CHAPTER EIGHT_Queen Bee
959 Words
CHAPTER EIGHT
Queen Bee
LILY POV
I started noticing her before I even learned her name properly.
Not because she was loud.
But because everyone reacted to her like she was important.
Like she belonged at the center of things without trying.
Her name was Chloe Winters.
And I first saw her on a morning when the school felt unusually bright.
She was standing near Asher.
Not too close.
Not too far.
Just close enough that people could immediately understand what she was.
His girlfriend.
I didn’t know why that thought made something small twist in my chest.
I shouldn’t have been thinking about it at all.
But I was.
Chloe smiled when Asher said something I couldn’t hear.
It was perfect.
Carefully perfect.
The kind of smile that looked practiced but still convincing.
Asher didn’t smile back fully.
Not really.
Just a faint expression that could’ve meant anything.
I told myself not to stare.
So I looked away.
But somehow, I still felt it.
That awareness of him.
Even when I wasn’t directly looking.
---
It started small.
That was how I knew I should’ve ignored it.
Small things never looked dangerous at first.
Chloe stopped me in the hallway one afternoon.
I was walking alone, holding my books too tightly like they were the only thing keeping me grounded.
She stepped in front of me without rushing.
Her presence alone made people nearby slow down.
“You’re Lily, right?” she asked sweetly.
I nodded slowly. “Yes.”
Her smile widened slightly.
“I’ve heard a lot about you.”
That sentence alone made my stomach tighten.
I didn’t like it.
“I hope it’s nothing bad,” I said carefully.
A soft laugh escaped her.
“Oh no,” she said. “Nothing bad.”
But her eyes said something else.
Something I couldn’t quite read yet.
She tilted her head slightly.
“You’re settling in well with Asher?”
That question hit differently.
I hesitated. “We… live in the same house.”
Her smile didn’t change.
“That’s not what I asked.”
Silence.
I didn’t know what answer she wanted.
So I gave the safest one.
“Yes,” I said quietly.
Something flickered in her expression for just a second.
Then it was gone.
“Good,” she said softly. “He doesn’t usually… get involved with people.”
The way she said it made it sound like I was an exception she didn’t approve of.
Then she stepped aside.
Like the conversation was already over.
---
After that, things changed slightly.
Not dramatically.
But enough to feel it.
Chloe started appearing more often in places I was.
Not always speaking to me.
Just… present.
Watching.
Smiling too easily.
Once, I saw her standing near Asher in the courtyard.
She was talking to him.
Close enough now to touch his arm if she wanted to.
He wasn’t looking at her the way I expected him to.
He looked… distracted.
Like something else had already taken his attention away without permission.
And I hated that I noticed that detail.
I shouldn’t have noticed it.
But I did.
---
That evening at home felt heavier than usual.
The mansion was quiet in the way it got when Elias was still at work and Mom was upstairs.
I was in the kitchen again, trying to make tea even though I didn’t really want it.
I just needed something to do with my hands.
I heard the door before I saw him.
Asher walked in slowly, loosening his tie slightly like he had just come back from somewhere he didn’t care about.
He paused when he saw me.
For a second, neither of us spoke.
Then he walked further in.
“You’re still awake,” he said.
I nodded. “Yeah.”
He opened the fridge, then closed it again without taking anything.
Like he forgot what he was looking for.
I watched him quietly.
Then, without meaning to, I said—
“Chloe came to talk to me today.”
The words left my mouth before I could stop them.
Asher went still.
Not dramatically.
Just… subtly.
Like a pause in movement.
I regretted saying it immediately.
But it was too late.
He turned slightly.
“Why?”
His voice was calm.
But something underneath it wasn’t.
I swallowed. “She just asked how I was settling in.”
A pause.
Then he asked, quieter—
“And?”
I hesitated.
“…She said you don’t usually get involved with people.”
Something changed in his expression then.
Not obvious.
But there.
Like something tightening behind his eyes.
“She talks too much,” he said flatly.
I blinked. “Is she wrong?”
Silence.
That was worse than an answer.
Asher looked at me then.
Really looked.
And for the first time, I couldn’t read him at all.
Then he said—
“Don’t think about what she says.”
I frowned slightly. “Why does everyone keep telling me that?”
His jaw tightened just slightly.
“Because they don’t know what they’re talking about.”
That didn’t explain anything.
But I didn’t push.
Instead, I looked down at my hands.
“…She seems important to you,” I said quietly.
The air shifted immediately.
Not loudly.
But sharply.
When I looked up again, Asher’s eyes were on me.
Still.
Focused.
And then he said, very quietly—
“No.”
Just that.
One word.
But it felt heavier than it should’ve.
Then he stepped away.
Like the conversation was over.
But I stayed standing there longer than necessary.
Because I didn’t understand why that answer didn’t feel like truth.
And I didn’t understand why I cared whether it was or not.
- Writer
