Page 254 of Dirty Princess

If I kept quiet, Darby would be alive.

That thought makes my stomach a little ill. But it makes my heart race even more.

This is real power.

I catch an hour or two of sleep and then it’s suddenly morning.

Birdie is the first one up and demands to treat Maz and I to some coffee.

We go to the cafe and I see Rosa again.

She’s at the counter when we walk in and we kind of look at each other.

“I’ll go order for us,” I say to Maz and Birdie. “Go get us a table.”

I jump to the front of the line near Rosa and bump into her.

“I’m so sorry,” I say.

“You need something?” Rosa asks in a cocky tone.

“No, I don’t,” I say. “I’m going to get in line and then sit with my friends. Okay?”

“Okay,” Rosa says.

I turn to walk to the back of the line and I feel her gently bump her hip into me.

This is me now, right? This is how I tell the person who sells me zazas that I don’t need any right now. And I do it this way so Maz and Birdie don’t know that I’ve bought more zazas from Rosa…

I order three coffees and when I bring them to the table, I don’t sit down.

“I have to get to class,” I say. “I can’t miss another. I don’t know what will happen.”

“Hey, maybe if you fail enough, Dean Tahg will be forced to drag your real parents in for a meeting,” Birdie says.

“Holy shit, that’s a great idea,” Maz says.

“It’s not a bad idea,” I say. “But… I don’t know. I think I just want to go for a walk too. Alone. To think.”

Birdie grabs my hand. “Thank you, Jaci. I mean it.”

I feel emotion in my chest.

I manage to smile at her, then I hurry out of the cafe and get back on campus.

As I’m walking toward class, two girls pass me.

One says,“Can you believe he’s actually dead?”

I gasp and spin around.

“Who’s dead?” I call out.

They both look at me.

They realize who I am and instantly look afraid of me.

“Um, Darby,” one says.

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