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She blinks at me. “Back up the bus here, sister. Are you guys friends or something now? Last I heard you hated the guy.”
I shrug, willing the blush that wants to climb my cheeks and announce my feelings to the world to disappear.
Although I usually tell Chloe everything, I haven’t shared certain details about Alex’s and my relationship. Details like how I've developed feelings for him, and I think he has for me, too. Knowing that Chloe has had a crush on Alexander made it all feel a little awkward. And then there's the fact that I was so vehement in my dislike of him at the start.
So, for better or for worse, I've got a lot to bring Chloe up to speed on.
“Things change,” I say simply, turning away so she won’t see the color in my cheeks. “I’ll fill you in later, ‘kay?”
“Madeline Josephine Turner. Do you have something to tell me? Because if you do, I need all the sordid details,” she instructs.
“There’s nothing sordid about it. It’s”—I search my brain for the right word and cycle through a bunch before I land on—“new.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “What’s new, exactly?”
I glance around to ensure no one is listening. “I like him. Really like him. And I’m pretty sure he likes me.”
“What?!” she screeches, and both my grandparents and several of the guests turn to stare.
“Is everything all right, Madeline?” Grandpapa asks in concern.
“Everything’s fine,” I reassure him, throwing Chloe a warning look.
“This is huge. Huger than huge,” she says under her breath. “So, you’re a thing?”
“Kind of.”
“You either are or you aren’t. Have you kissed?”
I press my lips together and shake my head.
“Girl, you have got to kiss that man.” She looks over at Alex. “If not for yourself, then for the rest of womankind. Me included.”
The thought of kissing Alex has my belly buzzing with a band of excited bees.
“I’ll see what I can do,” I reply. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything. I wasn’t sure how you’d react.”
She shakes her head at me. “You are one dark horse, missy.”
“So, we’re good?”
She gives me a shoulder nudge. “Are you crazy? Of course we’re good.”
Trumpets sound and Chloe gawks at the five trumpeters in their uniforms, monogrammed flags hanging from their instruments.
“It's just as I imagined,” she whispers.
The Games are officially opened by Alex’s father, who makes a speech in Ledonian, and neither I nor Chloe understand a single word, before people perform a choreographed dance and acrobatics to music, with both the pheasant, the national bird of Ledonia, and the peacock, on large flags, heralding the start of The Games.
“It's like a miniature version of the Olympics, only with weird events like cheese rolling and wife racing,” I explain to Chloe.
“Wife racing?” she guffaws.
“I know, right? But Alex tells me it's actually lots of fun, and his parents enter each year.”
“You call Prince McHottie Alex?” Chloe asks on a laugh. “What am I thinking? Of course you do.”
We watch the archery and anvil throwing, followed by the tree hurling. Soon there’s a break, and we are offered refreshments and snacks, all of which Chloe devours, telling me how good all the food is. She even likes the Malveauxian tea, which is unfathomable to me, but then she always was the adventurous one.
