Hidden Royalties

twelve ༉‧₊˚.

WALKING AROUND SCHOOL alone was, well, lonely. Especially after being back in class after the week, I just had was great. I was more stressed about how I had hurt Alice than the upcoming calculus test I've yet to study for. My mind was a mess. My thoughts were like bees buzzing around in their hive. Maybe wasps were a better analogy.

My first time seeing Alice at school after the trip was in the courtyard. Our table where we usually sat was empty. Some part of me hoped that she was going to be there when we came back to school but she wasn't. Instead, she was hanging with Penelope and her gang of minions. She briefly looked at me with a pissed off facial expression then went back to laughing with the group of girls that surrounded her. Guess she's still pissed off at me.

I hadn't spoken to Elias either after my sudden outburst in Paris. I admit, I felt guilty saying the things I had said but I wasn't wrong. My emotions had to come out one way or another.

I sat at our table by myself and took out my pack of almonds to eat for lunch. I took out my phone and looked at the media posts about Fashion Week. I was always told never to look at what the media was writing about you but no one ever listens. Curiosity was human nature. Articles about Mina were flooding the trending pages as well as Alice. Turns out that her debut at Fashion Week had made her extremely desirable by high-end designers for the upcoming haute couture fashion shows next month. I was happy for her. However, I had to express my happiness from afar.

I noticed a very sweaty Peter running up to me in his gym clothes. I couldn't help but smile at how attractive such a sweaty man could be. He came and sat beside me with a joyful smile on his face.

"Hey cutie," Peter greeted. "Are you free tonight to get some sushi?"

I was blushing at his offer, I could feel my cheeks warming up. But a part of me began to feel guilty. The words of Alice from a few nights ago echoed through my mind. Was I being selfish? Did I even deserve to feel love?

"Uh, yeah. Sushi sounds great," I said. Peter smiled at my answer.

"So did you find a dress for the winter formal or not?" Peter asked.

"Oh, I wasn't even planning to go," I said. "Why do you ask?"

"I thought we were going together." Anxiety was rushing through me. I thought I'd be happy but I had a weird feeling in my stomach. Maybe I shouldn't go. Why should I go if I wasn't going to have fun?

"I don't know, I think I might be busy on the day," I tried to decline.

"Come on I'll treat you to a nice dinner at Sienna's plus I'm hosting an after-party afterwards," he coerced. I couldn't resist saying no after he looked at me with those puppy eyes of his. Shit, he got me.

Elenor then came up to us looking kind of worried. Peter then asked her where 'Matthews' was. It was weird not seeing them together. They were practically conjoined by the hip. I do remember not seeing Elias at Petunia at all since I had come back.

"He's stuck in London for the rest of the week," she said. That wasn't right, I do remember the plane ride back where he was throwing origami cranes at me. At the same moment, I received a phone call. My screen flashed with the name 'E' and quickly excused myself and walked off to somewhere more quiet to pick up.

A croaky voice was on the other line. "Hey princess," Elias said. He sounded very lifeless. Never had I heard him say 'princess' with so little evil intent behind it.

"You alright? How come Elenor just said you're still in London?" I asked with much concern. Why would Elias be calling me in the middle of the day?

"Can you meet me in room 205?" He was obviously not in the mood to answer questions. "I need to see you."

It was so uncharacteristically strange for Elias to sound like this. I didn't hesitate to meet him.

As I enter room 205, I see Elias standing by the window staring outside. He must've heard me enter as he lost his staring competition with mother nature. He looked at me and I saw his lifeless eyes. He was distraught. My first instinct was to walk up to him and hug him. His large frame wrapped around me tightly. I hadn't hugged Elias like this before, but he looked like he needed it.

"Mother hasn't been doing well with her treatments," he said in a serious tone. "She's not going to get better." He released me from his grip and sat down on the desk in front of me, "I want to move the wedding closer. That's if it's okay with you of course."

"Yeah, that's fine. Don't worry about it," I reassured him. He looked at me in silence. I could tell he was having a rough time. "Are you going to be alright?" I asked.

"I might just stay in my apartment for a while, but Elenor wants to go out once I 'come back'," he said. "I love her but I don't know, I just need some space." Elias saying that he 'loved' Elenor made me feel uneasy. I didn't know why but it struck me the wrong way.

Morgan then entered the room, both Elias and I whipped our heads towards him.

"Hey, you alright man?" Morgan asked, "You didn't sound alright last night over the phone."

"Yeah, I'll manage," Elias said before announcing that he was going to return to his apartment. "Thanks, guys."

Morgan and I were left in the room to ourselves.

"You think he's going to be alright?" Morgan asks me.

"I think he'll be fine but his way of expressing his emotions is confusing."

"You know he only has you right."

"What do you mean by that?" I was confused by what Morgan meant.

"No one knows what he's going through but you. He'll always run back to you, I've seen it," Morgan said.

I was in disbelief, "You're crazy."

Morgan laughed, "Fine, how's the Alice situation holding up?"

"Oh, it's terrible. I'm pretty sure she's blocked my number."

"Damn, I thought she was pretty cool," he said. "That and she looked hot at the clubs."

"No, it's not her fault. I don't blame her," I stopped and realised what he just said. "Wait, did you just say she's hot? What about Mina"

Morgan sighed, "Mina and I just wanted to be friends. I've noticed someone's got eyes for her but doesn't have the balls to go for it. He's such a dumbass to not realise."

I made sense of who Morgan was hinting at. It was obvious to anyone but them that they had quite the sexual tension. The bell rang signalling the start of the next period. Morgan and I left the room before Morgan left with one last remark, "I think you should try and make things work with Alice. Not because of my benefit but I think you kind of owe her one." I nodded and was left alone in the halls which quickly flooded in with students. I grabbed my second phone from my pocket and texted a familiar number.

me

12 horton boulevard, 12pm sat

i'm sorry again ;(