Home > Bad Boy Blues(3)

Bad Boy Blues(3)
Author: Saffron A. Kent

Mad rush of my heart. The tightness in my chest like my lungs are starving for air. And those… butterflies in my stomach, with sharp, blade-like wings.

“Oh my God,” I whisper.

It’s not possible, right? He’s not here. He went away three years ago.

I mean, I know that shoulder. I’m familiar with that elbow and that thigh. I’ve seen them almost every day ever since I was ten. I’ve watched them grow up and get bigger and stronger with age.

I could pick them out from a line-up, even if I were sleepwalking.

I could pick them out even though I haven’t seen them, seen him, in three years.

Then, I’m jumping out of my bed and dashing to the front door of the cottage. I throw it open and run outside in my bare feet.

The ground is hot and hard even through the grass that surrounds our front yard. But I don’t care about any of those things.

I care about what I saw.

But again, there’s no one as far as the eye can see. The night’s just the same as it was half an hour ago when I walked back to my cottage.

I look around, up and down, side to side.

Did I imagine him?

But why would I imagine him? Why would I imagine the guy I’ve hated for almost a decade?

Is this what it feels like when you lose your mind?

Maybe my parents’ death is affecting me in all the wrong ways.

A few seconds later, I’m back inside, in my bed, under the covers.

I close my eyes to go to sleep but all I can see is that shoulder and that elbow and him.

“Blue!”

There’s only one person on this earth who calls me that.

Three years ago, his voice used to be rough and low. Grumbling. I’m sure years must’ve matured it even more. Not that I care about it.

I don’t.

And neither do I care about what I saw last night. I think I made him up. It was a dream or something. A figment of my imagination.

Anyway, this voice is high and giggly, kind of cutesy. It belongs to my five-year-old neighbor, Arthur. We all call him Art and he calls me Blue.

So maybe there are two people who call me by that name.

I stop and turn around to find him running toward me. He has his backpack on his shoulders and he’s grinning at me.

I grin back. “Hey, big guy.”

Panting, he comes to a stop and I get down on my knees. He has blond hair and green eyes, and a perpetual cowlicky thing on the back of his head.

“Look!” He shows me his fist. “Did I do it right?”

I’ve been teaching him how to make a fist and, yup, he completely nailed it.

“It looks perfect.”

He beams. “Yay!”

Smiling, I pat at his cowlick. “You’re gonna destroy them.”

“You think?” he asks.

Art looks at me with such hope that my heart squeezes.

“Duh. Just don’t back down, okay? Always remember, we’re the underdogs. But contrary to what people think, underdogs are not weak. We fight back. In fact, we fight the hardest. People underestimate us and you know what, let them. That’s their biggest mistake. And don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise, my friend.”

He smiles and nods enthusiastically. “Okay!”

Art and I, we were destined to become friends. Like me, he’s an orphan too. Although his parents died when he was only two. Ever since then, he’s lived here on The Pleiades with his grandma, Doris, who’s also on the cleaning staff.

But other than that, the most important thing that links me to this five-year-old adorable and shy boy is the fact that we’re both the bullied. At least, I once was.

Art’s a little small for his age, so some kids at his school are giving him trouble for it. They push him around and threaten him, making him cry and turning school generally miserable.

Fuck them.

Bullies are cowards. They can’t stand on their own two feet so they hide behind empty threats. All they need to set them straight is a little pushback and I’ve been teaching Art how to do that. Since I have a little experience in that area.

We fist-pump and I stand. “I love you. I gotta run. But I’ll see you tonight, okay?”

He nods. “Is it pancake night?”

Since Doris is getting on in age, I help out with Art whenever I can. Tonight I’m babysitting him and since it’s Monday, we’re doing breakfast for dinner.

“You bet!”

After saying my goodbye, I’m running toward the main house where our daily meeting is going to start in about ten minutes.

Like last night, I punch in the code to the service entrance and get inside. Even from the top of the stairs, I can hear the hustle and bustle of the staff.

There are people coming in and out of the kitchen, the staff room. Women wear gray dresses with white trim on the collars and sleeves like me, and men wear white shirts with black pants. Our uniform here at The Pleiades.

There’s giggling and talking and even shoving. The entire house is awake and hard at work.

I climb down the stairs, call out hellos and his, until I reach the staff room. People are already sitting down and Tina, who went in earlier than me because she has no problem waking up early, is saving a seat for me.

As soon as I sit down, Mrs. S walks in and Tina leans over to whisper, “Right on time. Who would’ve thought?”

