Chapter 36

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The anger I felt before is nothing compared to what I feel now. I storm into the room as all my friends stand in the doorway watching, waiting.

"What are you doing!?" I scream as I pull on the restraints. "You can't do this!" I yell.

"Get her out of here," one of the doctors tells a nurse. The nurse offers a quick nod in his direction before facing me.

Like a robot.

I tried to fight against her touch but she was too strong. My friends stood in the doorway watching. What is wrong with them!? Why won't they help!?

In the end I ended up being forced out of the room and handcuffed to a chair.

"YOU CANT DO THIS TO ME!" I yelled into the room, now guarded by officers. "IM YOUR FUTURE QUEEN!" Nobody cared.

Hayden walked over to me and stood in front of me. I didn't want to look at him. I didn't want to look at any of them. They all betrayed me.

"Your not above the law just because your a Princess, you know." He whispers.

"Excuse me!?" I yell. He doesn't flinch or leave awkwardly. He stands there.

"Your not a queen yet. Nobody respects you like they would your mother or father."

"I'd have you know—"

"Will you just shut up?" He asks. "Your so full of yourself. You don't even realize what you're doing to everyone else."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Look around."

I do. I'm shocked to realize Sam is crying in Levy's arms. Daniella's eyes are rimmed with tears. Jody and Mateo aren't joking around like they usually are. They're sitting in chairs fiddling with their fingers and bouncing their legs. Rowan is pacing, Noah is too, occasionally he runs a frustrated hand through his hair.

"Your making this a thousand times more miserable than it already is. Shut up."

"I didn't even..." I trail off, take another look around.

"Yeah, because your so stuck up. You are a princess. Nothing more, please, pull yourself together. You might get kicked out," he warns.

I nod. My throat hurts from screaming, my wrist hurts from pulling on the handcuffs. Hayden sits down next to me.

"Thank you," he says. I nod again. I don't like that he gust sat next to me after telling me to shut up. It feels way too humbling.

"I'm sorry," I say in a somewhat horse voice.

"It's not me you should be apologizing to."

"How should I apologize to them? I'm handcuffed to a chair."

"Say it loud enough for them to hear you."

That sounds humiliating.

"Can you just bring them over here like one by one or something?" I ask.

"Nope."

"You suck."

He doesn't respond.

"You should get right on that apology now, shouldn't you?" He asks.

"I hate you."

"Ooo but this apology will make them like you again."

I groan and he leaves.

"Guys," I say in a loud voice. They all look up at me. "I'm sorry. I don't know who I thought I was. I'm sorry for making this miserable, I'll be quiet now." They all slightly smile and nod.

"We're sorry for how we've been acting towards you too. We shouldn't have forced you to leave and we should have helped you when you tried to help Sonya. We were bad friends for that," Levy says.

"Thank you," I say with a nod.

"That was anticlimactic," Hayden says putting his phone away. Everyone manages a small laugh before the depressing atmosphere of what's happening takes over again.

Hayden sits next to me again. He doesn't say anything, he just sits and stares at his hands. I've needed someone to talk to for a while so I start a conversation.

"Thank you," I say.

"For what?" He asks looking up at me and making eye contact. His face is serious and he looks like he's kind of surprised by my gratitude.

"For making me come to my senses. I can't believe I let my ego get the best of me. I became the person I never wanted to be," I say.

"Oh, no worries. I thought you would hate me for sure."

"No, I'm glad." I can't afford to lose all my friends right now, not at the same time I might lose Sonya. I still have months left of school here and I can't do it alone, especially without Sonya.

Silence washes over us again and we both kind of just stare into nothing while we think. I think of all the possible outcomes with Sonya and tried to remember everything about last night when I was drunk.

I look over at Hayden, his expression is unreadable. I have no idea what he's thinking. He's always like this, he hides every emotion he ever has, maybe not always but 99 percent of the time.

Sometimes I wish I could do that.

Just go stone cold emotionless. Then nobody would question me, they would look at me as if I have authority even before they know my title.

I stop thinking about everything. I just need to close my eyes and get more sleep. I don't want to dream of anyone or anything, I just want to close my eyes and wake up in a time when everything is better where Sonya is healed and making her own clothes. A time where the serial killer is captured and put to death.

I close my eyes and breath. I take deep breaths and count them until I fall asleep. But I don't have the luxury of sleeping with no dreams.

"Addy? Addy! Why are you hiding in the bushes!? You might get a scratch!" My mother scolds me. "If you get a scratch it might become permanent. Princesses can't have scars. They are unprofessional, barbaric." She pulls me out of the bushes and brings me inside. "But mother—" I try to protest. "No 'but mother' you must stay perfect. A scar would dent your reputation! The people would think I've raised an unworthy heir." Tears prick my young eyes. "You think I'm unworthy?" I ask. "Oh no dearest, but the people will! So I must keep you safe from possible scars. You do understand, don't you?" I nod my head and wipe my tears with my small hands. "Besides, your brother is who's going to be the king, not you, once he is, you'll be able to run around all you want."

I startle awake when I feel myself falling. My arm must have slipped out from under me while I was sleeping. I look over at Hayden but he just shrugs. Once I'm awake for a minute I remember everything that's happened.

"Any news on Sonya?" I ask.

He shakes his head.

"Jody think whoever melted the man's lips together was the same person who did this to Sonya," I say.

"I didn't touch Sonya," he responds.

Word count: 1154
7-11-23
8:13 pm
Sorry if the dream part kinda seems out of place I needed more words 😭 but it's still important to the story.

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