Chapter 26 – The Evil King
Saturday
“Sweetie?” my mom said from the other side of the door. “Please open the door.”
I ignored her.
I think a few more people tried, but I couldn’t hear them over my tears.
And then I heard the sound of my trapdoor opening.
“Go away,” I said. I couldn’t talk to anyone right now.
“Scarlett?”
I lifted my head to see Jacob standing there. Which just made me cry more. “You really didn’t show up after that party because you were talking to Axel?”
Jacob nodded. “I promised him I wouldn’t say anything.” He grabbed a tissue from my nightstand and handed it to me.
I blotted at my eyes. “I thought you hated me.”
“I could never hate you.” He sat down next to me. “I was in an impossible situation. And I’m sorry that I handled it the way I did. I just didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t mean anything I said when I broke up with you.”
I shook my head. “I think maybe you did. At least a little.”
Jacob sighed. He reached out and grabbed my hand. “It would have been hard for anyone to lose a little confidence with that shit show out there.”
I laughed.
He squeezed my hand.
I looked down at our intertwined fingers.
Jacob quickly dropped my hand. “But Axel has loved every side of you.”
I nodded. “And you haven’t.”
“I do love you, Scarlett. I never stopped. But as soon as Axel told me the truth, I knew it would change everything.”
“It wouldn’t...”
“I never wanted to be second. I told you that from the beginning. I want to be someone’s first choice. And even if you said I was, I’d always wonder.”
Jacob hadn’t come in here to fight for me. He’d just come in to check on me. As a friend. For a while, I wasn’t sure we’d ever get back to that place. But it seemed like we somehow had.
“So...Olivia?” I asked. “Is that real?”
Jacob shrugged. “She asked me to the dance and I was just trying to make you get over me. So you could see what was right in front of you.”
I knew he was talking about Axel. But all I’d seen was him. I’d never meant to hurt him either. “But you do like her?”
“She’s not you.”
I took a deep breath and exhaled. “I’m so sorry, Jacob.”
He shook his head. “I should have known Axel liked you. I mean, I guess I did have some suspicions. I knew he did when we were all kids. Maybe I just wished it wasn’t true anymore, you know? Since I liked you too.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. So I just said the same thing again. “I’m so sorry, Jacob.”
He slowly stood back up. “Axel wanted to follow you, but I told him I needed to talk to you first. He’s going to be waiting for you at the dance. I know all of this is...well...a lot. But you’ve always loved him. And you loved your kiss thief too. I know you did.”
“Wait, did you know that Axel was my kiss thief?”
Jacob shook his head. “Not until that night after the party. When he confessed everything. I almost came back and picked you up. It took everything in my power to walk away, Scarlett. But we were never meant to be.”
I understood everything Jacob said. Maybe he was right. Maybe we weren’t meant to be. But...what if he was wrong? What if it was supposed to be me and him? It had been real for me. It still was. “Wait.” I stood up too. “My feelings for you haven’t changed,” I said. “I...”
“Have you seen your coding project that you and Axel are working on together?”
“What?” What did that have to do with anything?
“Have you seen it? Because Axel is always working on it when we hang out. At least, he has been now that I know the truth.”
I shook my head. Axel always finished the assignments without asking for my help.
“Open up the portal on your computer, Scarlett.”
I had no idea why Jacob wanted me to see this. I turned on my computer and pulled up the last assignment. The assignment was to work on making the characters look more real. The submission was a short video pulled from the videogame Axel had been working on alone. I hit play.
There was a character with red hair that looked a lot like me.
And a character that looked like Axel. We were standing in the middle of a dance floor.
He pulled off his crown and put it on my head.
There was no text. But there didn’t need to be.
Because this had already happened in real life.
At homecoming. When he said I was still the prettiest princess he’d ever seen.
I thought I’d been reading into it. Because he wanted that stupid vow of singledom. But he’d only wanted that because he didn’t want me to date anyone else. Since he couldn’t ask me out until my 18th birthday because my dad was a psycho.
I clicked back on another assignment. And another. I’d hardly call it a videogame. It was more of a game of memories. I clicked back to the very first assignment. The characters were much younger in this one. I watched as a stupid Ava character pulled Axel into the closet.
Not because he wanted to kiss her. But because I told him to do it. I told him it was okay, when I should have just been honest and told him it wasn’t.
