The Cruel World

by Scarlett Haven

  I roll my eyes at him. “Even I’m not that good an actress.”

  It’s a joke, of course, but he clenches his jaw. I start to tell him it’s a joke, but the door opens up and I look over to see Michael Sinclair walk in, followed by his daughter, Serenity, and her husband, Sebastian. I was a freshman when they were seniors, so I don’t know them very well, but I do know that Sebastian is an incredible agent.

  West face immediately brightens, as does all of my team. I don’t think it’s that they’re that good of actors—I think it’s the fact that Michael Sinclair is here. I try to coach my face to look happy—the last thing I want is for Michael to suspect that something is amiss with my group, but I’m not that good an actress. I worry that he’ll see right through me.

  Tonight will be a true test for us. And I just hope that we can pass.

  Breathe.

  We survived dinner—somehow. I don’t know how. But dinner was incredible. We all got along and it felt like old times—well the old times when we got along, right after we left the forest, not the old times of when I first joined the team and everybody hated me. But as soon as dinner was over, as soon as we got into the Jeep, everything went back to normal. Ian and West went back to hating me right away. For some reason, it hurts more now than it did before. Maybe because that dinner made me long for a time when we could actually get along. I miss these guys—a lot.

  That night, when we get back home, I sit out on the balcony. It’s a bigger balcony than the one we have at our condo and it’s nice. I just breathe in the ocean air, thinking living on The Island would be nice. The problem is, I’m not sure I’ll ever retire from Spy School.

  As I am sitting there, my phone begins to ring a familiar tune and I groan as I realize who is calling—my mother. I was hoping I wouldn’t hear from her for a while. Wasn’t Thanksgiving with her enough?

  “Hey, Mom,” I answer, trying to sound cheerful. I’m anything but cheerful right now, but I’m not going to let my mom know that.

  “Roxy, hey. I heard you and your team are at The Royals Games.” Mom’s voice sounds perky, which scares me a little bit.

  “Uh, yeah. We’re here.” I push a piece of hair behind my ear.

  “Great! Meet your father and I at Beachside Java in fifteen minutes.”

  The call ends abruptly.

  Great.

  I sigh, turning to walk inside my room so I can head out. I do take the time to change out of my high heels and put on flats—my parents don’t deserve the heels. On my way down the stairs, I hope that none of the guys have taken the Jeep out. The coffee shop is on the other side of town and it would definitely take longer than fifteen minutes to walk there. If I show up late, it would be the literal end of the world.

  When I get downstairs, I find the keys to the Jeep on the hook. I am about to grab them when a hand reaches over in front of me and swoops them off the hook. I look at the body attached to the hand and see West. I open my mouth to fight him for the keys—there is no way he’s going to win this one—when he holds up a hand to stop me.

  “I’m going with you,” he says.

  I raise an eyebrow. “Why?”

  “Because you’re going to meet your parents and I don’t want you doing that on your own.”

  “How do you know I’m going to meet them?”

  He shrugs. “I was sitting outside when I heard you talking to them on your balcony.”

  I sigh, my shoulders slumping forward. “Fine.”

  Maybe my mom won’t be as hard on me if West is there, but I know better than to think that. My mom won’t care who is there—any chance to dig into me, she will take.

  I grab his arm. “But there are conditions to you going.”

  He looks back at me.

  “First of all, you can’t be mean to me in front of my parents—”

  He cuts me off. “You know I wouldn’t do that.”

  I give him a pointed look. “I’m just making sure. You haven’t exactly been nice lately.”

  “What’s your other condition?” he asks.

  “Don’t fight my parents. Whatever they say, just sit there and take it. Fighting them will only make things worse, and I just don’t want you to egg them on.”

  He huffs, grabbing onto my wrist, tugging me along with him. He didn’t respond to what I said, but I can only hope he’s going to comply. I really don’t want to deal with family drama because West loses his temper. I just can’t handle that right now.

  West opens the passenger side of the Jeep, motioning me to get inside.

