The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy

"Oh my goddd," Ella breathes, picking up magazine with the picture of Luca splashed on the cover. "Oh, he is...he is spinning out, isn't he?"

"He is," Cora says, nodding eagerly and grabbing the next in the pile, one with the headline "The Playboy is Back!" emblazoned over the front. "Apparently he's spent the last two nights partying - there are doubts about whether or not he's even slept -"

"So, my girl is crying," Ella murmurs, a snarl in her voice as she explores the paparazzi photos inside the magazine, "and this jackass is out until three in the morning with girls on each arm?"

"Scum," Daphne growls, shaking her head. She grabs a pen from the center of the table and begins to black out a few of Luca's teeth in one of the photos before adding horns and stink lines radiating from his body.

Ella laughs and then reaches for another pen, starting to do the same.

"No, but you guys have to see this," Cora says eagerly, flipping to a dog-eared page. "It's insane -" "What is?"

All three women go still and then slowly, as one, turn towards the pretty blonde girl in white pajamas standing a few feet away.

"Nothing!" Ella says, far too cheerfully, snatching up all of the magazines on the table and pressing them to her chest. "It's...Mark! He was being so dumb! And the tabloids...got pictures!"

"The tabloids don't care about Mark, all he does is play sports and try to feed peanuts to squirrels," Ariel scowls, striding forward. "Just show me."

"Ari," Cora sighs, shaking her head. "It's - you don't want to see -"

"If you all know, I want to know," Ari says with a wavering frown. "It's obviously about Luca and I can't be the only one completely in the dark about my ex-mate. I want to see." She holds out her hand, insistent. Ella sighs but then puts the magazines back on the table.

Ariel takes a step forward but then hesitates. "Do they say anything bad about me?"

"No, sugar," Cora says, shaking her head. "There are speculations about why he's out at the clubs and acting like a free man but...nothing cruel about you."

"Good," Ariel says with a sigh, moving forward again and looking down at the images on the covers, not yet reaching for one.

"Let me get you a coffee, baby," Ella says, leaning forward to give Ariel a kiss on the cheek before turning away.

Cora and Daphne stand quietly while Ariel lets her eyes travel over the images. She grows visibly pale, her lip starting to tremble even though she tries so, so hard to keep it

together as she sees Luca with net

beautiful young brunette clasped to his chest, Luca standing on @bar singing and spraying champagne over other club-attendees, Luca slumped at a table with twelve gorgeous women around him, flashing a peace sign towards the camera.

In each, he's handsome and carefree and - bizarrely enough - wearing sunglasses, even at night. And his clothes and hair are always...damp? But beyond these strange details, Ariel can see right through his determined coolness, can see the desperation with which he tries to pretend that everything's fine. She can see it, in the strain on his face, that he's in a great deal of pain too. He's just... being a real jackass in his refusal to address it, to pretend that everything's fine.

"God, he's a mess," Ariel sighs, shaking her head at the man who broke her heart. "Just determined to cover his emotional wounds with as many women as possible."

"Pig," Daphne bites out. She grabs the closest magazine and draws a curly tail on Luca's butt.

Ariel lifts her eyes and gives her friend a small smile, the best she can do at the moment.

Then Ari returns her eyes to the images and reaches for one magazine that shows Luca on a rooftop somewhere, his shirt unbuttoned to the waist.

"What the hell is that?" she murmurs, leaning close to see better.

"What are you talking about?" Ella asks, bringing Ariel's cup of coffee over and leaning close.

"On his chest," Ariel murmurs, tapping some kind of red mark there. "That's...I mean, that wasn't there two days ago."

"That's what I was going to point out

before you came in," Cora says, her voice a bit grim. She flips to a page in one of of the

tabloids and lays it out

for everyone to see, tapping one

picture. "This one got a close up and

broke the story. It looks like Mr.

Grant got a tattoo - and did not follow medical advice regarding how long to keep it wrapped." noveldrama

"Oh. My. God." Ariel murmurs, leaning close, her jaw dropping when she sees the large letter A tattooed on his muscled chest, right over his heart. And then trailing after it, to the right, the letters r, i, and e. The shirt covers what final letters are remaining, but it's not precisely difficult to imagine what comes next. "What a loser," Daphne murmurs, shaking her head. "I mean, in other situations, it might be sweet? But here..."

"Seriously, crossing a line," Cora murmurs, shaking her head. "One day you reject a girl, and the next you get her name tattooed over your chest? And that big? He's such a drama queen, making a statement about his broken heart and ensuring that everyone knows all about it."