I felt tears welling in my eyes again. Axel had been working on this to show me at some point. Maybe my birthday. I had no idea. I stared at the title of the videogame. Princess Scarlett: And the Quest to Find Her Prince Charming.
When Axel first got down on his knee, I thought it was some terrible prank. But he loved me. He was my Prince Charming.
Jacob cleared his throat.
I turned to look at him.
He smiled. “My feelings for you haven’t changed either. But it’s you and Axel,” he said firmly. “It always has been. And I’m not going to stand in the way like your father. I’ll see you at the dance, okay?”
I nodded. Even though I wasn’t sure if I agreed or not. Jacob was walking away. Because he wanted me to be happy. There was no better guy than that. And I was worried that I was about to make the biggest mistake of my life by letting him leave.
He leaned down and hugged me.
I let his arms envelop me as I breathed in his familiar smell.
And I think I knew Jacob was right at that moment.
Him touching me didn’t feel the same way it did when my kiss thief touched me.
The way Axel touched me. Hugging Jacob felt like...
home. Like being with the world’s best friend. Where everything was safe.
I clung to him for a moment as I tried my best to hold back my tears. I wasn’t sure love was meant to feel this safe. I think it was meant to be exciting. Maybe my mom was right. Maybe love hurt. Maybe that was what made it worth fighting for. And maybe fairytale happy endings did still exist.
Jacob released me from his hug. He walked over to the trapdoor and disappeared down the steps.
I still loved Jacob. I did. I always would. But I didn’t think I was in love with him. I turned back to the videogame and saw Axel’s homecoming crown on my desk.
My head was scrambled, trying to remember all the things I’d talked about with the kiss thief. We’d stayed up late so many nights texting.
He knew me.
And he’d loved every side of me. Just like Jacob had said Axel did.
Even when maybe I didn’t love myself all that much.
Axel loved me back.
I’d waited my whole life for that. What the heck was I doing crying in my room?
I grabbed Axel’s homecoming crown, threw open my door, and ran out into the hallway. I needed to get to the dance. When I reached the living room, the big group of people was gone. It was just Liam, my mom, and my dad sitting there.
My dad lifted his head. “Pumpkin...”
“Can I get a ride to the dance? No, scratch that. I’ll just get an Uber.” I didn’t want to be in the car with my dad right now. If I was in a fairytale and Axel was my Prince Charming, that meant my dad was the evil king trying to keep us apart. Screw him.
I pulled out my phone and couldn’t unlock it. I laughed as I grabbed my glasses from my purse. Axel had loved me even with my thick glasses. He loved me when I was just...me.
“Scarlett,” my mom said. “Put your phone away. We’re having a family meeting. I told Axel you’d meet him at the dance in a bit.”
I’d waited years for this moment. I wasn’t waiting another second. I shook my head and started walking through the living room. I needed to talk to Axel right now.
“Scarlett, wait,” my mom said. “I said we’re having a family meeting. Your father...”
I spun around. “I have nothing to say to Dad.”
My dad sighed. “Please just sit down...”
“You know, I thought we’d gotten closer over the past few weeks after Jacob broke up with me. I thought you had my back. But you were lying about everything. You don’t care about me at all.”
“Pumpkin, please let me explain.”
“Explain what, Dad? That it was your fault that I thought Axel didn’t like me for years?
You made me wear glasses, when no one else did.
I had to wear school uniform skirts down to my freaking knees.
You tried to make me into an ugly troll.
And you threatened a little boy! You’re manipulative. And controlling. And...”
“I know, okay?!”
I stared at him. Was he actually agreeing with me?
He slowly stood up. “I’ve been manipulative and controlling and unfair. But you’re my baby. I was just trying to protect you. I’m so sorry, pumpkin.”
I shook my head. “Saying sorry doesn’t undo everything you did, Dad.”
“I was kind of joking when I told Axel that stuff you saw in the video. But when he came to me a few months later and asked me if I’d reconsider, I knew he’d taken it seriously. I could have taken it back. But I...” He took a deep breath. “I didn’t. And I’m sorry for that. Truly, but...”
“There are no buts, Dad! What the hell?!”
Liam laughed. “Butts.”
I stared at him. Was he high right now? Why was Liam never in trouble?!
