Rules of a Fairytale

The hallways were already peppered with posters for Winter Court by the time I got to school. There weren’t any for Brooke though, which was surprising because Tate had spent half of yesterday at her house to help her. Campaigning students ambushed the most influential voters and I doubted I could take a whole week of this. Even the cafeteria was a mad house as the popular kids tried to secure support.

“Isn’t there a rule against this kind of thing?” I grumbled to Leon as I dropped my lunch bag to our table.

“You’d think. So your mom’s home?” He nodded to the lunch I’d just unpacked. It was pretty basic: a turkey sandwich, apple slices, a bag of chips, but the real proof was the fresh chocolate fudge brownie with icing on top.

“Yeah. Tate and I met up with them to see my grandpa. We all just got back the day before yesterday.”

“So you spent Christmas in Europe? That’s cool; I mean other than the fact your grandfather was sick. How’s he doing?”

My best friend had been fed the standard story that my parents had emigrated from Austria and we still had family there. Only Brooke knew that my mom and dad hadn’t spent November taking care of him after a heart attack, which had been the lie we told. “He’s doing much better.” It wasn’t the full truth, but at least it wasn’t a lie.

A pair of bagged lunches plopped down into the table. That in itself would have been weird enough considering Leon and I had had our own table going on two years, but it was even stranger to realize who’d decided to join us. “What do you want?” Leon snapped.

“Whoa there. Can’t we join my sister for lunch?” Tate pulled out his own turkey sandwich and put an arm around Brooke’s shoulders.

“Considering how the two of you treat Tasha, no.”

I put a placating hand on Leon’s arm. “It’s okay. This is a surprise.” I’d half expected that things would go back to normal from the end of last semester. Although it was nice to see my brother happy with his mate.

“Oh my god, Brooke,” her best friend Kathryn squeaked. “Ditch these losers before anyone sees you. Do you want to lose Winter Queen votes?”

Brooke’s blonde eyebrows pinched together on her forehead. Kathryn was annoying and mean, not much different than Brooke had been. She stood in a short pink skirt and white blouse with a hand on her hip, waiting impatiently for the other girl. Kathryn tapped her heeled boot with her hazel eyes narrowed.

“I’m actually not running this year,” Brooke said as way of an explanation. “A true queen isn’t the mean girl that only cares about popularity and looks. She’s kind, even to people that don’t deserve it, and she makes sacrifices for her people. I don’t deserve it.”

Kathryn tugged on one spiraling blonde curl and blinked. “Brooke, what is wrong with you? Why are you acting so weird? I know that you don’t really want to have anything to do with these people.” She sneered at me. “Who would want to hang out with a nobody like you? You’re just a plain little girl that lives in the shadow of your betters. A lame computer geek.”

I rolled my eyes and stood up. “Kathryn, I’ve had enough of this. If you don’t like me, that’s fine, but I’m not going to be a victim of your bullying. I’m happy with who I am and the life I have. And sorry to tell you, but you’re really not that scary.”

She shot me a withering look before glancing at her best friend, waiting for an ally. Brooke just took a bite of her yogurt. Finally, Kathryn huffed and stormed away. Leon looked between me and Brooke with his eyebrows practically fusing into his hairline. “Am I missing something?”

I draped an arm around him. “Let’s just say I had an exciting Christmas and I’m finally learning to stand up for myself.”

He kissed my cheek. “Good for you. I knew you had it in you.”

“Yeah, my sister’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” Tate laughed.

I wrinkled my nose at him just as the cafeteria started buzzing. Girls practically swooned as everyone craned their necks to get a better look at the entrance. I’d heard that we got a new student, but I hadn’t paid any attention to the rumors until now.

“Kathryn is going to regret making you mad today,” Brooke said absently, tossing her empty yogurt cup and spoon in her paper bag.

“Why is that?”

She smirked and looked at me instead of the craziness happening by the door. “Because the hot new guy everyone’s talking about is coming over here. I got in touch with a mutual friend of ours and pulled some strings. He really wanted to come see you.”

I opened my mouth to ask what she was talking about but was interrupted before I could get the words out. “Do you mind if I join you?”

I froze. That accent could draw everyone in, especially the girls, but the owner of that voice wasn’t supposed to be in my school. I turned slowly until my eyes met Ryder’s bright blue ones. He had a small smirk on his lips as he waited for my answer.

“Wh- how?” I stuttered.

Brooke laughed. She was latched onto my brother’s arm with a big grin showing off her pearly whites. “Your cousin Steven got me in touch with him before we left. Ryder’s going to be staying with my family for the semester. He wanted to try the whole exchange student thing.”

