Page 56 of Wicked Dreams (Fallen Royals 1)
Amelie is a means to an end… Margo is the end.
Theo wanders back in, his eyebrow raised. “Dude. What the fuck is it with you and crazy chicks?”
I laugh. “I wish I knew.”
Unfortunately, there’s only one crazy girl for me. And I only need to keep her long enough to watch her burn.
15
I avoid everyone except for Riley for a week. Caleb doesn’t come looking for me. He doesn’t even watch me from afar. The bullies return, climbing out of the woodwork. They hit my shoulder with theirs in the hall, kick my bookbag, mutter mean things.
It’s all very hit-and-run.
Riley corners me after school, telling a quick lie to Robert about having plans with me. “You’re being weird,” she snaps. “What happened?”
I can’t tell her.
Instead, I ask, “What happened with you and Eli? He seems back to hating you.”
It’s a good distraction, because Riley’s face falls. She hooks her arm in mine and leads me to her car. “Honestly, I don’t even know. He’s… weird.” She brightens. “On the plus side, I heard that Caleb is allowed to go back to attending the football games.”
I twitch. “How is that a good thing?”
“Because that means we can go… No?”
“No.”
“Did he not carry you out of a party in front of half the school? In front of me?”
“Yeah, and now he’s being a dick. So. No parties and no games and definitely no golden boys.”
She snorts, unlocking her car. “I’ll agree with you about the golden boys. Pfft. Who needs them?”
We go to her house. It’s not a mansion like Caleb’s, but it’s nice. She has a huge room with a walk-in closet and four-poster bed. I perch on the end of it as she rummages for a change of clothes.
“You knew we used to live in Caleb’s guest house.” I may as well voice it into the air, because it’s something I’ve been avoiding. “Right?”
She turns around slowly, clearing her throat. She seems nervous. “Yeah.”
“Well… He took me to his house, and the guys were there. They got into a fight—over me, I guess, I don’t know—so I ran. It was instinct to go back there.” I shudder. “Everything was the same as the day we left. They hadn’t even gotten rid of our personal things.”
“Oh, Margo,” Riley whispers, coming over and sitting next to me. “So you ran in there, and it was like jumping back in time?”
“Besides the dust, yeah. My room was untouched. Like, still a pair of jeans on the floor from the night before everything happened.” I swallow my heartache. “And then Caleb…”
She winces before I even say it.
“He was furious. And he hasn’t talked to me since.”
“I’d say he’ll come around, but he was mean to you, right? Maybe it’s better that you’ve escaped his attention for now.”
I nod halfheartedly. “Yeah, maybe.”
It was only a matter of time before Caleb’s attention moved on to something a little more… stable. He said it himself, I was only a game. Savannah was only a means to an end for said game.
It isn’t until the next day at school that I realize how awful of a prediction my words were. Amelie Page, former best friend, stands in the center of the courtyard. She flips her golden hair behind her shoulder, smiling at the circle of people around her.
And Caleb…