Private School Kings

When Kingdom's Fall Pt.1

I laid there in Madeline's room for a while. I don't know exactly how long, but I do know she left at least once and came back with her face slack.

"It's crazy out there." She said.

"Yeah." I grunted. I didn't need any clarification. I could hear it. The murmur from the hallways outside had ridden into a clamor. Some people were laughing. Some were shouting. Some might even have been crying. The news about the Lords hadn't just shaken Pruitt royalty, but the rest of the student body as well. I hadn't realized until now, but not only were the other kids aware of the lords, they cared about them. Some hated the royalty, some deified them, but everyone had an opinion. I could hear them all, even through the plaster of Madeline's walls.

After another long period of nothing the sound started to die, but then it rose again, louder than the first time. The swell was broken only by a sharp knock on the door that made Madeline flinch visibly, followed by a voice. "It's me."

It was quite possibly the last person I wanted to hear from. Let it never be said that Fletcher Highgaurd does not have impeccable timing.

Madeline kept from the chair and the door swung open.

There he stood, dark hair mussed, uniform wrinkled as a raisin, freckled face sparking with excitement. He didn't even blink twice at the sight of me in my dress. He just turned, beckoning us with one arm as he did so.

"You guys have to see this."

Despite who I now knew he was, despite who I had become because of it, there was something in his voice —in those storming eyes— that made me finally stand.

Madeline and I followed Fletcher from the dorm, pushing through students as we did so. I expected them to stop and crowd around me like they had earlier, but instead they were making for the exits. Their departure wasn't quick enough to imply an emergency, but it still made me nervous.

"What's going on?" Madeline asked, parroting my thoughts.

Fletcher just flashed her a grin. We continued making our way against the flow of the crowd, filling up the stairs as they flew down, until we reached a door. I must have passed it before, but I'd never really noticed it. It was unmarked and unremarkable, painted such a plain white that it pretty much blended into the wall. Fletcher though clearly knew what it was. He pulled a thin metal key from his pocket and slid it into the lock.

"After you."

The door, as it turned out, led to the roof.

"Shit Fletcher!" Madeline shrieked at the sight of the Pruitt grounds at least ten floors below us. "What the hell!? How do you even have these keys!?" It occurred to me then that Madeline was afraid of heights. I had always thought of her as kind of fierce, and it surprised me, but I didn't have long to think about it because I could finally see where all the students had been going.

They swarmed the quad, a sea of blue and white, but as we watched, the sea parted.

Madeline had pressed herself to the wall so it was only Fletcher and I on the edge. Together, we watched as a blond head bobbed through the crowd like a leper. Whenever he drew near the crowd dispersed, cutting a clear path for him.

"Is that-" I started.

Fletcher stopped me before I could finish. "The king himself." When he turned to face me his eyes were dappled with what had to be tears. "He's been called to the office." When I didn't answer he kept going. "Things are actually going to change this time Murphy."

His hand, warm and rough, grazed mine. The feeling was so familiar I didn't even think. I just wrapped my hand around his.

On that rooftop, hand in hand with Fletcher Highguard, I watched a kingdom fall.