#Chapter 17: Sirius’s Past Lover

The billboard changes to another angle, and Claudia is sitting on the edge of a mountain, in a bikini as if that is practical. One of her hands is pointed to the camera with a big, pulsating diamond ring on her finger as she bashfully looks away from the camera. The slogan The King and I in perfect script below her feet makes my skin crawl. It must be an old campaign. I can imagine the awed audience now, relieved that the sweet girl next door did soften the ruthless king with the power of love, and all the fairytales are true. I almost drop Alston as I chuckle to myself, because that audience doesn’t know Claudia. The Claudia they see basking in the limelight, once haunted the shadows with her beloved. In highschool, she was cruel, and obsessive, following around Sirius like a feral cat in heat. The thing I hated most was the Cheshire smile she always gave me as she clung to Sirius. Her presence is still an ever-looming shadow over our relationship. I let out a breathless lau