Page 12 of A Royal Menace

Yours Truly,

Royal Manning

“Yep. That should do it,” I whisper under my breath before hitting “send.”

I can’t wait to see what her response will be tothat.

I really can’t.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Callie

Monday morning staffmeetings don’t usually feel this tedious, but today, with Royal standing across from me, grinning like an idiot, I can’t wait to escape to my classroom. After our email exchange on Saturday and his inference that I don’t know how to have fun, I composed about seven different responses before deleting them all and deciding to ignore his jabs.

I simply wrote back, “Make the changes, Royal.”

He did so without further comment, only sending me the updated files, which, I have to admit, look really good. I have to admit it to myself, that is. I’d never admit it tohim.

“And where are we with the fourth grade field trip?” our principal, Naomi, asks, snapping me back to the present.

I open my mouth to respond, but Royal jumps in before I can utter a syllable, saying, “I made some forms this weekend.”

He steps up to her then, handing her printouts of the forms before stepping back into his place in the loose circle of teachers.My eyes narrow as I stare at him, and he smiles before shooting me a thumbs-up sign.

“These look great,” Naomi says. “Good job, Royal.”

I have the sudden, juvenile urge to shout that I’d helped, too, but I manage to restrain myself. Naomi makes a couple of announcements I don’t hear, then dismisses us. I turn and stride from the conference room, fighting to control the seething anger threatening to overtake me.

I know it’s stupid. I know Royal only does these things to get under my skin because he thinks it’s funny. But even knowing that, I still can’t seem to control my reactions. Normally, I’m a very cool, calm, and collected person, but for some reason, when it comes to him, I seem to lose all of that and fly off the handle at the tiniest of inconveniences.

Raven says it’s sexual tension.

I think she’s lost her mind.

No, Iknowshe’s lost her mind. The tension between Royal and me has nothing to do with sex. The mere idea is ludicrous. Absolutely insane.

Royal Manning is nothing but a pain in my ass. A big kid who never grew up.

I flip on the lights as I walk into my classroom, then I stomp over to my desk. Slumping into my chair, I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths to calm myself. Opening my eyes, I pinch the bridge of my nose and sigh.

I know I overreacted to Royal’s antics this morning. He did ninety-eight percent of the work on those forms, and he deserved all the credit Naomi gave him. Rationally, I know that.

Overreacting just seems to be my go-to whenever I deal with him. It is what it is.

My phone chimes, distracting me from thoughts of Royal, and I welcome the diversion. Pulling the device out of my bag, my mood brightens when I see a text from Emmett. Swiping myfinger against the screen to open the text thread, I can’t stop the smile that tugs at my lips.

Emmett:Have you ever wondered why we practiced “Stop, Drop, and Roll” so much in grade school? My teachers had me convinced I’d catch on fire at least once in my life, so I mastered the skill. It’s been pretty useless so far.

A quiet laugh rumbles in my chest as I tap out a response.

Me:Same. Also, I’ve never even seen a pit of quicksand. At this point, I’m not even sure it’s a real thing. But when I was a kid, I was sure that was how I was going to die.

Emmett:Oh, my God. I thought the same thing! But I’ve done extensive research, and you don’t actually get sucked down like the movies depict. You just have to relax, lay back, and float, since it’s more like water than sand.

Me:Seriously?

Emmett:Seriously. Look it up.

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