I’m kind of famous or infamous for being late so I just flip her the bird under the table; I’ve been busted before for doing it in plain sight.

Tina simply giggles.

Mrs. S takes her seat at the head of the table and everyone falls silent. There’s coffee and tea and cookies in the middle – courtesy of Maggie and her staff – and together with the long dining table and straight spines and serious faces, this could be a scene from Downton Abbey.

“Good morning, everyone,” Mrs. S greets us, looking around, her eyes stopping on me. “Very glad to see everyone in here and on time.”

I smile. Though it might have looked like a grimace.

“So, today, we have a little change of plans.”

Mrs. S is smiling and I don’t have a very good feeling about this. If she’s happy, then that means something is wrong. She’s never happy and neither does she let anyone else be happy. Namely, me.

“Today’s a special day.” She keeps smiling and my frown gets bigger. “To celebrate this unplanned but special occasion, Mr. and Mrs. Prince are having a party. I know that it’s a little short notice but I want most of you in the ballroom. I want every inch of that place clean and polished before the decorators get here. I’ve assigned some of you to work with them and I don’t want any mistakes or complaints, got it?”

She pins everyone with a glare until we all nod.

“Tonight has to go smoothly. It’s probably the most important event you’ll ever work on here at The Pleiades. Well, one of the most important ones, at least.”

Okay, she’s killing us and she knows it. Her eyes are gleeful and filled with joy. I’ve never seen her like this before, all excited and cheerful. And she isn’t even telling us about her so-called special day.

“Isn’t any of you going to ask me what’s the occasion?”

“Will you fire us if we do?” I mutter under my breath and Tina snorts.

Mrs. S glares in our direction but thankfully, Leslie, one of the girls on the staff, asks her about it.

Mrs. S turns her attention away and smiles. “Today’s the day that I, among some others who have been working here for decades, have been eagerly waiting for.” At this, Maggie and a few other senior staff members beam. “I’m so very pleased to say that tonight’s party is in honor of the Prince who’s returning to The Pleiades after three years. Our very own, Master Zach.”

Master Zach.

I can see her mouth moving but I can’t hear her. Her voice seems to be coming out of a tunnel or from somewhere deep down and far away.

Suddenly, all I can do is feel.

The racing heart, the savage butterflies in my belly. The tightness in my chest.

Shakily, I run my eyes around. Everyone is calm and focused. Mrs. S is still talking but all I can hear is his name.

Zach.

He’s back.

It was him, wasn’t it?

I saw him last night, or rather, caught a glimpse of him before he disappeared. It wasn’t a dream or my imagination.

I didn’t make him up.

Oh God.

“I’m sorry. What’d you just say?” I burst out, loudly and effectively bringing all the eyes in the room to me.

Mrs. S stares at me. Hard.

I know she doesn’t like to be interrupted, especially when she’s giving out instructions left and right. But fuck it.

“How long have you worked here, Cleopatra?” she asks, instead.

I take a deep breath. It doesn’t help. I’m still as shaken up as I was the moment I heard his name.

“Listen, I know I’m being rude and everything and you hate being interrupted but you don’t understand.” I clear my throat and slide to the edge of my seat. “Did you just say that Zach is coming back because I think you did. And that’s just impossible, right? Because last I checked, he left. Abruptly. And I thought that he wasn’t coming back. I thought that maybe his parents finally cut all ties with him. You know, because he was just so… out of control. I mean…” I wave my hand in the air and I have a feeling that I’m waving them a little too fast. “I never bought the whole going to Oxford scenario.”

I air-quote going to Oxford. “I never believed that he went to Oxford. But that’s okay. I don’t care about that. What I care about is…” I thread my fingers together on the table, digging my elbows into the wood and leaning forward. “What did you just say?”

My legs are jiggling and I hate that just the thought of him returning has reduced me to this.

This jittery, shaky, mess of a girl.

Angry and violent.

A girl who couldn’t decide if she wanted to hide to avoid confrontation and getting sent into detention yet again or punch him in the face like she did when she was ten and he was twelve.

   
Most Popular
» Nothing But Trouble (Malibu University #1)
» Kill Switch (Devil's Night #3)
» Hold Me Today (Put A Ring On It #1)
» Spinning Silver
» Birthday Girl
» A Nordic King (Royal Romance #3)
» The Wild Heir (Royal Romance #2)
» The Swedish Prince (Royal Romance #1)
» Nothing Personal (Karina Halle)
» My Life in Shambles
» The Warrior Queen (The Hundredth Queen #4)
» The Rogue Queen (The Hundredth Queen #3)
romance.readsbookonline.com Copyright 2016 - 2024