But not today. Today I watched him look anxious, a tension tugging dusky blond eyebrows together. I’d only leaned over to talk to him about that when several boulders masquerading as teenage boys arrived at our pew. Knight, Jax, and LJ had obviously driven to the church separately but they were here now. They each clasped Royal’s hand one by one, an assembly line of acknowledgment. The pretty boys wore suits, looking like handsome men today, and after, they looked at me. I sat there, knowing I hadn’t really associated with any of them since the initial assembly. School had been let out early that day due to Mira, and then had been the weekend.
Well, here we were now.
Royal and I were obviously a new development, and though we sat together at the assembly, there wasn’t much talking then. At least to me.
Royal’s arm lowered, and he moved his big body back to allow the boys to pass and sit. In my black dress, I wiggled back too, receiving a “hey” from LJ and nothing but a chin tip from Knight. That’s just how Knight rolled, not ever much for words. When Jax started to pass, he stopped. He made a parting motion for LJ to shift his weight and make room as LJ had sat next to me.
Rolling his eyes, the tall blond moved enough for Jax to push his body into the space, and settled, Jax placed an arm around me. This maneuver caused him to inadvertently touch Royal’s shoulder, which got Jax a swift growl on Royal’s end and a death stare that might scare me had it been directed toward me.
“Sorry, man.” Jax cleared his throat, returning his hand to his lap. He gave me a little wave. “Hey, December.”
It seemed things of the past had been forgotten, his aversion to my relationship with Royal. I had a feeling that had to do with things I’d been waiting to hear about from Royal’s end, but honestly, I wasn’t mad at Jax anyway. Maybe I should be, but a part of me really liked him, liked all of them really. Even Knight. They did always look out for me, there when I never really seemed to know I needed them. They all played a place in my life due to connections with my sister.
I sat back, Royal’s arm returning behind me. Squeezing, he pulled me forward, and I noticed a silent exchange between him and the guys. Even Knight had looked at him, nodding before reaching forward and taking a program off the back of the pew ahead. I had a lot of questions here, and they started with that.
I tugged Royal’s lapel. “What’s going on?”
Lustrous green eyes shifted in my direction, a slight smile to them before he cradled the back of my head. He brought my head down, kissing the top.
“Nothing, princess,” he said, nothing like I was stupid and that he hadn’t just promised me something not a few days ago. He promised me information, that he’d let me in on everything regarding my sister and what happened to her. He said he’d put it out there and not keep anything from me anymore. All that seemed to fall to the wayside after all this with Mira, the road trip he promised me put on the back burner. I hadn’t questioned it at the time. After all, the day of the assembly had been the day we’d planned to go. We didn’t know when her funeral would be, so we stayed around for that. I hadn’t forgotten though that he said he had to show me something, something he said couldn’t just be told.
I hadn’t forgotten a lot of things, my tongue held now only because my cell phone decided to buzz in that very moment. Ignoring it, I shoved it deep inside my purse, but that didn’t stop the illumination.
Royal noticed.
Reaching across my lap, he slid his hand inside my purse, his proximity to the place he’d made me ache in the past too close. He retrieved the phone quickly and, after checking the face, held it out to me.
“It’s Birdie,” he said and, having handed me my phone, returned his arm to behind my neck. His eyes warmed. “Shouldn’t make her wait, princess.”
How easily he could distract with those eyes and he obviously knew it. I wouldn’t question him in this moment, his fingers brushing the delicate hairs behind my neck, and considering where we were right now it was probably best. It wasn’t appropriate, and that was the only reason I decided to read the texts from my friend, who was currently blowing up my phone with variations of the same message. She wanted to know where I was, if I was here and if so, where.
Birdie: We saved you a seat, toward the right side of the church if you’re just coming in.
I gazed around the area, people standing up everywhere. This made it quite difficult to see anyone, but one thing I could see was the crowds were making an assembly line toward the front. When we had sat down, I hadn’t really gotten a chance to see anything or anyone, but my eyes in that direction, I knew exactly why people were lining up.
She’s up there.
Mira… Mira in a casket. She, herself, was still too far away but an ivory-colored casket with people bowing their heads over it could definitely be made out. She was up there for the world to see, obviously, since that’s how these things worked.
I swallowed before gazing down back at my phone.
Me: I’m toward the back. Just got here.
Birdie: Oh, we’re towards the front. Still don’t see you.
Me: Just look for the Court brick wall.
Referring to Royal and his gang, I waited for the return text. It came swiftly.
Birdie: Whoa, what the fuck? Why are you sitting with Royal?
Two seconds later.
Birdie: Why is Royal’s arm around you? Dude…
Truth be told, I hadn’t seen Birdie and the others at the assembly either. The room had been really crowded, and after, they did let us out of school. Had I seen her, these questions might have come then since Royal and I had been very much together that day as well.
Me: Long story.
Birdie: Okay, give me the Cliff’s Notes version.
About to do that, I was bumped when Royal got up. Soon, the others followed and before I knew it, I was being surrounded literally by a Court wall, tall boys even taller as they were standing up and I was sitting down.
Royal cradled his hand behind the back of my neck, kissing the top of my head again.
“We’re going to go pay our respects,” he said, pulling away. “Be right back.”
He didn’t let me argue. He didn’t let me come. He only squeezed my hand before his boys followed him out of the pew, and that pissed me off.
I lifted my phone.
Me: We’re seeing each other. Where are you guys?
Birdie: Front right. Three pews back and uh, what???
I gazed around, finding her and the others easily with their heights now that I had direction. That was definitely nice about having friends who played on the basketball team. Birdie with her big, brown bushy curls sat with her neck craned, waving an arm. After a moment, she nudged the shoulders of some of our other friends. The whole pew was basketball girls and boys, and Shakira sat right next to her. The dark-skinned girl with long braids also waved a hand, and Kiki, our other good friend, sat in the row behind them with more basketball players. The girl looked like a Korean model in her dress, which I knew her family originally hailed from as she’d told me. After Shakira reached back and pinched her, she waved too, her smile full.
I smiled as well before going back to my text message.
Me: Don’t make a thing of it. It’s still new.
Birdie: Okay, well. You’ll explain after all this? I thought you were done with that.