Page 60 of Evil Queen

Nikita

Despite the fact that Nathan ended our last interaction on somewhat uncertain terms, I felt better about where we were than I had in days past. Maybe it was because of that, maybe it was because we finally tracked down Brayden, or maybe it was because school was finally coming to a close, but I felt anxious in a good way. I still had more questions than answers about the men that Jaxon and I were following, what had happened to Brayden, and how to sort things out with Cherri, but I was getting an unearned sense of ease. I wasn’t sure where it was coming from. Maybe it was just a sense of confidence that came from losing so much that the only direction to go was up, but I was hoping to ride it out, at least for a day.

“You seem to be in a better mood,” Jaxon said as he sat down at the lunch table. Colette was at his side, and she sat down next to him. I noticed the hickey on her neck, but I didn’t mention it.

“Yeah. I kind of feel like it’s fake confidence, but whatever. It’s the best I’ve felt in months.” I took a few bites of my chicken wrap and smiled at Jaxon and Colette’s evident infatuation with one another. “How was your night last night?”

Colette looked up with her jaw dropped and a very Colette-like gasp. “That is inappropriate, Nikki.”

I giggled as Jaxon shot her a look of annoyance. “You realize that if you hadn’t reacted that way, she wouldn’t have known, right?”

Colette folded her lips into an adorable look of guilt. “Sorry.”

It made me happy that she seemed more like herself again. Her last interaction with Cherri and the subsequent conversation we had seemed to have left a lasting impression on her, which was good. Maybe they were all willing to give Cherri more leeway than I was willing to, but I would appreciate just one week where my friends and I didn’t have to get hurt.

Slowly, everyone came to the table, including the recently recovered Brayden. In spite of the fact that Nathan and I still failed to define our relationship, he wrapped his arm behind my back and set a soft kiss on my forehead as he sat. My heart jumped a little, and I couldn’t keep from smiling at him.

“Hi,” I greeted.

He smiled back at me. “Hey.”

Kyle sat down on Nathan’s other side, and Brayden sat across from him, looking like he had a little more life but still less than normal. Kyle opened his mouth to speak, but Brayden’s hand was up, stopping him before he could get any words out. He lifted the hot dog off his tray and took an aggressive bite, then dropped it back on his tray.

“Happy?” he said with a full mouth.

“Yes,” Kyle responded. “Thank you.”

Brayden rolled his eyes, but a small smirk found his face. “Fucking mom.”

“Whatever,” Kyle snapped back. “It’s working.”

Avery seemed a little perkier when she sat down at the table, as well, and by extension, Alistair seemed to be in a better mood. They both looked more rested and seemed a little more flirtatious with one another. Alistair kept sneaking kisses against Avery’s head until she turned and took one on the lips.

Maybe everyone just had the spring love bug? Maybe it was something totally different, but for the first time since the year began, The Royal Court felt totally at peace, almost like we were back to normal.

“Hey, Nathan,” Avery started. She looked across at him with a grin, then opened her phone, navigated through it a bit, and slid it across the table toward him. “Got my room placement.”

Nathan slid the phone over so that he could look down at it, and I looked over his shoulder. Along with a ton of other admissions information was Avery’s dorm assignment, a single-occupant room in Loche Hall, aptly named after the hall’s benefactors, the Loches.

“Oh, hey! You’re inside of me!” Then he frowned as everyone looked at him with varying expressions of disgust. “Holy shit, that came out so wrong.” He looked at Alistair. “Please don’t hit me.” Then he turned to me. “Please don’t hit me.” We both just rolled our eyes and chuckled, and Nathan went back to scrolling through Avery’s room information. “You’re not taking a roommate?”

“Nah. I’m not very good at sharing.” Both Kyle and Alistair scoffed, and Avery gave them each a glare. “Okay, I didn’t ask for comments from the peanut gallery.”

“It went okay with Cherri,” Colette said and then looked up with shock, realizing what she’d said. “Oh my god. I’m so sorry.”

Avery reached around Jaxon, who she was sitting next to, to set a hand on Colette’s hand. “It’s okay. I’m feeling a little bit better, and she’s bound to come up from time to time, so we should just get used to talking about her now.” She pulled her hand back. “And you’re right. I did get pretty used to sharing things with Cherri, and she would sometimes stay over for days at a time, and it was never an issue, but I don’t know how common that is. Besides, I’ll only stay in the dorms for a year before moving off-campus with Ali, so I’d rather not get all attached to someone if I’m moving anyway.”

“You’re moving to Connecticut too?” Kyle asked. “I guess that makes sense. I just didn’t really think much about it.”

“I don’t think any of us have thought much about it,” Nathan said with sadness in his voice. “I know I’m not your favorite person in the world, but I’m gonna miss you guys.”

Avery looked at Alistair, and then Alistair looked at Nathan with a smile. “We spent about twenty minutes last night talking about how much we’re gonna miss you. You’ve been a huge part of our lives, even if an annoying one.”

Avery swatted Alistair’s arm. “You said you were going to leave that out.”

Nathan laughed and held up a hand. “Avery, he just admitted he’s gonna miss me. He can insult me all he wants.”

Everyone at the table laughed a little bit, and it drew the attention of some of the people around us. I noticed someone at a nearby table let out a full-blown sigh of relief, and then the tension at their table loosened a bit. The Royal Court’s fractures had been stressing out the people outside of it, apparently. The Royal Court, and Nathan, specifically, sort of ruled over the school, so it stood to reason that our subjects would take on some of our emotions.

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