Broken Prince: A Novel (The Royals Book 2) (9 page)

I
hear
the whispers the moment I step onto campus the next morning. I got a few smirks and stares when I was parking my car in the student lot, but it’s much worse inside. A deafening hush, then an endless murmur of voices and smug laughter that follows me down the hall.

At my locker, I study my reflection in the little mirror on the door, wondering if there’s a piece of hair sticking up or a booger in my nose. But I look fine. Just another cookie-cutter Astor Park student in my white uniform shirt and navy skirt and blazer.

My legs are bare because it’s still nice enough out to not have to wear tights, but almost every girl in the hall also has bare legs, so I don’t think it’s my appearance that everyone is whispering about.

I don’t like this. It’s way too similar to my first day at Astor, when nobody said a word to me because they were waiting to see which way Reed and his brothers would swing. Hate Ella or welcome her. In the end, the student body settled for something in between. Most of the kids never really warmed up to me, but that’s probably because I was purposely antisocial and hung out only with Val.

Today, almost everyone I pass eyes me with contempt. As I make my way to my first class, I can’t stop fidgeting. I feel self-conscious and I hate it.

I’m jostled violently when a dark-haired girl shoves me to the side instead of walking around me. She saunters forward a few feet, then stops to look at me.

“Welcome back, Ella. How was the abortion? Did it hurt?” She smiles innocently.

My jaw opens just slightly before I force it shut. The girl in front of me is Claire something-or-other. She used to hook up with Easton before he got bored of her.

“Screw you,” I mutter before brushing past her.

I reach chem class at the same time as Easton. He takes one look at my face and frowns deeply. “You okay, little sis?”

“Fine,” I answer through gritted teeth.

I don’t think he believes me, but he doesn’t say a word as he follows me into the classroom. We settle at the table we’ve shared since the semester started, and I notice several smirks aimed our way.

“Nice. The Royal sex doll is back, huh, Easton?” a guy drawls from the back of the room. “Bet you and Reed are thrilled.”

Easton twists around in his chair. I can’t see his face, but whatever his expression is, it silences the heckler in a heartbeat.

There’s a cough followed by sounds of notebooks opening and clothes rustling.

“Ignore ’em,” Easton advises.

Easier said than done.

My morning only gets worse. Easton’s in most of my classes and he plants his ass beside me in each one. My cheeks burn as I overhear two girls whispering about how I’m sleeping with two of my stepbrothers.

“She’s definitely doing Gid, too,” one of them says, not even bothering to lower her voice anymore. “It was probably his baby she got vacuumed out.”

Easton does his turn-around-and-glare-bloody-murder thing again, but although it quiets the catty bitches, it doesn’t silence the uneasy voice in my head.

Val warned me there were rumors floating around about me, but is this what people actually think? That I was gone because I was having an abortion? That I slept with Reed, Easton,
and
Gideon?

I’m no stranger to embarrassment—stripping at the age of fifteen taught me a huge lesson about humiliation—but knowing that everyone at school is saying all this horrible stuff about me has me blinking back tears.

I have Val, I remind myself, and she’s the only person in Astor Park whose opinion matters. And Easton, I guess. He’s barely left my side since I got back to Bayview, so I think I have no choice but to consider him a friend. Even if I do despise his brother.

After class, I head back to my locker to exchange textbooks because they don’t all fit in my bag. Easton disappears down the hall, but not before squeezing my arm when we encounter yet another flurry of nasty whispers.

“So today’s Easton’s day?”

I tense up at the sound of Jordan Carrington’s voice. I was wondering how long it would take for that bitch to roll out the unwelcome mat.

Rather than answer, I grab my World History text off the top shelf and replace it with my chem book.

“That’s the arrangement, right? You alternate between Reed and Easton? Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, you do Reed. Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, you do East.” Jordan cocks her head. “What about Sundays? Is that reserved for one or both of the twins?”

I slam the locker door and turn to smile at her. “Nah, on Sundays I bone your boyfriend. Except for the times he’s busy—then I do your dad.”

Her eyes flash with anger. “Watch your mouth, bitch.”

Keeping my smile in place becomes a strain. “Watch yours, Jordan. Unless you want me to smack you again?” I prompt, reminding her of the beatdown I gave her in the gym last month.

She releases a throaty laugh. “Go ahead and try. Let’s see how far you get when you don’t have Reed to protect you.”

I take a step closer, but she doesn’t even flinch. “I don’t need Reed’s protection. I never did.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, really.” I jam one finger in the center of her chest, right between her perky boobs. “I’m capable of taking you down all by myself, Jordan.”

“It’s a whole new era here at Astor Park,
Ella
. The Royals don’t call the shots anymore.
I
do. One word from me, and every single student at this school will be happy to make your life miserable.”

“Gee, I’m terrified.”

Her lips curve. “You should be.”

“Whatever.” I’m sick to death of this chick’s power trips. “Get the hell out of my way.”

She tosses her shiny brown hair over one shoulder. “What if I don’t feel like it?”

“Everything okay here?” a male voice asks.

We both turn to see Sawyer standing there. His redheaded girlfriend, Lauren, is with him. She glances uneasily at Jordan, then me.

“This doesn’t concern you, little Royal.” Jordan doesn’t even look at him, but she does take the time to sneer at Lauren. “Doesn’t concern you either, Donovan, so why don’t you and Sawyer get out of my face. Or is it Sebastian? I can never tell those two apart.” An evil gleam lights her face. “What about you, sweetie? Can
you
tell them apart? Or do you keep your eyes closed when they’re doing you?”

