Chapter Nine

McKenna

"You didn't kill the prince!"

I spun around and came face-to-face with Trinity, a girl I probably hadn't spoken to since ninth grade gym class. She lightly pushed my shoulder and chuckled. "You totally had me going the other day with that. Very funny." "Please don't touch me."

"Oh, right. I forgot. You don't like that." She chuckled.

"You're so quirky."

I was quirky? Says the girl who, when she was seven, wouldn't eat yellow Skittles because she thought they were bits of the sun and didn't want it to disappear. She'd gotten so pissed at the other girls at Stephanie Wallace's birthday slumber party in first grade when they'd laughed at her for it, too.

Now, she was five foot seven; had stunning, braided black hair that coiled past her shoulder to the middle of her back; and had glowing, deep brown skin that would lead anyone to believe she didn't eat anything bad for her, least of all yellow Skittles.

I stood there beside my locker, totally stunned that she was standing in front of me. Is Trinity seriously talking to me because of KOS? Yesterday, a few classmates had cornered me, but today, a friend of Queen Bee Gretchen was talking to me? What was happening? Did we slip into some kind of alternate universe?

"You know if you ever need any help coming up with ideas, we could always, like, hang and talk, you know?" Trinity offered. She flipped her braids over her shoulder.

"Riiight," I said slowly.

"Okay, well, have a good day." Trinity smiled and walked away, easing into the flow of students down the hallway streaming in from the school entrance.

Ernie rushed over to my locker. "What the hell was that? Did she say anything about me?"

"No, she didn't bring you up in the midst of yet another KOS conversation I had to have on Jace's behalf. Where were you? I totally needed backup." A group of sophomores whispered as they walked by us. A few even giggled.

"My sisters stole all the hot water this morning, so I had to drive to the gym to take a shower." His curls were still damp. "Why my parents thought buying a house with two bathrooms and an old-school water heater for six kids, five of whom are girls, was a good idea, I'll never know."

You should have texted me and used the shower at my house, I wanted to say. But I couldn't.

Mom had been in rare form last night. She'd fallen asleep a few hours ago, but I couldn't risk the chance that Ernie might wake her. There was no telling how she'd react. 

She'd started texting me when I was in the parking lot last night, waiting for Jace to come help get my car started. She was telling me that she needed me to pick up bleach and a mop on my way home from work. I should have known I'd walk into a disaster once I got home.

But somehow, even I had been surprised. The entire house had been torn apart. Every drawer was open, the contents strewn everywhere. Tables, floors, windowsills. Everything was covered. She told me she wanted to reorganize everything, but then she'd gotten tired, so I was the one who stayed up until three in the morning putting just the kitchen back together.

She promised to fix it in the morning, but I knew that wouldn't happen.

I'd tackle the family room and bathroom once I got home from work.

"McKenna! McKenna! Your update this morning was sooooo good," Carlin Summers squealed as she peeled out of the stream of students and made a beeline for me.

What update? I shot Ernie a desperate look.

He straightened and held out his arm in front of me. "The author is not taking interviews at the moment."

Carlin's lower lip pouted. "Oh, okay."

My shoulders drooped with guilt for brushing Carlin off. "Hey, Carlin."

Her face immediately lit up as bright as her almost- white blond hair.

"It was a long night, writing and all. I'm kind of tired. If you want to sit with us at lunch tomorrow, you totally can."

Her smile was so big, it revealed braces on both her top and bottom teeth. Had she always had those? I'd never noticed. I sure was learning a lot about my classmates I never thought I would. "Okay, see you later, McKenna!"

Ernie gave me a quick smile. "Want me to walk you to class? Obviously, I'm a pretty intimidating bodyguard."

The corners of my lips quirked. "Obviously."

Ernie grinned and fell in step beside me.

We turned a corner and headed toward my U.S. history class. As we walked, students stopped talking and looked in our direction. Some went back to their conversations, but others stood there silently and gawked.

I looked a second too long and almost ran into the back of Hope Chambers, a quiet senior who was ridiculously smart. She was talking to her friends, Alice and Eve—at least, I think those were their names. Luckily, Ernie grabbed my elbow and gave me a quick yank before I crashed into her.

"Thanks, Ernie."

"No worries. But, McKenna, seriously, can we talk about this KOS thing? It's really getting big." Ernie kept his voice low.

"I know." I shook my head. "Jace even showed up at The Hot Dog Shack last night."

His jaw fell. "For real?"

"He needed to pick up his notebook and he was still all bent out of shape because of what I said yesterday at lunch. About one of his main characters dying."

"Well..." Ernie started.

"What?"
We passed by a block of lockers. A group of sophomores fell silent. One of them even pointed at me. He looked as if he was going to approach us, but I glared at him and shook my head.

That stopped him cold.

"You can't do that, Mac." Ernie slowed down as we approached the open door of the U.S. history classroom. "That's his creation. You should take it more seriously."

I chewed on my lower lip. He had a point.

He came to a stop. "Imagine if he changed the lines to your favorite play or totally rewrote the ending."

Of course Ernie had to bring up acting. He was literally the only person on planet Earth who knew that I loved acting.

Unfortunately, acting classes required regular attendance. And, due to my mom's instability, I could never commit to anything like the school play or weekly classes at the community center because things with her changed day to day...sometimes hourly.

"Damn it," I muttered. "You're totally right, E." Ernie arched an eyebrow. "Of course I am." "Ugh, I should probably apologize to him."

The first warning bell of the day rang.

"Yes, and you should read Kingdom of Swords."

I shook my head. "No way. I can barely stay on top of my schoolwork and all of my shifts at The Hot Dog Shack. I don't have time for Jace's story."

"The first two chapters are really good." Ernie whistled. "Like, really good."

I tripped over my combat boots and nearly took out my friend. "You read it?"

He nodded. "I would have read more, too, but I had to get ready for the physics quiz today."

Damn, that was today?

"Ooh," I said. "Ooh! I have an idea!"
Ernie tilted his head to the side. "Yes?"
"You can be my CliffsNotes," I proclaimed.
"What do you mean?"
"If you actually like KOS, why don't you read it and fill me in on everything I need to know?"

"I'm totally in!" He smiled.
Ernie loved reading. He even had his own website where he wrote reviews for every single thing he'd ever read. The guy was a legit book blogger; I think that was what he called it?

"You're a lifesaver." I glanced over Ernie's shoulders. A small crowd of freshmen were standing about fifteen feet away, near the lockers, but none of them were actually using a locker.

Crap, they were staring at us. "I better head into class. We've got company."

Ernie gave me a nod. "Want to leave for lunch? We can hit the park three blocks away. I'll fill you in on the first two chapters."

"You're the best, E. You know that, right?"

He bowed and pretended to hold a hat in his left hand, which he circled dramatically. "Anything for the author of the most popular story in the universe." 

***********

Heyyyyyy!

Hope everyone is doing well! Things have been really busy in my world the past few months and I've fallen behind on updating! Eek! I'll keep this story up a bit longer than planned to make up for the delayed posting schedule. 

Let me know what you think of chapter nine in a comment! 

Have swordrific day! ;) 

xoxo, 

Kelly Anne and Lynn Rush