Page 10 of Volatile King (The Kings of Wayward Academy #6)

R en

I thought I knew terrifying, but this…I had no words. Literally, I couldn’t think of the right one. I’d never struggled. Now every other word just wouldn’t come. They were still there, but playing hide and seek with me.

On top of whatever this was called, I still couldn’t remember the night this had happened. No one would tell me a thing, which made me…me…me…sad, happy, excited…ugh…angry. It made me fucking angry.

“Ren?”

Startled from my thoughts, I looked at Theo, who was babysitting me while I walked the halls.

“I know you hate it when we keep asking you if you’re alright, but you look like you’re going to cry,” he said, and I sighed.

“Side out me,” I said and then growled.

Hearing the words, I knew they were wrong. Taking a deep breath, I tried again.

“Me side out.” I stomped my foot and closed my eyes.

Theo wrapped his arms around me as the first angry tear fell. Of all the guys, he was the one who understood me and my frustration the most. We were so much alike and had been competing head-to-head for the top spot at school. I gripped the front of his hoodie and buried my face.

“It’s going to be okay,” he said, rubbing my back.

“I know it doesn’t feel like that, but it has only been a day and a half since you woke up.

” Theo pulled back, placing his hands on my shoulders.

“You know that I will always push you hard, but even I’m telling you to give yourself a break.

” Liam said almost the same thing to me.

I sighed. “We have gone from thinking you were going to die, to hoping the surgery was successful, to watching you in a coma. This is difficult, I get it, but still the best case, and you expect perfection after all you’ve been through. ”

“Too would you,” I said, and was ready to try again, but Theo cut me off.

“Yes, you’re right. I would expect the same from myself, but who would be the first person to tell me to give myself a break?” I looked away from his eyes. “No, you don’t get to do that. Tell me.”

“Nice…No pick…me sick,” I said, and Theo laughed.

“Good to see you haven’t lost any of your sass. And for the record, I’m not picking on you. But I won’t let you get away with being hard on yourself either. Understood?”

I rolled my eyes, but smiled. Theo just laughed.

“Come on, I’ll take you outside. Do you want a jacket?”

“No.”

“Well, you still have that word down,” he teased, and laughed as I glared at him. “Come on, grumpy.” He gave me a wink, and it was good to laugh rather than cry.

We slowly walked outdoors and sat down by the flowers. I stared at their colorful petals and knew that I should know what a bunch of them together was called, but just like that, another word just poofed.

“What’s this called?”

Theo pointed to the bench where we were sitting.

“Bench,” I said, and smiled.

“Good, now say it five times in a row for me.”

I licked my lips. “Bench, bench, bench…” I stared into Theo’s eyes, but the word he wanted was gone. What did he want to know?

“Relax, just list off everything you can sit on besides my lap,” he whispered, and heat raced to my cheeks. “Don’t try to make a sentence, just name all the things you can think of.”

“Chair, bed, stool…” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to stop the frustration from taking over. We came outside, and we sat on a…

“Bench,” I said, opening my eyes.

“Good. What you need to remember is that you haven’t lost any knowledge. You can still try to kick my ass. Try being the operative word there.” Theo smirked.

“Haha,” I teased back.

“Push yourself, but don’t get so angry.”

Fiddling with the cuffs on Myles’s hoodie, I pulled my foot up onto the bench and looked down.

“Hard,” I said, and Theo nodded.

“I know. Good news is that my parents are back from their business meeting, and my mom is coming to see you today.”

I thought about the sentence I wanted to say, and practiced it twice silently. But when I opened my mouth, it was just a chaotic mess.

“Love excited me Ella see help.” I shook my head.

Theo shifted closer and touched my chin as his lips brushed mine. Tingles shot through my body.

“Mmm, I want to ravage your mouth.”

He nipped at my bottom lip, and I wiggled on the bench, bench, bench, my heart rate rising.

