Page 47 of Take My Throne

Chapter Seventeen

Knowing that I was bugged changed everything. I can’t ever relax, knowing that my father is listening to every aspect of my life. I have to watch every word I say, take care not to slip up and reveal anything about Declan’s plan. It is harder than you’d think and I hate my father for forcing me to tread on eggshells all the time.

It makes me sick to think that my father might have heard me making love. What kind of creep did that to his daughter?

It makes it even harder for me to get involved in the girls’ alliance because I have to be careful about what I say, but I can’t tell my new best friends what’s going on. I don’t trust them enough yet. I’m still not sure about Ally’s motives and she hasn’t exactly proven herself to be a decent person. Until I have a chance to assess where she is coming from, she is on my handle with caution list.

I meet with Ally, Taylor, Milly, and Nicola during lunch break at school. Milly is practically dancing in her seat with excitement. Ever since I told her about Ally’s idea, she hasn’t been able to stop talking about how cool it is that we are going to be in a girl gang together. Poor kid. She’s spent so much of her life being an outsider, this is the happiest moment of her life. I wish I had her enthusiasm about this project. I am still bracing myself for being stabbed in the back.

“So, Ally,” I begin. “This was all your idea. How did you see this going?”

“Well, first of all, I want to say thank you all for coming here. Between us, we’re the most powerful women in the Academy and it’s about time we used that power and stopped letting the boys railroad us.”

“Girl power!” whoops Milly.

Nicola shoots her a dark look and Milly immediately cringes away.

“And that’s exactly the kind of thing we need to stop,” I snap. “You guys have been horrible to Milly for as long as you’ve all been at the Academy. She’s not the enemy! The more we fight and bicker between ourselves, the easier it is for others to take advantage of us. That’s what’s been wrong with this town for so long. The Houses are all so caught up with dragging each other down, none of you can see that there’s plenty of space for all of us. If one of us wins, we all win. So if Milly wants to be excited, let her be excited. Heck, get excited with her! Stop being such a stuck-up bitch and accept Milly for who she is. If you can’t do that, you should just walk out right now.”

For a moment, I think Nicola is going to storm out, but then she nods.

“You’re right. And I’m sorry, Milly. We need to build each other up. I don’t know why I’ve always been so horrible to you. I guess I got caught up in thinking that I had to put you down so I could get ahead. Ivy’s right. We can all be successful together. In fact, we can be more successful together than on our own. We can share class notes, revise together, help each other to be the best we can be. If we can show that the Houses can work together instead of against each other, it’ll help make this town a much nicer place for all of us.”

“Agreed.” Taylor nods, but I’m not that bothered about her opinion. I know full well that Taylor is just Ally’s puppet. Whatever Ally wanted her to do, she’d do it without question. Wherever Ally went, Taylor followed.

“Okay, so a few ground rules to get started,” I say. “First, and most importantly, we support each other unconditionally. This alliance crosses House divides, so if you see someone attacking one of us and they’re in your House, it doesn’t matter. We support each other, no matter what.”

“Okay.”

“Sounds good.”

Everyone agrees except Nicola. I glare at her.

“Fine. I’ve got your back, even if it’s against someone from my House.”

“Look at it this way,” I say. “If someone hurt Milly, even if it was Lucas, they’d have to answer to me because she’s my best friend. Our friendship matters more to me than a family I happened to be born into. And if we start enforcing this alliance across House boundaries, we’ll start building stronger ties between the Houses. Which means that when we leave the Academy and get more involved in our family’s businesses, we’ll be used to working together so we can make decisions which benefit all of us instead of being selfish. I’ve found that when people only think about themselves, they often miss out on amazing opportunities because no one wants to deal with them. We need to change that way of thinking. It’s like being in a band. If I sing really loudly because I want to be heard, it ruins all the harmonies. If I match my volume to the other vocalists, we make magic together. That’s what I want us to do. Make magic.”

“And no stealing each other’s boyfriends!” Ally puts in suddenly. She blushes as soon as she says it, the glance she gives me makes it clear what she is talking about. I am not going to rise to the bait though. If I want us to be able to work together, I have to lead by example and not point out that Declan had kissed me first, nor that I hadn’t known that Ally was dating him at the time.

Even though I really, really want to.

“Exactly,” I say. “We don’t steal each other’s boyfriends. If someone’s dating, they’re completely off limits. And if someone’s boyfriend makes a pass at us, we have a duty to tell them straight away. What they choose to do with that information is up to them and if they decide to stay with their boyfriend, no judgement. The heart wants what the heart wants and we all know how hard it is to walk away from someone when you love them. Which is why we also need to be there to pick up the pieces for each other when need be.”

“I like it,” says Nicola. “But what happens if one of us breaks the girl code? There’s got to be some kind of punishment, otherwise why would anyone bother?”

I look at her. “Wow. You really have had a messed-up childhood, haven’t you?”

“I don’t know what you mean.” Nicola frowns. “What’s my childhood got to do with anything?”

“Don’t you ever do anything because it’s the right thing to do? Do you have to have the threat of punishment to make you be a decent human being?”

Nicola opens her mouth to say something, but closes it without speaking.

Ally and Taylor nudge each other, stifling a giggle.

“We’re trying to do something different,” I explain. “I guess I didn’t realise just how different the thought of cooperating was for you. We don’t need to have a punishment because when you discover how good it feels to do the right thing, you’ll want to keep doing it. When you know you’ve got friends you can count on to be there, no matter what, nothing can beat it. Wouldn’t you rather know I was there for you, just you, instead of supporting you because I was afraid of what would happen if I didn’t?”

“I guess.” Nicola shrugs.

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