He would ask his father if he could switch schools. Roman already knew the answer, but trying never hurt. Since the attack on the palace, his need to be around Violet had become an obsession born from a need to keep her safe. What little spare time he had, he spent glamoured invisible at Violet’s side. Having let her down once, he’d not do it again.
When the school bell rang, Roman stepped aside as the stream of students filed out of the building. He searched every face for his favorite freckles and blue eyes.
The sun glinted off a familiar head of silky auburn hair, and he couldn’t stop the relief and elation coursing through him. Releasing his glamour, he called out, “Violet!” ignoring the startled cries of those around him.
Violet turned at the sound of her name, and the content look on her face faded. Roman stalked forward, dread trickling through his veins. Seeing her face fill with regret made him want to knock everyone over to get to her faster.
“What’s wrong?” he asked roughly. Roman had never possessed patience.
Her delicate throat bobbed. “We need to talk.”
* * *
Dread settled low in Violet’s gut at what she had to do. Like a coward, she’d put off the conversation, but here Roman stood, staring at her, looking worse for wear.
Without a word, he tipped his head to the right and guided her through the other students. Slayton, one of her friends who attended her new school, caught her eye, silently asking if he needed to intervene. Violet subtly shook her head. The boy tipped his chin and left in the opposite direction.
Roman stared after Slayton with a murderous expression, and his hand on her lower back tightened around the fabric of her dress. “Are you dating him?” he asked through gritted teeth.
Violet peered up at him, hating how his jealousy made her feel. The way her heart preened only further solidified her decision. “We’re friends. He’s the only person I know at my new school.”
Roman’s hand and shoulders relaxed as he led her into the trees lining the road. The jungle and shore were her favorite places to be, and she didn’t want to taint her happy place with this memory, but no other place offered privacy from prying ears.
Roman guided her toward a large tree with a brilliant bright yellow trunk, large, flat pink and green leaves, and bright purple vines hanging loosely from the top. They sat down on two roots, facing each other, and he rested his elbows on his thighs.
“Why do I feel like you’re about to break my heart?” No anger tinged his words, only sad resignation, and Violet resisted throwing her arms around him.
She swallowed past the knot in her throat, praying she wouldn’t cry. “We can’t be friends anymore.”
He straightened, displaying every emotion Violet knew in rapid succession. “I don’t understand.”
This might be the most humiliating thing to ever happen to me,she thought,but if she didn’t tell the truth, he wouldn’t let her go.Taking a deep breath, she straightened her shoulders and met his questioning stare head on. How did one tell a friend they were inappropriately in love with them?
When Violet had first learned to climb trees, she’d been afraid of falling. Seeing the hard, unforgiving ground below had made anxiety ripple through her system and kept her from climbing high.
One day, she fell from a lower branch and cried the entire way home. Her father intercepted her, kissed her bruises, took her back to the forest, and encouraged her to try again. It took quite a bit of coaxing, but once she’d shakily scaled the tree to the lowest branch, he’d told her to jump.
“If you pay attention,” he explained. “You can jump before you fall to protect yourself on the way down.”
She’d always respected her father’s wisdom, and as always, he’d been right. Violet learned to predict when she needed to jump, even from one branch to another, to avoid falling.
Yet, somehow, she’d missed all the signs with Roman.
Violet had thought they were only friends, she really had, but apparently her heart missed the message; a dangerous thing when you’re up so high.
No one had explained the dangers of falling in love—infinitely more dangerous than falling from a tree. When you fall in love and the other person doesn’t catch you, you break more than a bone when hitting the ground. You break everything. Your heart. Your soul. Your confidence in yourself. It all justshatters.
They must call it falling because when it’s over, you can feel your heart fall to your feet right before it breaks against the hard truth.
Violet hadn’t a clue how to tell Roman how she felt, something her mind couldn’t differentiate from a life-or-death situation. Blood roared in her ears, and her heart tried to crack her ribcage as if personally offended by their existence. Better to just blurt it out before she passed out. “I’m in love with you.”
Roman’s nostrils flared and his chest heaved. He looked furious at her admission. Violet’s heart hit the ground.Hard. She’d known he didn’t return her feelings, yet a small part of her thought he might.No. It was better this way.
It wouldn’t matter, anyway. They’d still have to end their friendship. “Having to watch your relationship with Vivian develop will be too hard if I feel this way. I need to get past it if I’m going to be able to be around you two in the future.”
Roman jerked back. “Get past it? What does that mean?”
For being one of the smartest people Violet knew, the prince sure did have trouble grasping simple concepts. “It means I need to get over these feelings, and I can’t do that if you keep,” she searched for the right words, sputtering, “being you.”
