Home > EVIL QUEEN : A Dark High School Elite Romance(6)

EVIL QUEEN : A Dark High School Elite Romance(6)
Author: Rebel Hart

My stomach twisted into a tight knot. “What? Why?”

“I don’t know. She was willing to talk to me, but not about very much, and not for very long. Whenever I would call to check on her, the very first thing she would ask me is if I’d heard from Cherri, and when I said I hadn’t, she would clam right up.”

“Shit,” I grumbled. “She was the one person I thought might be doing okay.”

“Yeah, me too. I don’t get it. She’s really struggling with it,” Kyle said. “I’ve asked what I can do to help, but I honestly don’t think she knows.”

Our food came, but we both slowly picked at it as the tension of the conversation blanketed over us.

“What’s next for us, do you think?” Kyle asked.

“Damned if I know,” I said. “I don’t even know what’s next for me. I know that’s a horrible thing to say as a leader, but it’s true.” The food both smelled and tasted amazing, but I was struggling to eat much of anything because of the way the guilt over hurting my friends was eating away at me. “I am gonna make it up to all of you, though. You don’t deserve the way I’ve done things.”

Kyle nodded. “We’ll just take it one step at a time. Start with just being around again.”

“I can do that.”

“Speaking of what’s next for you…” Kyle cleared his throat. “About your mom.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” flew out of my mouth without my instruction to do so. I’d said the phrase a dozen times or more to Nikita over the past couple of weeks as well.

“Fair enough,” Kyle said, “but I’m inclined to say as a best friend that you have to deal with it. If you don’t, it’s going to eat you up.”

“I’ve dealt with it,” I shot back. “I’m fine.”

He and I both knew that it was a lie.

 

 

4

 

 

Nathan

 

 

“I’m honestly surprised you have this much stuff,” Kyle commented as I pulled the box of Cherri’s stuff out of the trunk of my car.

“You and me both,” I responded.

My mind traveled back to the day after everything came to a head with my dad and Deon. After I finally managed to let Nikita go long enough so that she could go home, change her clothes, and pack some things for an extended stay, I walked around both my house and the main mansion that my parents lived in and slowly started to clean everything up.

To my surprise, I had quite a few of Cherri’s things—the spare laptop she kept at my place so that she had something to do homework with when she stayed over, more than one article of her clothing, a large supply of makeup, and even shampoo, conditioner, and soap from my bathroom. With all of that, I shoved the fuzzy blanket I’d bought her for snuggling up on the couch on cold days into the bottom of the box, along with all of the snacks I’d bought that she liked to keep around for days when she was over.

For the fact that she was in love with someone else, and so was I, we’d gotten more than a little comfortable together. I imagine, apart from what happened at the very end of our relationship, there was probably something salvageable as a friendship between us. She’d seen more of the tension between my dad and me than anyone else had, and even when she had no obligation to do so, she stayed by my side when I was going through the worst of it, right before I lost my cool altogether. The thought of Cherri leaving gave me horrible flashbacks of when Deon left. Once again, I’d invested in someone who was just going to leave, and that caused something in me to break that I had not realized was so fragile.

“Nathan?” Kyle’s voice snuck into my thoughts and pulled me back to reality. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” I replied, shutting my trunk, pulling my backpack over my shoulder, and starting for the front of the school. “I guess I just realized how real things had gotten between us.”

“You and Cherri?”

“Yeah. I tried to convince myself that our relationship was just a means to an end, but it must not have been. This is going to be difficult.”

“Well, you guys were together for damn near four years. I imagine that if you spend that much time in a relationship with someone, whether the relationship was political or not, you’re bound to get attached, even if it’s not romantic.”

“I really do love Nikita so much,” I said. “So much so that I was terrified of her seeing all this shit I had, but…” My voice trailed off. There wasn’t a clear and concise thing in my life. Everything was complicated. Nothing was clean-cut or black and white. Every single thing, from my ex to my wayward brother, had all these layers that needed sifting through, and I didn’t know how to begin. “I’m tired, Kyle.”

Kyle put his hand on my back. “I know, man. Just take it one day at a time. That’s all you gotta do. Don’t think about too much all at once. Just worry about today.”

That was the exact opposite philosophy to what my father had chiseled into my brain for the past eighteen years. Everything had to be a step toward the next thing. I always had to be thinking days, weeks, months, or even years into the future. Just thinking about today made me feel like my brain was being lazy.

“Just get through today,” I repeated. Why did something so simple seem so difficult? “Well, can you help me get this stuff to Cherri without Nikita seeing? She doesn’t know I have this much stuff.”

“Would she really be upset? You guys did go out for four years. Is it all that shocking that you would have amassed some stuff?”

“It’s not so much about that. Discussing Cherri, even briefly, always ends badly for us. I’d rather not bring it up at all.”

“You got it, man,” Kyle said. “If I see her, just shove the box at me, and I can bring it over to her.”

Part of me wanted to let him do that, but I felt like I owed it to Cherri to face her straight-up. I still hadn’t gotten the chance to apologize to her. Hopefully, winter break gave her enough time to cool down. Maybe The Royal Court could start fresh and begin repairing.

“If you see her, just let me know,” I said. “If you see Nikita, let me know that faster.”

“Uh, oh…” Kyle said before pointing forward. “I see Nikita.” We were just passing through the doorway of school, and, sure enough, Nikita was a bit down the hallway, standing with Jaxon and Colette. They had gathered in front of Colette’s locker, which also happened to be where mine and Kyle’s were. Kyle grabbed the edge of the box. “Here, just give it to me. I’ll tell her it’s some stuff I have to give back to Avery or something.”

“She won’t believe you. You and Avery broke up over a year ago, and she’s with Alistair now.” I sighed. “Besides, I don’t want to lie to people anymore. You guys have put up with a lot of shit from me, most of which is a whole lot of lying to your fucking faces. I didn’t want to bring Cherri up with Nikita, but if she asks about the box, I’ll just tell her the truth and take whatever punishment comes my way. It’s the least I can do.”

Kyle shrugged. “Okay, man. Suit yourself.”

Hot Books
» House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1)
» A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire
» From Blood and Ash (Blood And Ash #1)
» A Million Kisses in Your Lifetime
» Deviant King (Royal Elite #1)
» Den of Vipers
» House of Sky and Breath (Crescent City #2)
» The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air #
» Sweet Temptation
» The Sweetest Oblivion (Made #1)
» Chasing Cassandra (The Ravenels #6)
» Wreck & Ruin
» Steel Princess (Royal Elite #2)
» Twisted Hate (Twisted #3)
» The Play (Briar U Book 3)