Illusions That May (Court High 2)

“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.”