by Eden O'Neill
“And why does it feel like you’re not surprised by that?” I asked, eyeing him. “Me being here?”
“Maybe because I’m not.” He made a turn, tugging a bloom under a heat lamp. Dark eyes shifted my way. “I followed you that night.”
“Followed me?”
He nodded. “After you made me drop you off in that completely sketch neighborhood, I doubled back. I lost you, of course. You weren’t where I left you but after going around the neighborhood for a bit I saw you. I saw you and friggin’ Knight Reed.”
My lips closed, unaware he’d been there, nor how much he’d seen. I still got chills from that night and what might have happened had Knight not been there.
“I mean, he was wailing on a motherfucker,” he said, letting me know he did see something. “And after, you got in a car with him.”
“He saved me,” I explained, not happy with the way he went about that, then dragged me back home, but at least he’d gotten there in time. I shrugged. “That guy was the shop owner I stole from that first day we met, and yeah, I did steal from him. The only time. I was… I was, well, hungry.”
Ramses’ eyes surprisingly softened at that. He folded long arms. “Well, that explains a lot, but not really why Knight Reed was there in the first place. I mean, I was like what the fuck? But then I remembered the off-the-wall things about you.”
I smirked. “Off-the-wall things?”
He gripped his curls. “Well, how about the fact you were looking at articles that happened in my hometown? I mean, that news story went viral in the surrounding areas but not really to the point of nationally. Also, that conversation you were having in the bathroom. The fact you were homeless…”
“You going to make a point here anytime soon, Mallick?” I asked, using what was apparently his last name.
He grinned. “Sure am, Arizona.” He stood, venturing over. He opened his hands. “Got me thinking I should look back at those articles you were looking at, and when I did, things started to make more sense. They never said Paige had a sister, but you obviously had her last name. I put two and two together after that, that there was a relation there. You obviously came from that town, ran from that town after what happened.”
I closed my lips. “And so you’re here now to…”
“I honestly don’t know,” he said with a chuckle. “I called you hoping to hammer some of this out, but you ghosted me.”
“Can you blame me? All that with Knight was completely fucked up.”
He frowned. “Why was he there even?” But then he stopped, closing his lips. “He’s your sister’s friend, good friend? And if I know that barbarian, he probably thought he was looking out for you.”
My eyes widened at how he’d gotten that so spot on. I nodded. “Yeah, that’s why he came. Royal sent him actually.”
“Dude’s still fucking crazy, I see,” he stated, shaking his head. “His rise to the throne has obviously expedited since I originally left, but he was still crazy-obsessed with the Court. He and his friends do anything they want.”
“So what’s the deal with you guys anyway,” I asked, standing. “And why are you here? Not because of me?” Because that would be a little much. I mean, we’d been coworkers, yeah, and had maybe started to become friends, but we weren’t that close.
He dampened his lips. “I used to be into the Court stuff too. Remember that clique I mentioned?”
I nodded. “You said you had a run-in with them.”
“That’s true, and when I didn’t like being ‘a part of the party’ anymore,” he air-quoted, “Royal and his pack of Court minions didn’t just throw me shade, they made my life hell. It was hell, and they let me know that. It’s hard to explain. You just know it when you see it. They turned the school on me.”
“You know it when you see it…”
He was right about that, and I chewed the inside of my cheek.
“And I guess maybe part of the reason I’m here is because of you,” he continued, surprising me. He shrugged. “The way I saw you leave was fucked, and yeah, I wanted to make sure you were okay, but I also didn’t like what I saw with Knight. It showed me those guys are still doing shit, and with me being so far ahead in school, I basically said fuck it. I wanted to come back. Let them see me, and what do I care now? We’re about to graduate.”
Why did he care now? I saw what he was saying, but they were almost done, we were almost all done with school, so what did it all matter about them “seeing him”? I could only chock that up to something deeper going on inside him, something that wasn’t my business and he had to work out on his own.
