Charles starts to sing. He hits a series of notes, moving up and down the scale with breathtaking clarity. My heart races. His voice is everything I imagined it to be and so much more. It’s strong and beautiful and beastly. I get lost in it, and the steady background beat he creates, as I wait in breathless anticipation for whatever’s about to come next.
JJ steps forward and winks at me. “Ahhh, Ahhh, Ahhh,” he joins in with melodious cries.
I cringe. I try to keep a smile plastered on my face but…this is kind of terrible. Charles is clearly going for an old-fashioned, medieval melody. He just doesn’t mix with…with…whatever JJ is doing. I can definitely see where the guys might need help with their audition.
Then, Silas steps forward. I brace myself for a heart-rendering performance that will leave me gutted. Instead, he opens his mouth and wails. He doesn’t sing. He lets out one loud, pained cry and then abruptly stops. If I hadn’t heard him earlier, I’d be convinced he couldn’t sing.
Charles and JJ fill the ensuing silence.
“Ooooh,” Tate adds his voice into the mix. He takes up a mid-range tenor that’s meant to sit between Charles’ bass and JJ’s…whatever you might call it.
Don’t get me wrong. JJ’s not a bad singer. None of the guys are. But what the heck are they doing?
It’s almost as if each of their voices is a beautiful instrument playing a lovely song—except that it’s three different lovely songs being played overtop of each other.
What was probably meant to be a fairy tale melody sounds a lot more like a medieval traffic jam.
Then it gets worse.
They stop. Not at the same time, or in some staggered pattern, but within a second or two of each other.
They all cast quick, jerky looks at one another and begin to dance. Well, “dance” is a generous word for what they’re doing. JJ drops to his knees and begins swaying like a piece of seaweed. Tate and Charles look at me, the audience, and march rhythmically across the floor.
“Once upon a time…” Tate sings in the same breathtaking voice I remember from last night.
I perk up. Nothing bad can start with once upon a time. If they just cut out the intro, I’m sure the rest of their audition is going to be great.
“Once upon a time…” JJ chants, proving me wrong. He can really sing, I’ll give him that. I just wish he hadn’t. His voice doesn’t meld with Tate’s. At all. Still, I hold out hope.
“Time-time-time-time-time,” Charles croons, the tone and melody completely different from the previous two.
“There was an enchanted forest,” Silas adds in a pained cry. All that heartfelt emotion had worked for him earlier, but now it’s all kinds of wrong.
“Forest!” JJ echoes, still grinning. His forest is clearly a much happier place than the one Silas just created.
“Yeahhhhh,” Tate finishes sweetly.
That last bit is accompanied by spirit fingers. I bite my lip out of sheer embarrassment.
“Ooooh…” they chorus together. Although together might not be the right word. They’re completely out of sync and their tones are entirely mismatched.
JJ suddenly runs to the front of the stage and stops directly in front of me. He leans forward and takes my hand. “A beautiful maiden, she was there!”
He runs his thumb along the pulse point on my wrist, and I blush. JJ smirks and steps back. Then, he twirls. And curtsies?
Wait…is he supposed to be the beautiful maiden?
His broad shoulders and chiseled jawline make me think a lot of things, but maiden isn’t one of them. He can hit the highest notes in the group, s
ure, but he’s got way too much stubble to ever pass for anything but a hot, sexy guy.
“And then there was a wolf!” Silas adds tragically.
“An evil wolf,” Charles growls in his deep bass. I perk up again. Maybe some parts of the song are salvageable?
“Ooooh, and a wicked witch,” Tate chimes in sweetly. “She had some apples.”
JJ spins around and cups his pecs, where female breasts would be. “Apples!” he echoes.
I burst out laughing.
Chapter 26
Four sets of eyes snap to me. I quickly turn my laughter into a cough. It earns me a scowl from Silas and a grin from JJ, but Charles doesn’t bat an eye. Tate doesn’t even seem to notice. He dances sensually across the floor, swinging his hips like a belly dancer. “Fairy tale,” he chants breathily. “Ooh, ah, fairy tale.”
JJ joins in, singing a nonsensical, “Yeah, cha cha cha.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Charles and Silas try to harmonize, creating a complete mess.
It’s too much. It’s all too much and too awful for my poor ears to bear.
“Stop!” I cry, jumping to my feet.
Everything around me goes silent and still. The guys freeze and stare at me. Their faces hold a mix of expressions, as mismatched as their voices had been when they tried to harmonize.
Charles’s face is blank and his beard, which he scratches with huge fingers, makes him impossible to read. He could be upset, or surprised, or relieved. Maybe he doesn’t care.
Silas is the exact opposite. He’s the easiest to read in the group by far. His lips are turned down around his piercing. Nothing unexpected there.
JJ tries to look concerned, but his eyes twinkle joyfully. He’s obviously still on a high from the performance and doesn’t realize just how bad they all were. Poor guy.
Tate doesn’t seem aware of it either. He smiles at me hopefully, like he expects praise or a standing ovation.
My heart sinks. I have to tell the guys how bad they are. If I don’t, they’ll bomb their audition. Not to mention embarrass themselves. I can’t let that happen, but how do I tell them?