Wicked princess

He’s got to be kidding me. 

“I might not remember most things, but I’m smart enough to know that when a girl acts like that, it’s because she’s jealous.” 

He stabs his mystery meat with his fork. “Five months.” He takes a bite and wipes his mouth with a napkin. “I ended things with her a few weeks ago.” 

There’s a weird flicker of disappointment in my chest. 

“Five months is like an eternity in high school. You must have really cared about her.” 

“Yeah.” He clears his throat. “But walking in on her fucking my brother when he was visiting last month put an end to that.”

Wow. Sometimes there just aren’t any words. 

“I…uh. I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t be.” Shrugging, he twists open the bottle of his sports drink. “Like Tommy said, at least I found out she wasn’t loyal before things got even more serious between us.” 

I want to point out that Tommy doesn’t sound very loyal either, but it’s obvious he’s pretty close to his brother. 

Given I’m close to mine, I can’t fault him for that. 

He sighs. “Can we talk about something else though? Talking about my cheating ex is ruining my appetite.” 

Understandable. 

“Sure.” Searching my brain for small talk, I say, “Have you decided what college you want to attend?”

His face lights up like the Fourth of July. “It’s a long shot, but I’m hoping to get into the pre-med program at Duke’s Heart.” 

Well, damn. “Pre-med, huh? That’s—” 

He cuts me off with a roll of his eyes. “Save it, princess. I’m well aware that not too many poor people like me end up becoming doctors. Like I said, it’s a long shot.” 

“I was going to say that’s awesome.” 

He narrows his eyes as if he’s expecting me to say something else. “And?”

“And what?”

Assessing me, he leans back in his seat. “Come on, you’re not go

I honestly have no idea what to say to that. 

Actually, I do. 

“I’m not go

Although some people do unfortunately. 

My mind flits back to the time Mom took Liam and me to the mall and one woman yelled that she and her ingrate kids should go back to India because we weren’t wanted here. 

My mom was proud of being Indian and wanted us to be proud of it too. Seeing the crushed look on her face just about killed me. 

There was also the time in second grade where we were supposed to give a presentation on our family trees and where we came from, and one of my friends suggested that I focus on my dad’s side from Ireland instead of my mom’s because people would make fun of me. 

People can be such dicks. 

Guilt colors Stone’s expression. “I’m sorry. I guess you out of all people know what it’s like.” 

“Yeah.” 

An uncomfortable silence stretches between us for what feels like forever.

“I know you think you know me, Stone, but…” I pause trying, but ultimately failing to find the right words to convey how I feel. 

“But what?” he urges. 

I push my half-eaten tray of food away. “I guess I’m just hoping you’ll give me a chance to show you the new Bianca, because I could really use a friend.”