  He tugs my wrist to stop me before I climb inside.

  “By the way, you look really beautiful tonight. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.” He reaches up and pushes a piece of hair behind my ear.

  I shiver from his touch, which causes him to grin widely at my reaction. I hate that I react this way to him. I loathe the butterflies in my stomach. But I can’t help it.

  “Thanks.” I lick my lips and West looks down at my mouth. My heart races as I remember the kisses we’ve shared.

  He sighs, backing away to give me room.

  My stomach sinks with disappointment, but I try not to let it show as I get into the passenger seat. But West knows me—he’ll be able to read exactly what I’m feeling right now.

  Once he shuts the door, I take a moment to compose myself. I breathe and try to pretend like everything is fine. That I’m fine with being just friends. That I’m fine with us fighting. That I’m fine with him going with me tonight.

  Tonight is… complicated enough without West. I don’t want him there. The last thing I need is for him to infiltrate my family. It’s the one thing I want to keep secret from the team. Yeah, they know some, but they don’t know everything. If they did, they never would’ve let me go to Thanksgiving in Alaska.

  When West gets into the driver’s seat, he starts the Jeep and then grabs my hand, holding it on my lap. I don’t quite know what to make of the gesture, but I won’t fight him. I just hold on, hating myself for thinking how perfect my hand fits in his. It’s like it was made to be there.

  I look out the window of the Jeep as we drive down the road. I try to focus on the upcoming week—The Royal Games start tomorrow. I don’t know what the challenge is, but I’m excited. I’m hoping I will do well. I want to be able to prove myself to the guys. Maybe if I help them win, they will calm down a little. They’ve all been so uptight since we got that stupid invitation.

  West squeezes my hand. “What are you thinking so hard about over there?”

  I sigh, turning to him. “Just tomorrow—I’m nervous and excited about the challenge.”

  He nods. “I was nervous my first year too.”

  “Was last year your first year?” I inquire.

  He nods. “Yeah. Kal and Ian were new to the team and we hadn’t spent a whole lot of time with one another. But we dominated. We would’ve won if Jensen…”

  His voice trails off and I laugh, shaking my head.

  “What is it with you two?” I ask.

  West shrugs. “We’re both leaders—stubborn leaders. We’re bound to clash.”

  “I’m not his biggest fan either.” I chew on the side of my lip, thinking about how I punched him in St. Thomas. “I might’ve overreacted by punching him.”

  “No. Trust me, you didn’t overreact. I was five seconds away from punching him myself. I’m glad you beat me to it,” he says. “You never need me to fight your battles for you. Sometimes I have to remind myself that you’re strong. You’re really strong.”

  I smirk. “I’m not the fragile Princess you thought I was, huh?”

  He shakes his head. “You never were, and I knew that from the moment you walked into that office. You didn’t cower when the four of us were glaring at you. You held your head high. And even when you met us on the plane and after we were all so mean to you… you stuck around and proved yourself. I’m so glad you did.”

  Part of me wants to ask why he’s so mean to me if he’s ‘glad
I stuck around,’ but I don’t want to ruin this moment. West is so rarely nice to me and I want to savor this moment. We’ll inevitably go back to fighting later. I want to enjoy the truce while I can.

  “Hey, West,” I say.

  “Hmm?”

  “Thanks for coming with me.”

  Even though West won’t be a buffer, I’m still glad for the moral support.

  “Princess, I’ll go with you anywhere.” His voice is low and husky, and it makes my stomach muscles clench up.

  How can I feel so strongly about this beautiful, complicated boy?

  West turns on his blinker and I realize we’ve arrived at the coffee shop. My stomach muscles clench for an entirely different reason now—utter and complete dread. In a few moments, I will be coming face to face with my parents and I’m not prepared for this.

  “Breathe.” West squeezes my hand.

  I try, but it’s hard.

  West pulls the Jeep into a parking spot, but neither one of us move to get out.

  Her turns to me. “No matter what, I am here for you. Always.”

