Page 35 of My Best Friend Prince Charming

“Shannon’s always been like that,” Mrs. Cooper said.

“I wish she didn’t have to feel like putting on a brave face. It makes it much harder to know when to help her. She just wants to carry all her burdens on her own.”

“You’ve been the best thing to ever happen to Shannon. I don’t know what she’d do without you.”

“I hope we never find out. I plan on being there for her even if I have to be on the other side of the country.”

If only there was a way to bring Shannon with me to California.

* * *

On Monday,the school was buzzing with the news that Shannon and I were an item. For the most part, the girls with the autographs had backed off. Most of them already had their autographs at this point anyway. Some of the more hopeful, persistent girls didn’t seem to care whether Shannon was my girlfriend or not. The fact that they thought they could convince me to choose them over Shannon was laughable.

Last night she’d looked like a dream come true in the dress I’d bought for her. It hugged her in all the right places and showed off enough skin to be tantalizing, but covered enough to still be classy. She’d paired it with tan heels that made her long legs look even longer. It had truly been a magical night. I felt like the prince and the fairy godmother all rolled into one for Shannon.

When school let out for the day, I pushed open the front doors to the school to head out to my car. Today I’d parked near the front. Tabby was sitting on one of the stone benches that sat in front of the school.

“Ryker! I’ve been looking for you,” she said, scrambling to her feet, smoothing down her already smooth, jet-black hair.

“What’s up, Tabby?”

“I had kind of a weird question, and I was wondering if you could help me answer it. It’s part of a social experiment I’m conducting.”

“Sure. I mean, I’ll do my best. What’s your question?”

“Am I a good kisser?”

I blinked at her in confusion. “I wouldn’t know the answer to that question, Tabby. I don’t know why you think I would.”

In a flash, before I could react, Tabby’s candy-apple red lips were on mine. She reached up and around my neck, keeping me pinned to her face as she went in again. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to pry her off of me physically, but I was beginning to contemplate it.

“Ryker!” Shannon’s voice startled me, and Tabby finally pulled her mouth away. I twisted to see the shock and horror etched on Shannon’s face. She dashed back into the school, disappearing from sight.

“Shannon.” I tried to follow her, but Tabby still had a tight grip around my neck, almost like a headlock. “Let go of me, Tabby.”

She dropped her hands and said, “What’s your issue? I’m just having some fun.”

I pushed past her and headed into the building to find which way Shannon had gone. Instead, I slammed right into Austin.

He looked furious. “Why were you kissing my girlfriend just now?”

“How should I know? She’s nuts. She just grabbed my face and kissed me.”

Austin scoffed. “Did you just make that up? That’s not even a believable lie. You’re lucky Mr. Klaton wasn’t here to see your little public display of affection. He’s been handing out detentions all year to people kissing on campus.”

I didn’t have time for Austin and his delusional self-righteous monologues. “Which way did Shannon go?” I asked instead of trying to defend myself again.

“How should I know?” Austin said. “It’s not my job to keep track of her.”

He wasn’t helping anything. I dashed down the hall but couldn’t see Shannon anywhere. I blew out a frustrated sigh. Maybe she just drove home. I decided to check the back parking lot and pushed open the crash bar on the double doors at the end of a long hallway lined with lockers. I stepped outside and took a sharp left to head to the area where Shannon had parked this morning.

I spotted Tabby again, crouched in the bushes. She had her hand between two bushes like she was looking for something. She brought her hand back, and it was full of a wad of rolled-up cash. My heart pounded. What was Tabby up to? I started jogging in her direction, but she turned and disappeared between two cars. Then a short, squat man with a camera around his neck stepped from the bushes.

“Hey!” I called to him. Had he paid Tabby to kiss me so he could get a picture of it for the tabloids? “You there!”

The man looked in my direction and took off running at full speed. I was a fast runner, but not fast enough. A black sedan pulled up, and he climbed inside before I could ask him any questions.

I found Shannon sitting in her car, her eyes puffy and red from crying. I knocked on her window, and she rolled it down. “What do you want, Ryker?”

---