“Yeah, and I’m totally fine with it,” Tate grumbled. Brooke kissed him and he smiled.

“Okay, what is going on?” Leon asked.

Ryder looked over at my best friend and narrowed his eyes. I followed his gaze to Leon’s arm still around my shoulder. I cleared my throat awkwardly. I could handle giants and witches and take out evil fairies, but dealing with boys was out of my comfort zone. “Leon, this is Ryder. His family is friends with my mom’s family. He hung out with us while we were visiting my grandpa. Ryder, this is my best friend Leon.”

They shook hands and lunch resumed, but it was tense. I could hear the gossip all around the cafeteria. Girls gawked over the prince and everyone wondered how Leon and I were suddenly so popular. I didn’t let the whispers get to me. By the time lunch ended, everything had settled back down, at our table at least. Leon rose as the bell rang and quickly gathered up his bag. He had photography on the other side of the building so he stuck out his fist and I bumped it twice as he ran off, which was our thing. My next class, English, was much closer so I took my time in gathering up my backpack. Tate and Brooke said their goodbyes and walked off hand-in-hand, leaving me alone with Ryder.

“What class are you headed to?” I asked.

He pulled a piece of paper out of the front pocket of his jeans. I’d been used to him wearing tunics and leather trousers, but he really pulled off the modern look. The black Dolphins T-shirt made his hair look more gold than ever and I could see why every other girl in school was swooning over him. “Statistics,” he replied.

I blinked, confused for just a second as to what he was talking about. Oh, right, I’d asked him a question. My face burned with embarrassment from getting so distracted by just what he was wearing. I dropped my gaze. “That’s in the same direction that I’m going in. I can show you, if you want?” I hated that it came out so uncertain.

“Tasha, did Brooke tell you why I’m here? Why are you acting nervous? I want to spend time with you. I just didn’t realize that there was a line of men I’d have to get through.”

My eyebrows knit together, causing wrinkles to ripple along my forehead. Nothing he just said made sense. We were friends back in the kingdoms, sure, but why would you come all the way here just to see me? And what line of men?”

Ryder quickly grabbed my hand and pulled me to the drinking fountain. He trapped me between his body and the wall and his blue eyes darkened as he stared down at me. The sea of students passed us by.

“When I left you back in Sumpter, I was going crazy with worry. I didn’t know that I could care so much for someone until I thought about what could happen to you if The Empress attacked. When Brooke told me about the giants, I lost it. You could have died and I realized that I didn’t want to lose you. She knew how I felt before I did and came up with this. I thought that I’d have a chance since Bo was still back in the other realm, but then I get here and you’re already taken.”

“When Bo camped with us, you seemed to hate his guts. I thought it was just because he’s a wolf and you’re Red’s grandson. But you were okay with the others at the den. You only flipped out whenever Bo and I were close. Were you…?” I trailed off. My question sounded so stupid. I felt my cheeks grow hot and quickly looked away to hide it.

Ryder wasn’t having it. His fingers tilted my jaw so I was forced to look at him. “Jealous? Definitely. I didn’t think so at first, but I didn’t like how close you two were. But what could I do about it? He’s a wolf and he’s better for you than I am.”

My heart galloped in my chest. I looked up at him through my eyelashes, not sure what to say. I hated this guy when we first met, but things had changed. It wasn’t like Tate and Brooke. I didn’t know if he was supposed to be my mate, but I did know that I wanted to find out if he could be. Without thinking, because I would have stopped myself, I pushed onto my tiptoes and pressed my mouth to his. He didn’t hesitate for a second. Ryder’s hands circled my waist, his fingertips tickling my sides through my pink blouse, and mine fisted into the cotton of his shirt. He kissed me back with as much fire as I kissed him.

Ryder had a big, silly grin on his face when he pulled back for air. “I’m glad I was awake for that this time.”

“Huh?” I was too dazed to make sense of anything. He shot me a look. “When you left the inn. I went to sleep as a frog and woke up human. If Tate’s kiss broke Brooke’s curse, I could figure out that yours broke mine.”

I blushed again. “I admit to nothing.” He laughed and I sagged against him. “That’s fine, because I plan on kissing you again and again.”

And he did. My head went fuzzy and I couldn’t breathe, but I didn’t want to stop. It was crazy that a wolf would be with someone from Red Riding Hood’s kingdom, a prince no less, but it felt right. At that moment, I was happy. Whatever came next, in Miami or back in the kingdoms, somehow, I knew we’d face it together.