Illusions That May (Court High 2)

His lips closed to that, jaw working before he waved the ticket at me. He urged it. “He said he’s sorry. He’s sorry, but he thinks you should go.”

He thinks I should go…

“Why?” I challenged, and when he said nothing again, I stood up to him. “Did he hear something? Does he know something?”

“December—”

“Is it the abortion?” I asked flat out. “Is that it? Is that what he heard because… Christ, LJ. I’d never try to trap him or something.”

“It’s not that.”

I blanched. “What is it, then?”

All of this was completely awkward for him, clearly when he pushed his hand over his hair. “It’s all just too much, you know?” he stated, that hurting more than something else for some reason. I didn’t know why but it did. He breathed hard. “Things with you and him… they just got too hot, and he didn’t want to hurt your feelings—”

“You’re lying. You’re lying!”

“I’m not, December,” he rushed, completely serious. “And God do I wish I was. You think I like hurting you? You’re Paige’s sister. You’re family.”

Some fucking family. All of them completely ignored me yesterday, avoided me like the plague and I was diseased. They didn’t care about me.

And apparently, neither did Royal.

Taking LJ’s ticket, I walked away.

“December…”

“Fuck you.” I shot around, tears in my eyes. I wiped them away. “Fuck all of you, and pass that on to Royal too.”

His lips closed, and though he had no reason, he didn’t follow me. He let me walk away and get on that bus that was about to leave. He let me leave and said to hell with anything regarding family. I guess that’s how things were going to be, the decision about what was next for me I guess made.

Seven

Royal - Age 9

“Oh my Goddd, you’re going to be doing that forever. Let me.”

Hands came around me, helping me with my tie. Paige had been playing video games, a new thing I got in the mail from Grandma and Grandpa. They sent things all the time, knowing my dad. Knowing he didn’t remember things like birthdays and stuff.

Paige didn’t wrestle with my tie like I had for the last hour or something. She got it right like a wizard, the thing perfect when she stepped back.

“How did you know how to do that?” I asked, shocked when I straightened it.

She shrugged in her bib overalls. “I watched my dad. He wears one every day.”

I adjusted it again. It had to be perfect. Dad would be mad if it wasn’t.

“I don’t want to go to this,” I confessed, but she knew. I always had to go to parties, but this was the first Court party. All the dads and uncles and everything came. I’d been hearing about the Court and what it was my whole life, and now that I was nine, they were making me go. I frowned. “Can’t you come with?”

It was a stupid thing to ask her, and if she were a boy, she’d already be getting ready for it. Why couldn’t she have been a boy?

She threw an arm around me, staring at the pair of us in the mirror. If it wasn’t for her ponytail, she could get by as just one of my friends. She was one of my friends, right there with LJ, Jax, Knight, and me. We were together all the time, and Paige wasn’t a girl when she was with us. She was just one of our friends.

“I’d love to go, Royal Prinze,” she said, surprising me. Her dark eyes danced. “I would if I had something to wear. But since I don’t…”

“You could,” I said, looking at her. “Are you serious? Because if you are, I have something.” I had many things, and I took her hand, running out of the game room and through the house. Our butler Graves gave me an eye, but didn’t stop me. I ran through the house all the time. Especially when I knew Dad wasn’t home. He was already at Windsor House for my presentation to the other members tonight. I’d been hearing about it for months.

It all has to be perfect.