Page 47 of Evil Queen

Nathan

If I were the Hulk, the pounding on my door would have turned me green and brought out the worst of my muscles. Hell, if I wasn’t only a pasty eighteen-year-old with relatively good fitness, if not enough to take anyone or anything out, I might try to fight whoever was on the other side of my door. Instead, I laid in bed with my eyes closed and thanked any god that was listening for locks on bedroom doors.

“Nathan!” Kyle’s voice called through the closed door. “Come on, man. I know you haven’t eaten in two days.”

“I had pop tarts yesterday!” I shouted back.

“That’s not enough. Get up. I’m taking you to breakfast.”

“No, that’s okay,” I replied. “I’d rather just lay here in self-loathing if it’s all the same to you.”

“That’s not an option.” He pounded again. “Get up!”

I sat up straight, anger bubbling through me. “Stop hitting my door!”

As opposed to listening, Kyle opted to start slamming his fist against my door in a continuous stream without ceasing. He alternated between his fist and an open hand smacking against the door, and eventually, it was enough to drag me out of bed. I stormed over to the door, unlocked it, and threw it open, leering at Kyle.

“Well, good morning, sunshine,” Kyle said.

If he wasn’t my best friend and the only thing holding our group together, I would have punched him. “Go away.”

“No,” he said, pushing his way into my room. “Get dressed. We’re going to breakfast.”

“I don’t want to.”

“It wasn’t a request.” He walked into my walk-in closet and started opening and closing the drawers. “Can I be honest with you about something? I really hate your wardrobe. You aren’t this douchey.”

I threw myself down on my bed in protest. “I’m pretty douchey.”

“You’re not.” Drawers opened and closed a few more times, and then Kyle walked back into the room with some folded clothes in his hand. “You do smell, though.” He held out the clothes with one hand and used the other to usher me toward the bathroom. “Please, do us all a favor and clean up. Then we’ll go get delicious breakfast food at a hole-in-the-wall in North Postings.”

“We’re gonna go to Gerald’s?” I asked.

“If you hurry. He’s only open until eleven,” Kyle said. That was enough to get me up. The endearingly caring man I’d met back when school first resumed was topped only by how delicious his food was. “I also have someone else meeting us there, so please, get going.”

“Who?” I asked.

“I will tell you if you take a shower.” Then he looked me straight in the eyes. “Seriously. You’re offensive.”

I snatched my clothes from him. “No one told you to storm your way in here.” I much preferred Nikita’s kind, gentle way of coaxing me into taking care of myself, but she hadn’t spoken to me since I saw her at school on Friday. “Just wait downstairs,” I said as I entered the bathroom and shut the door behind me.

As annoyed as I was that Kyle had burst his way into my room, I was glad for the shower. It was definitely needed. I moved fast, but I made sure to spend a little extra time really scrubbing myself. I’d come home Friday night and quickly fell into a slump that didn’t end until Kyle arrived early that Sunday morning. When I was done, I got dressed in the outfit he picked out, an understated but effective set of navy slacks and a long-sleeved light blue t-shirt. I grabbed a pair of light blue Vans and made my way downstairs.

“See?” Kyle asked, holding his hands out to me. “You look much better like that. Less is better.”

“Sure,” I said.

After a short drive to North Postings, we parked in front of the small restaurant and climbed out. The snow had mostly melted from the winter, and though the grass was still brown and muddy, I could tell in the height of spring, the place had a great view on top of the amazing food. Gerald wasn’t outside with his friends, so we walked into the restaurant, and to my surprise, Jaxon was already sitting at one of the tables.

“Hey,” I said as I walked up.

Jaxon glanced up at me and then looked at Kyle. “You didn’t tell me you were bringing him.”

“Yeah,” Kyle said as he loaded into the table on the other side of Jaxon. “Because you wouldn’t have come if I did.”

“You’re right,” he said. “I’ve spent the last forty-eight hours consoling my heartbroken best friend.” He glared up at me. “So, yeah, if I’d know he was coming, I would have skipped.”

“Exactly.” Kyle slapped the chair next to him, and I sat down at it. “We’re gonna talk it all out. It’s gonna be fine.”

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