Kade

The guys and I leave the school, arriving in the woods by Cherish’s house shortly after she gets home after being suspended.

“It would appear her name is still Cherish,” Andrei says from behind me, speaking for the first time since we started talking in the hallway at the school before the scene between Cherish and the Adam kid.

Xander leans against a tree, his eyes on Cherish’s house. “Is anyone else kind of shocked that the princess just broke some jackass’s nose while laughing?”

I chuckle, and Andrei’s mouth twitches a little. “She’s got her father’s temper.” I lean a shoulder against the tree beside me. “I learned a few things about her today,” I admit.

“What’d you learn?” Andrei asks.

“She’s not a morning person. Or, at least she’s not one when she’s been up the entire night before doing her homework. She procrastinates. She has her friends. She also has a sister.”

“Have you heard anything about her mom?” Xander asks.

“She says she has both a mom and a dad. I don’t know if her mom got remarried, but she didn’t say it was her step-dad. She said that he was her dad. She’s also pretty funny,” I say with a chuckle.

“We also learned that she’s apparently been taught in self-defense,” Xander points out.

“Yeah, Lucy said that her mom’s paranoid, so she had her take self-defense classes.” Something catches my eye, and I see Cherish and an older version of her walking outside to the back of the house. “Incoming,” I mutter.

With our slightly enhanced hearing and the fact that it’s practically quiet, we can hear their conversation easily.

“What’d you do to get suspended this time?” the woman, presumably her mother, asks.

Cherish looks up at the sky and tilts her head side to side as they walk. “Um, I kind of punched Adam in the face and broke his nose.”

The woman snorts out a laugh. “My darling girl, you need to get that anger of yours under control.”

Cherish shrugs. “Hitting him was keeping it under control. I didn’t beat the shit out of him at least.”

“Do you know if you can still go to prom?” she asks.

“Probably not. I’m going anyway. Mr. Peters said that I was suspended the rest of the week. He didn’t say anything about the weekend, so I’m not counting it.”

“Cherish.” Her name was said in admonishment, but there was a lot of amusement in the word. Too much for it to be taken literally.

“Mom, he was being an ass. I won’t deal with that shit from anybody, you know that.” Cherish stops walking and looks at her mom. “I’m not sorry for what I did, and I’m not sorry that I got suspended.”

Cherish’s mom pulls her in for a hug, holding her tightly. I exchange a look with Xander, who’s standing against the tree beside mine. “Honey, I’m not mad. I understand, and I have to say this,” she pauses. “I’m really glad you punched him. He wasn’t good for you. I know you thought you loved him, honey, but I don’t think that it was the kind of love that I want for you.”

Cherish pulls back from her embrace and wraps her arms around herself. “Mom,” she starts with a shaky voice, “what’s going on with you and daddy?”

I look at Andrei when her mom leads her to one of the benches surrounding a fire pit and mumble, “We shouldn’t be eavesdropping.”

Andrei scowls at me. “We need to keep watch over her without her knowledge that we’re even here. We can’t be concerned about listening to her conversations. Especially when it means we’ll learn more about her and how to approach her.”

I resist the urge to tell him that I’ve already approached her when Cherish’s mom starts speaking.

“Why would you ask about me and your father?”

Cherish brings her thumb to her mouth and it looks like she’s chewing on the pad of her thumb. I noticed her doing that in the hallways yesterday. Must be some anxiety thing, maybe. “Ella said that you guys fought again this morning. That you were fighting. About me.”

“What did Ella say that we said? I’m not denying it, I just want to know what she thinks she heard.”

“She said something about dad saying he didn’t sign up for this.” Cherish and her mom are quiet for a few minutes before she talks again. “I don’t want to be the cause of your guys’ relationship blowing apart, mom. If I need to, I’m sure Zoe or Lucy’s parents will let me stay with them until graduation in a few months.”

“No,” her mother says, voice emotional. “You’re not leaving me yet. I have so little time left with you that I don’t want to miss having you in my home.”

“Mom, I’m going to college, not the moon,” Cherish says with a laugh.

Her mom gives her a watery smile and pulls her in for a side hug while they stare into the empty fire pit.

They sit like that for a while before they both go inside.

“I can’t help but notice that her mom never actually answered her question,” Xander says the exact thing I’m thinking.

“It could be nothing,” Andrei replies. “I’ve got a few things I need to take care of. You two stay with the princess. Make sure nothing happens. If it does, call me.”

“Of course,” I mutter, my eyes still stuck on the door that Cherish and her mom went through.

Andrei leaves, and Xander looks at me.

“Her mom’s deliberately hiding the truth from her. Why though?” he asks.

I shrug. “Maybe she thinks she’ll be safer that way?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t think it’s that. I think her mom knows that something’s going to happen, and Cherish is going to be leaving, but not to go to college.”

“Why would she do that, though? Not tell her that she won’t even be leaving to go to school, instead getting her hopes up for something that will never happen because of the fact that the King wants her back at the palace where she can be put under heavy guard and taught what she needs to know about her powers.”

“I don’t have all the answers.” Xander runs a hand through his hair, clearly aggravated. “It’s just a feeling. I’m not sure.”

“This guessing game shit is for the fucking birds,” I snap, getting irritated that we don’t have the answers we need to properly guard our princess.

“Shit. You’re telling me.” Xander chuckles humorlessly.