Page 8 of Evil Queen

Nathan

“I’m honestly surprised you have this much stuff,” Kyle commented as I pulled the box of Cherri’s stuff out of the trunk of my car.

“You and me both,” I responded.

My mind traveled back to the day after everything came to a head with my dad and Deon. After I finally managed to let Nikita go long enough so that she could go home, change her clothes, and pack some things for an extended stay, I walked around both my house and the main mansion that my parents lived in and slowly started to clean everything up.

To my surprise, I had quite a few of Cherri’s things—the spare laptop she kept at my place so that she had something to do homework with when she stayed over, more than one article of her clothing, a large supply of makeup, and even shampoo, conditioner, and soap from my bathroom. With all of that, I shoved the fuzzy blanket I’d bought her for snuggling up on the couch on cold days into the bottom of the box, along with all of the snacks I’d bought that she liked to keep around for days when she was over.

For the fact that she was in love with someone else, and so was I, we’d gotten more than a little comfortable together. I imagine, apart from what happened at the very end of our relationship, there was probably something salvageable as a friendship between us. She’d seen more of the tension between my dad and me than anyone else had, and even when she had no obligation to do so, she stayed by my side when I was going through the worst of it, right before I lost my cool altogether. The thought of Cherri leaving gave me horrible flashbacks of when Deon left. Once again, I’d invested in someone who was just going to leave, and that caused something in me to break that I had not realized was so fragile.

“Nathan?” Kyle’s voice snuck into my thoughts and pulled me back to reality. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” I replied, shutting my trunk, pulling my backpack over my shoulder, and starting for the front of the school. “I guess I just realized how real things had gotten between us.”

“You and Cherri?”

“Yeah. I tried to convince myself that our relationship was just a means to an end, but it must not have been. This is going to be difficult.”

“Well, you guys were together for damn near four years. I imagine that if you spend that much time in a relationship with someone, whether the relationship was political or not, you’re bound to get attached, even if it’s not romantic.”

“I really do love Nikita so much,” I said. “So much so that I was terrified of her seeing all this shit I had, but…” My voice trailed off. There wasn’t a clear and concise thing in my life. Everything was complicated. Nothing was clean-cut or black and white. Every single thing, from my ex to my wayward brother, had all these layers that needed sifting through, and I didn’t know how to begin. “I’m tired, Kyle.”

Kyle put his hand on my back. “I know, man. Just take it one day at a time. That’s all you gotta do. Don’t think about too much all at once. Just worry about today.”

That was the exact opposite philosophy to what my father had chiseled into my brain for the past eighteen years. Everything had to be a step toward the next thing. I always had to be thinking days, weeks, months, or even years into the future. Just thinking about today made me feel like my brain was being lazy.

“Just get through today,” I repeated. Why did something so simple seem so difficult? “Well, can you help me get this stuff to Cherri without Nikita seeing? She doesn’t know I have this much stuff.”

“Would she really be upset? You guys did go out for four years. Is it all that shocking that you would have amassed some stuff?”

“It’s not so much about that. Discussing Cherri, even briefly, always ends badly for us. I’d rather not bring it up at all.”

“You got it, man,” Kyle said. “If I see her, just shove the box at me, and I can bring it over to her.”

Part of me wanted to let him do that, but I felt like I owed it to Cherri to face her straight-up. I still hadn’t gotten the chance to apologize to her. Hopefully, winter break gave her enough time to cool down. Maybe The Royal Court could start fresh and begin repairing.

“If you see her, just let me know,” I said. “If you see Nikita, let me know that faster.”

“Uh, oh…” Kyle said before pointing forward. “I see Nikita.” We were just passing through the doorway of school, and, sure enough, Nikita was a bit down the hallway, standing with Jaxon and Colette. They had gathered in front of Colette’s locker, which also happened to be where mine and Kyle’s were. Kyle grabbed the edge of the box. “Here, just give it to me. I’ll tell her it’s some stuff I have to give back to Avery or something.”

“She won’t believe you. You and Avery broke up over a year ago, and she’s with Alistair now.” I sighed. “Besides, I don’t want to lie to people anymore. You guys have put up with a lot of shit from me, most of which is a whole lot of lying to your fucking faces. I didn’t want to bring Cherri up with Nikita, but if she asks about the box, I’ll just tell her the truth and take whatever punishment comes my way. It’s the least I can do.”

Kyle shrugged. “Okay, man. Suit yourself.”

With my fate sealed, Kyle and I continued down the hallway until we had made our way to where Nikita, Jaxon, and Colette were standing. My eyes found Nikita first, and I couldn’t help but smile. She grinned back at me, but there was hesitation in her gaze, so I didn’t try to initiate any sort of intimacy with her. I gave her a little nod as a greeting. She nodded back, and then my gaze shifted to Colette, and the smile quickly faded. Her hair, which was typically perfectly brushed, was unkempt and curling along the back where split ends were fraying outward. Her eyes were sunken in as if she hadn’t slept in weeks, and though she was already an absurdly thin person, she looked borderline emaciated with her collar bone jutting out from her neck and her cheeks slightly sunken. When Kyle said she wasn’t doing good, I didn’t think it was that bad.

It shattered me.

“Hey, Colette,” I greeted. “I missed you over the break.”

She forced a smile that she was no doubt attempting to make seem bright but only looked pained. “Hi! I missed you too. I have a Christmas present for you! You were the only one who I didn’t get a chance to give it to over the break.” She reached into her open locker, pulled out a small and perfectly wrapped present, and handed it over. “Open it!”

My hands were full with the box, so I shifted it to balance against my hip while I worked on getting the present open. Nikita tried to pull the box from me, but I clung to it, and she furrowed her brow at me. “Sorry,” I said quickly. “I got it.”

But the damage was done. Nikita was already picking her way through the box’s contents, and I had no choice but to continue with my present from Colette and wait for the impending doom. I pulled off the wrapping paper, lifted the lid of the box, and laughed. Inside was a small porcelain nesting doll. My relationships with the members of The Royal Court were strained on a good day, but until the beginning of this year, we did all have something like a friendship. During a conversation with Colette, I’d revealed that I hated the concept of nesting dolls because I didn’t understand why anyone would feel the need to fit progressively smaller things into larger replicas. My irritation over the concept was amusing to her, and it became something of an inside joke between us.

“A nesting doll.” I leaned forward and gave her as best a hug as I could with my arms full. “Thank you.” Pulling back, I rubbed the back of my neck. “Um, I kind of completely ignored Christmas this year, so I don’t—”

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