Whenever-kobo Read Free

to the prince. “We better get down to the stage.”
    Prince Callum nodded and followed me down the steps. I pointed to the empty seat on the end of the Trallwyn Prep table. “There you go.”
    Prince Callum waited until I slid into my chair between Rhys and Austin before he took his own seat. Nice manners.
    The crowd filtered in after that, filling the seats to capacity and lining the walls. We’d never had standing room only at any academic event I’d been to. Football games sold out. Baseball games sold out. Until today, academic events were watched only by loving parents. And usually the students from our school came to root for us. Today, my fellow THS students and the rest of the crowd focused on the Trallwyn Prep team. They grinned approvingly at Prince Callum. They wanted him to win.
    Whatever. We had this. I wiggled back into the chair and forced a smile.
    Austin shifted beside me and grabbed my gel pen. “I need something to write with.” He scribbled the odds of our winning on a blue notepad. Xs and Os appeared, and a few numbers. I hoped we were the Os because they were winning by seventy percent. From the way Austin’s fists were clenched, we were probably the Xs.
    If we lost, it would be in front of the best-dressed crowd we’d ever had. Parents wore their Sunday best and the students looked like today was picture day. All of this for a prince. I leaned forward, resting my hands on the cool surface of the table and checked out Prince Callum. He appeared bored.
    Lisette got up, toting her giant bag and came over. “I brought sparkling and still water. What’s your favorite?” Her accent was American, but the cadence of her voice was French. She placed the glass bottles on the table and put a crystal tumbler in front of each of us. No wonder her bag was so heavy.
    Austin smiled at her. “You choose.”
    Flirting with the enemy? I hoped Bliss, Austin’s skinny mean girlfriend, caught that. She was seated in the front row so it would be hard for her to miss.
    Lisette undid the lid on the glass bottle and filled a tumbler for Austin. Fizzy bubbles sprayed through the water. She used tongs to add two cucumber slices and turned her grin on me. “How about you? Hayley, right?”
    She said my name as if she hadn’t studied up on us as much as we’d researched them. “Still, please,” I said, taking the glass from her. “Thanks.” I took a sip and one of the green cucumber slices bobbed against my lip. The cucumbers were refreshing, if weird. We always had water at academic tournaments. The sliced cucumbers and crystal were new. Cucumbers were going in my brothers’ Kool-Aid tonight.
    Lisette served Rhys last. His narrowed green eyes watched each of her moves with suspicion. I was glad he was alert, but please, Trallwyn Prep did not need to drug us to gain an advantage.
    “Still or sparkling?” Lisette said.
    Rhys didn’t respond. He was either flirting with her or playing a mind game.
    “I’ll give you some of each, and you can see which you like better.” Lisette put a second tumbler in front of Rhys, making sure not to bump his chemistry vials. She poured for him.
    Rhys was borderline rude and got an extra treat. Girls always did that kind of thing for him. I didn’t favor bad boys myself.
    Lisette tilted her head so her blonde curls fell over her shoulder as she waited.
    “Thanks,” Rhys said. Keeping his gaze on her, he tossed the still water back. Lisette’s big brown eyes widened like she’d caught a marlin instead of a minnow. She flushed and moved back to her own table.
    Rhys left the sparkling water untouched.
    Austin elbowed me. “The judges are here. Are you smiling at them?”
    As team lead, he’d been throwing out tips all week. I didn’t appreciate it. I knew what to do.
    I nodded, forced a grin, and turned to the judging table. The judges consisted of two men and one woman. They sat in a special section that had a table, lamps and a microphone. Though they faced the stage