The Lords, Princes, and Kings.

Chapter Three-

    I leaned heavily on Nicole during lunch. Soon, I would have to go home and talk about living with Aunt Mindy, and I was too emotionally spent to sit upright.

She elbowed me in the ribs and I leaned away, eyeing her.

"Carter, are you going to eat that?" I questioned her. She glared at me from the other side of the table. Ran, beside her, slid me a bag of chips. With a bright smile, I fixed my posture and tore it open. Nicole sighed.

"Just get lunch."

"No."

"Mi-"

"Shhh," Carter shushed crudely, standing up. Ran looked where Carter did, her face flashing with many emotions.

"Ca-"

"He thinks, just because he is now in high school, he can treat middle schoolers even worse than before."

"I mean... He kind of can-"

"No, he can't, Stormii."

Nicole and I shared a look, not even turning to see who it was. Carter would only even get this mad at Timothy. Incredibly stupid name for him, yes, incredibly stupid person, even more of a yes. He had managed to get held back twice, becoming a freshman when he would've become a Junior.

Carter sat back down, leaning back slightly. After a moment, she began to drum her fingers on the rough wood table. The table had been weathered down by years of students and being outside. Nicole stood up to throw away her trash and Ran started arguing with Carter about something. I stood up, wordless, and went back inside the school. Fifth period was about to start and I didn't feel like being late for the twelth time this year.

Having to pass through a middle school hallway, I was unsurprised when I saw Marcus. He bowed his head as I passed. Realizing I had plenty of time, I pivoted and grabbed his bag.

"Mickey," he whined, turning around to pout at me.

"Whoa, Mars, what happened to your cheek?"

His cheek had a gnash on it. He shrugged, glancing at the clock.

"Mars, I will-"

"Mickey! It's a pimple I popped, I was going to the bathroom to clean it."

"Liar. You literally just passed the bathrooms. Who?"

The warning bell rang. He walked away, wordless. I scoffed but let him be. There would be plenty of time to bother him about what obviously wasn't a pimple when I moved in. With that logic, surely there was no reason to feel guilty for "ignoring" him while still considering him family. Ignoring my concern for what has been going on in his academic life, I rushed to my next class, which was across the school.

I was late again.

    Ran wouldn't give me any of her snacks that block.

  Hazel handed me a note which read:

"Mon cherie,

       you are more screwed than Britain in 1776."

Ran ignored me as I sat across from her, glaring at the letter, written in intricate handwriting. "You know, Rita was watching you take the letter from Hazel. I've never seen someone look so nonchalantly bothered."

"What?"

"Yeah, she was also watching you during lunch. Did you guys talk or something?"

I looked at Ran for a moment.

"No."

Ran scoffed in disbelief. She opened my notebook and shoved it in front of me, turning to the front of the room in dismissal.

I looked at Rita, but she was leaning against one of her friends as he drew something in her notebook. She was glaring at a guy sitting across from her friend before throwing her pencil at him.

Ran leaned over to jot something down in my book. I expected it to be whatever the AP psych teacher just said. I looked down at it.

"G a y" she wrote. I cuffed her shoulder before quickly writing down the bullet points on the board.