A Juliet that doesn’t need a Romeo

After dinner, the maids brought in the leftovers from the party, but everyone was stuffed, so like any sane human being, I went and pooped out all of my dinner.

"Perky, you coming? We're about to watch a movie in the movie theater." King asked me after everybody left.

"Yea, lemme grab a few snacks first." I pointed my thumb to the left-over snacks.

"I'm surprised you still have room left," King said, following me to grab multiple bowls.

"It's the power of poop," I said, filling one bowl with chocolate and the other with white chocolate.

"Gross, Perky." He said.

"Here, hold this for me." I gave him an extra bowl of chocolate with gummy bears, pretzels, and strawberries in it. The other two bowls were exactly the same.

"God, Perky. I'm not going to let you eat all of this." He said looking at my 'snacks'.

"You're going to eat some too, your highness." I smiled at him and then quickly turned around and brushed my arm on his to get him to follow me, although I wasn't exactly sure where we were going.

He walked me to the theater where all the front seats were already full. We sat behind everybody, it seemed like they were watching Jurassic Park or something, but I was kinda focused on my diabetes in a bowl.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say real food doesn't hold you," King whispered as he grabbed for a chocolate-covered gummy bear.

"But I can't deny it's good." He said.

"Exactly," I said, licking the hardening chocolate off my fingers.

"Here, try this." I picked up a pretzel and broke it into pieces and put two pieces on the outside of a gummy.

A diabetes s'more!

He opened his mouth and I popped it in. I heard the crunch of the pretzel but it also sounded chewy like a gummy.

"What was that?" He asked after he groaned.

"A diabetes s'more of course." I joked, preparing myself one.

"I'm having our chef make that a solidified dish," King said.

"Only a kid would do that, your majesty," I rolled my eyes, fully aware that he couldn't see them in the dark.

"Whatever Perky," He scoffed, but I could hear the smirk in his voice.

These are the moments I wish would freeze in time, not the times like when Lira tried to drown Kayla and me, or when Emy looked at me as if I were her enemy.

The movie was even better just because of the people in the room watching it with me, I'd finished the chocolate candies and berries in the first quarter of the movie, and the rest was mine for the taking in.

After the movie, we bid the group farewell, and I made a mental note to go out with just J, Jaylen, and Deon. We hadn't really got to know each other and after they introduced themselves, I couldn't remember them saying a word to me.

I went back to my room and readied myself for bed, when, just as I got into bed, I got a notification on my phone. It wasn't late, so I decided checking the notification would do me no harm.

I opened my phone and there my Instagram dm's were. I got a message from a person by the name 'AJulietThatDon'tNeedaRomeo'.

"Don't get too comfortable babe, those people are picky and mean. They'll be nice to you for your first week so you'd want to stay and the next week, have all these unrealistic expectations for you to keep up…" I read aloud, it had the sleazy emoji next to it.

[Wym?] I texted back.

[I was a contestant when King and I were 10, I was physically the one contestant he became the closest to] She replied.

[Who are you?] I asked this stranger.

[Julie Quill, if you look up King and Julie, you'll find me] She replied to me.

I went straight to google and searched 'Julie and King', and a picture and article popped up. On the article, there was the title 'FUTURE MRS.MANCHESTER?!' and in the picture, I could see a girl and King wrapped in each other's arms standing beside a go-cart. I went back to Insta.

[Tell me more…] I beckoned, and she replied instantly.

[It's the life girl, isn't it? You get that big room, a new phone, and a group of friends there to support you no matter what, well… let me tell you a little something about those friends of yours] She sent the message and started typing again.

[Kayla, the ring leader obviously, she hated almost every girl who arrived, she'd never let King take them on a date the first day, all because of Madison] She sent.

[Who's Madison?] I asked.

[Very first contestant, and for a 7-year-old, let me tell you, she was very controlling] She replied, I wanted to know more, but for now, I'd just have to go digging through old internet history to find out things about King, which he probably doesn't want me to know. But, if I'm ever going to marry, I want things to be crystal clear between me and my spouse.

[Now back to Kayla, she makes you prove your worth to the group, you're not allowed to sit with them until you become familiar with everyone and if she sees any sign you're not in this for King, she won't be afraid to confront you in front of everybody] I read what she said, but in the end, Kayla just sounded a little protective, she wasn't really hurting anyone in the long run.

[But, I guess none of us are really in it for King] She texted me again and a shiver went down my spine. That's right. I didn't come because I thought I liked King.

[Anyway, that's all the time I have for tonight, gotta get that beauty sleep you know queen?] She sent the winking emoji with it.

[Night girlfriend, we'll talk tmwr] She texted me.

[Good night] I turned off my phone and put it on the charger, then lay on my back and looked up at the ceiling. Yea, there was no way I was going to sleep that night.