Royally Falling

~ 36 ~

"So don't you worry your pretty little mind,
People throw rocks at things that shine,
And life makes love look hard,
The stakes are high,
The water's rough,
But this love is ours"
Ours - Taylor Swift

oOoOo

Blair was wrong. Very, very wrong. It's Monday morning and people on campus are still talking about me. I thought that the gossip and speculation would run its course over the weekend, but if anything, it just got worse. Of course, I didn't leave the apartment for the whole weekend. Grace was giving me updates since she had social events at her sorority this weekend.

I made it through my first class of the day unscathed. Luckily, it was early in the morning, so there weren't many students awake yet.

Heading to British Literature with Marc is when it gets even worse.

Just as we're leaving the building where my marketing class is, a reporter approaches us.

"Your Highness, what do you have to say in response to the cheating allegations?"

He shoves a camera in my face. Marc puts his arm around my shoulder and shields me with his body.

"No comment," I say as we walk away.

"Your Highness! Your Highness! Who is this young man? Is the love triangle a love square?"

His shouting attracts the attention of students walking by. A few people whip out their phones to take pictures of me.

Marc continues to shield me from everyone's view as we rush into the English building.

"Thank you for that," I say when we walk inside. We pause to catch our breaths.

"No worries."

"Can they follow us in here?" I say, glancing around the room.

"I don't believe so. You should be safe in the buildings. It's fair game on the walkways and in the public buildings."

"Okay, well I should get to class before I'm late."

I go through the hallways and walk up the stairs to get to my classroom. By the time I reach the lecture hall, I'm already five minutes late.

I quietly open the door and slip in, trying to go unnoticed. I see heads turn and hear the whispers start. Just my luck. Keeping my head down and eyes on the floor, I sit in one of the unoccupied seats near the back. The girls in the row in front of me exchange a look and switch seats. Do they think I'm diseased or something?

I sigh and ignore the dirty looks and whispers. I pull the hood of my oversized sweatshirt up and focus on class.

oOoOo

When class wraps up, I am one of the first people to leave. I hastily pack up my things and rush to meet Blair.

"How was class?" She asks.

"Worse than I expected. It's like I'm a social pariah. Let's just get going. I want to minimize my time in public."

She nods, and we start the walk to my next class.

"Have you heard from Kaden today?"

"No, why? Is something wrong?"

"Um, no. Everything's fine."

Something is telling that me she's lying.

I shoot her a disbelieving look. "Really? What's going on?"