I shook my head at him. “Another person coming to ‘look out for me’?” I rolled my eyes. “You know that’s why Royal sent Knight, right?”
He nodded, obvious since I said as much. “And is there anything wrong with someone looking out for you? I wished I had that way back when. My dad’s so obsessed with the Court he took their side, allowed them to bully me, and I gave him so much shit about it he shipped me off to basically shut me up.”
“And cut you off?” I asked, remembering what was said between him and Birdie.
He frowned. “Yeah, but he’s offered a peace offering with me coming back. I’m on my best behavior, I might get my money.”
I shoved him. “So much for looking out for me.”
He lifted big palms, chuckling. “What? You thought it was all about you?”
I hit him again, but was happy it wasn’t. I liked Ramses, but if he was willing to uproot schools for me, he might feel he had a connection with me a little deeper than I was comfortable with. He was good-looking enough and a nice person, but I wasn’t interested in him in that way. Especially not now. Boys were way too much drama for me, and I had a track record.
I crossed my arms. “Well, I’m happy you’re here. I’ve had my own run-in with the Court, so it’s nice to have friends.”
That didn’t settle well on his face, but when the bell alarmed across the campus, signaling the end of third period, he kept whatever opinions he had about that to himself. He faced the school, and I did too.
“Probably should go back before I bury myself even deeper with how far behind I am,” I said, getting my coat on. “That month being away messed me up. I might not even graduate. Especially if I fail my finals.”
I expected some kind of sympathetic response from Ramses with what I said. Not a damn grin, but that’s what he gave me. He flicked out his jacket lapels. “Well, I guess it’s good you have Dr. Brain here at your service. I can tutor you. No problem.”
No, this guy did not just call himself Dr. Brain. I chuckled. “I’ll take all the help I can get.”
Twenty-Four
December
Ramses failed to mention something during his first week at Windsor Prep. Ramses was… popular, and not just any kind of popular, uberly so to the point where being in his wake kind of got me pushed out during some conversations. He hung with Birdie, Shakira, Kiki, and me at the beginning of the week, but by the end, basically, we were hanging with him. Whatever damage the Court had done to his rep prior to him leaving had obviously dissipated, and pretty much everyone knew him. Even kids who couldn’t have possibly gone to school while he’d been here, Ramses pulling both guys and girls in for hugs in the hallway. He’d clearly built something before he got here and was quickly getting right back into it. It was wild, like Court-status popularity but different. Where people usually cowered in fear upon seeing someone from the Court, they did the opposite with Ramses Mallick. They acknowledged and laughed with Ramses, pointing toward him with props when he passed by. He’d done so back every time, knowing everybody’s name, and I mean everybody. He may have been gone for the last three years, but he obviously hadn’t forgotten anybody. At lunch, he pretty much built a rapport, and his table was basically the hot new lunch spot to eat at. Birdie said she’d save him a spot to eat with us, but we ended up eating with him, him and the rest of the boys’ basketball and wrestling teams. I gue
ss that was the clique he hung out with back in the day. Oh, them and the IT nerds. He literally had friends everywhere, people just short of selling tickets to eat lunch with him and see where he’d been. He told that story too, and I felt like I heard it a hundred times. He’d become a world traveler apparently, going away to boarding school and to the rough deserts of Arizona. The whole thing I found humorous, genuinely having me laugh, since what I knew about him was pretty laid-back. It was a switch from how things used to be, humor and I decided I’d take laughs where I could get them. They were welcomed definitely. Things had been way easier this past week, and I didn’t find myself looking at the Court and what they were doing all the time. I still noticed them, of course, how couldn’t I?
That happened when people gave you the stink eye.
That stink eye hadn’t been for me per se, but clearly for Ramses, the new/old kid who suddenly had their table a little less occupied these days. I mean, they still had a crap-ton of people over there. Like all the time, but the weight it lost I definitely noticed. We over here had gained it.
