The Kings

8

♕ c h a p t e r e i g h t ♕

— crowned

a r i a h a l e

﹉﹊ ♕ ﹉﹊

I look at Elliot who sat two seats away from me, his eyes locked on to the board in front of him. Concentrating on the work the teacher had set, he seemed dedicated to learning, that's what made him unique. He actually cared about his studies, unlike the other two Kings.

His branded boss glasses sat on the bridge of his nose, once again he seemed seamless from the fight he had yesterday. Nobody realises who he really is, the way he fights in the night but returns as an average student in the daytime.

The class bell rings, students stand up and pack up their things. I remove my attention from Elliot, placing the stationary inside of my pencil case. But the moment I look up, Elliot had already left the classroom.

Sooner or later he will approach me today, after all, I came to the club only to watch him fight. He must be confused about how I know he fights since nobody other than his two friends knows, well that's what I think. Were Carter and Reuben aware that Elliot fights?

I shake the negative thoughts out of my head, my plans won't be ruined by this one slip up. Elliot probably thinks I didn't realise he is, in fact, Silver, maybe he still thinks I'm unaware of who Silver actually is and won't bother approaching me of my slip up.

As I leave the class, I notice girls pointing at a certain locker. But as I approach the locker, I frown realising that it's mine. There was a crown graffitied on the steel, so it was one of the King who had decided to mess with me. I clench my jaw only to find Reuben casually walking past me, but as he walks past he purposely collides his shoulder with mine.

I stumble back, only to find him making his way towards Carter who greeted him with a smug look. Some people had sorrowful looks on their face, I frown as they all send me guilty looks. Did the crown mean something?

I open my locker annoyed, Reuben was slowly irritating me and I didn't like it, after all, it was meant to be the other way around. He was meant to feel frustrated as I simply sat back as he slowly got destroyed by my actions.

Just as I open the locker, an envelope falls out of my locker. I furrow my eyebrows as I bend down to pick it up, there was nothing written on the envelope except for a small crown drawn on the corner.

I turn back to notice Reuben watching me, I sigh heavily before stuffing the envelope in my bag. Slamming the locker shut before walking off, the sight of Reuben smirking frustrated me.

I made my way towards Anna's locker, she looked at me with the same look every other student had given. She wraps her arms tightly around me before mumbling a few words that caused me to shiver.

"You've been crowned," she mumbles, patting my back soothingly. I froze on spot, what does it mean to be crowned? Did it have a dark meaning behind it?

"What does it mean to be crowned?" I ask, confused with her words, it made no sense.

Anna pulls away from the hug, looking at me blankly.

"When a girl gets crowned, the Kings are the only people she's allowed to talk to, she gets involved with things that nobody in Selveridge high has no idea about," she explains as I frown.

I purse my lips, this has to be some joke. "But there's one thing you should know Aria, you're the first girl to ever get crowned," she mumbles in a low tone, her eyes wandering towards the Kings who were walking past us. "And I fear for your life because they all have secrets that kill."

Just as I was about to respond to Anna, she dashes off. Leaving me alone, stranded at her locker. But somebody clears their throat, I turn around to meet Carter's deadly gaze, both Reuben and Elliot behind him who didn't bother looking at me.

"Read that letter, it's for your own good," he mumbles before speaking once again. "After all, you've been crowned and you're going to be seeing us a lot now," he smirks: walking off. Reuben scoffs as he glares at me, following after Carter.

But Elliot stays back, his cold irises meet mine.

"Don't tell anyone I fight, nobody knows I fight in this school, neither do Carter and Reuben," he says coldly, his words were enough to glue my mouth shut. "I hope you understand that, if you do, then you and I won't have any problems in the near future." The other Kings don't know about Elliot's secret but then how did Anna know about Elliot's secret?

I nod my head, Elliot walks off, leaving me alone. Nobody dares to look at me, Anna doesn't spare me a single glance, I sigh walking towards the lunch hall, nobody to talk to, not even my own cousin.

The Kings have one point, but I, but I have 0 points.

As I walk into the Lunch Hall, nobody looks at me. They all fail to meet my glance, I frown as I walk towards an empty table near the far end of the lunch hall. I groan as I pull out a sandwich from my bag, it was boring to sit alone.

