Page 36 of The Royal Flame
Of feeling alone and broken.
If I hit him, though, I’ll probably get expelled. And then what? Where would I go? Home? I don’t have a home or family anymore.
I’m about to lower my fist when he says, “Go ahead and hit me. I’ll come at you way worse.” He leans in and says lowly, “Now that River has used and discarded you, you’re fair game, Maddison. You should ask Lily about how it turns out when you spread your legs for a Royal?—”
I slam my fist into his jawline with so much force it pops my knuckles.
“Dammit,” Eli and I both groan out in pain.
I clutch my hand while Eli cradles his face.
“You’re so done,” he warns with a glare. “I’m going to destroy you.”
With that, he spins around and storms off. A ways down the hallway, he veers right and rushes into the Main Office.
Great. Dude’s about to tattle on me.
I’ll get kicked out for this—I know I will.
It feels like the walls are closing in. I can’t breathe. Think.
“I need to get out of here.” I spin around and jog out of the school.
As I push out the exit doors, I keep going, running across the grass, the parking lot, and then pick up my pace as I reach the road that leads away from the academy. In the back of my mind, I’m aware of the risk I’m taking, and that Grey’s bodyguard will probably try to chase me down. But that only makes me run fast.
When I hear a car engine behind me, I skitter to the right and jump into the tree and shrubbery that border the road. I swat through branches, hiking deeper into the trees. I can’t hear anyone running after me, but I keep going until I brink through the edge of the forest line.
Miraculously, I manage to exit it relatively close to the bus stop. I spot a bus pulling up and I move quickly, barreling onit. I take a seat toward the back and look out the window. Standing on the street corner where I was only a minute ago is a man dressed in a dark suit and glasses—the bodyguard Grey has keeping an eye on me.
He has his hand shielded over his eyes and is peering around. As the bus drives forward, his head darts in the direction. I’m not sure if he figures out I’m on it, but with how hard he stares at the back of it, I’m guessing he’s trying to read the information on the nest stop that flows across the marquee. I didn’t even bother to check, and when I finally glance at the inside marque, I cringe. This bus is headed to the downtown area of Royal City.
I slump back in the set. The leather reeks of cigarettes and body odor. It’s disgusting, but familiar. It makes me think of all the times I’ve spent on the bus, riding to places in north side. And at times, I’d get on it at night when my parents parties would get too out of hand, and I didn’t feel safe. I’d ride around until the sun rose then make my way home where tons of people would be passed out on the floor.
I once thought one of them was dead with the way their eyes were open. But they were just high out of their mind and had grabbed me when I leaned over them to check if they were breathing.
I’d screamed and kicked them in the side to get them to release me. Then I ran and got on the bus again. That wasn’t the first time stuff like that happened, and I became accustomed to it.
But I genuinely did believe that when I got a scholarship to the Royal Academy, my life would change, and I’d finally be able to stop hiding on the bust, yet here I am riding on the bus again.
That depressing thought sinks deeply into my bones as I gaze out the window, watching the lavish houses and fancy buildings blur by. Nothing will ever change. I really am starting to believethat, so maybe it doesn’t matter if I get expelled for punching Eli?
Maybe my life was never meant to change. Maybe this is my own Social Darwinism hell. I wonder if the person who gave me the scholarship and paid for me to attend will be disappointed when they find out about my expulsion? I still have no clue who they are. I’d guess Grey, but since he wasn’t aware of my existence until just barely, I doubt it. And I know it isn’t River.
Could it be my aunt Ellie? Did she somehow come across some money to pay for it? She does have royal blood running through her veins. It might be nearly extinct blood, but perhaps she received some inheritances money? Is that how she managed to vanish?
Yeah, I think I might be living in Naïve Land. Because how does that play a role in River’s mother’s disappearance? Because there has to be a connection.
River and I were supposed to be looking into that today—we were supposed to be talking to people that could be in the Rose Society Elli and his mother are in. But that’s not happening now. Not after River dumped my ass.
Tears burn in my eyes. I loathe that I feel this way. I use to be much stronger, but now I feel so broken.
A tear manages to escape my eye, and I quickly swipe it away right as my phone buzzes from inside my pocket. I fish it out and am unsure what to make of the side of River’s name flashing across the screen. I send the call to voicemail then power down my phone, along with the watch I’m wearing that he uses to track my location.
Then I sink lower into the seat and get comfortable. This is where I belong, away from fancy schools and rich, gorgeous guys who have an obsession with being a martyr.
Maybe I’ll just stay here forever because it’s where I belong.
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