Cracked Kingdom (The Royals #5)(56)

Her face grows serious. "It wasn't your fault, you know. If it was, Callum would've gotten you charged with something no matter that your dad is a DA."

The bell rings or I would've replied. Ella gives me a closed-mouth smile and walks off to her next class. Her words provide me with a little comfort, but my next period is Music Study and I use the time to soothe myself, playing Mendelssohn’s sonatas all in a major key. The next fifty minutes are the most peaceful ones I've experienced since I woke up.

"Time’s up, Ms. Wright," a voice from overhead says through the intercom system. Sadly, I pack the violin away and trudge out to the lunchroom.

The lunchroom isn't so much a lunchroom as a posh restaurant. The ceiling must be at least twenty feet high. The walls are paneled in dark wood and the rectangular tables are draped in white linen. Classical music plays in the background accompanied by the sound of tinkling water from a fountain near the entrance. In one corner, a massive wall of live plants fills the space. The tables in front of the wall are empty.

In the center, I spot Ella with two other girls. One with long reddish hair and the other with a dark bob. Sitting beside them are a couple of other students I'd probably classify as popular. One table over is Felicity and her crowd.

"Wondering where to sit?"

I look over to see Bran at my elbow. "No. I'm going to sit over by the garden."

He makes a face.

"What? What's terrible about there? It looks pretty."

"Bugs," he says and then shudders. I don't know if that's fake or real. "There are a ton of pests over there. Trust me. You don't want to eat there. Come with me." He tips his head toward a table on the far end of the room. It's already half full of very muscular guys.

"It looks like you have a crowd."

"Nah, it's only because Dom's there and he's big enough for two people."

I run my tongue along my lip and consider my options. I don't have many. It's either in the corner with the bugs or with Bran. "Is it really that bad?" I ask.

"I think the question is, am I really that bad that you'd rather sit with the bugs than me?" His eyes twinkle so I know he's not seriously hurt, but his point is made.

"Why are you so nice to me?" I ask as we move through the line. The buffet choices are unreal. I'm never skipping lunch again. Kyle can sit next to me all period and whisper his gross insults and I still won't care because the pumpkin squash ravioli smells good enough to die for.

"Why shouldn't I be?"

"Um, because I was a terrible person?"

"Since when were you a terrible person?"

I tilt my head and study Bran. Is he coming on to me and that's why he's saying I wasn't bad? He's very attractive. He could probably get into a lot of other girls' panties without much effort.

"Did we spend a lot of time together? We don't have many classes together." Come to think of it, I don't think we have one.

He flushes slightly. "Yeah, I'm not in the college ones like you."

Oh shit. Did he take that as an insult? "That's not what I meant. I-I—" I flounder. "I just don't think I'm really popular here, and you’re really hot, so shouldn't you be with, like, more popular people?"

He plucks an apple out of a basket and puts it on my tray. "You think I'm hot, huh? Maybe that's why I'm hanging out with you." He winks and picks up my tray, carrying it to the cashier.

She rings him up and swipes his ID card. I hand the cashier mine. She swipes it and then hands it back. "You have any cash?"

"Huh?" I ask. "Why do I need cash?"

She flips the screen around. "Because you don't have any money in your account."

This is embarrassing. The kids behind me snicker and I feel a whole wave of humiliating gossip start to crescendo.

Bran steps forward. "I'll pay.”

"Cash only," the lady says. "We’re only allowed to swipe the ID once."

He looks frustrated.

"Is there a problem?" Felicity prompts from her table. There’s a note of glee in her voice, as if her embarrassment radar has been triggered.

"She doesn't have any money in her account," yells a kid behind me. "And Bran doesn't have any cash on him."

The tips of my savior's ears turn red. I clench the tray between my fingers to keep from flinging the orange pasta all over the loud-mouthed kid.

"You're holding up the line," moans another student. "I've got to get to class."

"Yeah, just let her through so the rest of us can eat."

"We're hungry!"

"This is why normies should never be allowed into Astor."

"It's awful, isn't it."

With each complaint, Felicity's smile grows wider and wider. She's eating this shit up. I’m about to abandon the tray when I remember the money Mom shoved in my hand last night. I dig into my pocket and hand it over to the cashier.

Too bad for you, Felicity, I mutter to myself

“Sorry,” I say to Bran. “I forgot I had any money. I guess my short-term memory sucks as much as my long-term one.”

“No worries,” he says, but his shoulders are stiff. He doesn’t like the mocking much.