I wasn't even part of the ranking system, nobody dared to sit next to me. Even rank 4 people made sure to sit as far as way from me. Why did the people in this school fear the Kings so much?

"Get up." I heard a voice boom, I look up to find Reuben standing next to me. He held my bag in his hand and he slung around his shoulder.

I place my sandwich down. "Why?" I ask dumbfounded.

Reuben sighs. "You're crowned, you'll have to sit with us, " he explains, waiting for me to stand up. "I bet you're happy you're a rank one now, people won't be able to say anything to you," he mutters, not impressed I am moving to his table.

I stand up, following after Reuben. "I rather sit alone than to sit with you and your friends," I state bitterly, he simply ignores me as he leads me towards the table where Carter and Elliot sat.

It was just the three of them in rank one, nobody else. I felt the eyes of people on my back, I notice some girls glaring at me. I sigh, I would switch places with them any day.

Carter glances at me before speaking. "You're crowned now darling, you're going to sit with us every day for lunch and be with us," he informs me, so Anna wasn't lying when she said I'll have to be with them.

I notice Reuben scoffing at Carter's nickname for me. Elliot raises his eyebrows, as he watched Carter silently. "You're going to help us with things that we need help with, and no matter how bad things get you'll have to stick by our side." he finishes, watching my every movement.

No matter how bad things get, is he trying to imply something dark? What do the Kings do that they've earned this reputation that they have to be bowed down to? It makes no sense how people treat them so well and fear them at the same time.

"Why me? Out of all the people and years you have been in this school why did you have to crown me?" I question, I was angry that they had targeted me. They're making me a prey when I'm a predator. I'm meant to be the one in control, I'm the one who needs to conduct her revenge.

Carter rests his jaw on his palm as he looked at me.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you why I chose you," he states, Reuben, rolls his eyes as he eats the finely cut up lamb pieces on his plate. Elliot eats silently, watching the whole situation unfold.

I don't know what Carter wants, nor do I know what the other two Kings want but sooner or later I'll find out. The way they're treating me seems off, it doesn't seem right at all.

Maybe I could use this to my advantage, now that I'll be more involved in their lives, I could finally destroy the kings. After all, I'll be learning a part of their lives that nobody knows about In Selveridge High.

I stand up, holding my bag. Carter looks up to meet my eyes, his smirk grows bigger. "Read the letter darling, there are rules you need to obey since you're crowned."

I scoff, they really think they can control my life? They think I'm stupid but I'm not, I could easily tell the school authority about what they do in this school, heck I can involve people of higher authorities.

But there's a con, they're rich. Their fathers are known to provide money to Selveridge high for school trips, their parents help the school run, without their parent's money Selveridge high wouldn't be as prestigious. 

﹉﹊ ♕ ﹉﹊

I was at a local cafe trying to process what was happening, most importantly I wanted to relax instead of going home. Since if I go home my mother would assign me things to do, like washing the dishes and cleaning. But I was not in the mood to do anything.

I pull out the envelope from my bag, the symbol of the crown made me feel frustrated. The hatred I felt for the Kings was growing in seconds. I tear open the envelope, making sure I didn't rip the letter inside.

The letter was handwritten, but I didn't know which King wrote it since I had no assigned seat next to them. But the writing was neat and cursive as if it belonged to an old newspaper in the 1900's.

╔═════☩══♛══☩═════╗

— ʀᴜʟᴇs —

♔ never disobey a king

♔ always attend any place a king has asked you to attend

♔ no matter how bad a situation is, stick beside a king's side

♔ if you expose any secret of a king, bad things will happen.

♔ don't fall in love with a king

╚═════☩══✦══☩═════╝

I look at the letter in confusion, is this all they wanted? They just want respect and I have to be with them at all times but why? Why does the crowned need to be with a King where he wants to be?

The words no matter how bad the situation gets makes me feel weird vibes, how illegal were the activities of the Kings that there's a rule on it?

But the last rule confuses me the most, why would I ever fall in love with a King?

﹉﹊ ♕ ﹉﹊