Page 47 of Gilded Princess

Matteo’s voice snaps me out of my daydream. I let the smile slip from my mouth.

Warmth flushes my cheeks, and I clear my throat. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

Matteo’s brow creases as he looks at me over the feast laid out between us. “Maybe you should grab something to eat. I said to plan on staying here indefinitely.”

The last word stutters around in my brain and I end up choking on the iced tea I just drank. “Excuse me—did you just say indefinitely?!”

* * *

Sitting on the end of the bed, letting the plush comforter offer me some comfort, I think about the events of the last however many hours. I recline on the pillows and stare at the ceiling. Without conscious thought, a memory of my childhood comes to mind.

“Maddie. Maddie, are you awake?” my sister whisper-shouts.

I crack an eye open and see her shadowed form at the end of my bed, illuminated by the glow-in-the-dark stars stuck to the ceiling.

I pull back the comforter and scoot over. “Come on in, Mary.”

She climbs in beside me, snuggling into the other pillow on my queen-sized bed. I turn over to look at her with a wide yawn.

“Are you okay?”

She burrows underneath the comforter further. “Yeah.”

“Bad dream?”

She nods, the movement creating a scratching noise that makes the hair rise on my arm. I close my eyes, exhaustion pulling back into dreamland. “Wanna talk about it?”

Mary’s had a bad dream almost every night since we moved into our home for the next seven years—longer if we go to college together here. We’re in a dorm suite with our cousin, Lainey, while we attend St. Rita’s All-Girls Academy. I like the change, the freedom, but she’s struggling a little to adjust.

“It was about Dad. He was being eaten by a shark, and I couldn’t save him. But then this shark morphed into Mom, and I don’t know . . . I woke up then.”

I squint at her, but she’s so bundled up, I can’t see much more than her eyes. “I’m sorry. You can stay with me tonight.”

“Thanks, Maddie.”

“Of course. You’re my sister.” My words trail off as sleep overtakes me.

Blinking out of the sudden memory, I take it as a sign to check-in with my sister.

I dial her number, and right before I’m ready to end the call, she picks up.

“What?”

“Mary, it’s me.”

“Oh.” Her voice softens. “I didn’t recognize the number.”

“Yeah, it’s, uh, not my phone. It’s just a friend’s.”

She scoffs. “You mean Matteo?”

“Yeah. About that, where are you? Why didn’t you want to stay with me? And are you okay? What the hell happened?”

“You mean, why didn’t I want to stay with you and your ex-boyfriend, who I didn’t even know you were talking to again?”

The scorn in her voice has my shoulders tightening. “Jesus, when you put it like that, it seems—”

“It’s exactly like that. Look, I don’t want to be around anyone right now. It’s not personal, okay?”

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