Her Royal Charming

Chapter Twenty Four

"What happened?" The million dollar question.

"He's looking for me, he put up posters all over the school. People are obsessed with this fictional image of Cinderella that they're projecting on me. He's going to find out who I am, and then the whole school will know and my stupid family will do everything in their power to make things ten times worse. I can't handle it, it's becoming too much. You were right, I never should have gotten involved with him."

My breathing was getting more shallow and my chest rose up and down rapidly. My head began to spin and I felt like I was getting no air despite breathing heavily.

"I feel lightheaded." I say resting an arm on his shoulder in an attempt to steady myself. I felt like I was about to fall and collapse on the floor which only served to make me panic more.

"What's happening to me?" I asked frantically as the pancic wouldn't stop.

"You're hyperventilating." He reassured me in a soothing tone, but I saw the panic just as clear in his eyes. "Let's sit down."

"Don't let go." I clutch onto his arm even tighter. He gives me a reassuring squeeze. "I won't."

He leads us a few steps to the stairs and we take a seat. "Let's take some deep breaths together, just follow my breathing." I nod along numbly, willing to take any advice to get me out of this state.

"There you do, nice and easy." We take a few deep breaths together, all while my hand gripped his. We did this about ten times before my breathing regulated itself.

"Are you ok now?" I nod hesitantly.

"Much better than before." I admit. "Thanks Edmon." He responds with a grateful smile.

"Now that you're calm let's approach this with a level head." I nod and take a deep breath to prepare myself.

"What happens if he's searching for you? As much as I hate it, try to understand where he's coming from. You haven't given him your name, and abruptly walked away from him with no context, his curiosity is burning within him. It's a miracle he's lasted this long." He veers off into a tangent, seemingly slightly annoyed about Derric's perseverance.

"My point is, is it a guarantee that if he knows the whole school will know?"

"No, but-"

"It was a simple yes or no question Adira. Don't make thing more complicated for possibilities that may never happen. There's no reason to work yourself into a frenzy over things that might not happen and which you have no control over."

"Take things one at a time, if something happens we'll deal with it together. You're not in this alone." I needed that reassurance, to remind myself to stop being irrational.

Edmon places his hand on top of mine as a physical reminder because apparently it's something I forget often.

"Thanks Ed for all of this, I really appreciate it." I turn to face him completely giving him a grateful smile.

"Anytime." He smiles widely with his teeth on display which was cute, and I saw a look of hesitance in his eyes although I couldn't place why.

He distracted me before I could think about it further. "What did you lose at the party?"

I shrug immediately, the hell if I know. "I don't know I can't think of anyt-" My hands shot to my neck as I let out a surprised gasp.

"My necklace." I never put it back, and things have been so chaotic it slipped my mind. It was my parent's engagement ring and represented a simpler time in my life. Does he really have the necklace or is it something else?

One thing's for certain I need to get it back, which means I have to face Derric.

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I made a decision as soon as I left the stairwell with Edmon. I was faced with the decision to be a coward or the opposite of a coward.

I decided to.....

Deal with it tomorrow and face him then.

I figured I would have more strength tomorrow mentally, and giving myself 24 hours seemed like a sufficient amount of time to recuperate.

In the meantime I wondered why he never texted me that I lost something. I sent him the message, was he angry at him? I stay in the staircase for a few minutes after Edmon left. I open my phone to our text convo and immediately want to kill myself.

I never pressed send.

How did I miss something like this? I'm all over the place and need to get my shit together. Fuck! Does he think I ditched him on purpose? I threw my head back and cursed myself over and over again for being so stupid.

What if he hates me now and wants to expose who I am? What if he wants to ruin our friendship and whatever else we might have. Have I been imagining that the whole time and looking too much into things? He must think of the worst of me now, how can I face him tomorrow?

My mind was falling into the rabbit hole of dark places where I relive all my mistakes and think of every possible negative outcome. This time there was no Edmon to save me from myself.

It was times like these where I wished I could discover my time-traveling powers. Unfortunately I stayed the same and have to live with the consequences of my stupidity.

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Ten minutes later and I have to drag myself from my self-loathing to satisfy my hunger. It was only the cry of a dying whale emerging from y stomach that made me realize it was time to get up.

I walk into the cafeteria hoping to grab something light and walk out with no incidents when I see a ginormous line of girls.

They were waiting by Derric's table all looking excited and jumpy. It no doubt had to do with the posters, he's popular but not that popular.

I caught a small glimpse of Derric's face, he was unimpressed with the Cinderella wannabees and frankly looked bored out of his mind. His friends were getting a real kick out of it though.

I don't know why they decided to make the Cinderella comparison because I'm far from a Disney princess. I'm not a Cinderella archetype, I'm just Adira and that's ok.

I turn around and walk out of the cafeteria with a newfound confidence and courage to fight for myself.

I can face Derric, I can handle what he has to say. I will get my necklace back and tell him my name once and for all.

There's no reason to be afraid.