Royals

Chapter 11

"Emily, wake up!" Anastasia shouted, shaking my shoulders. My eyes fluttered opened as she continued, "You slept in. Lillia's going to be here in ten minutes."

Immediately, I jumped out of bed and hazily threw on a pair of jeans, a tee shirt, and Jake's football hoodie. I slipped my feet into a pair of brown boots and tied my knotted hair in a messy bun.

I quickly brushed my teeth and packed a lunch as Lillia welcomed herself into my house. "You ready?" she asked, giving me a once-over. "You look like you just woke up."

"That's probably because I did just wake up. But yeah, I'm ready."

During the drive to school, I tamed my grumbling stomach while Lillia interrogated me about my whereabouts the previous night.

"I already told you," I whined. "We ate at the Waffle House downtown and had just gotten back to my house, like, five minutes before you did."

"Ugh," Lillia sighed. "I guess I feel kinda left out since you guys have been hanging out a lot lately."

"Oh my God. Is Lillia Clandy jealous?" I asked in an exaggerated tone.

She playfully smacked my arm and blushed. "Stop."

"And blushing? Wow. What a day," I teased. "Don't worry, Joey's all yours, and Jake's all mine."

She smiled. "Good."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Who would like to do number seven on the board?" Mr. Stipp, my math teacher, asked the class.

Right away, I diverted my eyes to avoid eye contact and tried to draw as little attention to myself as possible.

"Ms. Brazki! Thank you for volunteering," my math teacher announced, trying to be humorous.

Hilarious, Mr. Stipp.

I sighed and slowly made my way to the front of the class. Thanks to Lillia, I was able to have the homework completed. And luckily, number seven was an easy one. Nonetheless, I double-checked each step to ensure that I wouldn't mess up in front of everyone. When I was satisfied with my answer, I turned to face my teacher and gave him a questioning look.

"Can anyone find something wrong with Emily's work?" Mr. Stipp asked.

My classmates were silent, which my teacher took as a 'no'. "Alright, good deal. Thank you, Emily," he congratulated. I nodded and made my way back to my seat.

I made a mocking face at Lillia—like we always did when we were called on in class—but she simply glared at me and stared out the window.

When the bell rang shortly after, Lillia practically ran out the door.

"Lil, wait," I shouted, trying to catch up with her through the crowded hallway. I managed to push a few people out of the way and grab her arm.

"Lillia, what's wrong?" I asked.

"You tell me," she barked. Prompted by my puzzled expression, she continued, "Your hoodie, Em."

"What about it?" I questioned, confused. Why was she upset about my hoodie? I always wore it.

"Why do you have it?"

"Um, he gave it to me?" Her face deflated and she started to walk away, but I grabbed her arm again. "Why is this happening? Why are you suddenly so upset?"

"Joey never let me have any hoodies..." she trailed off, a sad expression slowly dominating her face.

"Hey, don't feel bad. Jake has only given me this one," I comforted.