Queen of Hawthorne Prep

That’s it.

That’s all I care about.

When Everly grinds to a halt, my gaze slices to her in question. Anger flashes across her face before she grumbles through stiff lips, “Let’s sit somewhere else today.”

My belly twists. I can only imagine what’s prompted her to make the suggestion. I try to swallow down the thick lump of nausea that has settled in the middle of my throat.

Whatever you do, don’t look!

Even though I tell myself not to do it, my gaze arrows to the table crowded with all the usual suspects. In the middle of the group is the king himself and perched on his lap is none other than Sloane. It’s so reminiscent of the first day of school that I blink my eyes and tell myself that it’s not déjà vu.

“Summer,” Everly’s fingers dig into my arm in an effort to shift my attention away from the scene, “let’s go.”

The image has unfortunately been singed into my brain for all eternity. “Sure. Where do you want to sit?”

Everly scans the area until she finds a table with a few open seats before pointing. “How about over there?”

Honestly, I don’t care where we go as long as I don’t have to look at Kingsley and Sloane. The smell of mass-produced food assaults my nostrils and my belly churns with a pang of discomfort. Maybe this isn’t stress at all, but a case of the flu. I’ve spent most of the morning fighting nausea.

It’s a relief when we finally settle at the end of the table on the outskirts of the cafeteria. Everly strategically positions herself so that she faces the football players and my back is to Kingsley. She sets her bag down before pulling out her drink, sandwich, bag of pretzels, and a fruit snack.

Her brow furrows. “Didn’t you bring a lunch?”

With a grimace, I shake my head. The thought is enough to make me vomit.

Everly pushes a small prepackaged bag of pretzels toward me. “Here, take this. I have more than enough.”

Her gaze slides from me to something over my shoulder. After finishing off the last bite of her sandwich, she leans forward, closing the distance between us. I know what’s coming and I brace myself for it. I’m surprised it took her this long.

“I haven’t wanted to be all up in your business, but you gotta throw me a bone here.” She pauses for a heartbeat before blurting out the question I’ve been dreading most. “What happened between the two of you?”

“It’s a long story.” Where would I even begin?

“I’m sure it is, but I don’t understand how your relationship unraveled so quickly. You two seemed solid.” Scorn fills her eyes as her upper lip curls. “It’s unbelievably shitty for him to do this right after everything with your dad.”

A humorless chuckle slides from my lips as I shake my head. “It’s so much more complicated than that.” As much as I’d love to let Everly believe this is entirely Kingsley’s fault, I can’t do that. Yes, he’s proven himself to be a total jerk, but the ownership for this particular fallout lies with me. I’m the one who fucked up.

When she raises her brows, I shrug, struggling to put it all into words. “There’s a lot of bad blood between our families and it’s been that way for eighty years.”

Surprise flashes in her eyes. “So, there’s a whole Romeo and Juliet situation going on here?”

“Not exactly.”

“Minus the suicides?”

Even though there’s nothing to laugh about, a snort of humor escapes. “Along with a few other details.”

“Hmmm…star-crossed lovers,” she adds dreamily, “that’s kind of romantic.”

She couldn’t be more wrong about that.

“Trust me, there is nothing romantic about our situation.” We were doomed for failure from the very beginning. It’s almost painful to remember how hard I fell for Kingsley the day we spent on the boat. No matter how much I grieve, moving on from that feels impossible. I don’t think I’ll ever get over him.

Everly opens her mouth before snapping it shut as something snags her gaze behind me. She sits up straighter before muttering, “Incoming.”

Please don’t let it be Kingsley.

I can’t deal with him right now. If he’s looking to throw me to the wolves or slap a red bullseye on my back, this would be the perfect time to do it. I flinch when a finger taps my shoulder. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I realize it can’t be the dark-haired boy. There’s no way he would ever be so meek as to hit my shoulder and wait for me to turn around. He’s way more forceful than that.

I swivel and find Sloane. A smug smile curves her pink slicked lips as she cocks a hip. “For some odd reason, Kingsley wants you at his table. So get your ass moving or he’ll move it for you.” She smirks before adding, “Frankly, I’d love to see that happen.”