Paper Princess (The Royals #1)(59)

My calculus book almost slips from my fingers. Wait, this is about Easton? But we were in my bedroom when we kissed, and there’s no way Reed would have blabbed about that. So how the heck does everyone know—

The club. Crap. The memory whizzes into my head at the same time Valerie starts to laugh.

“I knew I should’ve kept a closer eye on you that night,” she teases. “But we weren’t even drinking! That means you made out with him sober! Do I need to hold an intervention for you?”

I sigh. “Maybe?”

The girls Val had introduced me to at Jordan’s party—The Pastels, she’d called them—walk by. All three of them turn to look at me and whisper amongst themselves.

“It was a stupid move,” I admit. “I didn’t really think it through.” No, all I was thinking about that night was Reed and the way he looked at me when I was in the cage. “Does everybody know, then?”

She grins. “Oh, they know. It’s all anyone’s been talking about this morning, and the first bell hasn’t even gone off. Claire is pissed.”

I bet she is. And if Claire’s mad, I can only imagine what Jordan will have to say about it. A “casual” like me putting my grubby hands all over one of her precious Royals? She’s probably freaking out right now.

“What about you?” I ask the only person who matters. “Are you pissed?”

Valerie snickers. “Because you stuck your tongue down Easton’s throat? Why would I care about that?”

It’s the answer I’d hoped for, and I cling to it as we part ways in the hallway and go off to our morning classes. It doesn’t matter that everyone is whispering, or that chicks glare daggers at me whenever I enter a classroom. Valerie’s opinion is the only one that matters to me.

Still, by the time lunch rolls around, I’m ready to pull my hair out. Every girl that passes me in the hall looks ready to murder me. Easton makes it worse by going out of his way to pay a visit to my locker and give me a prolonged full-body hug. He pretends not to notice all the stares we’re getting, but I’m excruciatingly aware of them.

“You’re Ella, right?”

I’ve just shoved my textbooks in my locker when a guy with spiky blond hair and a striped rugby shirt approaches.

His question is ridiculous, because he damn well knows who I am. These kids have all gone to school together since kindergarten probably, and there isn’t a single soul at Astor Park Prep who doesn’t know about the new “Royal.”

“Yeah.” I paste on an indifferent look. “And you are?”

“Daniel Delacorte.” He sticks out his hand, then awkwardly lowers it to his side when I don’t shake it. “I’ve wanted to introduce myself for a while, but…” He shrugs.

I roll my eyes. “But it was against Reed’s rules?”

He nods sheepishly.

God, these people are the worst. “So why are you introducing yourself now?”

That earns me another shrug. “A couple friends of mine were at the club on Saturday night. They said they saw you with Easton.”

“So?” I anticipate some kind of insult, but I don’t get one.

“So the rules have changed. Nobody was allowed to ask you out before because of Reed. But you were with Easton the other night, so things are different now.”

Wait, he’s asking me out?

I narrow my eyes at him. “What, you’re not going to call me a slut for making out with Easton at a club?”

His lips twitch with humor. “If I called every girl who’s made out with Easton a slut, there’d be no one left in the school.”

I can’t help but laugh.

“I’m serious,” Daniel insists. “Drunken make-outs with Easton Royal are like a rite of passage at Astor Park.”

“Are you speaking from personal experience?” I ask politely.

He flashes a grin. The guy’s cute, I’ll give him that. “Luckily, no. Anyway, I just came over to ask if you wanted to go out for dinner sometime.”

A jolt of suspicion travels through me, and Daniel must sense it because he quickly says, “It doesn’t have to be a date. We could make it a friend thing if that makes you more comfortable. I just want to get to know the girl who’s got all the Royal panties in a twist.”

I’m still hesitating, so he lets out a hasty breath. “Can I see your phone?”

Although I’m not sure why, I stick my hand in my back pocket and pull out my phone, passing it over to him.

His fingers move briskly over the touchpad. “There. You’ve got my number now. So how about this? Think it over, and if you decide you want to do dinner, shoot me a text.”

“Um. Okay. Sure.”

Daniel smiles again and gives me a little salute before striding off. I watch him go, my gaze focusing on his cute butt. He’s got the toned body of an athlete, and I suddenly wonder if he’s on the football team. I hope not, because that means Reed will probably hear about Daniel asking me out when they’re at their afternoon practice.

But I underestimated the grapevine at this school. The news of Daniel’s invitation comes out literally five minutes after he issued it. I’m two steps from the cafeteria when I get a text message from Valerie.

Daniel Delacorte asked u out????