The Crystal 3 by Jones M (best beach reads TXT) 📖

Chapter 22

Emery's P.O.V

After the actual coronation had happened, Selena, Erick and Elizabeth exited the hall for a few hours. They were followed by Ethan, Liam, Harry and three women. I recalled they were Erick's advisors and that they were going to put in writing that Selena was the new queen of Crystalia.

During those few hours before they returned, everyone exited the hall and went outside the castle. There was a party being held to celebrate Selena becoming queen. Music and chattering filled the air. A large umbrella-like structure was placed outside the castle to protect everyone from the afternoon sun.

Dozens of tables filled with food and drinks were had been already stationed outside the castle. There were also other small tables and chairs placed near them. They too were organized in a form that would leave an empty circular space in the center for anyone to dance.

"This is great," Ashley commented as she took out a plastic plate from a stack. "I never thought Selena was going to be queen."

Ashley and I were standing near a table with food, moving to pick a couple of plastic plates arranged in a stack.

"I did," I replied, taking out my own plate. "It all mattered if she would end up marrying Erick which I thought was impossible."

"I'm glad we didn't make the bet," Ashley said, making me laugh. "You also have to promise not to tell Selena about it."

I laughed harder.

"I promise," I relented. We moved towards an end of the table, selecting the meals we wanted to eat and placing them on our plates. Ashley chose to go with French fries and a burger while I decided on spaghetti Bolognese. My stomach even grumbled at the smell of the food.

Ashley and I proceeded to move towards a table with seats surrounding it. We settled and began diving into the meals we had chosen. I took a small glance at the people dancing and talking to each other.

"I didn't realize how hungry I was," Ashley commented before continuing to devour her meal. I said nothing, silently agreeing with her. The food was so delicious that I even considered packing another serving for supper.

Once we were done with the meals, Ashley and I went to get some sodas. We were in the middle of drinking them when I spotted Selena making her way towards us. She still had the same clothes she had worn in the morning, except for the crown.

"Hey guys," she greeted as she approached us. "How are you enjoying the party so far?"

"There is no alcohol," Ashley deadpanned before taking another sip of her carbonated drink.

"Of course there is no alcohol. There are kids here," Selena replied with an obvious tone. "You should wait for the evening party."

"Evening party?" Ashley and I questioned at the same time.

"Wasn't this enough of a party?" I asked. It was still afternoon, and it definitely looked like the party wasn't going to end anytime soon.

"Nope," Selena responded. "As I said, there are kids here. The evening party will be small. I'm sure the children will be gone by then, and so you guys and the rest of the adults could have all the alcohol you want."

"I'm not a fan of alcohol," I replied. "Juice, sure. Soda, okay. Vodka, whiskey, dirty martini or whatever those other drinks could be... no."

Ashley and Selena rolled their eyes at me in a joking manner.

"Just my opinion," I replied.

"Let's show her the dark side," Ashley spoke to Selena who was quick to nod her head.

My eyes widened.

"No. No. I told you guys I'm not a fan of alcohol."

"Come on, Emery. Live a little," Ashley said as she teleported a glass of a transparent substance onto her hand.

For a moment, I thought she was going to urge me to drink. However, she took the glass and drank the contents.

"Ashley!" Selena and I spoke, both horrified.

"What? It's just water," she said with a shrug. "There are kids here. I wouldn't want them to see me do something stupid, and I wouldn't want to be thrown out of this party because of my drinking."

I narrowed my eyelids at Ashley before drinking the last sip of my drink.

"Emery!" a person I had been trying to avoid since the day began had shouted my name. My form tensed as I turned around, momentarily shocked at the sight of Zane.

He had worn a red suit with a red bow near his collar. His hair was styled into a classic crew. 

Even in red, he looked fine.

Zane seemed excited to see me as evidenced by the smile that was etched on his face.

I was not sure on how to feel about his presence. Ever since the talk I had with Logan and Harry, I had been having thoughts about Zane. I recalled what we had done on my bed, and I found myself missing him.

"Zane," I said his name once he was a hand's distance close to me. He stared into my eyes for a moment, and I was entranced in those brown orbs of his.

For a moment, it looked like he was going to kiss me, but then someone cleared their throat.

Zane's eyes jumped with an emotion that looked like shock before directing his attention to my side. I turned, noticing and remembering that Ashley and Selena were there. The two of them were giving us knowing smirks.

"Hi Ashley, Selena. Oh, my apologies. Queen," Zane greeted as he bowed. Selena rolled her eyes at the action.

"Don't bow, Zane. You'll have everyone turn to face me, and I don't want to talk to many people right now."

"Sorry," Zane replied with a sheepish smile.

"You have no idea how many people had bowed before me in the past few hours," Selena added. Zane then turned his attention to me.

