The Royal Crush

10

I woke up from a bloody dream, knowing that something was very wrong. I couldn't quite figure out what it was till I felt like someone was trying to tear my abdomen apart. Filled with dread, I looked down at the white bedspread and groaned. I'd woken up in a pool of my own blood. Cute.

I curled into a ball, trying unsuccessfully to make the agonising pain go away. It was driving me crazy. Through hazy eyes I looked at the clock and saw it was time to get ready for school but I couldn't bring myself to get out of bed. Every movement felt like a gunshot to my uterus. I groaned in pain and realized this was why I'd been so emotional for the past few days. Periods. Ugh.

Almost half an hour later- I'd lost track of time- Ciara entered my room when I didn't respond to her knocks.

"Chloe? Rise and shine! Time for school," she chirped, pulling back my curtains. I groaned and snuggled deeper into the cushions.

"Get up! What- oh no! You've got your periods!" she said, probably noticing the stain on the bed.

"I'm aware," I groaned. "I can't go to school today."

"Yes, of course, I understand. But you must get out of bed. I'll prepare a hot bath for you," she said and hurried away. I ignored her and was able to stay for a few minutes more in bed before Ciara dragged me out.

"Chloe! Get into the bath, you can't just bleed all over the place, starving. Take a nice, hot bath and I'll bring some food up for you," she said.

"But-! I'm in mortal agony!" I croaked. She glared at me till I sighed and stumbled out of bed, dragging myself to the bathroom. She'd filled the tub with hot water. There was a pile of soft cotton pajamas, underwear and a box of tampons too. I smiled. This was how Maya did it too.

After a relaxing bath, I went back to bed. Ciara had changed the sheets and they smelled wonderful. There was a tray with pancakes, sausages and hot chocolate. I ate what I could- I hardly ever had an appetite on the first day of periods- and went back to bed. The pain had dulled a bit and I fell asleep instantly.

"Wake up, wake up, wake up."

I groaned and pulled the pillow over my head. Suddenly it was snatched away from me and the chanting continued.

"Wake up wake up wake up."

"Go away," I mumbled, trying to get back to sleep. When the chanting didn't stop, I sat up in bed. My stomach lurched and my head spun. Someone handed me a glass of water and I chugged it down. When my vision cleared, I saw Vivian, Cedric and Dylan.

"Seriously guys? Can't you let me sleep?"

"Nope," Vivian said as she sat beside me on the bed. Dylan and Cedric took this as the cue to jump onto my bed too. I yelped and clutched my stomach.

"Guys!" I yelled and gestured to my stomach.

"Oops! Sorry," Dylan grinned and laid down on the bed while Cedric hung upside down.

"What did you bring me?" I asked, drawing the blanket around myself. Vivi took a paper bag from my bedside table and handed it over to me. There were two tubs of ice cream, red velvet cake, brownies, cookies, bars of chocolate and even Starbucks.

"Aww I love you guys so much!" I said happily.

"Only because we gave you food," Dylan said. Vivi was singing quietly as she scrolled through her phone and Cedric was staring at her. He was no longer hanging from the bed and was sitting beside her. I was sitting against the headboard and Dylan was lying beside me. Vivi was sitting facing me and Cedric was beside her.

Vivian sings well, but Cedric was literally not taking his eyes off her. Dylan and I exchanged a glance and and sniggered. Cedric's eyes widened and Vivi looked at us suspiciously.

"What's so funny?"

Cedric looked at me with pleading eyes. 

I shrugged at Vivi. "Oh, nothing."

She narrowed her eyes. "So now you and Dylan have inside jokes?"

"Maybe," Dylan smirked.

"I will find out eventually," Vivi warned and went back to her phone. Cedric mouthed 'thanks' at me and I mouthed 'you owe me'.

I sipped on my caramel Frappuccino and bit into a brownie. Damn, it tasted heavenly. Dylan reached out and took a piece. I slapped his hand away and he chuckled.

"You guys make a cute couple," Vivi said, still tapping away at her phone. Dylan choked and I dropped my brownie.

"What?!" we shouted together.

"I'm serious. You guys even have inside jokes and you really get each other," she said.

"No fucking way," Cedric said.

"Vivi, we all get each other, not just Dylan and I!" I exclaimed.

"You know what I mean-"

"No, actually I don't."

"She's better off with Eaton," Dylan said.

"She doesn't need a guy!" Cedric said in an exasperated tone.

"You're right, she does match with Caleb more," Vivi said thoughtfully. Cedric threw his hands up in defeat.

"But you and Dylan can pull it off well. I say we prank the twins," Vivi said.

Dylan sighed. "I don't even want to know what you're talking about."

"You know how Alexa and George are always pranking us? Let's get them back. Dylan and Chloe can act like they're dating."

"Hmm not a bad idea," Cedric said.

"Excuse me? It is a bad idea! It's a shitty idea!" I yelled.

"It will totally freak them out," Vivian said, ignoring me.

"Oh lord, I can just imagine the look on Alexa's face," Cedric laughed.

"Are you guys serious right now!" Dylan said.

"Very."

"Unbelievable," he muttered.

"Please, pretty please?" Vivi pleaded.

"Vivi, Dylan and I dating would be like, I don't know, you and Cedric," I said and they both pinked.

"Does that mean you'll do it?" she asked.

I sighed. "I mean, what could go wrong? That is, if Dylan is fine with it..."

Vivian turned her imploring eyes on Dylan. He rolled his eyes.

"Fine, fine. But if you're expecting Chloe and me to actually fall for each other or some crap like that, you've got another thing coming," he said.

"Yay!" Vivi squealed.

"Also, this thing is only between the six of us. No PDA. Let's just tell them I don't want anyone in school to find out yet," I said.

Cedric smirked. "Of course you don't, what if your precious Caleb gets to know?"

I glared at him. "I don't give a shit about Caleb."

"Yea sure," Dylan scoffed. I rolled my eyes.

"Ok what's the plan?" I asked.

"Huh?"

"The plan, guys. Alexa and George will be back in two days."

"Oh... yea. We'll um, figure that out along the way," Vivi assured me.

I groaned. "How long is this gonna last?"

"A week, maybe?"

I sighed. This was going to be a long week.