I moaned as he kissed me a little deeper, and my mind went completely blank. There was nothing but him.

“Now say it again. Don’t think, just say it.”

“I love Ella.”

Theo kissed me again, harder this time, his tongue teasing mine.

“Now finish the sentence,” he said against my lips.

“I’m excited…see…she can…help me.”

It wasn’t perfect, but it was the most complete sentence I’d been able to say so far.

“Well, isn’t this just so cute. By cute, I mean disgusting,” Vicky said from behind us, and I glanced over my shoulder.

If there was one person I could say had resting bitch face, it was her. I couldn’t remember a time when she looked happy.

“Vicky, how very unoriginal of you. I’m shocked we didn’t hear you approach with a roll of thunder and the ground splitting open to release your demon ass from hell,” Theo said, casually as he stood from the bench. I pressed my lips together.

Why was she even here? She hated me, so I couldn’t picture her wanting to come and see how I was doing.

“So funny,” she said, and pretended to clap as she yawned.

God help whoever she ended up marrying.

She looked Theo up and down and sneered.

“You’re trying so hard to be mysterious with those leather pants, but it doesn’t work when your whole life screams desperate to be different.”

Theo laughed and put his motorcycle boot on the bench before leaning on his knee.

“So tough when your daddy is nearby. Tell me, Vicky, does he know how you talk to people?”

She crossed her arms. “My papa loves me the way that I am.”

“I doubt that. In fact, I think we should all go inside right now and see what he has to say,” Theo said.

Oh yes…that was why. I’d forgotten that Mr. Genovese was in my room when I woke up. For the life of me, I didn’t know why he was in the hospital. The only possible explanation that I’d been able to come up with was that he’d come by to say hi to the guys.

“Thanks, but my father doesn’t have time for a little boy from a weaker family.” Her razor-sharp gaze turned to me. “So, looks like you lived…yay,” she cheered sarcastically.

Vicky tilted her head, and I hated that she was getting under my skin.

“You know this place suits you…white walls, clinical detachment, zero warmth, it matches the ice queen.” She looked at her perfectly manicured, purple nails and then fluffed her hair.

“I’ll admit that I almost felt something when I heard you were in the hospital.

Then I remembered who you are. What a bitch you are, and how I really don’t care if you live.

But you’re like a filthy cockroach and keep coming back. ”

I pressed my lips together, wanting so badly to clap back, but terrified to say anything and give her ammunition—like she needed any more.

“Fuck off, Vicky. You’re not clever, you’re not even interesting.

You’ve got all the class of a heroin-laced brawl in a parking lot…

chaotic, contagious, and tragically avoidable.

You conflate attention with affection, and validation with value.

But that’s not confidence, it’s cognitive dissonance.

You impersonate superiority to mask your chronic insecurity.

The irony is, it’s as transparent as your self-awareness is nonexistent,” Theo said.

God, I loved him. He waved his fingers at her.

“Now, be a good little cautionary tale and scurry off to look up all those big words. At least then one of us will learn something today. I’d hate for such a beautifully crafted insult to go to waste on someone so intellectually bankrupt.”

Vicky stood there with her mouth open, blinking like her brain was fried, and I was the one with the head injury. She suddenly pointed at me.

“Why the hell were you with my father?”

She was on the verge of a typical Vicky explosion, but I had no idea what she was talking about. I looked to Theo for an explanation.

He leaped over the concrete bench and marched toward Vicky. She scrambled backward on her high heels.

“Get the fuck out of here. This is your last warning,” Theo growled.

Vicky took off, her shoes clacking as she ran for the front door of the hospital. She looked over her shoulder a couple of times before smoothing out her outfit when she realized that Theo hadn’t moved to follow her.

Standing, I walked around to meet him on the pathway and linked our fingers. As soon as he looked at me, I smiled.

“Hot,” I said, and he smirked, before cupping my cheeks and kissing me gently. I had a long recovery ahead, but at least some things hadn’t changed.