Althena Book 2

99. Already In

Friday morning, I get to science about 20 minutes early. So I lay my head on my desk.

"You need this." Akmae hands me coffee. "We all need this." One of my guards is standing beside us with the coffee pot.

"I forgot what it was like to get up this early."

"Nice of you two to join us."

Akmae nods at the teacher.

"Your labs are due from last week and this week's project is due today. You have until the end of the day to turn them in." She hands us some papers. "Everyone else, you're free to go once your report is turned in."

We move to our cubicle. "We're working with the speed of light and calculating how far away something is."

"That sounds horrible."

He refills his coffee. "We're going to need more coffee."

Katen runs in with her finger on her lips and hides beside a shelf.

The teacher comes in. "I need them by the end of the day today. Do not forget."

"We won't. We'll get them."

Katen sneaks out and whispers, "How far have you gotten?"

I shake my head. "We ran out of coffee."

"Send the guards. I'll help you for the class time. You'll have to finish it this afternoon."

"Deal."

Lila and I work on homework during choir. Then we go to lunch.

She works on something else. "Today is brutal."

Akmae laughs. "McBride gave us until the end of the day to get 6 days worth of science projects and 2 full reports done."

"Damn."

"Katen helped us this morning. I feel like we had a good start. And I have 3 classes with the tutor. Hopefully, that'll save us. I can't take 0's for two weeks."

"Same. I have study hall last period. I'll help with whatever I can."

"She should have given you guys more than a day. All my teachers gave me at least until Monday. End of the day is insane for all that."

Conner puts his arm around me. "I didn't miss anything important."

We glare at him until Katen joins us and breaks our concentration. "I'm sorry, but I can't come to your party tonight. I begged my parents, but they didn't care."

"It's alright. It's not a big party anyway. We're going to make pizzas and not get drunk."

I smile. "Best party ever."

Lila nods. "Pizza, ice cream, pajamas, girl stuff. It's perfect."

"You want me to smuggle you girls in a bottle of liquor?"

We glare at Conner again. He cracks up laughing.

"Actually, I need to find Hanorah and Saray. I need to set up a time to get their dresses for prom."

Amber spins in a circle and falls into her chair. "Sorry, you confused me. I started looking for them. Hanorah sits at that table over there. It's one of the senior tables. I don't know who Saray is."

"That's a start." I stand up. "Come on, Conner."

"Why?" He shoves a bite of burger into his mouth.

"It's a senior table. You have to come with me."

"You can go to the table. It doesn't have a lock that only seniors get a key too."

"Conner."

"It's a table, woman."

I cross my arms and Lila pulls me. "I'll go with you." Then she smacks him. "Nobody likes approaching people they don't know."

He shakes his head. "She knows the girl."

She rolls her eyes, and we go over to the table. They act so excited about seeing us. I can't help but be confused. We agree to shopping after school on Monday.

We look around for Saray, then we sit at our table. "Maybe she's not here."

Katen picks up her apple. "Did you check the bathroom?"

Josh rolls his eyes. "That's not a thing. There are plenty of places to sit."

"It is a thing and a lot of people do it. They don't have friends to sit with or know anybody. It's awkward to sit by yourself at lunch."

Conner shakes his head. "I'm not going into the girls' bathroom either, woman."

"Ugh." Lila pulls me away. "We'll check."

We get almost to the bathroom and spot her at a table.

I shake my head. "I don't know why I was so scared to go to the bathroom."

"We didn't know what we were going to find there."

Saray is sitting by herself. There are people at the other end of the table, but they're not beside her. I have a seat. "So..."

Everyone at the other end of the table stares at me. They whisper to each other.

Lila pulls me up and yells, "GROW UP." at them. Then she pulls Saray and we go to our table.

We sit down and Katen smiles. "Was she in the bathroom?"

"No. She was sitting with some assholes." Lila plops down.

I crack up laughing. "Lila fixed that problem."

Lila pinches her nose between her eyes.

Conner nods. "Anyway. You coming tonight, Akmae?"

"No. I'm grounded forever. They told me I wasn't allowed to go to Eldervale. Then I went to Eldervale and Crystal Falls. They're not happy."

I can't believe he did that. "Did they say anything about prom in Crystal Falls?"

"I'll probably be grounded again after that."

Amber shakes her head. "Just tell them you're going to prom. Don't say where."

Conner smirks. "The lengths we go to get a good blowjob is insane."

Jenna rolls her eyes. "Yea, Conner, walking to the locker room is a great length."

Akmae laughs and nearly spits his juice out. "She got you on that one."

"Yea, she did."

Lila nods. "What are you trying to talk him into anyway?"

"We got our bike permits yesterday. Clayton and I are going riding tonight."

"Be careful."

"We will. We're going to stick around the house. No big roads or anything."

I snuggle against him. "Did the boys tell you they signed you up for helicopter pilot lessons?"

"No. But that sounds badass."

"Monte set it up for some of his warriors. Then the boys decided to do it too. I don't know if all of them are."

"I want to do that." Akmae looks back and forth between me and Conner half a dozen times.

"Can't. I tried, but the classes are in the afternoon during school hours."

"That sucks."

Lila rolls her eyes. "Clayton will get jealous and do it over the summer. Do it with him."