Eating my tofu today, I glanced up from time to time, seriously trying not to still be pissed the fuck off that Mira and Royal were together. She sat with him, of course, and though they were never all over each other, they were together—clearly. He kept a hand on her hip, talking while she twirled that damn necklace around her neck, and I didn’t get it. I didn’t get them. He thought we moved too fast together, okay, but that?
Shaking my head, I attempted to eat my lunch, but when I got a nudge, I peered up. Apparently, away from his party on the other side of the table, Ramses stood above me, grinning as we waved for me to make room.
Laughing, I let him, the boy threading one long leg, then the other into a cafeteria lunch table made for normal-sized people. I swear to God, I had no idea how the tables held the capacity for the superhumans I ate with at lunch.
Getting himself nice and comfy, Ramses snatched a bite of my fried tofu, something he tended to do ever since he found out I was vegan. I swear he loved my food more than Birdie’s, but that didn’t stop him from getting hers too next to me. He swiped one of her chicken nuggets, getting a hard punch in the arm, and between me and her, he got his daily quota of punches for the day. He should try not stealing people’s food.
I stuck my tongue out at him, making him chuckle. When he went for my apples, this time I held up my fists.
“Okay, okay,” he said, raising his hands. “I’m done.”
“Good.” I shook my head, attempting to listen to Kiki and Shakira’s conversation about their upcoming math final. They sounded pretty prepared for it, but I was still dreading mine. Ramses had started to work with me during our study period in the library, but there was only so much one could do for a lost cause. I was really behind, but he wouldn’t give up. We’d been working pretty well together, and I had appreciated him taking the time when he didn’t have to. I noticed him listening to the conversation too for a while, but eventually, he panned over to the Court table. He absentmindedly chewed a fry he’d gotten from behind Birdie’s back.
“So Prinze and your sister,” he said, making me come out of the conversation too. He nodded over there. “They were still like joined at the hip? I know what you said before, but they were still ride-or-dies? I mean, as kids they were inseparable, but I know things like that can shift or change in high school a little. They were still like really, really cool?”
I brushed my hands off. “Um, yeah, as far as I know. Why?”
He shrugged big shoulders, absentmindedly chomping on Birdie’s fries. In fact, he took so many that she hit him again, and he laughed.
“I’m going to kill you,” she threatened.
“Oh, I’ll buy you some more,” he said, taking one last one before hopping out of the booth. I noticed he didn’t answer my question, but in the next moment, he was throwing his long reach around Birdie and me. He faced the table. “So what does everyone think about coming to my house tonight? A small gathering, nothing big, but you’re all welcome.”
The table stopped, like literally everyone stopped eating.
Shakira, sitting on my other side, grinned. “Um, how about fuck yeah? Of course we’re coming over.”
“Sweet!” Kiki chanted, clapping and everything. “You still have the ping-pong table? Game room and movie theater?”
Movie theater? What the fuck?
Ramses grinned now. “Uh, yeah. So everybody’s in, then? Like I said, it doesn’t have to be anything huge. I know it’s a school night and not long before finals.”
The fact it was a school night and before final exams didn’t phase anyone, Birdie dancing in her seat next to me. She nudged me. “Dude, you should totally get excited. Ramses’ house is frickin’ awesome.”
Ramses rolled his eyes. “Correction. Dad’s house. None of that stuff’s mine. He and my mom just let me use it.”
“Well, we will happily use it too,” Shakira said, the black girl twirling one of her long braids. She eyed me. “Bro even has a basketball court.”
My eyes widened. “Seriously?” I knew Ramses’ family had money, but what the hell? “Who’s his dad?”
“Who’s his dad?” Shakira’s eyes bugged out now. “Um, ever heard of Mayor Mallick? Like the mayor of Maywood Heights?”
Seriously, the what the fuck had to be all over my face now. I stared up at Ramses. “Uh, so never mentioned that one, Mallick.”
