Page 78 of American Royals
“Of course you’re good enough!”
“Do you really think that?” Nina wasn’t sure what instinct was urging her onward. Maybe it just felt good, pushing back at Sam for once, instead of letting the princess’s desires steamroll over her own.
“I wouldn’t be your friend if I didn’t think so,” Sam replied.
That comment sent Nina over the edge. Because in typical Sam fashion, she hadn’t really answered the question—hadn’t told Nina that she was smart and classy, and to ignore the internet trolls. She had just delivered her own opinion as if it were fact, and let that rest her case.
“Are we friends?” Nina heard herself ask, her voice terrifyingly even. “Because the way I see it, you show up here when it’s convenient for you—barging into my dorm room, summoning me to some party or theater performance, always wanting to talk about you and your problems. I’m not at your beck and call, Samantha. I’m supposed to be your friend. Not an assistant, not a secretary, not someone you can take for granted. A friend!”
The words bubbled up out of her like acid, years of frustration and bottled-up insecurities finally boiling over. And for once, Nina felt powerless to hold it all back.
Sam flushed a bright red. “I always thought of you like a sister, Nina, but I guess I’ve been wrong the whole time, since apparently I’ve been hurting your feelings throughout our years of friendship.”
“Like a sister?” Nina repeated. “That doesn’t count for much, based on the way you treat your real sister.”
The moment the comment left her mouth, Nina regretted it—but the damage had been done.
Her words were followed by complete and total silence.
I’m sorry, Nina wanted to say; I didn’t mean it—except that wasn’t entirely true. She had meant it, or at least some part of her had meant it.
Sam had pulled her lower lip into her teeth, the way she did when she was struggling not to cry. “I’ll get out of here. God forbid my presence ruins your perfect college life.”
“Sounds good to me.” Nina didn’t bother watching as Sam shut the door behind her.
She fell back onto her bed, pulling her hands up before her as she curled into the fetal position. The tattoo was mere inches from her face.
She remembered what she’d researched, when Sam had decided they would get that particular image. The Chinese character was more nuanced than the simple translation of friendship. It derived from an older symbol that combined the words for two and hands—meaning not just a friend, but a friend who helped you out in times of need. A friend you could lean on.
Nina tucked her tattooed wrist beneath her pillow and shut her eyes.
SAMANTHA
Samantha tapped frantically at her controller, willing her lime-green animated car to go faster. She always beat Jeff at this game. That was her favorite part of playing it: the look of shocked dismay on her brother’s face when he lost.
Jeff was hunched over in the armchair next to her, his dark eyes gleaming with the reflected glow of the TV screen. Sam gritted her teeth, whipping her car around the curve of the track, only to collide with the wall in an explosion of cartoon flames.
She expected Jeff to jump to his feet, at the very least to give a low whoop of victory, but he just turned to her with an uneven shrug. “Neither of us is playing all that great,” he pointed out. “Maybe we should call it a day.”
Sam set aside the video-game controller and turned to her brother. “Still no word from Nina?” When he shook his head, she sighed. “She isn’t really talking to me, either.”
“Really? I figured you guys would have made up by now.”
Slowly, her throat nearly closing over the words, Sam related what Nina had said on campus yesterday. That it hadn’t been easy on her, spending so much time with the royal family through the years. How they’d inadvertently shuffled her aside, made her feel inferior. Treated her like an afterthought.
Her brother’s expression hardened, and he muttered a curse. “I can’t believe she felt that way and I didn’t realize ….”
“It’s my fault too. She was my best friend long before she became your secret girlfriend.”
Jeff glanced over, alerted by something in her tone. “Are you angry that I didn’t tell you?”
“Not angry,” Sam admitted. “Just … hurt, I guess. I thought you trusted me with this kind of thing.” Even as she said it, Sam squirmed at her own hypocrisy, because she hadn’t told Jeff about her and Teddy.
Well, she definitely wouldn’t tell him now, given that Teddy had just gotten engaged to their sister.
The overhead motion-detector lights flickered on as their mom strode into the media room.
“There you two are!” the queen proclaimed, her voice laced with impatience. “Samantha, I’ve been looking for you. I need you right now.”
