Page 64 of A Royal Menace

We release each other, and she smiles as she takes a sip of her frozen drink. We carry all four glasses into the living room where Joey and Twila are already seated around the coffee table, dipping tortilla chips into cheese sauce and guacamole. Once Raven and I sit, and we all have our drinks, the three of them turn expectant gazes my way.

This is my show, after all.Mycircus.Mymonkeys.

“So,” I say after I take a deep breath, “Turns out, that guy I’ve been texting, Emmett, isn’t actually a stranger. Emmett is Royal. Royal is Emmett.”

They stare at me in stunned silence for several long beats before pandemonium explodes, all three of them barking questions at once. I hold up a palm as I take a sip of my drink. Their questions cut off, and I can’t help but smile. I’ve needed this. I’ve needed them. I don’t know why I ever thought I should figure this out on my own.

“Wait,” Raven says before I can speak again. “Is that why Royal refused to give you his number?”

“I’m assuming so,” I say with a nod. “I haven’t actually talked to him since I found out.”

“He didn’t tell you, himself?” Joey asks.

“No, he didn’t,” I say, sadness creeping into the words.

“Okay, start from the beginning,” Twila says. “We need the full picture before we make a snap judgement.”

“Okay. The beginning,” I say slowly, arranging my thoughts. “Do you remember the first couple of texts I showed you from Emmett?”

“Yeah,” Joey says. “They sounded like he was texting someone he lost.”

I nod. “He was. He told me he lost his fiancée in a fatal car accident two years ago, and that my number was hers.”

“Oh, God,” Joey breathes with sad eyes.

“Yeah,” I whisper, then clear my throat.

“How did you find out?” Twila asks.

“Tuesday morning, after I texted you guys about Royal and Emmett, I went to work, fully intending to talk to Royal about the whole phone number thing. But I beat him there, for once, and while I was getting some coffee in the lounge, another teacher came up to me. She said something about the war between Royal and me being over, how obvious it was, and how Royal has been acting like himself again in a way he hasn’t since the accident.”

“The accident?” Joey asks.

“I asked her the same thing, and she told me she wasn’t supposed to talk about it since only a few people at work know, but Royal lost his fiancée in a car accident a couple of years ago.”

“Oh, shit,” Raven murmurs.

“Right,” I say, nodding. “I put two and two together, obviously. I don’t think Royal knew he was texting me the whole time, but the second I gave him my number, he realized it was me. But instead of telling me the truth, he convinced me to chat on Cackle instead and stopped texting me as ‘Emmett’ after that goodbye text.”

Twila’s eyes widen. “And after you texted him about Royal not giving you his number.”

“Don’t remind me,” I groan. “That’s so embarrassing.”

“What an asshole,” Raven grits out. “How hard is it to tell someone the truth?”

“He panicked in the moment,” I say, then silently reprimand myself for defending him. “What kills me, though, is that I went to his house for dinner that night and ended up staying over. He had ample time to tell me the truth, and he didn’t. Was he ever going to tell me?”

Joey and Twila are silent, and I look over to see them both wearing thoughtful expressions. When Joey meets my gaze, I cock my head.

“What are you thinking?”

“You said you haven’t talked to Royal since then?” she asks.

“No,” I say with a shake of my head.

“So you haven’t given him a chance to explain himself,” she says, and it feels like an accusation.

“He lied to me, Jo,” I say defensively. “A lie of omission is still a lie.”

---