Chatper 352


    Chapter 0352


    When I returned to my room, I changed into my pajamas and slid into bed. Elva was already fast


    asleep. Yet no matter how long Iid there, or which way I tossed and turned, I could not find sleep.


    My mind was still with Nichs in that hallway. I could only imagine the terrible things the King was


    saying to him.


    Would Nichs be forced to break up with me? Would he volunteer to do so?


    I knew Nichs cared for me, but his duty to the kingdom would always be his first priority. I’d always


    known that. I still dreaded the day when it would start to affect us enough to make Nichs choose


    between me and his kingdom. Maybe we’d reached that point atst.


    It felt much too soon.


    The next morning, I woke early and walked with Elva down to breakfast. I held my breath most of the


    way, half-expecting the King himself to jump out of the woodwork to demand I leave the premises. At


    the very least, I anticipated Joseph and his guard to give me a stern talking to.


    Yet we made it down into the dining room without issue. I spotted Tiffany, Veronica, and Susie in their


    usual spots and went to join them. Food was already set at our spots. Elva dug in right away. I picked


    for a while.


    I wasn’t feeling very well.


    Susie, beside me, watched me mindlessly tear down a blueberry muf fin with a fork until it was a pile of


    crumbs. Then, leaning closely, she asked me, “Did something happen?”


    “I was careless…” I whispered back, extra careful no one else could hear. “The King found Nichs


    and I together.”


    Susie gasped. She quickly covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh, Piper…”


    “Just be careful, okay? Be more careful than I was.’


    “}


    Susie had just as much to lose as I did, if not more. My rtionship with Nichs was always doomed.


    But she and Mark had a chance at asting rtionship, if it could be given room and sustenance to


    grow. If Susie was found out and disqualified…


    They might see each other again, but who knew when?


    “I understand,” she said, “But what’s going to happen to you?”


    I didn’t know. “I’m waiting for something to happen.”


    “The King hasn’t…?” She didn’t finish, instead letting the sentence hang. I didn’t want to


    1/4


    “Not yet.”


    +15 BONUS


    A worried look crossed Susie’s face. She reached her hand across the table to squeeze my wrist. Her


    support gave somefort to my frayed nerves, yet even with it, I was stressed and


    tired.


    “If there’s anything you need…” Susie said. Another open sentence.


    This time, it was even more foreboding. Susie could offer all the help in the world now, when we were


    so close together. But the minute I was excused from the pce, Susie wouldn’t be able to help me.


    Likely, she wouldn’t even be able to help me.


    I would be on my own again.


    After breakfast, as I was walking toward the door, Mark stopped me just outside in the hallway. Elva


    looked up at him curiously.


    “I apologize,” Mark said, “But I was asked to deliver this to you.” He held out a folded piece of paper.


    There was only one person in the pce who would use Mark to send me a message:


    Nichs.


    “Thank you,” I said, and epted the note. My heart raced as I opened it and began to read.


    Piper, it said in Nich s’s perfect scrawl. I wish you and Julian the best. I would never try to stand in


    your way. Best wishes, Nichs.


    My stomach dropped. I thought I might be sick.”


    This was a break up note.


    I wanted to hope that Nichs didn’t actually write this, but I knew his handwriting well from our


    Academy days. We’d so often write notes like this to one another.


    And then I wanted to believe that Nichs had written this under duress, but I knew that wasn’t true.


    Nichs could certainly be influenced by his family, but he’d never do anything he truly didn’t want to


    do, especially if he knew it would hurt me.


    No. He wrote this because he genuinely wanted out of our arrangement. He didn’t give a reason. I


    guessed he didn’t have to, but I wished I knew.


    “I want to talk to him,” I said to Mark.


    His expression was pitying. “I’m sorry, Piper. That’s really not a good idea.”


    “I deserve to hear this straight from him, not in some note.”


    Mark shook his head. “It’s for both of your sakes that it had to be this way. Please. Just stay away from


    him. You will only end up more hurt.”


    +15 BONUS


    I didn’t believe that. I couldn’t.


    If I could just talk to Nichs, maybe I could talk him out of this. I could help him see that we were


    worth staying together for just a little bit longer.


    Looking at Mark, I knew I would not be able to budge him. Nichs had given him a


    Though Susie would never ask him too. That was part of the reason they worked so well together.


    N?velDrama.Org owns ? this.


    “I understand,” I said. I did, that was the truth, but it all still hurt. I felt raw, like I’d been put through the


    grinder. Pieces of me were missing. I didn’t know how to be whole again.


    I left Mark and took Elva back to our bedroom. I spent the entire day numb, not thinking about anything


    rting to Nichs. I helped Charlotte sew the sunshine dress, and I yed toys with Elva. I was able


    to keep my brain quiet by busying it with tasks.


    But then nighttime came. Charlotte retired and Elva fell asleep, and I was left alone with my thoughts.


    My dangerous, hurt-filled thoughts.


    Nichs had to have a reason for dropping me. Something more than his father found out. If it wasn’t


    permanent, what could be the harm of a secret rendezvous? It was an embarrassment, being discover,


    but not such a bad one that we needed to drop all that we had.


    I needed to confront Nichs and hear his reason. Only then could I let this go and move on with my


    life.


    After everything we shared, after all those whispered promises…


    I had to hear it from Nichs himself.


    So I waited long enough that most everyone would be asleep. Then I sneaked out.


    I traveled a familiar path to the guest room Nichs had been using. Once I was there, I lifted


    my


    hand and knocked.


    The light was on under the door. I saw a shift, a shadow.


    Nichs was in there. Even without the shadows, I could feel it in my bones.


    I waited a moment, then a moment more. But he did not answer the door.


    I knocked again, louder.


    His shadow came to the door. He was standing just on the other side of it. But he made no


    move to answer it.


    Tears welled in my eyes. It couldn’t be over. Not this soon. Not through a letter.


    I knocked once more.


    And he still didn’t answer.