“But I didn’t think Axel would be a good choice for you. I think maybe there was some truth in what your mother said. Not that I’m in love with your Aunt Brooklyn. I’m not.”
“Well that’s good,” Liam said.
“But I’ve always had a soft spot for Jacob. And your Uncle Tyler is my friend. I really thought I left all that stuff in the past. But maybe it poured out a bit onto Axel.”
“You think?” my mom said.
My dad turned to my mom. “I’m sorry, Penny. You know I was just trying to keep Scarlett safe.”
My mom sighed. “I know.”
I didn’t like seeing them fight. And it seemed like they’d calmed down a bit. But I couldn’t help but ask, even if it would stir up a few more things. “Dad, did you really propose to Aunt Brooklyn? And mom did you really sleep with Uncle Tyler?”
My mom grabbed a book that was sitting next to her. She held it out to me. “I know I said you needed to wait until you were 18 to read this. But I think your father and I can both agree that maybe we shouldn’t be throwing around random age restrictions on things.”
I grabbed the copy of her first book in The Hunted series.
She hadn’t answered my questions. And that made it seem like my mom had slept with Uncle Tyler and my dad had proposed to Aunt Brooklyn.
Now I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read the book.
No, scratch that. I definitely did. I couldn’t believe Sophie had read them years ago.
When did my mom first say I couldn’t read them yet? When I was like...eleven?
“For the record,” my dad said. “I do still stand by that being legal before you get engaged thing. You are far too young for that.”
“What your father is trying to say is that we’ll support you no matter what,” my mom clarified. Even though that’s not at all what my dad had just said.
My dad slowly nodded. “Just...think hard about that, okay? And I didn’t make you keep wearing glasses and not letting you alter your skirts to turn you into an ugly troll. I just didn’t think you needed to change anything because you’re perfect exactly the way you are.”
I felt tears welling in the corners of my eyes again. Yes, my dad had behaved terribly. But this wasn’t all on him. He wasn’t the villain in my story.
I should have told Axel at that party in sixth grade that I didn’t want him to give his first kiss to someone else. And I should have made the first move ever since then. I’d just been too scared of rejection. If I’d known he felt even half as much for me as I felt for him, I would have.
“I think Axel agrees with you being perfect the way you are,” Liam said. “For some reason. You looked really silly in those long school skirts, Scar.”
I laughed. “I need to get to the dance.”
“One second,” my dad said. “What was all this about a kiss thief?”
Liam and I glanced at each other.
I cleared my throat. “I told Axel I was going to give someone else my first kiss instead of him. And then someone pulled me into a dark closet and kissed me before I got a chance to choose who to kiss. I didn’t know it was Axel at the time.
So I just called the guy my kiss thief. But...
it was him. I only just found out tonight.
” I didn’t think my dad needed to hear about all the other bases Axel had stolen.
Or the saucy pictures I’d texted him. Yeah, my dad didn’t need to hear about any of that.
My dad shook his head. “That little scoundrel went behind my back anyway?” He looked a little pleased about it actually.
“Why are you smiling?” my mom asked him.
“I wanted someone that would fight for Scarlett. And if there’s one thing I know about that kid, he’s put up one hell of a fight. Which I guess maybe I should have realized when he kept asking for your hand for the last several years. Stevenses are annoyingly persistent.”
I was still having a hard time processing all this. Axel loved me. He’d loved me this whole time. “Can I please go talk to him now?” I asked. I set down the book. I was definitely going to read that later.
My mom nodded. She stood up and pulled me into a hug.
“And I’m sorry about what I said,” she whispered.
“You’re not broken. Not even close. You’ve always known what you wanted.
You’ve always had such a clear vision of your future.
And just like Axel, you were willing to fight for it. I’m so proud of you, sweetie.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“Now let’s get you to the dance.”
“Let’s do it!” Liam yelled. And then he looked around like he wasn’t sure if he’d just said that out loud.
I laughed. He was definitely high. I’d always thought it was unfair that my parents weren’t harder on him. But I was glad they weren’t. Because it would have been pretty terrible if they’d tried to ruin both our lives. Hopefully this stopped with me.
Liam stood up. He bumped his shoulder against mine. “For the record, I like Axel more than Leo. I’m glad he’s your kiss thief.”
“Me too.” Axel loved me. And it was finally time to tell him how I really felt about him.