Spotlight

Chapter 9

"Finally," Kat relaxes in her chair. "This thing is finally over."

The thing in question is this year's Milton's match.

"Not yet. We still have pictures to take." I force myself up and stare at the empty field.

The spectators are still exiting the stadium. In a second, the winners will come out for pictures.

The end-of-event speech had already been given (not by Lilian), and awards were handed out by everyone in the family. Except me and Lilian. Even Uncle Max was here to hand out some of the medals.

He got in this morning and is going back to Dolma tonight.

I've been watching Kat all night. I can tell she's doing everything to not complain about her dad's quick trip.

The winners take the field and everyone goes out to drink champagne and offer empty congratulations.

I hang back and watch it unfold. No one even notices I'm not there.

After ten minutes of "thank you so much, your Majesty" and "you're one of Aldean's finest", we're all allowed to leave.

I see Kat chatting with Dillon and offer them a smile. As soon as they turn away, I roll my eyes. Of course, she'll be ecstatic right now. She delivered the closing speech.

I'm not jealous. I really don't care. I just want to leave and go back to my bed.

I don't know why they insist that I attend so many functions. It doesn't matter that I'm there. It's not like the people there actually want to meet me.

The only thing Aunt Freya cares about is that I don't do anything stupid.

The only good thing this summer has been Tristan. But he's leaving for a week tomorrow.

"Cassandra," This is Seb. "What's wrong?" He's standing directly in front of my seat.

"I want to go home. I'm just really tired." I rub my arms.

He nods slowly. "I have a gift for you?"

Is the gift a time travel machine so I can go forward a month when I get to visit my parents? Or when I can go back to school?

"What is it?" I muster some enthusiasm.

"It's a surprise." He smiles. "It's waiting for you at home."

"Great." I rub my eyes.

We go back to the cars and I get into one with Grey. We ignore each other.

I try to stay awake the car drive there. I just want to shower, change into a slip dress, and climb into bed.

We arrive at the manor and I yawn as one of the guards opens the front door.

I step in and am immediately tackled.

"What the..." I take one breath and am hit with the smell of vanilla and jasmine.

"Oh, Mija." My attacker coos. "I missed you so much."

"Mom." I throw my arms around her. "Mom. I missed you too."

She pulls away slightly so she can see my face. "Oh, my baby. You look so nice, look how much you've grown."

"I still can't believe this place is real." My dad is standing behind her. "Part of me thought you were actually going to school in Europe."

I break away from my mom and tackle my dad in a giant hug. "Daddy." I sniff.

He returns the hug. "How are you doing, honey?"

I struggle to breathe. "I...I..."

Seb, Lilian, and Grey walk in.