Saray giggles. "He can't. He'll be grounded then."

We crack up laughing.

"Where's the party tonight?" Some guy is smiling at us.

Jenna giggles and runs off with him.

"She better not." Lila is glaring at her.

Amber shakes her head. "She knows it's the girls tonight. I don't think she would."

Conner pulls my hand off his d**k and kisses my cheek. "Babygirl, I think you're done eating."

I plop my head on his shoulder. "Yea."

"What did you need? You never said."

"Sorry, we're going shopping Monday after school for the prom stuff. Does that work for you?"

"Is he really going with me? I can't afford that stuff."

"Yea, he's going, and he's paying for everything. We'll bill him on Monday. You don't need any money. There's a jewelry store I want to stop at too."

"I'M IN." Lila slams her hands down.

"You were already in."

"Is he buying her jewelry?"

"He said a ring and a bracelet or a set is fine. I don't know about Clayton. I should probably ask him before we spend his money on jewelry for Hanorah."

Lila nods. "True. But she can't go without jewelry."

"I'll ask him. Or at least give him a heads-up."

"We should do that after school."

Conner laughs. "Take Saray. You already have permission for her. Get permission from Clayton before you take Hanorah somewhere like that."

Amber slams her hands down. "What about me?"

Conner shakes his head. "You'll have to wait. Atlas didn't say anything about it."

"Fine. Have fun at the jewelry store. I'll see you at your house at 7. I need to go to class."

"Same. I need to work on our science project."

Akmae nods. "I'll be there 8th period."

Conner walks me to my tutor room and gives me a kiss. "I'll let everyone know you're going to a jewelry store after school."

"No. Don't tell on me."

He chuckles and leaves.

I work all afternoon. Crew and Katen help me at different times. Then Akmae comes at the end and we get everything done. That was horribly fast, but we got it turned in. At least it won't be 0's.

Lila, Saray, and I land at the jewelry store at 3:15. I love this place.

"How can we help you ladies?"

"PROM." Lila screams and runs to the sapphire counter.

I nod. "We need prom jewelry. This is Saray. We're billing Dacious for her stuff."

"Not a problem. What does the dress look like, or what style do you like?"

"I love this." She shows them a black dress on her phone. It has lots of sparkle.

"Can you forward that to me? I'll send it to our dress person. She'll pull dresses similar to that. We can look at them on Monday."

"Of course."

The salesperson checks it out. "Black and sparkly. It's your choice of stone color. You could pair it with the shoes as accents. Think sapphire jewelry, blue shoes, and a blue handbag with a black dress. But you could pick any color. It wouldn't have to be blue. Which color do you like?"

"Red."

"That'll be perfect. We'll start with rubies."

"Oh. She's not supposed to see the prices of anything. Get what she likes. Price doesn't matter."

They pull her away. I check on Lila, and she's falling in love with a sapphire necklace. I check out the amethysts and pick out a pretty heart ring.

Then I check on Saray. She's in tears. "Find something?"

She can't talk.

"This is what she likes." The sales lady holds up a full set. The rubies are cut in circles and surrounded by little diamonds. "The full set is earrings, necklace, bracelet, and a ring."

"That'll be good. Go ahead and package that."

"Yes, ma'am."

"BUT I NEED IT, DADDY." Lila screams into the phone.

I shake my head at Saray. "Ignore her. We get that way sometimes here. Look around. We can't bill him for anything else, but we can look."

"Fair enough." She wipes the tears off.

I pick out an interesting orange stone. I must have it. "What type of stone is this?"

Drogon wraps his arms around me.

"This is a very rare orange sapphire. It's valued at $43,000."

"DADDY."

I get 3 text messages and my phone rings. It's Dacious.

Drogon chuckles, "Let's start with Lila." Clayton follows him.

Those are the only 2 boys here. "Hello. Wait. Package that ring. I need it."

"Of course, ma'am."

"Sorry. I'm here Dacious."

"Are you spending 8k at the jewelry store?"

"I don't know. You told her not to look at prices."

"Is it for you or Saray?"

"Saray. Do you want my bill? The ring they just packaged was 43k."

"f**k no. 8k is fine. I'm sure it's perfect."

"It is. She loves it. Saray, stop crying and hold up a ring or something. He wants to see." I send him a pic. She can't stop smiling and she's still crying.

He doesn't say anything for a minute. So, I shop again.

"Does she need anything else? A necklace or something?"

"No. She has a whole set and she loves it. You can tell that from the picture."

"I'll be there in a few days. Can you keep that jewelry in your house? I've only heard stories about where she lives."

"Yea, that's fine. See you in a few days."

Drogon puts his arm around me. "Time to go, baby. You need to get ready for Lila's birthday party. I got your stuff."

I glance around and Lila is gone. Saray is staring into her bag smiling and crying.

We get outside and Lila is all smiles. "Clayton got me a necklace for my birthday."

"That was sweet."

Clayton kisses her on the cheek. "Have fun at your party and happy birthday."

"We'll be home shortly, babygirl. Make sure you put the jewelry somewhere safe for prom." Drogon helps me in the helicopter.

"I will." I smile sweetly. I didn't even get anything for prom.

Saray climbs in behind us. Clayton gives the signal and the helicopter takes off.