the moral of the story

chapter twenty-six: and everything starts to come together

if i'm being completely honest, it started out as the best day of my life.

i mean, i woke up in james's bed. his bed, for crying out loud! he had never let that happen before. he'd always manage to sneak me out in the late hours of the night, sleep deprived but happy to have at least some attention from my boyfriend. it didn't matter to me that i'd walk through the next day as basically a human zombie. i was pretty sure my poor parents wanted to talk about that with me, but the guy i was seeing was a goddamn prince. they had no idea how to deal with that.

but that day was different. i spent the night in my boyfriend's room. in his palace. because he was an actual prince. sigh. could my life get any better.

not to mention, the clothes he'd lent me were among maybe the most comfortable pair of pajamas that my skin ever had the privilege of adorning. and they were just one of his captain america t-shirts and a pair of his red boxers. i mean, not that i was expecting anything different. i guess i was sorta relieved when he walked in with his own clothing, not some nightgown that was left over by evie or something.

speaking of the devil, i'd actually gotten the chance to meet her a few days prior. it was after a dinner with james (which was our usual: takeout from mcdonald's) and she'd appeared to surprise him. when he saw evie, james nearly knocked the wind outta me with how hard he shoved me behind him. and before i could reprimand him, evie spoke first and told him she thought they could go for a walk in the garden outside of his window. our garden.

but i must've stuck out like a sore thumb, because she saw me and my stupid brown hair dumbly trying to fit myself behind james, who isn't rather tall himself. so james introduced me as julian's girlfriend, as if anyone could buy that. julian was older than me. like, way older. he was even older than verona, who had always been ancient to me. but i didn't say anything. instead, i grinned and stuck my hand out to the girl who wanted steal my guy without actually knowing that he was my guy.

but, ah, my suspicions about evie being a classist bitch turned out to be one hundred percent true! who knew? her upper lip curled up as evie's eyes trailed down my body, scanning my baggy overalls. i crossed my arms over my chest, glancing down as i felt my cheeks warm. i didn't understand why i felt so insecure under her gaze. i had basically won. james loved me. not her. he told me so himself.

we exchanged pleasantries, and much like my first meeting with paige, evie basically ignored my presence and kept her eyes solely trained on james, staring up at him like he put all the stars in the sky. and i swear, i don't think i've felt that jealous in my life. not because of evie, but because of james. either he was in incredible actor, or he was falling just as hard for evie as i was for him. because i was pretty sure that was how i stared at him.

but james still brushed off evie in maybe the most polite way i've ever seen. he said that he had to escort me to julian because i didn't know the palace too well and i was likely to get lost. evie just grinned at him and glared down at me. but she still sauntered off, ginger hair swinging and all big-ben like. it took everything in me not to flip her off as she pranced away.

but today was different. i woke up all tangled up in james's arms, the sunlight streaming in through his window lulling me from my slumber. groaning, i rubbed my eyes and peeled them open, meeting the grin of james as he peered down at me.

"were you watching me sleep, edward?" i retorted in a much deeper voice than normal. my morning voice, i guess.

"who, me?" james joked with a god-awful faux-american accent, tucking a strand of brown hair behind my ear. "no way, bella. i was just...admiring my silk sheets. did you know we have them imported from africa?"