And my boyfriend was being lifted from the field.
Knight and Jax had Royal up on their shoulders, LJ, Ramses and the rest of the team hollering behind them. They’d won the game, cheering, but Royal, his eyes were only in my direction. He lifted a hand to me, and I raised mine back, finding it crazy out of all this he noticed me. His team around and beneath him, they shook his attention back their way, but they couldn’t take that moment from us we’d shared. It was ours.
Smiling, everyone else was up around me and celebrating too, everyone but Daisy. She was still looking at my sister’s drawings. She had her hand over the eyes. She must have really liked them.
Fourteen
December
After the game, some of us waited inside the school for the lacrosse guys to shower up, then take us all out. It’d become a thing for a bunch of us to go to a local diner on the other side of town, and since we won from what I understood was a big game today, there was definitely something to celebrate. I waited with Birdie, Kiki, Shakira, and some of our other guy and girl friends, heavily anticipating Royal. He’d shined like a rock star today, always did. Honestly, some days I really couldn’t believe I was with him, but not because he was popular or ruled the school. I couldn’t believe it because of who he was, someone so extraordinary. His light shined more and more every day as the dust started to settle around us, and I hoped in the future maybe we could all move on from the torture of this place. What happened mere months ago was a lot, and though I was still healing too, I hoped eventually, we’d all feel a semblance of whole again.
Some other friends who’d been at the game joined our small party in the hallway, and Birdie immediately went into showing the new arrivals her Princeton acceptance letter. I was so stinkin’ proud of her and definitely gave her the floor when our friends crowded in and looked over her letter with her. In my step back, I played around on my phone.
“I’m sorry, Leo. I’m just… I’m sorry.”
I turned, gazing over my shoulder at of all people Daisy. A designer bag on her arm, she came out of the headmaster’s office, and Principal Hastings was right behind her. Honestly, I was surprised he even came to these things, lacrosse games. Maybe since they were such a big deal around this place, it was required in his salary or something. He didn’t seem like the “social” type, but there he was, his hands in his pockets and expression grim.
He crossed distance to her. “Daisy…”
She stepped back, her hand raised. “I’m sorry. It’s just not fair… not fair to them.”
Immediately, Daisy left the hall in the opposite direction, head down as she put more space between her and Principal Hastings. All that none of my business, I started to look away too, but not before catching the eye of the headmaster.
He stared at me, that frown deepening. We actually weren’t really supposed to be milling about in the school on game days, but not only did Principal Hastings not say anything when he noticed my friends and me, he just let us be. Severing our gazes, the headmaster stalked right back in his office, and when he slammed the door, I think I was the only one who noticed. Everyone else was still crowded around Birdie and her news.
Too weird.
That man was so weird and definitely wouldn’t be missed by me. He was one person that I could very much leave behind and not miss a bit. Shaking my head, I went back to my friends.
“The champs have arrived!”
I rolled my eyes, knowing the voice of a certain Mallick lacrosse player right away. Pocketing my device, I watched the crowd’s attention shift to the end of the hallway, and as predicted, Ramses strode down it, his expansive wingspan wide. He pumped the air. “We owned this shit today, baby. Whoo!”
Typical bro and really falling into the whole “jock” thing. He used to play basketball way back when he’d gone to school here, and I had a funny feeling this behavior wasn’t a new thing to him. It only made me laugh, snickering as the crowd of our friends instantly covered him. He hadn’t been the only one coming, many of his teammates behind him. I even spotted Knight, Jax, and LJ in that mix but no Royal.
That was until I did see him. He stood out, his lacrosse bag on his arm and his blond hair wet and fingered through. He’d just showered, looking beautiful, and when I waved at him, he grinned at me. He’d started to come to me when some of the other boys attempted to grab him up into the friend circle, but he eased them away.
Excited, I joined him halfway, and he gathered me up before I could get to him, swinging me around the hallway.
“Did you see that last play, princess?” he asked, placing me down before kissing me. He placed his hands on my cheeks and everything, grinning at me as he warmed my mouth. “It was awesome, right?”
It was awesome, everything he did was. I pushed my arms around his neck. “You did amazing. All of you guys.”
He pinched my blouse. “It’s like you’re paid to say that.”
Not really. He had done a good job. He slid strong arms around my waist, rocking me, and when Ramses chanted, “We need milkshakes!” down the hall, I knew that’s where this post-celebration was headed to next.
*
We ended up mellowing down at Friars, a cute little place on the north side of town. It was quaint and definitely the team’s spot for
