I'll Protect You (Original Version)

The destruction damage of a white shoe

 With just a quick narrow of her inky blue eyes and a frown of her lips, I knew I was in trouble. I cast a quick look towards Logan, who looked more starstruck than a young girl at a One Direction concert before I averted my gaze down to my red hot sneakers. 

I was totally screwed. She would take away my entire wardrobe for the entire summer and dress me every day. 

Dear clothes, I want you to know that this was never my intention. I love you very much but we just can't be together this summer. Forever and always, me.

As my mother approached us, I conjured up all the possible ways to hide my suitcase--or at the most, my precious sneakers. Dresses for the summer? That sounded tolerable. Heels 24/7? I would rather walk through the Underworld and fight with Hades himself before I do that.

"Park, how...acceptable you look!" my mother grimaced, forcing the words through her gritted teeth. Her eyes scanned my white shirt, my skinny jeans, and of course, my shoes. She quickly turned to Logan, and her expression became much more relieved as she took him in. He was dressed much more nicer than me. Casual, yes, but more neat and orderly. 

"Ah, Logan! It's been so long since I've seen you. You've grown up to be such a fine young man!"  my mother cooed, placing her hands on his shoulder, beaming at him as if he was part of the family. 

"I remember when you used to be so little and small. You used to visit each and every summer. Oh, how you'd hide out in your room, refusing to play with Park until she dragged you out! You two used to run around these halls."

Wait a minute.

I didn't have friends back when I was little. Except for, of course, Zen and Minnie. But it was just them. And I remember everything about my childhood. How Zen and I used to climb the trees in the garden and pluck the apples for the cooks. How Minnie and I played with the fake swords that we made out of wood. I remembered nothing about running down the halls with a boy named Logan Cross, or dragging him out of his room.

What was going on?

My mother, Giselle Sparrow, who I now suspected was a bit loopy like my father, stole me a sad glance, as if she was remembering something gloomy.

"Your majesty," Logan stuttered, "I am honored that you remember me of such but...I have never been here before."

See! Even Einstein himself said he had no such memory of such an impossible thing? I mean, come on! Me, playing with Logan Cross? That's like....Harry Potter having teas and crumpets with Lord Voldemort.

"Not in your memories, dear. It is wonderful to have the Cross family back in the palace once again," my mother sighed. "Lance and Caterina must be so proud of you."

"Mother, have you taken your afternoon tea yet?" I interrupted, clearing my throat as politely as I could. I had to stop this before it got even weirder. How come my mother can remember something from my childhood, but I can't?

A smile replaced her nostalgic look and she beamed off into space. "I was just about to do that when I ran into you two. But before I can..."

She became instantly more stern and queen-like, raising a perfect eyebrow at my apparel. 

"Park Mai Elizabeth," she said warningly, "how many times have I told you about your clothes?"

"Too many," I mumbled, trying super, super hard not to roll my eyes. 

"When you come home to Cimeria, you are not a citizen of that town you call Paradise, Montana. You are a princess. An heir to the throne! Please dress like it, sweetheart, or else you know what your grandmother and I would enforce upon you....and your brothers."