35

West carried Grey to his bed and tucked her under the covers and spooned her. He kissed the top of her head and stroked her hair. When she blinked herself awake there was so much he needed to tell her. West stroked her cheek and kissed her forehead. She leaned into his touch and her worries eased away.

“I love you… you know that right?”

Her eyes turned to small saucers. She elevated herself a bit so she could be in his full view.

“West… I love you too.”

“I don’t want to lose you either.”

“Neither do I.” Her heart slammed against her ribcage. He loved her. Even without knowing who she really was.

“West I… I have something to tell you.”

He wrapped her in his arms and kissed her lips passionately. As if she was the very thing that he needed to live. His phone rang breaking their kiss.

“Fuck.” He pulled out his phone from his back pocket.

Grey’s heart hammered in her ribcage. This was her only opportunity.

“Shit. It’s my dad. I have to take this babe.”

“But we need to talk West.” Her voice cracked.

His brows dipped. He touched her cheek. “You feeling okay.’

Better than she felt before she slept. “I’m fine. This is just important.”

He picked up the call. “Give me a second.”

He marched into the living room. Grey got up and paced the length of the room.

“I think I’m going to be sick. How am I going to tell him? Maybe he won’t be pissed and I’m just anxious for nothing.”

A part of her didn’t believe her reasoning. She knew he would be upset. He told her from the start he didn’t like secrets. She ran fingers through her curly mess on her head. West came back into the room and she nearly jumped out of her skin. The expression on his face was grave.

“Everything… okay?”

He groaned, tugging her close to his chest. “Dad needs me right now. We’ll talk when I get back.”

“West this…”

He cupped her cheeks and kissed her lips. “This won’t take the whole day. I promise.”

With shaky hands she nodded. West noticed and kissed her forehead. “We’ll talk later. I have to go.”

After West was gone. Grey found herself running to the bathroom again and puked her guts out. Now she was anxious and sick. She took a took a hot shower and got dressed in a pink track suit. She picked up her phone and found a dozen missed calls. Some from Sky which make her heart rate spike. Had something happen to West and a dozen more from Ela. Her phone lit up next with a call from her friend.

“What’s going on why is everyone calling me?” Grey asked frantically.

“Grey do not come to school whatever you do.” Ela said in a hushed tone.

She swallowed. Shit. “Why?”

“Everyone knows! Please don’t come here.”

If they knew West was bound to know as well.

“How did they find out?”

“I—” The line went dead before Ela could respond.

Grey grabbed her stuff. She had to find out what was going on. She felt lightheaded when she stood, but she pressed on. She couldn’t take one of West’s cars. She doubted she would manage to drive anyway. She took the bus. It felt like the longest ride of her life. Mia knew she was a fraud. Her hatred for her must have skyrocketed. And Sky? Why did he call? For the same reason? She wanted to call him back, but she couldn’t bear to hear his voice. He must be pissed at her too.

When she got to the castle she tried calling Ela, but there was no answer. Then a text came.

‘Come to the back. The wood clearing.’

Grey hurried there. When she got there she stopped short of walking through the trees. Standing in front of a group of less than twenty students was a familiar blonde with blue big eyes.

“Mia?” Grey asked.

“Isn’t is the imposter?” She smirked.

“Ugh! Let her explain. It could all be a lie!” Ela struggled from the back of the crowd.

She was being manhandled by two freshmen. Grey took a step forward to help her friend, but was met with Mia’s happy face.

“You had us fooled.” Grey caught sight of Ela’s phone tucked between Mia’s hand and arm.

“What do you want? Everyone already knows.” Grey asked.

“Payback.” Mia spat.

She stepped out of the way to let the first egg fly. The soft shell collided with her head. Grey gasped. The stench of raw eggs attacked her nostrils.

“This is so immature Mia! You honestly got a bunch of no good freshmen to do your dirty work. Pathetic.”

“Shut up Ela. I can’t believe you’re defending her.” Mia rolled her eyes.

Grey brushed the residue off her head. She might have deserved that, but she didn’t like it.

Another egg flying. It hit her shirt then something harder hit her face. She looked down as she eggs kept on hitting her. A rotten tomato lay smudged on the ground. Mia smirked. If this made her feel better Grey was going to brave it out. The laughter made her eyes sting and her throat with the need to sob. This was just a pinch compared to how she would feel when West was in front of her and her secret lay scattered at their feet.

Ela stomped on the freshman’s foot. He yelped. She brushed Mia aside and stood in front of Grey, shoving her backward.

“I swear if one of you stupid freshmen get as much as dirt from your grimy hands on my outfit. The entire freshmen body will be shipped out of Prime University. Do any of you know who my father is?”

The freshmen stared at each other. One by one they dropped their ammunition.

“Thought so.” Ela smirked and turned to her friend. “Why didn’t you run?!”

“I deserve this Ela.”

“You’re damn right you do. First you lie then you kiss my boyfriend! Did you come here to ruin me? And you you’re such a bitch—” Mia barked, but was cut short when Ela marched up to her.

“You deserve to be ruined. You’re the one who tried to get into bed with your friend’s boyfriend when she was grieving.” Ela blasted.

Mia stepped back, but her face turned bright red.

“When you couldn’t crack West. You had to settle on the next best Kiszinger. I’d love to hear just how hard that was. You’ve always been a crappy friend.”

“I’m not a hypocrite! You better believe West won’t want anything to do with you after this.”

“At least she didn’t toss her friend’s dead baby in the river! Come on Grey.”

Gasps came from the freshmen and Grey. Ela snatched Grey’s arm and dragged her away from the drama. Mia yelled and threw a fit, but the girls only walked faster. She was the freshmen’s problem now.

“You just blew your secret.” Grey said.

“Well, it’s too late to do anything about it now.” Ela breathed a heavy sigh.

“Ela I have to go to him. I have to explain. I was about to do it…” her barriers were coming down and the tears were seeping through.

“Hey, it’s okay.”

They were in the parking lot and the few people who were wandering around had their eyes on them.

“You can’t see him like this! You stink. No offense.”

A car door slammed and Sky came rushing toward them. Grey braced herself for another verbal bashing. Though Sky backed up when he got close his face recoiling.

“Damn, what happened to you?” He asked.

“Long story. Can we just leave?” Grey muttered, she couldn’t look him in the eye.

“Hey, look at me. I’m not mad at you. I don’t care you don’t have the same bank balance as me.”

Grey looked up and barely believed his words, but his eyes were true.

“I don’t care either Grey as a matter of fact.” Ela said.

That’s when the tear rippled down her cheek. “He hates me, doesn’t he?”

Sky shook his head, but his face wasn’t any good at telling lies. “He doesn’t hate you. He’s just pissed. We were together when we got the texts and pictures. You need to speak to him. He feels betrayed.”

“I didn’t mean to hurt him.” She wished she could turn back the clock but she was fresh out of second chances.

“You should… take a shower then go speak to him.” Sky wrinkled his nose and took another small step back.