Prince | .

PRINCE• quartre

PRINCE ❥ chapter quarte

"Miss Grace will begin passing out the winter project. I expect everyone to complete it and have it ready to turn in the day we come back: January 10."

"Aye aye, sir," one kid, in particular, shouts out, earning a chuckle from Mr. Nelson. Genesis easily counts out about ten sheets of paper before giving it to the person at the front of the row and sending it down a train until it gets me and so forth.

Almost as soon as Genesis sat down, having completed the task at hand, the bell rang, and Mr. Nelson let out a merry laugh and excused us. "Happy Holidays!"

No one really cheered, but students began to chatter loudly as they got up and made a beeline towards the exit.

I smiled to myself, finally happy that I didn't have to really do anything for a grand total of three weeks, and made it out to the parking lot, spotting my car almost immediately. I toss my bag into the passenger seat before slipping into the driver seat and sparking the ignition, but before I can even shift the car into reverse, my phone rings.

'Casanova calling'. My eyebrows crunch together and I suddenly wonder who it is and why such a name is in my contacts. I answer.

"Hello," uncertainty seeps into my tone.

"Sunshine!" No wonder.

"When did you steal my phone?"

"We'll talk about that later. Come over."

"I don't know where you live."

"You know where Nikolai lives."

"Half the drive I was covering my eyes. And I doubt Nikolai wants me there."

"Then we'll come to you."

"What's confusing me is how you're already at Nikolai's house and class just let out like five minutes ago."

"I skipped."

"Ah. And no. I have an evening of Netflix waiting for me, so I'll catch you later." Before Milo could say anything else, I told him goodbye and hung up, putting my phone in the cup holder and driving home.

My home, as per usual, was quiet. My father sat on the couch with a carton of Chinese food in front of him and a beer bottle in hand.

"Hey, kiddo," he greeted as I locked the door behind me. "Your mom's gonna be late again, so I ordered Chinese." His eyes never left the TV.

"I don't like Chinese," I frowned.

"Oh, yeah... I'll order pizza?"

"I'll order it."

"Alrighty." He got up and switched off the TV. "I'm going over to Benny's." Benny was his poker friend. "Here's some cash for the pizza," he allowed three ten dollar bills to flutter to the coffee table, "Don't wait up."

I hummed in acknowledgment, putting my keys on the hook next to the door and entering the kitchen. My father wrapped himself in a winter coat, having checked the weather for the next few hours, and pulled on a hat before waving goodbye and exiting through the door I'd just entered. I picked up the house phone and dialed the number for Peggy's Pizza and placed my order.