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“That was amazing,” I praised Callie dramatically after she finished the last scene. “Bravo!”

She laughed and took some gigantic gulps of water. “That was a lot of talking.”

I laughed and that woke up Ashton. He groaned and sat up as the final bell rang.

“I fell asleep?” he asked. I didn’t know why, but his tired voice sounded so nice..

“You were as snug as a bug in a rug,” I joked.

Callie jumped up. “I'm starting rehearsals for the school play today,” she said excitedly. “I should go. Bye babe,” she said, blowing me a kiss. “Bye Ashton,” she waved as she went off in the direction of the classrooms.

Ashton turned to me with a small yawn.

“Are you getting enough sleep?”

He just nodded. I glared at him, letting him know that I wasn’t convinced.

“Let’s go,” he said, standing up. “Kristof’s soulmate is on her way to his house.”

I got up lazily and he laughed. We were walking along the stone paths when realization suddenly dawned on me. My heart crashed down to the ground and I stopped mid-walk. Ashton looked at me confused. I instinctively reached up to my neck, but it was empty.

“My necklace…” I gasped as my mind flashed back to the cafeteria where Nicole had taken it.

I didn’t get a chance to take it back and with everything that happened after that, it had slipped my mind.

He realized what I was missing and glared at me. “That’s strike two.”

“Nicole has it,” I groaned. “I need to find her.”

She probably had cheerleading practice now, which meant she was either in the gym or on the field.

I decided to check the field first, since it was the closest to the parking lot and I wanted to put my bag in Ashton’s car. Luckily, they were there.

Nicole was closer to us than I thought, because as Ashton put my bag in his car, she stormed into the parking lot. When she saw me with Ashton her face immediately became angrier than it was before. My anger quickly rose too, when I saw my necklace around her neck. Ashton growled lowly beside me.

“I’m going to need that back.” I glared at her with my palms outstretched.

She ignored me and came closer so that she was standing directly in front of Ashton.

“So you really are dating her?” she asked venomously.

“That’s none of your business,” he stated nonchalantly. “That necklace doesn’t suit you. Take it off.”

She scoffed and glared in my direction. If looks could kill, I would have died and been buried by now.

“Did she place some kind of spell on you?” Nicole spat. “Or are you into nerds now?”

“If anyone’s placing spells, then it would be you.” I spat back.

I didn’t want to start an argument, but she had already done that. Besides, I couldn’t resist saying it back after she’d called Callie a witch at lunch.

“You think you’re so smart,” Nicole retorted.

“My achievements also say that."

I never bragged, but it was like Nicole just knew how to rile me up. I just couldn’t resist talking back to her now, especially since I never did before. Looking back, she always had the last word. That was going to change, and today was the day.

“Nicole, we’re over,” Ashton said slowly, letting it sink in. “Why can’t you just get over it?”

“Because that’s not the way it’s supposed to work, Ashton!” she yelled. “We’re goals. Why would that change?”

He crossed his arms. “Why do you even like me?”

“Because you’re handsome, you’re popular, you’re amazing in bed and you’re rich,” she said, listing them off on her fingers. “Should I continue?”

I cleared my throat awkwardly. I didn’t need to know some of those things.

“If that’s your reason, then you can definitely find someone else,” he spat.

Nicole huffed and pointed at me in anger. “Even if you’re breaking up with me… why her? Am I supposed to be happy that you’re downgrading?”

Ashton let out an uneven breath. I could feel his temper rising with each second.

“It’s only a downgrade if you were better.”

She scoffed and laughed almost a little hysterically.

“You think she’s better than me?” she asked, giving me a freezing once-over.

“She’s more wholesome,” he shrugged.

“You’re sleeping with him aren’t you?” she yelled at me.

“Nicole, that’s enough!” Ashton shouted. “Look, I’m not trying to hurt your feelings but you’re going to have to get over this.”

Nicole stood sputtering. A large crowd had gathered in the parking lot now. I was recoiling a bit. I just wanted to get my necklace back and leave.

“Fine,” Nicole hissed. “But I’m the one breaking up with you.”

Ashton rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say.”

He stretched out his hand and she huffed before popping the necklace off her neck and throwing it into his palm.

