Page 15 of Broken Princess

“I was actually about to split. This isn’t really my scene, but…”

“You figured everyone else would be here, so what do you have to lose?”

“Exactly. I promised my folks I’d make more of an effort to fit in socially with the offspring of my dad’s golf buddies.”

“So why are you standing against the wall?”

“Being here, is maximum effort.”

I chuckle, because I can relate to how he feels. “I was thinking about leaving too, but maybe we could stay and hang out together?”

He smiles, and this time his whole face gets involved, including his pale blue, sparkly eyes. Dixon’s cute. Like super cute. And he’s talking to me. I dial back on some of my enthusiasm. Why is he talking to me?

“Uh, oh. Jordanna, where’d you go?”

“Sorry, I… um. What made you decide to come over here and talk to me?”

“How do you mean?”

“I mean, I thought Logan gave the order for everyone to ignore me.”

“He probably did, but I’m not listening to it. I think the decision about who we want to spend time with should be our own. Besides, I’m not on the inside like other people, and I have a hard enough time making friends. Why intentionally rule out people who might be interested in spending time with me?”

I relax, feeling better about him approaching me. “Fair point.”

“Now, my turn. Why are you talking to me?”

“Because Kassidy, and maybe Noel Hansen, are the only people on campus who still want to interact with me. It’s like you said, why alienate people if I don’t have to.”

We walk the floors, peeking in on the action and talking about social dynamics, friendships, and movies. At some point we wind up sitting in a corner away from everyone else. It’s after one in the morning, when Kassidy finds me and tells me it’s time to call it a night. I wave a hurried goodbye to Dixon as she practically drags me from the party.

Six

Logan

She showed up at the party, acting like I don’t exist. Who the hell even sent her an invite and why would she accept it? Back to school parties are for reengaging with people from the previous semester, or finding someone new to hook up with in the current semester. She damn sure wasn’t engaging with me, holed up in a corner with Dixon Manetti. Fucking flaunting that shit in my face. I couldn’t confront her at the party because I was too busy putting out another fire.

Today, she’s ditched Kassidy to sit next to Dixon, the kid who had glasses big enough to cover his whole face when we were taking fencing lessons. They look pretty chummy too. I hope she doesn’t think a friendship with someone tame will save her, because it won’t.

I sit in my usual spot watching Jordanna and Dixon lean close as they whisper about whatever nerd shit he thinks is clever. Class drags on and I leave a few minutes early to slip around to the other side of the hallway.

She’s so caught up in her conversation, she doesn’t notice me standing in front of her when she exits the room. As soon as she does, she reverses direction. That pisses me off too. Usually, I let her run away, because it’s better for both of us, but that shit she pulled at the party has pushed me to my limit. I grab her arm, pushing her back inside the classroom.

She struggles, trying to pull her arm from my grip. That only makes me lock on tighter. I hate that she doesn’t want me touching her, but not as much as I hate what I’m about to do. As soon as we’re inside the room, I let her go, only to have her try to run out the door. I shove her against the wall with enough force to make her teeth rattle.

I’ll deal with Dixon’s disrespect later, but right now, the person in front of me will feel all my wrath.

“You must want me to knee you in the balls again.”

“Try it, and I guarantee you won’t like what I do to you in return.”

Her hair’s piled high on the top of her head in a bun, tendrils swirling along the tops of her ears. It’s how she wears it when she’s painting, but the strands are missing their usual paint specs. She doesn’t smell like a paint can either. The scent of her shampoo and moisturizer clings to her hair and skin as if she showered right before coming here. Did she do it to impress him? Just thinking about it pisses me off, and because I’m no longer pretending to be a good guy to win her over, she’s about to find out just how dangerous pissing me off can be.

“I thought I told you that your room and essential buildings were the only places you could go.”

“And I thought I told you I’m not one of your lackeys. My days of giving a shit what you say, are over.”

“What gave you the idea that you have a choice?”

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