Seems Like Royalty

XVII: An unpredictable reunion and a sudden confession

17

            I smiled contentedly on the passenger seat as Blake drove all the way to school. I didn’t know how I knew that this was going to be a great day. I just knew. There was something about the morning that made me feel like jumping up and down. The Finn incident was still there, of course. But let’s forget about that for a while, okay? I was having an exceptional Monday morning.

            “What’s so funny?” Blake threw me a questioning look.

            I shrugged. “Nothing really. It’s just a nice morning.”

            “Oh no. That’s not nothing. You just saw me that’s why you’re ecstatic. Admit it, I’m your lucky charm, little perv.” Well, talk about being pushy.

            “Aw, man. There goes my absolutely stunning Monday morning. You just ruined it,” I complained, slipping on a serious face.

            “Now, that’s mean.” He laughed. I did too.

            We reached our destination only with random conversations and that pretty much heightened up my mood more. Maddie met us at my locker and well, she greeted me weirdly as always (“A wonderful morning to ya, Amber, queen of tissue paper!”).

            “How in the world did I become the queen of tissue paper?” I asked her with my hands on my waist.

            “Oh, you remember that time when we were eleven and you were stuck inside the boys’ restroom and you said you had to use the tissue paper just to—“

            I slapped my hand on her mouth to keep her quiet. It wasn’t exactly the brightest idea to let Maddie talk about my most embarrassing moments in front of Blake. But to my horror, Blake removed my hand from my friend’s disdainful mouth. I shouldn’t have asked her!

            “Oho ho! I have got to hear this. Go on, Maddie,” he urged her.

            Mentally slapping my forehead, I turned my back on both of them. I’d rather stare at the students filing through the corridor than hear Maddie speak of such horrid things. I didn’t want to remember anything that made—Wait. Was that who I thought it was? Holy crap. It is him!

            “Richie!”

            The black-haired fellow standing a few feet away from me looked up to find out who called him. The moment his eyes landed on mine, he smiled a toothy grin.

            “Amber!”

            When we were already this close | |, I tackled him in a bear hug. “God, I missed you, Richie! It’s been so long, you dummy! What are you doing here in D.C. anyway?”

            “It’s a long story, actually,” he said when I let him go.

            Someone behind me cleared their throat. It was Blake.

            “Oh, you guys, this is Richarde Westwick. He’s my childhood friend from Seattle. Rich, these are Maddie, my bestfriend, and Blake,” I introduced.

            “He’s your what?” Richie asked me coyly. Ugh, really?

            “He’s just…Blake.” Blake’s expression was as flat as a board so I raised an eyebrow as if challenging him to question my statement.

            “Oh! You were that girl from last week!” Richie exclaimed beside me, pointing a finger at Maddie.

             Her eyes narrowed then lit up in recollection. “Yeah! You’re the transferee student that asked me if I were in junior high school.”