by Eden O'Neill
He unclasped it, removing a silver chain he wore. He had it on last night, and when he raised his hand between us, he slipped off his king ring.
He slid it on that chain, the chrome sinking right to the center with its weight. He looked at me after, lifting the chain and motioning toward my neck.
I moved my hair.
He put the chain around me, the metal warm on my skin.
“This doesn’t mean you belong to me,” he said, clasping the necklace before bringing the ring forward. He lifted the ring. “It means you’re a part of me, a part of all this. I don’t own you because you can’t be owned.”
Understanding, I closed my eyes, kissing him again. He pushed his weight on me, and I opened my legs for him. I didn’t own him either.
We were a part of whatever we were about to embark on together.
Twenty-Seven
December
Arriving at school was different that day. Everything was different. Royal and I were somewhere else now, and since we’d arrived to that place, we weren’t going back. Wherever we were headed, we were doing so together, unable to be parted. Not this time.
He kept his arm around me the whole journey to school, only leaving in the moments we stopped at my house so I could change and check in with my dad. Dad had actually been pretty lax about the whole, “not coming home” thing like he had before and didn’t even question where I’d been. So much had changed, and I recalled Ramses’ voice in my head.
“Maybe he does care… You never know until you let him.”
This might have been him extending the olive branch, new levels to so many of my relationships lately. Thoughts traveled to Ramses and how I’d left things with him. He obviously suggested I’d go see Royal last night, but I hadn’t told him I would. He clearly had some feelings for me, and though I didn’t want to rub things in his face, I couldn’t put distance between Royal and me. We showed up to school together, his arm still around me. In the busy halls, people definitely stared at us, but I didn’t care. Like stated, we were in a different place now, and everything else didn’t seem to matter. We managed to avoid confrontations with friends and everyone else on the way in, getting to his locker unscathed. There’d be time for those talks eventually, those moments later.
Dropping his arm from my shoulders, he grabbed my hips, pressing me against his locker. He didn’t look at anything else but my mouth before kissing me right there in the traffic-filled hall, a kiss that literally made me forget everything else. After it was over, he kept his hands on my hips, pressing his forehead against mine.
“I can’t tell you everything,” he said. “Everything about Paige? It’s something I have to… well, I have to show you.”
I had no idea what this meant but decided to trust him, gripping his uniform’s lapels. “Okay.”
I said okay because that’s where we were now. There were no more lies, only trust, and he tipped my chin, kissing me again.
He pulled back, his thumb brushing my skin. “We’ll go after school since it’s Friday, make a road trip of it. You’ll know everything by the end. Everything I know. I promise.”
The certainty of that scared me just as much as anything else, knowing not just the truth but whatever further darkness he felt was behind it. My sister dying had already been tragic the way I’d believed…
But for there to be more?
All of this may gut me in the end. I might not be strong enough, and as if knowing that, Royal pulled me away from the lockers. He brought an arm around me, kissing my hair, and I knew whatever this was, he’d stand by me. He’d get me through it, and he had me as well. I’d be there for him too.
“Hey, guys.”
Royal touched our heads together briefly before lifting and finding Jax. He stood there, in his uniform as we were. He had his hands in his pockets, and the judgment I thought might be there at seeing Royal and me together was absent. Maybe he knew Royal and I ultimately coming together would happen. Maybe Royal had even told him while he’d been waiting for me to get ready when we stopped at my house that morning. I didn’t know what Jax knew, but for whatever reason, him seeing Royal and me together didn’t visibly bother him like I thought it might.
Royal left his arm around my neck, keeping me close. He might have said something, but Jax leaned in first.
Jax frowned. “The guys told me to get you—”
“Attention, student body of Windsor Preparatory Academy,” came over the speaker, a female voice. I recognized the voice as Principal Hastings’s secretary, Mrs. Norris. “We’re having an assembly before first hour classes today. Please report to the central gymnasium immediately.”
Everyone in the hallway immediately started to move that way, but Jax held us back.
“What’s going on?” Royal asked, and when Jax looked at me, Royal held a hand up. “She’s fine. Tell us both.”
Nodding, Jax pushed hands in his pockets. “There’s whispers surrounding the assembly. People are saying it’s Mira.”
Royal’s eyebrows narrowed. “What is?”
“The assembly. Folks are saying she’s the reason for it.” He looked around before facing us. “They’re saying she committed suicide.”
Thank you so much for checking out COURT KEPT (Court High 3)! You can get the final book in the Court High saga, WE THE PRETTY STARS, on Amazon. Want chapter one now? You can get that and more by subscribing to my newsletter! There, you’ll get new release news from me and a link to the newsletter exclusive Court High website, which has access to chapter one of WE THE PRETTY STARS as well as so many other fun bonus exclusives. What are you waiting for? =^)