“Never came up, ’Zona,” he stated, waggling thick eyebrows at me. He’d taken to shortening my nickname recently, chuckling. “Anyway, father figure and Mom are out of town tonight, which means it’s the perfect time for my friends and me to get to reap the spoils.”
This had the table soaring in delight, and as I listened to the details, I did think about his dad. The mayor? Wow.
Did anyone in this town not have power?
Twenty-Five
December
Ramses Mallick was seriously an asshole, and I knew that the moment I woke up the next day with a serious hangover and an aversion to light. I’d pretty much drunk my weight in alcohol last night, and the weed I smoked probably reached new heights. I’d been baked to hell, and despite paying for that this morning, it’d been awesome. I couldn’t remember the last time I drank and smoked not because I was stressed or even depressed. I let loose because I was having a good time with friends, a nice switch from before. Still, I was paying for that now, and it was only because of my dog I got up at all in the morning. Hershey wanted her at-the-butt-crack-of-dawn morning walk, and I tried to do that for her usually before school each day.
“God, you hate me, don’t you?” I asked her, my big puppy stomping my face with her paws to get my ass up. I groaned. “Fine. Fine. Fine. I’m up.”
Like she understood, she hopped from my bed and disappeared somewhere into the room. I was still trying to trigger a little life into my body, the visions of beer pong and video games still in my head. Ramses’ house did have a game room, and we’d all spent most of the time in it, eating junk food and getting piss-ass drunk. It’d seriously been a good time, and I smiled a little, gripping my bed. My puppy came back with her leash in her mouth, wagging her tail, and that smile I had left.
“You really do hate me.”
She just blasted me with that dog smile in response, and after I rubbed her head, I got up. She gave me the time to wash up and be really lazy when I put my coat on over my T-shirt and leggings. I’d dress properly when we got back, and after sticking my feet into my UGG boots without socks (yeah, it was straight serious today), I grabbed a pair of sunglasses to avert the sun. I kept these little walks with Hershey pretty quiet in the morning, not wanting to wake the house, and managed to keep things silent when I snuck outside.
The cold air hit like a bitch at first impact, but eventually, I got used to it, my boots scraping against the salted walk. Hershey and I took the trails behind the house, a pretty scenic park back there. It was easy to navigate with the signs, and since
people did jog and walk back there, they kept the area clean and even cleared the snow from the trails for hikers. I didn’t pass a lot of people considering how early Hershey and I went for walks, but when I did, I always moved for the occasional jogger. I tried to do that today as someone came up behind me, but as I heard the person slow down, I tugged Hershey’s leash to a stop. I smelled the person before I saw them, and when I turned, my gaze filled with Royal Prinze.
Puffs of cold air came from full lips, his perfect cheekbones filled with red color. His golden locks feathered in the chilly breeze, the boy jogging in place in a pair of too-tight jogging pants. Like seriously, they were two seconds away from being nylon leggings, lining his muscular legs like a second skin. Coming to a stop, he pulled an AirPod out of his ear, nothing but Under Armour covering his broad physique. He parted his lips. “Hey, Em.”
Hey… Em. He said “hey” like he talked to me. Like we were even anything to each other anymore.
“Hi,” I said, tugging Hershey back when she started to go over to him. She wanted to play, and despite keeping her away, he got to his knees with her.
“You’ve sure gotten big,” he said, smiling a little when he scratched her behind the ears. He looked up at me. “She’s gotten big.”
I nodded, what he said fact. He played with her a little while before standing, taking out his other AirPod and shoving them both into his pocket with glove-lined hands.
“How have you been?” he asked me, tucking those big hands into the same pockets, and I could have slapped him. He asked me how I’d been, how I’d been like he hadn’t put me through and still put me through hell on a day-to-day basis. He had to know how hard it was to see him with Mira. He had to know. He wasn’t an idiot.
Or maybe he was.
“You’re a joke, you know that?” I started to walk away, but hands and a body wouldn’t let me. His hands and his body wouldn’t let me, a chest touching my side, a curled finger and a thumb pinching my coat for me to stay.