With my fucking heart doing dumbass flips in my chest, I sighed. "Whatever this is between us, it's important to me. You're both important to me. I just hope..."
I let it remain unsaid, but we all knew the truth.
I hoped that no one ripped our world apart again. I feared that just one more tear would sever our fragile bond forever.
Chapter 20
Going back to school was like the first day all over again. I’d returned to my original schedule—not stuck in all of Alex’s senior-level classes—but at this point I’d missed so much material I was lost. Students stared at me constantly, and I felt about as fucking welcome here as a fish in a shark school. Now that I knew about Uriel and all of his plans for me, this ballot thing made more sense.
Royals were assholes. Arrogant assholes.
It was easy to hate them.
It was also easy to love them. "You ready for lunch?" Jordan asked, looping his arm around me, shirt unbuttoned at the collar, no tie, and his hair a mess like he'd run his hands through it a dozen times this morning.
"Like you wouldn't believe," I said. "Today has fucking sucked. I think I'm going to have to repeat this year; after Alex screwed with my classes, I'm so behind."
Mattie had warned me about falling behind, and she was right—there was no way to catch up. It hadn't exactly been my choice, though.
"I'll chat to the teachers," Jordan said, shooting daggers at a group of chicks that were blatantly staring and talking about us as we walked down the hall. "See if we can modify the system and give you some leeway."
I shook my head, stopping where I was. "I don't want you to pave royal gold on my path to the future, America. I need to stand on my own feet, learn how to fight my own battles. I've already made an appointment with Dean Morgan, figuring he might have some advice. He’ll probably be a huge prick about it, but it’s worth a try."
Jordan's face pulled into concerned lines. "Is that a good idea? What if he knows you..." He trailed off, not wanting to mention Brandon here.
I shrugged. "If he knows, best I find out now so I can watch my back around him as well. I doubt he could, though, no one was around to witness the attack. It was chaos."
Jordan didn't look convinced; if anything his concern only grew the longer he stood there and contemplated what I'd said.
"When's your appointment? One of us should be there."
Starting to walk again, I checked my palm reader. "Haven't had a confirmation message yet. I'll let you know when I do."
Jordan, again, did not look satisfied by that, but he didn't argue with me. Instead he tightened his arm across my shoulder, keeping me anchored to his side. Between Jordan, Rafe, Mattie, and Nolan, I'd been alone exactly zero times today. I didn't like that they were jeopardizing their own educations, though, by missing classes to be in mine, but they assured me that they had it all worked out.
When we got to our table, Rafe was there alone, on his palm reader. I was pretty used to seeing him like that, but usually it was with a dark scowl on his face. Today he was smiling, and when I took the seat next to him, he flashed me the image so that I could see the twin’s newest drawings. The budding artists loved to send their big brother all their creations.
"How's everything back home?" I asked, sad that we were no longer there. Everything felt safe in their compound, protected from the world.
"Good," Rafe said shortly, dropping his hand and focusing fully on me. Having his attention like this was enough to send heat dripping through my veins. "Dad said the meeting has already been initiated through diplomatic channels. They should have an official date within the week."
His eyes darkened as he finished because I was clearly only halfway paying attention. Despite the important conversation. "You're distracting," I muttered. His stare was measured, those eyes fucking slaying me.
He looked like he was about to lean over and kiss me, when Mattie dropped into the chair opposite mine. "Girl, I'm so ready for wine and pizza."
This was enough distraction that I managed to pull myself together. No matter how comfortable the three of us were with our relationship now, the rest of the world wouldn't be. And I didn't need the drama. Not today.
"Well, at this rate I might as well ditch the rest of my classes," I told Mattie. "There's no possible way I can catch up. Not even if I study all night every night for the rest of the year."
Nolan was the last to arrive, just as I uttered my morbid words. "New Girl, I will legit do all your assignments for you if it means you don't leave," he said, shooting puppy-dog eyes at me. "You're the yin to my yang."
I snorted. "You know the yin is the darkness, right?"
Nolan smiled. "Of course. And I stand by what I said."
Jordan cleared his throat. "I think if we can get a modified schedule going for Violet, and the rest of us help her study, we can catch her up."
Rafe leaned back in his chair, muscles stretching his dress shirt as he stretched his arms behind his head. "I already spoke with Morgan, and he agreed to a new schedule. The files should arrive—"