"Would you like to dance with me?"

A thousand thoughts flew through my mind after he made the request. My heart began to beat so quickly, and I momentarily felt out of breath.

"Umm..." I trailed off, not knowing what to say. Zane furrowed his eyebrows at me.

"It's a yes! She will like to dance with you," my cousin decided to answer for me. My eyes had widened before I turned to face her.

"Okay. Then let's go," Zane spoke as he grabbed my hand. I felt electricity zap through my form at the mere contact. I turned my gaze to Selena as Zane and I made our way to the dance floor, narrowing my eyes at her. She just sent me an air kiss.

After a short while, Zane and I had reached the dance floor. At that moment, a pop song was being played. I looked around, noticing other people dancing on the grass with smiles and excitement. My gaze went to Zane, and I was momentarily shocked to see he was staring at me with a smile.

"So, are we going to dance?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. I gave him a smile in return as I started making my own moves. I even thought I did a dab during the middle of the song. Zane was busy break-dancing, or in his case, trying to break-dance.

I smiled at him, glad to know I was not the only one who didn't know how to dance.

"I love this song!" I commented once Rihanna's Where Have You Been sounded through the speakers. I even tried to do the dance moves from the music video, making Zane laugh at me. I wasn't offended. In fact, it urged me to keep on dancing. I soon started waving my hands sideways in the air. I even included a little hip action that had Zane stop laughing for a few seconds.

As if on cue, once the song ended, a slow song began to play.

Oh crap.

I turned my gaze to Zane. He seemed to act like a deer caught in headlights. I looked around, noticing people in groups of two dancing in an embrace.

I was afraid of doing that. It would remind me of how hard I had fallen for Zane. I didn't want to fall any harder if the guy wouldn't reciprocate the feelings I had for him.

I wasn't given enough time to choose because Zane walked towards me. He slowly wrapped his arms around me, bringing my form close to his. Having no other option, I wrapped my arms around his back and slowly started bringing them up to his shoulders.

We stayed like that, swaying to the slow song that was being played. I couldn't recognize the song. It must have been a new one. However, the words sounding through the speakers and the tune made me feel weird. The song was saying something about love. My gaze turned to Zane, and I noticed his eyes were boring into mine.

"Have you been thinking about me lately?" he asked with a low voice, and my eyes widened in shock. I had no idea of how to answer his question.

Of course, I had been thinking of him. I had been missing his presence, his words. his touch and his kisses. I also missed the look he was currently giving me.

"Yes," I replied. Zane's lips turned into a smile.

Before I could think too much about it, I moved my lips onto Zane's. He made a surprised sound, but he soon accepted the invitation.

Zane tightened his arms around my form as we shared a slow, gentle kiss. We were in no hurry, and the way that he was holding me made me feel explosions in my stomach.

Zane soon ended the kiss as we moved to the slow beats of the song, staring at each other.

"Hey, guys!" someone greeted, ending whatever trance Zane had on me. It was Ashley. She was dancing with Harry, and that made my eyes widen in disbelief.

"Ooh, Emery. Selena wanted to talk to you about something important."

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. I turned to look at Zane, spotting a frown on his face.

"Zane..."

"It's okay," he replied with a smile. And with a growl, he said, "We'll catch up later."

His voice alone made me tingle with want. I chose instead to give him a bashful smile before making my way through the crowd. My eyes danced across my surroundings as I searched for my cousin.

Someone forcefully grabbed my arm. I quickly turned to face the individual, momentarily startled and quickly relaxing when I noticed it was Selena.

"Emery, what the hell were you doing?" she asked with raised eyebrows.

"I was dancing with Zane."

"Yes, you were dancing with Zane. But then, you were kissing him."

My eyes widened in surprise.

"You noticed?"

"Of course I noticed," Selena replied. "Anyone with 80/80 vision could notice. I had Ashley and Harry go to you and stop you two from tearing your clothes off on the dance floor!"

"It was just a kiss," I defended myself. Selena raised an eyebrow as she stared at me in disbelief.

"Seriously? Emery, you didn't tell anyone you were seeing Zane."

"I didn't?" I questioned.

"You didn't," Selena deadpanned.

"I thought I did. After I had told you and Ashley..." I trailed off, realizing that I actually had not told them or anyone that I was seeing Zane.

We stood for seconds without speaking before I said "Surprise?"

Selena looked at me without displaying any emotion on her face. She soon started jumping up and down in joy while clapping her hands in excitement.

"I'm so happy for you!" she said, making me groan. "So, when did this start?"

"When did what start?" Ashley said as she joined us.

"Emery is seeing Zane," my cousin informed her before I could.

"WHAT?" Ashley reacted rather loudly, staring at me in shock. "When did this start?"

There was no way I would be able to escape their questions. When together, Ashley