Page 38 of The Prince of Broken Crowns

“Aren’t you worried that might get you into trouble?”

“Oh, I know it will. But it kind of comes with my job. And yeah, I get that I don’t have to write about it, but I want to.” She heaves a weighted sigh. “Despite what my parents want me to do, I don’t want to spend the rest of my life being a gossip columnist. I want to write about things that matter, and I want to start with this school and its corruption.”

“And you think my scholarship has to do with that?” I question, unsure whether to be offended or not.

“Truthfully, I don’t know. All I know is that it’s completely out of the ordinary for them to let northside students in on scholarship, especially when this place prides itself on being a prestigious place where only the wealthy and best students go. At least, that’s the shit they feed everyone. I don’t think for a second that being wealthy means you’re the best. In fact, some of the most shady people I’ve met are the most wealthy and powerful.”

“I believe you,” I say, thinking about my aunt. “People are shady on northside, too, but not all of them, so I get that there’s multiple layers to all sorts of social classes.”

“I know, right? And so many people don’t get that.” She sticks out her fist. “Fist-bump for seeing things clearly?”

I tap my knuckles against hers while laughing. She laughs, too.

“And to answer your question about my scholarship …” I decide to tell her because I feel like maybe I can trust her. And even if I can’t, what can she do with the information? Everyone is already aware that I’m a northside scholarship student. “I don’t know who gave it to me or why. Some lawyer just showed up on my doorstep about a week ago with an envelope congratulating me on my scholarship. I had to go to the city to sign papers, but again, this was all through a lawyer, and the person/people who gave it to me wanted to remain anonymous. I’m not even sure why they chose me or how they even found out about me. It was probably just random.” Even when I say the words aloud, I don’t fully believe them. Too much random stuff has been happening to me lately to actually be random.

“That’s weird that they wanted to remain anonymous,” Wren states as she absentmindedly digs a tube of lipstick out of her bag. She applies it then puts it away again before saying, “I have an uncle who’s a lawyer. He helps me out with stories sometimes. I could ask him about this and see if he has any theories about it. If that’s okay with you, I mean?”

“Yeah, go ahead.” I fleetingly consider asking her if her uncle can look into who bailed me out of jail, as well, but that would lead to a whole other level of confession time with her, and I’m not about to do that.

Sure, she seems open-minded, but if I told her I’ve been arrested—twice—it could lead to judgment. Even Finn and River don’t want people to know they spent Friday night behind bars.

“Cool. I’ll let you know what he says.” Wren zips up her bag and rises to her feet right as Lily walks out of her room.

She’s rocking a short, silver dress, matching shoes, and diamond earrings. She’s also sporting a pout.

“I’m starting to really hate my wardrobe,” she gripes while flipping her hair off her shoulder. “I look like a beauty queen in this thing.”

“Beauty queens are pretty,” I tell her as I stand up.

She continues to pout. “I know, but I don’t feel like I want to be beauty queen-ish tonight. I’m so sick of looking like that. The only reason I ever went with this look is because my mother made me.” She slumps against the wall with her arms crossed. “I don’t even know who I am. Not really. I finally have a chance to figure it out, and I just need some help because I have no idea where to start.”

I feel sorry for her, enough that I offer, “I have another leather jacket you can borrow.” I point over my shoulder at my room. “Fair warning, I got it from a secondhand store, and it has a tear inside, but it’s perfect on the outside, and if you wore it over that dress and changed your shoes, you can go with a punk princess vibe or something?” I look at Wren like, Are those the right words to persuade her away from this existential crisis?

“Oh, for sure,” Wren agrees, giving me a subtle nod before returning her attention to Lily. “I have these really cool black platform shoes you can borrow. And you can put on those lace tights.”

With her lips smashed together, Lily pushes away from the wall. “All right. Yeah, let me try that.”

“We can grab my shoes on the way?” Wren suggests then flicks a glance at me. “You want to grab that jacket, and then we can head out?”

“Sure.” I hurry back to my room and collect the jacket from the closet.

As I’m heading back out, I pause as I hear Wren talking in a hushed tone.

“Are you sure you did it?” she whispers to Lily. “Because it doesn’t seem like you did.”

“Oh my God, Wren, for the hundredth time, yes, I did it,” Lily gripes. “So, please, stop harassing me. You’re starting to sound like your mother.”

“I’m sorry,” Wren replies. “I know this sucks, but you know what will happen if you don’t … Things would’ve been so much easier if we’d been roomed together in the first place.”

“Shh …” Lily hisses. “I don’t want Maddy finding out.”

My stomach twists. What are they talking about exactly? And why do I have this sinking suspicion it has to do with me?”

I remain inside my room for another minute to see if they’ll talk more. When nothing but silence filters through the air, I give up, put on my best composed face, and exit my room with my jacket.

“Here you go.” I hand it to Lily.

She smiles.

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