Page 6 of Wicked Dreams (Fallen Royals 1)
“Wait—”
“Hush,” the girl says. She weaves us in and out of stragglers. “Never go into the cafeteria with a bagged lunch. Are you insane?”
“Well—”
“Rhetorical question.”
We stop in front of the library doors. They’re locked, but she whips out a key and opens it, ushering me inside, then secures it behind us.
It’s silent in here. I’m a little homesick at the sight of all the books. One of my foster families had books upon books, and the mom knew just how to stoke a sense of escapism through the stories. They were just a fleeting stop, but she had given me a book before I’d left. I read it a few times, then handed it off to Claire.
She needed it more than I did at that point.
“You’re new,” the girl says, stopping in front of me. “There are whispers about you.”
I stick out my hand. “Margo Wolfe. Entirely undeserving of at least a quarter of the rumors.”
She grins and puts her hand in mine. “Riley Appleton. Friends call me Riley.”
“Nice to meet you, Riley.”
“Aha! We’re friends already, I see. Come, come.” She leads me farther into the library, waving at the librarian tucked away in her office. There are cushioned chairs in the back, and she throws herself down into one. “So, you caught Caleb Asher’s attention already?”
I frown. “How’d you hear about that?”
She taps her temple. “I told you. Whispers.”
“I knew half of the kids here. I went to school with them until I was ten.” I shift, opening the bag and pulling out my sandwich. “Ian Fletcher seems particularly angry about my return.”
She snorts. “Yeah, he’s a bag full of piss on a good day.”
“What’s your story?”
“Me?”
“You’re intriguing already. A bagged lunch—an apparent no-no—and a key to the library? I don’t remember you from when we were kids.”
She stifles a smile. “You wouldn’t. I’m a junior. And anyway, I transferred in when my family moved here a few years ago.”
“Can you explain Caleb?”
Riley shakes her head, opening her own lunch. “He’s the captain of the lacrosse team. Everyone wants him—the girls around here would cough up a lung to get a chance to talk to him. You might remember his dad had his own company?”
“Yeah.” I never knew the specifics. And at ten years old, I didn’t really care.
“Well that company grew super-fast, and his dad sold it. Apparently, the family still gets royalties. Because of that, they’re extra rich. Caleb can do anything, and the school would bend over backward to kiss his ass.”
“Fun.”
“He and his friends are untouchable. Royalty,” she whispers. “His friends are Liam, Theo, and Eli. They love to terrorize… but everyone falls at their feet. Even the teachers.”
“They love to terrorize who?”
“Me,” she half laughs. “Only Eli, though. The rest tend to leave me alone. The golden boys have a dark side.”
I grunt. “And now Caleb has his eye on me.” I take out my phone, showing Riley the texts. “Do you know who this might be?”
She grabs my phone, her eyes going wide. “No, but that… that’s sketchy. Did you tell anyone?”