Page 63 of Bittersweet Legacy

The morning classes went fast enough and I was relieved when lunchtime came along. However, the chatter died away when Taylor and I entered the cafeteria as scores of eyes chartered our steps.

“Old news, right…” I muttered as we gathered our food.

She shrugged. “Oh, who cares, plus you need to give it a few days before everyone gets bored. Caleb is the first of the kings to ‘settle down’,” she said using quoting fingers because we both knew I didn’t intend to continue with this charade forever. “In a few weeks something stupid’s going to happen and you’ll be forgotten.”

“Why don’t you create news too, then? Why don’t you start another story, you know, take one for the team?”

“And how do you suggest I do that?” she asked with a teasing smile, popping a cherry tomato into her mouth.

“Maybe you could start dating Antoine.”

She started to cough, slapping her chest. She shook her head. “Antoine St Vincent?” She snorted. “Yeah because that’s…” She shook her head again. “Pass.”

I detailed her, the way she avoided my eyes and seemed to be much more engrossed by her Mediterranean fish than by me.

“You know…” I trailed off

“Know what? That he is a huge flirt?” She nodded.

I frowned; Taylor didn’t care about other people's opinions. This was probably why she rarely lied and it was best for her because she really sucked at it.

“How do you know?” I asked again.

She detailed me. “You really know?”

I nodded. “He didn’t tell me.”

She glanced at the King’s table. “He doesn’t know I know. I didn’t think he would appreciate it. He works so hard to keep his secret. It was one slip-up at New Year’s two years ago, I witnessed something on the balcony I shouldn’t have seen.”

“With me it was in the cloakroom.”

She chuckled. “He really needs to learn to be more conscious of his surroundings.”

“You should tell him you know. He needs someone to talk to. It’s a heavy secret to keep alone.”

She looked toward him again. “I’m not sure he is ready to share.” She sighed, resting her elbow on the table and her cheek in her hand. “All of them have secrets,” she chewed on her bottom lip, as if it was something she’d pondered more often than she’d liked. “The three of them, they act like kings, like the world belongs to them, they think they're untouchable, but the truth is they’re just as breakable as we are… just as scared.” She took a deep breath looking at my brother with a longing she was trying to hide. “I think they are even more damaged than we are and I think they’re too far gone to be fixed.”

I popped a piece of chicken into my mouth and chewed while I was trying to figure out what to tell her. I tried before to find out what really happened with my brother and it had been the only time I saw happy, friendly Taylor turn defensive and elusive. I wouldn’t push it again.

I shrugged. “I don't think that's true – I’ve seen flashes of goodness in them. Ah, just think about it, OK?”

“OK,” she replied but I could see she was just humoring me. Maybe I should tell Antoine that she knew the truth and let him take the first step.

The conversation had taken a much heavier turn than we’d both expected and we finished lunch in companionable silence, both lost in our own thoughts – me trying to figure out how to divert the unwelcome public attention I was getting.

“Can we just get out of here?” I asked as soon as she was done with her food, mine barely touched.

She looked at my plate, her eyes full of concern. “You have to eat, Esme.”

I sighed. “I had a big breakfast and we can stop somewhere after school if you want, I just want to get some fresh air before classes start again, it’s a bit stuffy here.”

She nodded, “Sure, no problem.” As we walked to the exit, I automatically looked at the Kings’ table and met Caleb’s eyes. He was frowning at me, his fork halfway to his mouth.

I looked away and kept on walking, was I supposed to tell him where I was going? Did he expect to keep tabs now that we were official? I sure as hell wasn’t going to… unless I was forced to. I grimaced at the thought.

“Hey, why the sour-” Taylor started but was interrupted by a snort.

“Ah, Queen of the Day,” the brunette girl sneered as she stepped out of the toilets with a couple of other girls. I never understood why girls went to the toilet in a group.

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