Page 44 of The Lost Kings
She was a star, the sun…the skies we spent our childhood searching.
But one thing she’d never become was mine, so I ducked my head and let her release me. Then I watched as she opened the door without looking back.
Chapter 17
Presley
AGE 16
Rain fell at an angle, coating my window in fat droplets.
I was perched on my window seat, staring at the soaked world as my mood continued to sour, and I ignored my life. I’d forgone training for five days, and I’d ignored my best friends nearly just as long. I needed to forgive Kingston for what he’d done, but I wasn’t just mad at him. I was devastated that he’d toyed with me the way he did.
It was bad enough that the twins were able to get Snapchat recently and they both had started making online friends, most of which were girls based off the giggles and laughs I heard coming from their screens.
Kingston confused me, more frequently than was kind. My feeble crush on him had weathered indifference from him for so long, but to have him pretend, or even act as though he’d acted out of a place of jealousy, it was too cruel. He said it was because he wanted to protect the family, but since when had he ever cared about that?
“Presley?” My mother’s voice had me turning, seeing her with a plate of apple slices and peanut butter.
I ignored her too. She’d done nothing wrong, but I was angrywith her for keeping me here, just like I was at my father and Scotty. I understood the gravity of what was going on and how we couldn’t simply exist outside of these walls without retribution, but the interaction from my birthday only proved that I’d never make any friendships or lasting relationships for as long as I was trapped in the manor.
My mother made her way up the stairs to my loft and gently sat next to me, placing the plate between us.
“Missed you at breakfast this morning, and lunch.”
She was worried about me, and part of me revolted at the idea of causing that, but I was too disappointed to empathize.
“Talk to me, honey. What’s going on?” She gently toyed with the ends of my long hair. I wore shorts, long socks, and a hoodie, but my hair was washed and styled, so it hung in a long sheet behind me. Something inside me cracked, feeling her fingers pull at a snag, as she continued to comb through it.
“I’m stuck here.” My throat suddenly burned as a sob worked through me. “I’m done with my school courses, but I’m only sixteen. I’ve had no experiences, nothing outside of the manor and the people here. I want to make friends, go to school, kiss a boy. I want freedom.”
I felt like a bird, begging for someone to open my cage.
Freedom felt so fleeting, and like such a strange concept. Of course I wasn’t trapped; I was kept safe and well-loved, and yet the look on that boy’s face wouldn’t leave my mind. The way he looked so shocked at Kingston’s behavior, and the way the realization hit me that I’d never know what it felt like to kiss a boy at a ball because the twins would step in and ruin it. It all was a ball of tension just sitting in my chest like a time bomb.
“You know why we—” my mother started, but I cut her off.
“I know, but is it really so important to prevent me from having these experiences? What if I go by a different name and I keep my head down…I’m not trying to make waves or cause issues. I just want the chance to be a normal sixteen-year-old.”
My mom’s eyes narrowed at that word choice, and I remembered what she’d said about me. She didn’t know I had overheard her say that I wasn’t normal, but now I was using it against her. Relying on the fact that somewhere, down deep in her heart, she longed for her daughter to have typical teenage experiences.
She bit her lip and glanced outside, and a fresh hope rose within me.
“I’d be safe, Mom. You know I could handle myself, and you know that I’d do whatever you said I had to. I could do a half day, since I don’t really need any more credits. Scotty can forge the paperwork and all the documents for me, showing I only need a few classes. Please, I’m begging you. Ask him for me.”
Her eyes searched my face, and I knew I’d gotten through to her. She was the number one fan of me having normal kid experiences. There was no way she’d deny me this.
“I’ll talk to your father, and to Scotty about it, okay?”
I flung forward and threw my arms around her. It was as close to a yes as I would likely get, but it still meant the world to me.
Dinner arrivedand the smell of my mother’s lasagna filled the room. Our table only had four chairs because we never invited anyone over to eat with us. Scotty was a private person, and my parents liked to protect him in the little ways they could since he was always protecting us.
Scotty wore a simple T-shirt, sweats, and his feet were bare. I liked when he didn’t have to wear his armor here, as if this was the only place on earth that he didn’t have to wear a bulletproof vest. His thinning hair was a bit mussed, which meant he’d napped before dinner.
“So,” Dad started, while glancing up from his plate, “your mother talked to us about your request to socialize.”
That was an interesting term for what I was trying to do. I didn’tsay anything for fear of what would happen if I misspoke or screwed everything up by blurting out how unfair it was that I’d been stuck here while my cousin Carter had been allowed to attend private school with other people her age.
