Page 26 of American Royals II: Majesty
Or—what if Himari was onlypretendingto have forgotten? She might be acting like this to draw Daphne close, and carry out some greater revenge scheme.
“I’m not surprised you remember everyone at court,” Daphne said carefully. “You and I spent weeks combing throughMcCall’s Peeragebefore our first royal function.”
Himari smiled at that. To Daphne, at least, it looked genuine. “I still can’t believe we made note cards for that. We were such dorks.”
Back then, neither of them had mattered in the vast hierarchy of court. Himari’s parents possessed an earldom, so they ranked higher than Daphne’s, who were a second-generation baronet and lady. But Himari’s older brother would inherit their title, while Daphne, at least, was an only child.
Both girls had been nobodies, and each wanted desperately to besomebody. It was what had initially drawn them to each other—their shared impulse to climb.
Daphne hadn’t realized at the time what that kind of wanting could do to someone, how dangerous it could make them.
“If you don’t remember falling,” she asked, “whatdoyou remember?”
“The last thing I remember is our French exam! When I woke up, my first thought was that I had a calculus final today, and I needed to make sure I brought my calculator to school.”
Daphne listened hard, searching for any hint of hesitation or falsehood in Himari’s words, but she didn’t hear any.
“Our French exam? That was at least a week before the graduation party.” And before Himari’s birthday: when Daphne ended up with Ethan, and Himari saw them in bed together.
Before Himari threatened Daphne with the secret, and Daphne decided to fight fire with fire, and everything escalated so horribly out of control.
“It could be worse. I could’ve lost months instead of days,” Himari pointed out. “Though I guess Ihavelost months, given that a year of my life has disappeared.”
“I’m so sorry,” Daphne replied, because there was nothing else to say.
“I didn’t believe my parents, you know.” Himari was still holding the gift basket, fiddling with the cellophane wrapper around a soy candle. “When I woke up and heard the date, when they told me that the king had died, I didn’t believe it.”
Daphne swallowed. “A lot happened while you were in the hospital.”
“I know, you’re about to graduate! Next year, I’ll have to be a senior all alone.” Himari sighed dramatically, looking so utterly like her old self that Daphne almost smiled.
Suddenly, she remembered a time back in freshman year—before she was dating Jefferson, because no one would dare do something like this now—when a junior named Mary Blythe started a rumor that Daphne had gotten plastic surgery. On her nose, her boobs, everything.
Daphne had forced herself not to acknowledge the rumor. She knew that the more vocally she protested, the more people would believe it was true.
Himari, however, had created a fake email address and reached out to Mary, posing as a recruiter for a reality dating show. She’d convinced Mary to record an embarrassing audition video—which Himari then played during a school assembly.
“What?” she’d exclaimed, in answer to Daphne’s stunned look. “No one gets to mess with you.”
Himari was a little scary that way. There was no one as fiercely loyal to her friends—or as utterly merciless to her enemies.
If only Daphne knew which category she fell into now.
“So what have I missed?” Himari pulled her legs up beneath the blankets. “Catch me up on everything that’s happened in the past year.”
“Beatrice is queen,” Daphne began, but Himari interrupted.
“I knowthat! Tell me about you and Jeff,” she pleaded. “Why does everyone keep saying you might get back together? When did you break up in the first place?”
“He broke up with me last summer,” Daphne said cautiously. “For a while he dated Nina Gonzalez. Samantha’s friend.”
Himari’s eyes widened in recognition, and she barked out a laugh. “Thatgirl? Seriously?”
This time, Daphne couldn’t hold back her smile.
She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed having someone to confide in. For years, Himari had been the first person Daphne went to with any sort of news—good news, bad news, news that didn’t really matter at all.
But ever since the accident, Daphne had been holding these sorts of conversations with Himari in her head: asking her questions, guessing how Himari might have replied. This was precisely the reaction she had imagined, when she’d wondered what Himari would’ve said about Nina.
