The Rebel (#Wattys2016)

29. His Royal Abs

Adeen stared at the Women's room door, dread filling her. She'd have to face all the girls again. She still remembered their looks of jealousy the morning before she left, when Skander used the same excuse to explain his lateness to the breakfast. And it had been apparent they'd both been together all night long.

Adeen took a deep breath and scolded herself.

She was Adeen freaking Orson. She had just survived a kidnapping, she had Skander's heart and she was alive. She was successful.

Adeen debated going back to her room but just then the door opened. A smiling June stared at Adeen, her eyes wide and her mouth open. She gasped and jumped slightly, but after scanning Adeen's face, June finally reacted. She took Adeen into her arms, and Adeen did the same.

"I thought you were dead. I thought he'd killed you and—" June pulled back. She hit Adeen's shoulder softly. "Don't you ever scare me like that, Adeen Orson. I don't care if you're an Eight or the Queen of the entire universe, you're still my best friend and oh Adeen don't even think of scaring me like that ever again!"

June took Adeen into her arms again and Adeen sunk into her friend's warmth. She pulled back.

"I missed you too, June."

June giggled and hugged her again.

"Of course I missed you, dummy."

When June pulled back for what seemed like the fourth time, she moved aside and Adeen saw the rest of the girls. They were all staring at her, at the few cuts on her neck and arms, and then at her bandaged hands. Surprising everyone, including herself Adeen realized later, Regina was the first one to stand up, walk to Adeen and hug her.

Regina smelled like vanilla and something sweeter, and her loose black hair got into Adeen's face, but after a couple of seconds of hesitation, Adeen hugged her back. Regina pulled back and her gray eyes dug into Adeen.

"We all thought you were dead." She said, and then smiled. "I had begun wondering who I would tease."

Adeen was speechless.

"We were all wondering that." Stephanie, the pretty red haired who had been in only one date with Skander, said. "It wasn't the same without you." She smiled. "We're glad you're okay."

Then, surprising Adeen, she stood up and hugged her. Then, Nadia, and then Cathreen and soon enough all six girls were hugging Adeen, and all she could think was how until that moment those girls had been her enemies but then they were her friends. Well, all except Sosie, but Adeen didn't care about the bully.

And Adeen hugged them all back.

~

When she was sitting on one of the couches, all the girls sitting as well, Adeen could only think of how it had changed. After the hug, the girls had all interrogated her, making sure she was all right. And then, they joked a little, and after a while, they fell into routine again. That was, until June gasped at a magazine. All seven girls turned to her, and June blushed bright red.

"What is it?" Nadia walked to her and glanced to the magazine. Her eyes widened and her face blushed as well. "Oh. Oh wow."

This time, the rest of the girls hurried to June. Adeen couldn't see until a small hole opened in the middle of the crowd. The size of the entire page, a shirtless Skander stared back at her.

"What a serious prince." Adeen said, amused. "Killing all his female subjects before he can govern them."

The girls giggled nervously.

"That is now how he looks in real life, though. They definitely added some abs." And deleted the scars, Adeen thought but didn't say.

And then, slowly and quietly, seven girls turned to look at her.

"What?" Adeen said, and then realized her error. She mentally cursed.

"How do you know how he looks shirtless?" Regina said, her eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, Adeen. How do you know how our beloved prince looks?" June asked, her eyes amused.

Adeen glared at her. She turned back at the girls, bright red.

"I... uh... I kind of..." She trailed off, suddenly as hot as a thousand suns. "Whoa, isn't it hot here?" Adeen giggled nervously and fast walked to one of the windows, opened it. But it did nothing to cool her down. She turned back to the girls. "Still hot here. What's up with this weather? Wasn't climate change a thing of the past?"

But the damage was done.

"Adeen. Don't change the subject. When did you see Skander shirtless?"

Adeen stared at Regina's serious face.

"Can we stop this?" Adeen sighed. "A few minutes ago we were all just fine and now—"

"You were the one that had sex with Skander." Sosie countered and many gasped.

"I did not have sex with Skander!" Adeen said, but her mind flew back to the night after the ball. This time, unlike the many times before the Selection, Adeen failed at lying.

"Okay, look." Regina put up her hands. "We need to calm down, alright. Let's settle this like the mature girls we are." She looked at Sosie, then at Adeen. Her face was serious before it broke into a full grin. "Spit it all out, bad girl."

"That's mature?" Sosie screamed.

Regina frowned at her. "What? We all knew she was his favorite. Still waiting for that story, bad Adeen."

Adeen took a deep breath.

"I was his first kiss. I never said anything because I would have sworn you all were going to kill me. And we've had more intimate moments. And one of those moments, his shirt came off."

Sosie, flushed and angry, sat on a couch and rolled her eyes, trying to act like she didn't care.

"It just came off?" Regina asked. "I vote we all dress all the guards in this palace with that royal shirt, imagine if their shirts flew off out of nowhere." Regina giggled. "Did you take it off or did him?"

"Um..." Adeen blushed. "I did."

Silence, in which June giggled. "Why is everyone acting so strange about it? We all kind of suspected it."

Regina nodded. "Headaches? Both of them in the same morning, and both arriving to breakfast late. Oh, and that hickey..."

Adeen was mortified. "Hickey?"

June giggled. "Yup, at breakfast. When Jasper was done with his story, some of your make up disappeared."

"Why didn't you tell me?" If she weren't so mortified, Adeen could have strangled her friend for not telling her.

"Well, what could you have done?" Adeen shrugged. "You would have just freaked out and then the King would have been more suspicious."

Adeen looked at the girls. Regina and June looked at her amusedly, while the rest looked at their feet, or at their hands, anywhere but at Adeen's face. They were trying to mask their jealousy. But Sosie looked straight at Adeen's eyes, she didn't bother trying to mask her jealousy and hatred.

"I guess you're right." Adeen said quietly.

Regina smiled and went back to reading a magazine; June curtsied and left for her room. And the other four girls sat back down and looked at some magazines, or painted their nails, or talked among themselves. But all of them, Adeen realized, kept looking back at her, then at her bandaged hands. Sometimes their looks pitiful, other times they were filled with jealousy and hatred.

But Adeen didn't care anymore.