  I nod, finally able to take a deep breath. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

  More like… let’s get this over with.

  West grins at me, squeezing my hand one last time before getting out. As we walk inside, we don’t hold hands. If he did, I’m sure my parents would have something to say about it, so I’m glad he doesn’t. He must know that too. I don’t know how he knows, but I’m glad he does.

  My parents aren’t here yet, so West and I order some coffee—I get decaf because it’s nearly nine o’clock at night and I’m jittery enough over the fact that I’m meeting up with my parents. Never mind the fact that West is with me. I’m surprised when West orders a pumpkin flavored latte.

  I raise an eyebrow at him.

  “What?” he asks. “It’s hard to find pumpkin flavored coffee this late in the year.”

  I snicker, shaking my head. “I just thought you’d be a black coffee kind of guy.”

  He makes a face. “Ew, no. I’ll take my cream with a dash of coffee.”

  My kind of coffee.

  He narrows his eyes. “And you can’t say anything, Miss Can I Get Extra Vanilla. And soy milk, really?”

  “I’m trying to cut back on dairy. I swear I gained weight so much weight in Alaska.” There isn’t a lot to do when you lock yourself in your room for seven days.

  He laughs. “That’s such a girl thing to say.”

  I stick my tongue out at him. I expect him to roll his eyes or glare at me, but what I don’t expect is for him to look longingly at me.

  “Princess, I—”

  “Roxy! There you are.” Dad approaches us with a huge smile on his face. When he gets up to us, he gives me a hug. “Your mom and I are on the patio.”

  I nod. “Cool. Dad, this is West. West, this is my dad.”

  West holds out his hand to my dad. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Villareal.”

  “Call me Robert,” Dad responds, shaking West’s hand.

  “We’ll be out in a minute,” I tell Dad, motioning toward the counter. “We’re just waiting for our coffee.”

  Dad nods, walking back out to the patio. I wait until he’s out of earshot to turn back to West.

  “Don’t call him Robert in front of my mother,” I warn. “Trust me, it wouldn’t end well for you.”

  He rubs a hand at the back of his neck. “I’m kind of nervous about meeting your parents.”

  “Trust me, they might be Spy School Royalty, but they’re not that awesome.” I wave a hand.

  “I’m more nervous because they’re your parents,” he admits.

  My heart flutters. “They’re going to love you—probably more than they love me. My mother always reminds me that she wanted me to be a boy.”

  Our coffee order is up. Now it’s time for me to be nervous as we head out to the patio.

  The place is fairly crowded for a Monday evening, but I imagine that’s because of everybody in town for The Royal Games.

  We find my parents sitting at a table on the patio. West motions me to walk ahead of him as we go to sit down. My mom doesn’t stand up as I approach the table, she just sips her coffee, not really saying anything.

  My mom has cold eyes—that’s the only way that I know to describe them. They’re a beautiful amber color, but they look at the world with such hatred. Or maybe that’s just me she looks at with hatred. Her dark brown hair is neatly pulled back into a tight bun and she’s wearing what she always does—a black pantsuit. I loathe pantsuits. She bought me one when I left for Spy School my freshman year. I threw it away before I ever boarded my plane.

  “Hey, Mom,” I say, trying to keep my tone light as West as I take a seat.

  Her amber eyes meet mine and she shakes her head. “Why must you insist on wearing your hair down? You know you look better when it’s up.”

  I take a sip of my coffee, not saying a word.

  She glances beside me, her eyes lighting up. “West Newman—it’s nice to meet the man who has had to put up with our daughter. We raised her to be strong. I really don’t know where we went wrong.”

  My dad slips his arm behind my mom’s back and I shift uncomfortably in my seat.

  West clears his throat, sitting up straighter. “Roxy is an incredible agent. She’s been a great asset to my team.”

  I chew on my lip anxiously as the light in my mom’s eyes dim. I can tell she was hoping West would agree with her and that they could spend the evening roasting me. It must be a disappointment. I’m just glad West is on my side tonight.