I’d wondered if Lauren knew about the twin switches Sawyer and Sebastian were pulling on her, and the expression on her face right now answers that question. Instead of shocked, she looks embarrassed and indignant.

But the girl has bigger balls than I thought, because she faces Jordan’s mocking gaze and says, “Fuck off, Jordan.” Then she clasps Sawyer’s hand and drags him away from us.

Jordan laughs again. “That whole family is twisted, huh? But I bet you get off on that, just like that slut Lauren. Right, Ella? A dirty stripper like you probably enjoys getting tag-teamed by two Royals.”

“Are we done here?” I ask tightly.

She winks at me. “Oh, sweetie, no. We’re never going to be done. In fact, we’re just getting started.” She flutters her fingers in a dainty wave, then strolls down the hall without a backward look.

I watch her go, wondering what the hell kind of chaos I’ve come back to.

* * *

A
t lunch
, Valerie and I sit at a table in the corner of the room, where I try to pretend that we’re the only two people who exist. It’s hard, though, because I can feel everyone’s eyes on me and it’s making me nervous.

Val takes a bite of her tuna melt. “Reed’s staring at you.”

Of course he is. I shift around and spot him at a table jam-packed with football players. Easton’s there, too, but he’s all the way on the other side of the table instead of in his usual spot next to Reed.

I spare a glance at Reed, who’s watching me with piercing blue eyes. The same eyes that grew heavy-lidded every time we kissed, that blazed hotly every time we were in the same room.

“Are you ever going to tell me what went down between you two?”

I tear my gaze away and force some pasta in my mouth. “Nope,” I say lightly.

“Aw, come on, you know you can tell me anything,” Val urges. “I’m a vault.”

My hesitation doesn’t stem from a lack of trust. Sharing just isn’t natural for me. I’m more comfortable swallowing my emotions. But Val’s expression is so earnest that I feel obligated to offer a few details. “We were together. He screwed up. We’re not together anymore.”

Her lips twitch. “Wow. Anyone ever tell you you’re a terrible storyteller?”

I grimace. “It’s all I’ve got right now.”

“Fine, I won’t bug you about it anymore. Just know that I’m here to listen whenever you’re ready to talk.” She uncaps her water bottle. “So what are we doing tonight?”

“Aren’t you sick of me already?” I tease. After the disappointing meeting with Lucy, I went back to Val’s and we pigged out on cake and watched all three of the
Step Up
movies. Easton wandered off in the middle of the second one and didn’t come back.

“Hey, I’m in mourning.” She glumly sticks out her lower lip. “I need you to distract me so I don’t think about Tam. Halloween was our favorite holiday. We used to do couples costumes.”

“Aw. Did he text you again?” He messaged her three times last night, but Valerie had ignored them.

“Constantly. Now he’s talking about driving down so we can talk in person.” She looks stricken. “Broken hearts suck.”

Don’t I know it.

As if on cue, my phone sounds the text message alert. I wince when I see Reed’s name on the screen.

Don’t read it, I order myself.

Like an idiot, I read it.

Stop acting like u don’t give a damn about me. We both know u do.

I clench my teeth. Ugh. Arrogant ass.

Another message pops up:
U missed me when u were gone. Same way I missed u. We’ll get thru this.

No, we won’t. I want to shout at him to stop texting me, but the one thing I know about Reed Royal—he’s a selfish jerk. He does what he wants, when he wants it.

And his next message is just a reminder of that.

Brooke was a mistake. Happened before we met. Will never happen again.

Just the sight of Brooke’s name has me curling my fist around my phone. Before I can stop myself, I type back a blunt message.

I’ll never forgive u for sleeping with her. Leave me alone.

“You know I’m still here, right?”

Val’s dry remark brings on a guilty flush. I quickly shove my phone in my bag and pick up my fork again. “Sorry. I was just telling Reed to screw off.”

She throws her head back and laughs. “God. I missed you, you know that?”

I laugh too, and for the first time all day, it’s actually genuine. “I missed you, too,” I tell her, and I mean it.

* * *

W
hen the final bell chimes
, I’m more than ready to get the hell out of here. My first day back was about as fun as being waterboarded. The mean laughter, the whispers, the sneers and nasty looks. I’m ready to lock myself in my bedroom, blast some music, and pretend that today never happened.

I don’t even bother going to my locker. I shoulder my bag, text Val that she should let me know if she’s coming over later, and hurry out to the parking lot.

Then I stop in my tracks, because Reed is leaning against the driver’s side of my car.

“What do you want now?” I snap.

I’m sick and tired of him getting in my face all the time. And I hate how good he looks right now. The weather is growing cooler, so his dark hair is windblown and his sharp cheekbones are flushed from the cold.

He pushes his big, muscular body off the car and marches toward me. “Sawyer said Jordan was harassing you earlier.”

“The only person who’s harassing me is you.” I give him an icy look. “Stop texting me. Stop talking to me. It’s over.”

He just shrugs. “If I really believed that, I’d back off. But I don’t.”

“I’ll block your number,” I warn.

“I’ll get a new phone.”

“I’ll change my number.”

He snorts. “You really think I won’t be able to get it?”

I hug my bag against my chest like a shield. “It’s over,” I repeat. A ball of pain lodges in my throat. “You cheated on me.”