The Kings

10

♕ c h a p t e r  t e n ♕

— disobey a king

a r i a  h a l e

﹉﹊ ♕ ﹉﹊

The door jolts open, revealing Carter with an blank face. His shirt buttons were half off and he looked exhausted, seeming like he came out from the janitors closet from a heated session.

"I told you to take her to class, " Carter says, looking at Reuben with an unreadable expression. "Not to take her to an empty classroom alone." I scoff at his words, he was acting like I was some toy that could be moved around anywhere at his command.

I notice Reuben looking uncomfortable, he doesn't bother meeting my eyes. "I can go anywhere I want, Reuben doesn't have to be some sort of chauffeur for me," I say drily as Carter's lips curled into a twisted smirk.

"Haven't you read the rules darling? Clearly seems like you haven't, " Carter inches near me, his heated gaze on me. "Because if you did, then you would've bowed down the moment I entered this classroom."

His words cause me to roll my eyes mentally, who does he think he is? He acts like he's superior when he really isn't, this is not the 19th century for me to be bowing down to a King. In this century there's a Queen, a queen never bows.

"Please tell me you're being sarcastic." Reuben murmurs under his breath, Carter's words seemed to sound stupid to Reuben as well. Just as Reuben uttered his words, Carter's head snapped towards him instantly.

"Have I ever joked Reuben?" Carter questions, his eyes bearing flames. "No. Never have I joked in all the years we've been kings," he says fiercely, his words were dead honest.

"But telling her to bow down, that's a real d**k move don't you think?" Reuben hisses through his teeth, his jaw clenched as he scowled at Carter.

Carter looks at me for a split second before speaking. "Since when did you care about the way I spoke to people, especially a girl, you hate girls yet you're defending one now." his words cause Reuben to still, I shake my head at the way Carter was treating Reuben.

It wasn't nice, he acted like he was the boss of this school. He's also belittling his friend right in front of me, the fact Carter is rude to his friend shows a lot.

"Screw your damn rules Carter." I snap, pushing past him to leave the room but Reuben grabs my wrist, his eyes pleading me not to go. He acted as if Carter would do something to him if I left. 

"Leave Aria, " Carter says venomously, his stance was threatening. But for some reason I didn't want to leave Reuben in this empty classroom with Carter, but who am I to care? Reuben is a King, I don't need to care about a King. After all, I despised Kings, it would be dumb for me to stay back.

Just as I turn around, I could see a flash of emotion on Reubens' face. It was a look of betrayal, but I paid no heed to it. The both of them are friends, it's not as if Carter would lay a finger on him, friends don't hurt each other.

Just as I walk out of the classroom, the door slams shut. I take the long route to my next class but the sound of footsteps behind me cause me to still. Who else would be out in the halls when every single student is in class?

"Aria!" a familiar voice exclaims, I turn around only to find my cousin Anna with a exasperated expression on her face. She was breathing heavily just like Carter was when he entered the empty classroom Reuben and I was in.

My eyebrows raise up. Anna's buttons were also slightly undone, hickeys were trailing up her neck. That was enough information for me to realise that Anna was the one Carter was fooling around with before he entered the classroom where Reuben and I were talking in.

Instantly I realise that Anna could possibly be telling Carter everything about me, it doesn't make any sense why she'd go back to him after he broke her heart. Did she adore him that much that she'd go back to him in a heartbeat?

This made me realize that I can't trust my own cousin.

"What?" I snap in irritation, it frustrated me that she was with someone like Carter. In fact, it disgusted me that she would do things with someone of the likes of him.

Anna looks taken back by my response, her eyes furrow immediately. She must think I'm stupid, it's clearly written all over her face that she's done the deed with Carter.

"I just wanted to talk to you, after you've been crowned I didn't really have the chance to you know?" she says in a quiet voice, it must be the guilt pouring into her. She messed with the likes of my enemy, how could she?

I hold back the urge to gag. "So tell me, how was it?" I ask straight to the point, there was no use of beating around the bush. She clearly has something to say to me.

She feigns a confused expression before asking, "How was what?"

I deadpan. "Messing around with Carter Dean, how was it?" I say sarcastically as Anna's face flushes a deep red colour, caught red-handed.

