Royal Ever After

chapter two

"Where were you last night?" Juliano fires questions at me as we arrive in the classroom.

"Nowhere," I reply. "I went home," I swear he's the nosiest person I've ever met.

"I don't believe that. There must have been at least one person that piqued your interest. Come on, spill the beans," he nudges me with his devilish grin.

"Yeah, tell us," another boy urges. This boy I notice is wearing a Palladian blue crewneck with "Cyrus" embroidered onto the upper left corner. If only everyone had nametags imprinted on them. That would make my life a whole lot easier because I can't for the life of me remember names. By now, the entire class is chanting for me to reveal what I was doing yesterday. Fists are being bumped on the wooden desks and heels are being clacked. I steal and glance at Sander, who is subtly looking back at me. I can tell he looks a little uncomfortable and I don't know what to say. All the students are directing their full attention towards me, beckoning me to reveal the mystery person I was with.

"Okay. Uh– well..." I fumble over my words. "Well..."

"Alright class, sorry I'm late. Let's go over attendance really quick. Kaiden?"

"Here," a deep voice at the back of the class answers. Thank God, I'm saved! Mrs. Rosin's timing couldn't have been any better. A few sighs sweep the room, but I'm let off the hook. We're starting our novel today, which means we'll be taking turns reading aloud. We then will have to discuss what we just read, and our opinions on both the writing style and the plot. An hour later, the bell rings and a swarm of students dart to the door. I wait for the traffic jam to dwindle before heading out as well. We get a brief break before the next class, so I walk outside to enjoy the fresh air. As I make my way past the calendulas in the rock-bordered flowerbeds, I cross paths with Aurora.

"Hey, what's up?" I call out.

"Nothing much, but actually I was meaning to ask you if you're going to the movie night on Friday," she responds as she trots toward me.

"Wait there's a movie night? Sure, I'll be there. What time should I arrive?" I ask.

"9 pm, but you can head in earlier if you want. Do you want to maybe–" She doesn't get to finish her sentence because a sweaty pair of hands suddenly clamps my shoulders.

"Yoooo! What are you guys talking about?" Juliano chimes in as he weasels his way between Aurora and myself. Of course, he once again interrupts my conversation. Typical.

"We were just discussing our plans for the movie night. What kind of films are you into?" Aurora replies.

"Thrillers, obviously. The scarier the better. What about you?" Juliano and Aurora go back and forth debating which genre of movie is superior, so I take this as my chance to flee. They're so submerged in their conversation that they don't even notice I'm gone. I get to class a few minutes early and find Sander frantically reviewing his notes. He acknowledges me but stays focused on studying so I let him be. As more and more students start flooding the room, I take out my textbook and flip through the pages. There's a lot of stuff that I don't know and starting in the middle of the year means I have to constantly catch up to the rest of my peers. It's very stress-inducing but I'll have to make this work because I can't get kicked out of here.

Our science teacher, Mr. Quinn, storms into the classroom. His jaw is clenched and he curls his lip as he barks out the names for attendance. Anger is simmering from his gut like a blazing inferno about to burn. I wonder what happened to get him in such a bad mood. When it finally seems like he's calmed down, he tosses the science test to everyone but me.

"You can skip this test because you haven't learned the material, but don't think you're in the clear. You better start working hard or else I may have to fail you," Mr. Quinn says in almost a threatening tone. I simply nod because saying anything might spiral into another chain of rage. The class falls into an ensemble of pencils scratching and the aggressive scraping of erasers. One by one, papers are being handed in until there are only a few students still working.