Arkala's Princess

Chapter 26

Arkala's Princess

Chapter 26

"Hey, Reece!" I say, when I spot him walking down the street. I just wanted to grab some Starbucks after me and Kyle hung out, I hope he actually gets the courage to ask her out though, because if not, I might have to marry Kyle. Which I'm trying not to do right now.

"Oh hey, Sydney!" He waves, and I walk over to him. "Hey! What are you doing here?"

"I just went for a swim." I say, leaving out the fact that I went with someone.

"Oh I was just gonna go for a swim."

"Really? Can I come with?"

"But you just went." He chuckles.

"I don't mind going for another one. I mean, if you don't mind.... Are you going by yourself?"

"Yeah. I needed some time alone.... After......" He clears his throat. "Never mind."

"Oh. Then I guess I'll see you around....."

"No, you can come with me if you like." Reece says and I look up at him.

"No, it's fine if you prefer to go alone."

"No, actually, I want you to come."

"Okay." I smile. "Do you mind if I grab a quick little something?"

"Uh, sure." He says and we walk to Starbucks.

"Are you getting anything?"

"Yeah, what are you getting?"

"Probably a raspberry cotton candy frappuccino." I say, looking at the menu.

"Okay." He says, and he steps up to the counter. "Can I please get one raspberry cotton candy frappuccino, and a-"

"Reece? I'll pay. I'm fine."

"No, it's okay, I'll pay. This one's on me."

"B-but....."

"And a.....-"

"Excuse me." I say to the lady at the counter. "I-"

"Sydney, just wait over there and you can pay me back, since I've already ordered it." Reece suggests, and I huff and walk over to a table and sit down. Soon after, Reece sits down opposite me, holding two drinks. One of them being my own. I reach for my purse.

"How much was it?"

"I don't know." Reece shrugs.

"Reece! Tell me!"

"I don't know. She didn't say."

"Reece." I pout. "Please tell me."

"I don't know. I forgot."

"Of course you did." I roll my eyes. "Please tell me so I can pay you back, please?"

"No I actually forgot."

"Reece, I'm serious. Tell me how much it was."

"I'm not joking! I actually forgot."

"Reece, tell me!"

"I don't know." He says, sipping his drink.

"I'll get you back. I'm gonna buy you something whether you like it or not." I huff.

"Okay." Reece chuckles, as he stands up. "Let's go."

"'Kay." I say, standing up and following him outside of Starbucks. We start walking towards the beach. When we get there, we sit on the sand. He just sits down, sipping his drink, so I clear my throat, playing with the straw of my drink. He looks up at me, and I lock eyes with him. He sighs.

"So. I guess I should probably tell you. If you haven't been told already." He says slowly and I nod. "So um." He clears his throat. "Lyra broke up with me."

"What? She did?"

"Yeah." He says, playing with the sand.

"Wh-what.... H-how? Why?"

"I don't know, she said that she never had those strong feelings for me or something like that."

"What, so she didn't like you when you two were dating?"

"No, she said that she liked me, when we first started dating but apparently I got boring." He says, making air quotation marks when he said the word boring.

"You're not boring, Reece. Well, I haven't really known you for long so I don't know, but I can tell you're not."

"You can tell I'm not what?"

"I can tell you're not a boring person, and I think you're a nice and decent guy." I shrug.

"Thanks, Sydney."

"It's true, though. I'm not just saying that."

"I know." He smirks, and I roll my eyes. We both fall into a comfortable silence, me sipping my drink when I speak up.

"Are you.... Are you okay?"

"Yeah." He sighs. "I knew she stopped liking me from a while ago, I could tell from the way she was acting. I kinda knew this was coming, but when it happened, I didn't expect it, if that made sense?"

"Uh.... Yeah. That kinda makes sense." I say, and he grins.

"You know, you're a good listener."

"Thanks." I laugh, and look past Reece to see a familiar face. My eyes focus on his face, and I smile, as he looks up at me and waves. I wave back and Reece looks confused, glancing behind him.

"Hey." Ashton says with a smile, standing next to me. I pat the sand next to me and he sits down.

"Hey." I greet. Ashton looks at Reece, and a flash of emotions goes across his eyes but he quickly covers it up. "Um, Ashton, this is Reece, Reece this is Ashton." I say quickly.

"Hi." Reece says.

"Hi." Ashton says, his voice is short and clipped, showing no emotion.

"So." I clear my throat.

"I-I better go." Reece says, standing up, and I stand up as well, Ashton following suit.

"Well see you around, I guess." I say, leaning in to give him a hug.

"Yeah." He says, hugging me back. "Thanks for today." He whispers, and we pull away. "Good to meet you, Ashton."

"Yeah." Ashton nods, and Reece walks away. I look at Ashton, and I see that he is staring after Reece, almost.... Glaring.

"Uh, Ashton." I say awkwardly, and he looks at me, giving me a smile.

"Sydney." He says warmly. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Yeah, it was kind of.... Unplanned I guess."

"Oh." He chuckles. "Were you heading back to Arkala, now?"

"Yeah." I shrug.

"I'll give you a ride, I was planning on driving past, anyway."

"Thanks." I say, and we walk over to his car. He turns the radio up after he starts the engine. "So what were you doing at the beach?"

"Oh, nothing much. I just felt like a swim." He says. "What about you?"

"Oh I was just-"

"Oh yeah. You were talking to, what was his name? Reece."

"Yeah." I say, looking out the window. I look back at him when I hear him let out a sigh. "You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm just, tired, I guess."

"Yeah, same."

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Hey!!! Oh my god I'm so sorry that I didn't update yesterday! I'm actually on holiday right now and I just managed to get wifi to update. I'm so sorry, guys! But the next update may possibly be late as well, but I will try my best to get wifi and update! Thanks to those who are still sticking with me! xx

This chapter was dedicated to @emmyroxs02 for voting for a couple of chapters!!! Thank you so much!! :)