The River (Book 3 of The Claiming Series)

Chapter Two

The sunlight is nearly blinding as it streams into my bedroom, casting beams on my face. I squint in disgust. Can't I sleep until a reasonable hour? Like noon?

I sit up and rub my burning eyes. I already know they're puffy from crying late last night into my mom's shoulder.

"Mave!" Aria's little voice shouts from downstairs. "Charlie's here!"

Before I can tell her I'll be down in a minute, my door bursts open and Charlie darts in. "Who do I need to punch in the face?" he demands.

I sit back in bed and cover my puffy face. "I'm fine, Charlie. Really."

He crawls into bed next to me and wraps his arms around me. "Your mom told my mom who told me everything. Why didn't you text me? I would have been there in a heartbeat!"

I sit up and shove him in the chest. "No, you wouldn't have! You don't have an authorized car, and you don't step foot anywhere near that place!"

"I would have for you, Mave," he says a little too seriously.

Suddenly a little uneasy, I scramble out of bed and grab some clothes out of my dresser. "I know you didn't come here just to 'console' me," I say. "Why are you really here?"

I head into the connecting bathroom to change but leave the door cracked so I can talk to him.

"Ruth invited me to her eighteenth birthday party next week at the palace. It's supposed to be a big formal thing." He lowers his voice to a mutter that I can still distinguish. "Dates and things... I was just wondering if you wanted to go with me. As my date."

I poke my head out of the bathroom instantly, glaring at him. "I can never go back there, Charlie! And besides, why would I go to an event celebrating Ruth when she was the cruelest to me after I got fired. She put all the other dancers against me. No, absolutely not."

"But Maaaaaave!"

I roll my eyes and slip back into the bathroom. I pull a pale blue T-shirt on over my head and put on ripped denim shorts. "No, Charlie. No."

"Mave," he says pointedly. "Don't you want a chance to get back at Ruth, though?"

"And how would I even do that?" I start washing my face at the bathroom sink.

"Well, you know Ruth's had a massive crush on me since forever," he says. I can picture him puffing out his brawny chest with pride. "If you came as my date, she'd be so jealous!"

That does sound tempting.

"Maybe," I say. "But I'm not promising you anything!"

"Good enough for me!" Charlie says cheerfully.

******

Around noon when Charlie heads back home, my parents call me down to sit at the kitchen table. It's cleaned off with no clutter on it—which can only mean one thing.

My mom stands by one of the chairs with her hand draped over the back of it. "Mave, I think we need to have a little..."

"Intervention!" Aria interrupts.

My mom scowls at her for a split second then turns her sympathetic gaze back to me. "Sit down, sweetie."

I roll my eyes. "Honestly, Mom. I'm fine." But I sit down anyway, knowing all too well there's no escaping when Mom wants a "family meeting" or whatever this is about to become.

My dad, who is putting together some sandwiches for lunch, drops what he's doing and sits down beside me. Mom sits across from me, and Aria to my other side.