  “That’s great to hear,” Dad says.

  Mom elbows him in the side. “I wouldn’t call getting another teammate shot being a great asset. I’m surprised you decided to keep her on your team after that.”

  I sigh, leaning back in my chair.

  Here we go.

  I heard all about this at Thanksgiving and I guess I’ll hear about it more now.

  West isn’t affected though. He takes a long sip of his coffee before responding coolly, “She trains twice as hard as the rest of us, she even wakes up an hour early to get more running in. She learned French in three months because she studied so hard. When the rest of us went out on Friday and Saturday night, she’d be home, working. I trust her with my life. That’s why I consider her a great asset to my team.”

  My mom blinks.

  Dad grins.

  I turn my coffee up, chugging it. Really, I just want any excuse to get out of here early and I’m hoping West feels the same.

  “If she ever causes you any problems, just let us know,” Mom says, still trying to push her ‘I hate Roxy’ agenda off on West.

  West pushes his chair back, standing up. “Mr. and Mrs. Villareal, it was… uh… well, we met. But Roxy and I have to get back. Tomorrow starts The Royal Games and I really want her to get a good night’s sleep so she’ll be prepared.”

  “Of course, son,” Dad says, then looks at me. “Roxy, thanks for coming to meet us. I know you’ll be very busy this week. We’ll be there to cheer you on.”

  Or to laugh when I fail.

  I wave goodbye to my parents and follow West out to the Jeep. He doesn’t say one word to me as he drives out of the parking lot and I have no idea what I should say to him. I feel like everything that just happened was probably overwhelming to him. Then again, his parents were abusive jerks—way worse than my parents. At least my mom has never hit me.

  A few seconds after he pulls out onto the main road, he reaches his hand across the center console and holds onto my hand. That is how we stay until we pull into the house a few minutes later. He still doesn’t say anything as he gets out of the Jeep. He just holds my hand as we walk inside. Nobody is hanging out in the living room, so they must be out somewhere.

  With his hand still in mine, he walks me up the stairs, right to my bedroom door. Only then does he let go. He cups my face with his hands.

  “Your parents suck,” he says softly. “I’m
sorry.”

  Then he surprises me by leaning forward and capturing my lips with his, giving me the softest kiss imaginable. After a short kiss, he backs away and walks the opposite direction of my room.

  I put a finger to my lips, savoring the memory.

  I hope tomorrow will be a good day. I need it to be good. Because if West goes back to hating me, I’m not sure my heart could handle it.

  Tuesday, December 12

  Let the games begin.

  Today, I am not wearing a pretty dress. I’m not curling my hair or doing my makeup. Because today isn’t about looking pretty—it’s about skill. It’s about showing to everybody, including my team and my parents, that I have what it takes to be a Royal.

  It’s my first time ever participating in The Royal Games, so I’m nervous. I have no idea what to expect and I’m so worried about letting down my team today. Whatever happens, I will try my hardest. Jensen’s team will not win.

  A pit settles in my stomach as I think about the fact that Jensen, Cole, and Rook will be there today. They’re the cause of so much drama and tension in my team right now. I know it’s not Rook’s fault, he was just being a nice guy, but it’s his fault West is mad at him.

  I head downstairs before any of the guys. I didn’t want them waiting on me today, not that they ever wait long. West seems surprised when he walks down the stairs and finds me pacing the living room.

  He tosses something at me and I barely grab it before it hits me in the face.

  “Wear this,” he says.

  I look at the cloth and see a t-shirt that says, ‘Team West.’ I narrow my eyes at him.

  “Alek, Kal, and Ian are wearing it too.”

  West’s shirt says, ‘King West.’

  I go into the bathroom and change my shirt quickly. It’s a little big, so I tie it up so it won’t get in my way.

  I can’t believe I’m wearing a shirt with West’s name on it.

  When I walk out of the bathroom, the rest of the guys are standing there waiting. Alek, Kal, and Ian are all wearing Team West shirts too, which does make me feel better.