Suppliant

by Laura Tree

  Chapter 37

  The swim--up movie comes sooner than I would like. I really don’t want to go, but I know that it’s important to keep up on appearances for the sake of maintaining our cover.

  When Damien and I reach the pool, Zeke is already sitting at the swim--up bar with Anna. She smiles and waves at us. I mentally prepare myself to put on a show for the rest of the evening. Maybe if I’m lucky, I can make up an excuse to bail after an hour or two.

  I put on my best fake smile and wave back. We have enough time to have a few drinks and share some small talk before the movie begins.

  I’m pleasantly surprised that the movie is catchy enough that I don’t have to pretend to be interested in it. It’s easy to focus on the screen and tune out Zeke and Princess Anna.

  Why did she invite us here anyway? Damien tried several times to refuse her offer, but she wouldn’t let up. I’m only glad that I don’t share any classes with her. It’s bad enough to have to share free time with her.

  I’m not sure what I have against her. I guess I just get a bad feeling from her. It has been like that since the first time I met her. I’m probably just being paranoid after the Jessice incident.

  “I have to use the ladies’ room; would you care to join me, Layla?” Princess Anna asks. I look at Damien and realize that I need to go also; I must have had a few more drinks than I realized. How bad could it be to spend a few minutes with her?

  “Sure, thanks for asking,” I say. Damien nods at me as I leave the pool with Anna.

  The bathroom is empty when we get there.

  “You know, it’s easy to tell that you and Zeke have something going on. I can tell by the way that you two look at each other. Don’t make me confront Damien.”

  Whoa . . . was that a threat? Go ahead and try, sister. It’s too bad that I have a cover to maintain.

  “Damien is my boyfriend,” I say, focusing on washing my hands so my anger won’t get out of control.

  “I just want you to stay away from Zeke.” She turns to look at me.

  “That’s not going to happen. If you didn’t notice, we run in the same crowd,” I reply. Seriously?! This must be the vibe that she has been giving off that makes me not trust her.

  “As a princess, I am accustomed to getting what I want. If you try to change that, I will be forced to take matters into my own hands. My father has a lot of resources,” she says. This really pisses me off. I try to count to ten, but only make it to four.

  “Besides, I don’t think that Damien would appreciate all of the sneaky looks that you two share. Does he know that you’re cheating on him?” she asks. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

  “It’s none of your business who I do or don’t look at. Who do you think you are to try to manipulate me? Well, let me tell you, I don’t care about your title, or your father’s resources. If Zeke wants to look at me, it means that you are doing something wrong,” I say. It’s a mean blow, but I don’t care. I make my way back to the pool as quickly as I can with the intention of being gone before she returns.

  “Zeke, where is Damien?” I ask. I glance around nervously. I know I only have a few seconds before Anna gets back, and I don’t want to have to confront her again.

  “He was called away by the Dean. Are you okay?” he questions after seeing the panic on my face. Anna chooses that moment to join us.

  “I’m just not feeling well,” I say. “I would like to go home. I was hoping that Damien would walk me back.” I start to gather my things, ready to make the trek alone.

  “You can’t go alone. I’ll walk you back.” Zeke stands up and gathers his things.

  “But Zeke, I wanted to finish the movie. You aren’t going to leave me here on my own, are you?” Anna the princess of manipulators tries to win him over.

  “I’m sorry, Anna, I will make it up to you, but Layla can’t walk back alone; remember the buddy policy.” He bends to give her a quick peck on the cheek, and I can’t help my sinister smile.

  So I win this round, on accident. If Anna only knew the bond she was messing with. I think it would be in her best interest to leave it alone. She’ll never win this war.

  “Okay, what was that about? You aren’t really sick; I probed you,” Zeke says, looking angry.

  “Ask your girlfriend,” I say. “Oh wait, she won’t tell you. She confronted me in the bathroom and told me to stay away from you. She said that she noticed how we look at each other. Then she threatened me.” I throw my arms in the air out of frustration.

  “What do you mean, she ‘threatened’ you?” Zeke asks. “Anna has been nothing but kind to you.”

  “Anna said that she would tell Damien and then she went on to say that her father has a lot of resources that she could use. That sounds like a threat to me,” I spit out.

  “I don’t think that she meant it that way. And you admitted being jealous of her a few nights ago. Are you sure that she meant that?” he asks.

  Are you kidding? Of course it was a threat. Does he think that I confronted her and wasn’t telling him the whole story? What a jerk.

  I huff and slam the door on my way into the bathroom. When I come out, I expect to find my room vacated, but he’s still there, sitting on my bed.

  “Layla, we need to figure this out, and you walking away isn’t going to solve anything,” he says.

  “I’m finished talking, I already told you what she said, and you didn’t believe me. I can’t help it that you believe your pretend girlfriend over me. There is nothing to figure out; it happened, and it’s over. I’m finished talking about it.” I slam open my dresser drawer to get my pajamas.

  “I just don’t think that she confronted you unprovoked. Anna is a nice girl.”

  I smirk. She is a maniac wolf in sheep’s clothing; how does he not see that?

  “Can we just talk about this? What exactly did she say?”

  “I told you that I am done talking about it. If you want to know so bad, then take a look.” I grab his hand and play back my memory from the time she asked me to go to the ladies’ room with her. It ends abruptly at the pool with Anna giving me the angry eyes as Zeke walks me back.

  “Wow, I just didn’t expect that from her. She seems so nice and so into me. I swear I thought she really liked you and wanted you guys to be friends. I’m sorry that I didn’t believe you,” he says. At least he’s willing to apologize when he’s wrong.

  “Look, Zeke, I’m really tired. Can we talk about this some other time?” I ask, motioning for him to move so I can climb into bed.

  “Of course. Good night, Layla.” Zeke leaves through the bathroom, and I can feel that Damien is just getting in before my eyes close.