Rags To Royals (Royal #1: Book 1) | ✔

69

-• is this a goodbye? •-

"We kissed."

Janet screams. And to think it's around eleven pm there, I really feel like she's going to wake up the entire neighborhood. Then she jumps up on her feet on the bed, her hands slapping against her mouth, and her eyes wide like owl. But owls have naturally wide eyes, and my friend doesn't, so she looks a tad bit creepy. Who am I kidding? She looks horrifying.

"Janet, calm down!" I hiss at her, removing one of my earbuds to protect my eardrums from getting punctured by her shrieking.

"Wait!" She flops down on her knees and pulls the laptop on her lap. "I need the deets. Like from beginning to end, okay? The whole thing. How it happened, why it happened! Everything! Tell me!" She demands.

I blush. "I mean, there was nothing major that made it happen. It was raining, we had a great time on our first date -"

"You went on a date!?" She gasps.

I nod slowly. "We did. We went to a fair."

"Tara," she pronounces slowly. "Why are you telling me this now!? And wait, you went on a date now? Oh, right, a secret date." She answers herself, air quoting the word secret. "So, tell me everything from the beginning. Did you see his face?"

I shake my head.

She sighs aloud. "I swear to God, if you weren't my friend, I'd be judging you so hard right now."

I smile sheepishly. "I have no regrets. It was his first kiss. I stole it to keep it as a souvenir."

"Souvenir?"

I hum. "I'm returning to England."

Her face turns serious. "What do you mean? Like forever?"

I shrug. "I've no idea for how long. But things went south when I decided to look into a few things on my own. My family feels I'm not safe here. At first, they planned to send me alone to live with you and your family. Wait, did your mother not tell you?" I suddenly switch the topic, curious about the answer.

"Nope," she replies. "But I did see mom and dad speaking in hushed voices in the kitchen after dinner. I guess that was what they were talking about."

Probably.

"Anyway, so yeah, it was the last time I was seeing him. Hence, I asked him out on a date, we had fun, and at the end of it, I kissed him."

"You kissed him?" She looks at me bewildered.

"Someone had to take the charge." I say nonchalantly.

"Damn girl, I'm proud of you." She whistles.

"Not a moment ago you said you'd judge me if I wasn't your friend."

"Yeah, but since I cannot, I settle on being proud of you." She scoffs. "When are you coming? Sounds selfish but I'm happy to hear the news."

"Sorry, Janet, but I'm going to do my best to stay back. And if I do come, Yuvaan and the twins will be tagging along. So I'm not staying under the same roof as you." I reply guiltily.

She nods in understanding. "I get it. Don't worry. But I'll be happy if you return home. It's been hard without you."

Home.

She still thinks England is my home.

I used to as well. But not anymore.

"How are your studies coming along?" I decide to change the topic. If we continued talking about my return to England, she'll be disappointed hearing how much I hate the idea of going back there. I love my friend, and I badly want to meet her, but at the cost of leaving my family behind? I'd rather not.