Royally Fucked

I:3 - The Royal Kiss

KENJI RUSHTON

The following Saturday morning was horrible for me. The bright sunlight coming in from the window disrespectfully woke me up. As soon as I tried to open my eyes, I was immediately blinded by the brightness of midday. It was truly difficult to wake up after pulling an all-nighter. I'm not even used to going out and partying all night, which made the uncomfortable feeling of a hangover even more intense.

I sat on my bed, groaning in so much agony. Apart from my eyes, every single part of my body was in some kind of pain, and I don't even know where to begin. If this is what a horrible hangover feels like right after having so much fun, then I don't know if I want it. My body was aching horribly, and I feel like I want to chop my head off at any given moment. I thought maybe if the guillotines were still in play, I would've hurriedly rushed to the town square to get my head voluntarily chopped off. And then the memory of what had occurred last night flashed right before my eyes.

I just kissed a guy last night. No, no, no. I just kissed the prince of Liverwales; that's what it was. I know I should be loathing myself for kissing another guy clearly knowing that I'm not into guys, but the lingering reality that I just let my tongue slither inside the prince's mouth was totally distasteful. To put the cherry on top, that was actually my first real kiss. It was a morbid experience, and I'm wishing it wouldn't come back to haunt me. I shook my head in hopes of shaking the memory of me slamming the prince against the wall, but my headache only intensified. I was cringing just thinking about how I got royally fucked up.

I was thinking of calling Anthony, then I quickly remembered I dropped my phone and didn't even try to get it back out of fear and embarrassment. I just spent a good amount of money on that, and now it's gone. For three long and hard years, I saved every single penny of what's left off of my wages right after my mother gets her cut in order to buy that phone, but I don't think I'll be able to get it back. I would've run back for it if I wasn't frightened, but I just couldn't digest the fact that I had to interact with the prince again.

When I got to school the next Monday morning, Anthony and Leona were already waiting for me at the usual park bench where we hang out right before class. I quickly noticed the smile on both of their faces once they caught me on sight.

"Kenji, oh, thank god you're finally here. You won't believe what I've heard," Leona began once I sat right beside her. I know she's about to gossip about something she heard from somewhere. That's always her thing every morning; she's like a freelance paperboy except that she only delivers the news to two people. I don't really blame her for hearing a lot of stuff about something, and most especially about someone. It's something that's technically out of her control. Every time she goes to the toilet, she hears a lot of rumors from every group of girls gossiping while retouching their make-up.

"Nope, I'm not interested." I shook my head, blatantly expressing my disinterest in whatever she was about to tell me. "You guys went missing last Friday night."

"Nope." Leona shook her head deliberately, mimicking my tone. "You were the one who went missing, Kenji."

"She's right. We got back to our table and poof, you're gone. We searched everywhere for you but you were nowhere to be found. We thought you got kidnapped or something." Anthony went on backing up Leona's statement.

"I..." I paused, thinking of something to say to them. "I'm really sorry, guys; I got drunk and went home."

"You know that's a load of bull, Kenji!" Leona seemed like she didn't believe what I said. "If I know, you just hooked up with someone else."

Suddenly, I felt guilty when she mentioned the word "hookup."Technically, I did not hook up with anyone else. I only made out with someone I probably shouldn't have made out with. "I did not." I shook my head.