Twisted-Games

phone.
I’d deal with my inappropriate flutters later. It was my last time on
campus with my friends as a student, sort of, and I wanted to enjoy it.
“You stepped on my foot,” Jules snapped at Josh.
“Your foot got in my way,” Josh snapped back.
“Like I would intentionally put any part of my body in your way—”
“I need to Lysol myself to get your—”
“Stop it!” Stella slashed her hand through the air, startling everyone with
her sharp tone. She was usually the most Zen in our group. “Or I’ll post the
candid and very unflattering photos I have of the both of you online.”
Josh and Jules gasped. “You wouldn’t,” they said at the same time before
glaring at each other.
I stifled a laugh while Ava, who usually played reluctant mediator
between her friend and brother, cracked a smile.
Eventually, we wrangled everyone into a respectable group shot, then
another, and another, until we took enough pictures to fill a half dozen
albums and it was time to say goodbye.
I hugged my friends and tried to swallow the messy ball of emotion in my
throat. “I’ll miss you guys.”
Jules and Stella were staying in D.C. to attend law school and work as an
assistant at D.C. Style magazine, respectively, but Ava was heading to
London for a year-long photography fellowship, and I was moving to New
York.
I’d convinced the palace to let me stay in the U.S. as Eldorra’s royal
ambassador. If an event required a royal Eldorran presence, I was the person
for the job. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to stay in D.C., most of the
events took place in New York, so there I would go.
I hugged Ava the hardest and longest. Between her family drama and
breakup with Alex, she’d gone through hell the past few months, and she
needed extra love.
“You’ll adore London,” I said. “It’ll be a fresh start, and you have the
little black book of must-visit spots I gave you.”
Ava flashed a small smile. “I’m sure I will. Thanks.” She glanced around,
and I wondered if she was looking for Alex. No matter what she said, she
wasn’t over him, and she probably wouldn’t be for a while.
I didn’t spot him in the crowd, but I wasn’t surprised. For a supposed
genius, he could be quite the idiot. He’d said and done some hurtful things,