Page 23 of Her Royal Highness
Heaving out a sigh, I shift my satchel of books to my other shoulder. “I don’t, believe me. Now can Ipleasescooch?”
I press my palms together, gesturing to the sliver of space between them, and Ilse moves closer. “Lord, Flora was not kidding about you.”
Great, so we’re at the “implying someone said nasty things about you” portion of this whole deal, and I’m about to reply that I don’t care what Flora has said, when I suddenly hear Sakshi’s voice, ringing out loud and clear.
“Are the two of you finished?”
Caroline and Ilse turn to see all 567 feet of Sakshi standing there, her long dark hair falling over her shoulders and the most perfectly disdainful, bored expression on her face. It’s so great that I make a note to immediately start practicing it in the mirror. I have a feeling I’m going to need that look.
To my surprise, it totally works on Caroline and Ilse, too. They throw me a couple of nasty glances, but they slink off without any other snide remarks, and Saks dusts her hands like she’s just completed an unpleasant but necessary task.
“Those two,” she says, shaking her head; then she steps forward, her expression concerned as she touches my arm. “Are you all right?”
“Fine,” I tell her, smiling. “I went to a giant high school inTexas, so mean girls are nothing new. And honestly their attempt at bullying was almost... quaint?”
That makes Saks smile, and she links her arm through mine as we make our way down the hallway. “I can’t believe they’re still so upset over Rose Haddon-Waverly. It’s done, move on, live in the now, my god.”
She says all of that with a wave of her hand, and I glance up at her. “So you overheard?”
Sakshi shakes her head. “I just assumed that’s what it was about. It was a bit of a to-do in our circles, Rose not getting in.” She gives another exaggerated sigh. “Her father lost the family fortune in some sort of horse fiasco a few years back.”
I don’t even ask what “horse fiasco” might mean here, because I’m not sure I want to know, but Idoask, “So there are poor fancy people mixed in with the rich fancy people?”
Saks nods. “More of the former than you’d think. Not me of course, Daddy owns half of Belgravia. And not Caroline or Ilse, either. Or Perry. It’s why he’ll probably marry a pop star or something despite his entire...” Another hand wave, this one I think meant to take in literally everything about Perry.
Then Saks looks down at me and pats my hand. “Don’t worry, though. You’ll figure it all out eventually!”
She beams at me, and I make myself smile back, even as I think,Don’t hold your breath on that, Saks.The rest of the day passes like they always do—class, a bizarre tea break at 4 p.m. that still takes some getting used to, but by 6-ish, I’m back in my room, readingThe Mill on the Floss, and doing my best to ignore the clacking of Flora’s computer.
Which is a feat given that she’s pushing those buttons so hard it’s like she’s imagining they’re my face.
My own computer is open on my bed because I’m waiting for Lee to call me in Hangouts, and when there’s abloopsound, I put down my book, already sitting up with a smile.
But then I see the message in Hangouts.
It’s not Lee.
It’s Jude.
There’s just one word typed there.
Hi?
That question mark makes me frown at the screen, my fingers hovering over the keyboard. Am I going to reply? Why is she messaging now? Does she—
“Knock-knock,” a voice calls.
I look up, and hooooooly moly. The boy standing in our doorway is model-hot, all dark auburn hair and twinkling blue eyes. He’s wearing a green sweater with the best pair of jeans ever created, and I blink at him, trying to figure out where someone this gorgeous came from.
Then it hits me.
This must be Flora’s boyfriend. They go together too perfectly for him to be anything but hers. Probably a duke’s son or a viscount or something.
And sure enough, Flora leaps up from her bed with a squeal, slamming her laptop closed. “Seb!”
I watch her launch herself across the room and into his arms, and both their faces transform into something really... sweet.
Like, they’re both frighteningly hot, but they’re almost goofy as they smile at each other, and I realize that for as sexyas they both are, there’s a distinct lack of spark between them. They seem almost like—
