“Unicorns aren’t real,” Lily tells Wren.
“I used to believe that, but if River’s talking to Maddy, then who knows, maybe they are,” Wren replies. “Besides, I saidlike, not that itis.”
“You say potato. I say potatoe.” Lily smirks at Wren as she narrows her eyes.
Wren sighs as she puts her phone away. “Speaking of unicorns, did you see that Penelope was here today?”
Lily nods. “Oh yeah, I couldn’t miss that.”
“Who’s Penelope?” I intervene, feeling so out of the loop my mind is spinning.
Lily rotates to face me, her face bursting with excitement. “She’s Penelope Morelis. You know, the famous actress.”
My eyes widen. “What? She goes to this school?”
“She does now. She enrolled as a junior. It’s crazy, right?” Wren says, and I nod, my mind spinning at this wild world I’m currently a blip in. Wren rises then and pockets her phone. “You want to drive to the city and get dinner before we hit up the party?” she asks Lily.
Lily stands up, nodding. “Yes, I’m starving,”
“What party?” I ask.
“It’s the start of the school year party. The royal fraternity and sorority throw one every year,” Lily explains as her gaze scans the floor. “At least, that’s what Finn and River have told me. They also told me I shouldn’t go.” She rolls her eyes. “Sometimes, having two big brothers is beyond annoying.”
I stretch my legs out and rotate my ankle, the muscles a bit tight. “You have three, though.”
She presses her lips together and trades a look with Wren. “Noah doesn’t really play the big brother role with me.”
“Oh.” I study her, recalling my brief meeting with Noah while I was with River and how their interaction was flowing with so much discomfort I could feel it.
“But, anyway”—Wren clears her throat and throws me a look I can’t quite comprehend—“dinner before we hit up this little shindig?”
“Yep. Let me get changed, grab my bag, and then we can go.” Lily whisks herself into her room, kicking the door shut behind her.
Wren immediately looks at me. “Just a little warning,” she whispers, “I wouldn’t mention Noah to any of the Averson siblings. There’s a lot of messed-up history there.”
“I kind of gathered that already,” I tell her. “I’ll try to be more careful when mentioning his name.”
She sits down on the armrest of the sofa. “It’s not as bad with Lily, but Finn and River were best friends with Noah since grade school, but then Noah’s mom had an affair with their dad, which led to the divorce from their mom. And now Noah’s mom, and they’re so …”
So, it is what I suspected. However, I didn’t gather that River and Noah used to be BFFs with each other.
“That’s kind of messed up,” I say.
“For sure, but that’s the royal world for you.” Wren briefly hesitates. “Is it like this over on the northside?”
I shake my head. “No, but we have our own set of problems—drugs, gangs, violence …”
I expect her to look horrified by what I said, but she doesn’t.
“We have that here, too. I’m not sure if it’s the same as in northside, but we have drugs, cliques, and violence. It just gets covered up here.”
“It gets covered up on northside, too.” I almost tell her about the two times I was arrested and how it wasn’t my fault, but I stop myself. I don’t know this girl well, and while she seems nice enough, giving out all of my secrets to her—especially when she runs a gossip column—doesn’t seem like the best idea.
We fall silent as she receives a text and digs her phone out to check it. I decide to get up and change into sweatpants and a T-shirt, wanting to spend the night doing homework.
“I think I’m going to go work on some assignments.”
She glances up from her phone. “You’re not coming to dinner with us?”
