Treachery, Royalty, and Annoying Girls

Chapter 3, Part 2

I came to the Social Room and saw the other eleven girls. "Callix!" Kasiandre and Jenni exclaimed at the same time. Jenni ran over first and smothered me in a tight hug. "Are you okay?! What happened? Did you get hurt?" I showed her my bandaged hand.

"Does this answer your question?" I heard Marilyna laugh loudly.

"So, you're gonna play injured to get even more attention from the prince?" She scoffed.

"What the heck, Marilyna." Kasiandre shouted. "My friend is hurt and you dare to insult her like that? We are all very lucky that we didn't get killed!" Marilyna fell silent. She looked to the ground with a guilty look on her face.

"Hey what's with the necklace?" One of the other girls asked. The name on her tag was Evelyn. I had to come up with something fast. "Uh, my mom said it was from my, um, my dad. She said t-that he gave it to her before the wreck and decided that I, uhm, keep it for good luck?" Nobody looked convinced but didn't question my response. Linsay walked in the room.

"Alright ladies, let's go to the dining hall." She told us. We all went. I walked with Jenni with my hand on her shoulder for balance.

We took our seats and Andrew looked surprised to see me. I quickly fiddled with the necklace and he nodded and mouthed the words, after dinner.

Soups and salads were passed around the table. We all ate our food quietly. It was strange that it was so silent. The king cleared his throat and excused himself from the table. Some of the other girls excused themselves, so I did the same and headed back to my room. I saw Amara run out of Jenni's room and quickly back into mine. "Strange," I muttered to myself. I entered the room quietly and sat on my bed. I layed down on top of the covers and thought about how my mom was doing. I missed her too much. "Knock knock?"

"Hey, Andrew." I sat up and supported myself with my hurt hand "Ow," I quickly switched hands.

"How are you?" He asked me.

"Eh, I'm still alive so I think I'm doing pretty good." He chuckled at my comment.

"That's a good point." He told me. We sat in silence together.

"I heard about what happened. I'm sorry about the guard." I said after a while.

"It's okay." We went back to being quiet. It was almost like we knew what the other was thinking. I sighed, "You should probably leave." I told him.

"Why?" He asked.

"I don't need anyone getting too riled up about us spending so much time together."

"I suppose you're right." He got up and left my room. I heard the shoes clicking down the hallway and decided to get changed into some pajamas. I was excited to find some silk shirts and shorts in my closet. I chose a light green pair and changed into them. I looked on a shelf for a book to read and found a worn copy of an old book. I opened it and started reading. I was reading for around an hour before I heard a sharp knock at my door. "Come in," I said and the girl who walked in was who I least expected.