Or shall I say red-faced? No? Nope, I'll stop right there.

"I-It was a mistake, trust me." Anna stutters as she played around her tie that was loose. How can one mistakenly get into a room with another boy in school and hook up and call it a damn mistake?

"Save it, I don't want to hear your lies." I turn away from Anna, fury was not the word that could describe my feelings. Betrayal was the word. She knew about my hatred for the Kings, she knew about my plans to destroy them. I was doing this for her, I was going to end their shameless ranking system and games for her.

But she went behind my back and did it with Carter. He broke her heart, he left her stranded in a restaurant crying because he text dumped her. It disgusted me how I had to come to pick her up from the alleyway of the restaurant where she was, half-clothed because a drunk guy was close to having his way with her.

It pained me to console her every day, he ruined her and left her with nothing. He stole her broken shards and left nothing behind, just her and nothing. Her tainted self for me to handle.

I shake my thoughts away, there was no point in thinking about a traitor. This whole revenge plan was going down the drain as each moment passed by, it was beginning to get messy. I was getting myself involved in something that I had no idea of how bad the consequences were.

"Watch where you're going, slut." A tall brunette haired girl hisses, her piercing green eyes meeting mine. Her tall figure seemed to tower over mine by just an inch, two girls were behind her with smug smirks.

I look at her offended, what did I do to earn the title of a slut? It was even rude for her to throw derogatory terms like that, those words hurt others in a way that not even she herself can handle.

"I'm sure you're a nice girl, there's no point of calling a girl you've never spoken to a slu—" but just as I could finish my polite sentence, the tall girl had slammed me on to the locked behind.

I tried to be nice. I'm not going to stoop to her level and fight her back with the same derogatory terms. But the way she was acting now made me want to hurt her, but there was no point if she had two other girls by her side.

Instead if fighting I hold back the ringing noise in my head, the pain that was spreading around my head hurt to the point I felt like rubbing ice all over it.

"Why would you do that?" I mumble, touching my head, trying to soothe the pain but it made me wince.

The girl smirks, her two friends cackle in my state. "There's nothing special about you, I don't understand why you're crowned, " Her friend snarls, glaring at me with a look of fury I couldn't understand.

"Its good, we're allowed to do anything to the crowned girl since we were given strict instructions." the other girl says, digging her nails into my skin. They all surrounded me, the three of them had a dangerous glimmer in their eyes.

"S-Strict instructions, " I choke out, confused with the way they were acting. The three of them laugh, but with the ringing sensation in my head, their laughs seemed louder than usual.

The brunette haired girl smiles darkly. "Carter Dean asked us to hurt you, you disobeyed him and now he gave us the honour to teach you to not disrespect a King." her words cause my heart to still.

He even went to the point he would hurt me if I didn't follow his stupid rules, now that's where you cross the line. I felt powerless with those girls around me, at the same time I felt powerless against Carter.

The brunette slams her palm against my cheek, the stinging sensation was unbearable. The other girls chuckle as they push me on to the floor, I try standing up to fight back but my body didn't allow me to. I felt too weak.

I felt pathetic.

"S-Stop." I manage to say, but they all carried on kicking me, ignoring my pleas for them to stop. But they didn't stop, they never stopped. They carried on to the point they left me all alone, bleeding from their harsh kicks.

Before I blacked out, I noticed a figure running towards me.

﹉﹊ ♕ ﹉﹊

My vision was blurry as I struggled to open my eyes. Once I do open my eyes, I notice a figure on the chair sat beside the infirmary bed I was laying on. It was Reuben Foster, with a cut on his lips and a large bruise on his cheek.

He was asleep, but his position seemed painful. His face was battered up and not treated, I knew one person who could've done this to Reuben. It was definitely Carter Dean, it all made sense now. Both Carter and Reuben are not friends by purpose, they were friends by default.

Reuben didn't want me to leave him, yet I listened to Carter and left the room due to my own hatred towards the Kings. I shake my head as I watched Reuben sleep peacefully.

He wanted me to break his heart but instead

I broke his trust.

﹉﹊ ♕ ﹉﹊