Deviant King (Royal Elite 1)

They go on a long string of football conversation about the few games Elites played this season and last year’s championship.

Ronan Astor and Kim are bonding.

Gag. Someone kill me.

I slam the lid of my container shut with a force that gets their attention. “Are you done?”

“Bah alors, Frozen. Anyone ever told you to chill?”

“I’ll be perfectly chill when you’re as far away from us as possible.”

Kim frowns. “That’s rude, Ellie.”

Rude? Doesn’t she realise he’s playing a game? A game Aiden must’ve put him up to it.

“No wonder he’s possessed,” Ronan mutters before he smiles at Kim, completely erasing me. “How about you stop being a closet fan and come over to one of my parties?”

Kim’s eyes almost bug out. “Who? Me?”

“I’ll win the drinking competition for your sake, Kimmy.”

“You will?” She almost shouts.

“I do anything for our fans.” He winks, brushes his knuckles over her hand before he stands and glances at me. “You can come, too, if you lose the frozen act.”

He throws a dismissive hand and leaves.

I continue aiming daggers at his back even as he disappears between the trees.

“Did you hear that? He invited us to one of his parties.”

“So what?”

“It’s Ronan Astor’s party, Ellie! I’ve always dreamt about attending one. I can’t believe he invited us.”

“Kim!” I grip her shoulders. “We agreed to never mingle with them, remember? We belong to different worlds and have different standards.”

“It’s just a party, Ellie. It’s senior year, we can at least go to a party.” The spark in her eyes doesn’t disappear. If anything, she looks about to explode from excitement.

That’s when I see it. The eagerness. The child-like thrill.

Kim wants this. She always had this dreamy look in her eyes whenever she talked about the football game or when we overhead other students talk about Ronan’s parties.

Unlike me, she wants to see that other crowd — Aiden and his pack of wolves’ crowd.

Maybe she’s been holding back because of the bullying. Maybe it’s because of me.

Either way, the new Kim isn’t afraid to go after what she likes. If anything, she runs straight to it.

Nothing I do or say will change her mind about the party.

I have to take care of the source of the problem.

A certain arsehole who’s been manipulating her throughout her new change.

We go back to school for our next class. Kim wouldn’t stop talking about the party even when I try to change the subject. I preferred the Korean soap operas retellings.

Near the class, Aiden crosses our path, coming in from the opposite direction. He stops near the door and Kim stops, too.