“I’m going to f*ck all your friends,” she laughed hysterically.

“Have fun with that,” Ashton said as he examined the necklace.

“Starting with your best friend Kevin,” she declared smugly.

“Good luck with that,” Kevin said, making his way through the crowd. “We should leave. Kris is driving me crazy,” he groaned.

I didn’t know if Nicole was being serious when she said she would sleep with Ashton’s friends, but knowing her she probably meant it. I turned to her and spoke in a low tone. I didn’t need to make this a public broadcast.

“You shouldn’t do that just because you and Ashton broke up,” I informed her. “I’m sure you must have at least one good quality. I hope you’ll find the right guy someday and be happy.”

I didn’t like Nicole, but I was being completely honest when I told her that.

“Gosh, you’re annoying,” she scoffed. “You are literally the last person I want to hear that from.”

I shrugged and she glared at Ashton before slapping him squarely across the face. Ashton still stood there looking nonchalant. He sighed and transferred his gaze to her. “Are you satisfied now?”

Nicole gritted her teeth. “You’re such a f*cking player.”

She gave me a hard, unforgiving glare before storming off, pushing people out of her way. The crowd looked on with loud murmurs as Ashton opened his car door for me. I sighed and got in the passenger seat. Kevin got into his car and sped off after me and Ashton.

The standoff with Nicole had given me somewhat of an adrenaline rush, but now it was wearing off and I felt tired. Empowered… but still tired. I leaned my head back onto the seat and groaned into my hands.

Ashton glanced over at me. “Am I going too fast?”

I stared at him in disbelief. Wasn’t he bothered by any of this?

“No, Ashton it’s not your driving. It’s just everything that happened today,” I groaned again.

“Hey, don’t let it get to you that much,” he laughed.

“The whole school thinks we’re dating,” I pointed out.

“So? Let them.”

“Ashton!” I yelled smacking his arm.

“Why is everybody hitting me today?” he laughed.

“You think this is something to laugh about?” I grumbled. “And you could have blocked her slap, your reflexes are fast enough,” I muttered, remembering how he’d caught the water balloon.

He shook his head. “No, I let her hit me to get rid of some of her anger. Besides, as much as she was using me, I was doing the same thing.”

“That’s not good,” I told him.

“I know, but I’m done with that now.”

“Because you’re becoming the king.”

“And I have a soulmate,” he added.

I cleared my throat.

“What if I was an Omega?”

“What?”

“I mean… your dad seems to accept a regular human from the Common Realm, but he doesn’t like Omegas.”

Ashton mulled this over. “If you were an Omega, he would probably give me two choices.”

“What are those?” I asked curiously.

“Reject my position as the next king, give it to Brooke and have an arranged marriage or reject my soulmate and have an arranged marriage.”

“So either way, he wouldn’t allow you to be with an Omega, huh? Arranged marriages are a thing with royalty?” I asked in confusion. “But you have soulmates.”

“Yes, they’re a thing. Higher ranks usually do it the most if they’re not happy with the rank of their soulmates. It happened with one of the Gamma in our kingdom recently. Her family refused to let her accept her soulmate because he was a Tau, five levels away from the bottom. They contacted a neighboring kingdom and there was a Beta who was in the same position as her. So the parents arranged a marriage.”

“That’s horrible. I wouldn't want to go along with something like that. I mean, for you guys soulmates are important. Can they be happy being with someone else?”

“She lives in his country now,” Ashton shrugged. “She didn’t want to stay with her family after what they did.”

“That’s crazy.”

“It is what it is,” he sighed.

The Royal Realm came into view.

“When do you think Kristof will accept his soulmate?” I wondered out loud.

“Probably today.”

“But they just met a few days ago,” I protested

He stared at me.

“Isn’t it too soon?” I questioned. Was I the only one who thought it was weird?

“It isn’t too soon,” he answered. “They’re soulmates and they actually want to be together. Why does it matter how soon they accept each other? I’m sure they would have done it over the phone already if they could.”

“Do they have to do it in person or something?”

“Yeah. You have to accept or reject your soulmate in person.”

I remembered the night by the beach when Ashton had done that. It happened only a few weeks back, but it already felt like such a long time ago.

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