Page 42 of Royal
This shouldn’t take long at all, but while I’m waiting, my eyes wander the desk. There’s a photo of Rich and Katrina with another kid… in the same frame where there once was a photo with the three of us—as a family. Well, I guess foster children are easy enough to replace. My jaw clenches, and I shake my head. I will never forgive them for abandoning me when I needed them most. I thought there was a good chance they were going to be my forever family. That seems really fucking stupid to me now, one of those dreams foster kids have. Damn. It fucking hurts. I put the photo face down on the desk. I can’t handle looking at the happy family.
Ten minutes later, I’ve transferred everything I need, and I remove the small device from Rich’s computer and slip it into my pocket. With a sigh, I right the photo on the desk, but in doing so, the back of the frame pulls free and everything lands with a clatter on the desk.Fuck.I carefully pick up the frame and put the glass back in place. But as I go to pick up the photo to replace it, I realize there’s a second photo there that was hidden behind the first. My mouth goes dry, like it’s full of sandpaper. It’s me with Rich and Katrina, a photo from my very first cross-country meet. I blink, unsure what to make of the fact that they didn’t get rid of the photo. I’ve gotta get out of here. I silently curse my shaking hands as they reassemble the frame with the photo of me with the Franks tucked behind the new one. I sure as fuck hope they’re good to that kid. Better than they were to me.
Time to go. I’m getting seriously twitchy. I exit the way I came in, locking the door behind me, then circle to the side of the house, where I squat down for a minute, trying to calm myself down. Didn’t fucking realize getting the documents off the hard drive would be the easy part of the task. Seeing my old home again, realizing that I was long forgotten? That totally sucks.
Still unsettled by returning to this place where I was once happy, I return the key to the oh-so-clever hiding spot under the turtle, then jog down the driveway.
I’m breathing easier until I see a woman outside the house next door. I squint, trying to figure out if I know her. But then, it slams into me like a load of bricks. That’s Davis and Echo’s older sister. I don’t remember her name, and never knew her very well, because she was already in college by the time I was in high school. She was mostly just home on breaks from college and the occasional holiday. Definitely not around when shit hit the fan for me later. Fuck, fuck, fuck. This isn’t good. I hadn’t realized any of the family was still living here. I had wrongly assumed the entire family had moved away.
Flashes of Echo and me sneaking around after dark as our relationship progressed assaults me from all directions. At first, I resisted. Davis would kill me. He’d fucking kill me. She was so young. Too young. But she watched my every move with those sparkling green eyes. And then… I gave in, unable to resist her.
The oldest Madden sibling bends to fiddle with something in the back seat of her car, and her voice carries as she speaks. Seems like someone is in there. Probably a kid. I rake my hand through my hair. It’s times like this when it’s very apparent everyone’s lives fucking moved on while mine was at a goddamn standstill behind bars. She straightens as I near the end of the Franks’ driveway, and her eyes follow me. There’s no way she didn’t see where I was coming from.Fuck.If she says something about me being here, I’m so fucking screwed.
“Royal? Is that you? What… what are you doing here? Are Katrina and Rich home?” Her eyes dart from the Frank house back to me.
I brace my hands on my hips, working my jaw to the side before I finally shake my head. “You didn’t fucking see me.”
She frowns, green eyes that look just like Echo’s, searching mine. “What? Is something wrong?” She takes a step toward me, but I hold my hands up.
“You and both your fucking siblings should mind your own damn business. Stay the hell away from me. Your family’s done me enough damage to last a lifetime.”
TWENTY-ONE
ECHO
After confirmingwith Cassie that TZE sisters don’t haze pledges—resulting in what felt like fifty questions, which I had to play off because I wasn’t sure I wanted to say anything yet—I’ve vacillated all afternoon between calming myself down and throwing myself into fits of pure terror. An unknown person was in my bathroom with me while I showered. And now that I know it wasn’t hazing, the first note on the mirror is all the more freaky.Hey, gorgeous.My eyes flick to the shower stall. How did they come in? When? I gnaw on the side of my finger, contemplating how all this happened.
There’s really no way to know. A slow quake rolls through my body. They could have been hiding in my closet before I got to my room. Or under the bed. Maybe behind the door. Or… they came inwhileI was showering. The thought alone is unnerving. I’d been listening to music. Singing. Had the candles lit to relax.
Well, there will be no taking a serene, peaceful shower for me ever again. I’ll be waiting for someone to come after me with a knife like Norman Bates inPsycho.I blow out a hard breath, taking a photo of the second message.Not hazing, love.I wish I’d gotten a photo of the first, but I really had thought it was Freya or another sister, like Emory had guessed. But nope.
I locate some Windex and paper towels in the cabinet under the sink, so I spend the next few minutes smearing the lipstick residue around the glass before I’m finally able to wipe it clean. There’s only one thing I’m totally sure of, and this may be the worst of all. The bathroom window was locked this morning. No matter how they got in or when, whoever was in here had to have been in my bedroom with me before they exited, otherwise the bathroom window would have been unlocked. A shiver runs down my spine. Whether they left through the window or the door doesn’t really matter. Either way, here I was, completely defenseless and asleep.
Oh my fuck. Butwait.Did the pervert watch me masturbate? I swallow hard. I’ve been so keyed up about everything else that I hadn’t even considered that. My stomach gives a violent lurch, and I’m suddenly afraid that if I stay in this room right now, I’m going to eject the contents of my stomach.
Wanting nothing more than to get out of my room for a while, I grab a hoodie in case the night air is chilly later and stuff it into my backpack. I never thought I’d be thankful as fuck for English class, but there it is. The class is from six to nine tonight—the one I only have once a week. It’ll distract me from everything else going on for a little while, anyway.
I hope I don’t fall asleep. I’d already been tired enough earlier, as Emory had noticed, but no way in fuck was I napping in the room where some weirdo is leaving me love notes on the mirror. My stomach pitches and rolls again at the thought of someone watching me while I sleep. There is nothing creepier.
I’ve just picked an apple out of the basket of fruit on the kitchen counter when Freya spots me. “Oh my god, where have you been?”
I tilt my head to the side. “Around. Class and my room, mostly.”
She laughs, giving me a big grin. “You know, I’ve been out with Zane a bunch. We’ve probably just missed each other.”
“Yep.”
Nodding to my backpack, she gives me a funny look. “Where are you headed this late?” She pulls a tube of lip gloss from her pocket and goes about applying it, using her reflection in the microwave as a mirror.
“Back to campus for class. I have English 101 at six.”
She presses her lips together, then touches her finger to the edge of the lower one, making sure the lip product is where she wants it. “Oh, shit. One of those long ones, huh? Good fucking luck. I had an anthropology class in that same block of time, and I routinely fell asleep, missing two-thirds of every single lecture. Makes it really fucking hard to pass.” She grins, then pats my cheek as she begins to back away from me. “Look alive, little sis, look alive.”
I press my lips together, unsure whether I should say anything or not. Just because Cassie said no to hazing being a practice here at TZE doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen… or maybe Freya saw something. I’m grasping at straws to save my sanity. “Hey, you didn’t happen to see anyone go into my room yesterday evening, did you?”
“No, why?” Her brows pinch together.
Shrugging, I wave a hand. “I guess it just felt funny in there to me. I can’t quite place why.” I’m still having trouble trusting anyone in this house. With a sigh, I blurt, “Don’t worry, I’m sure it’s nothing.”
