Shh.. Secret Princess ;) (Under Major Heavy Re-Construction)

Part 12 - Cries and Camping Lists

Umm.. I dedicated this to Lily 'cause she's awesome... Go check out her book again, guys! It would mean a lot if you'd check hers out.. Seriously, I'd love to help put a smile on her face.. :DD

It's title is,"Cardigan and Josh"

Part 12

~~~Chancey's POV~~~

I couldn't pass the hall without glancing at Annie more times than necessary. She really hasn't been her usual self at all. She may have smiled and acted normal, but beneath it all, she was hurting so much that I wish she didn't insist on going to school. No one would've stopped her from staying home, but she's so determined to show everyone that she doesn't let other things affect her life.  I sighed and slumped in my chair, reluctantly keeping my eyes on the table to stop from glancing at her. She sat at our usual table last year, so I made sure I sat in a seat that faced her, but it was only tempting me to make sure she wouldn't break. It's already Thursday, and her spirits haven't lifted one bit.

"Hey, Nate, what's up with you? You haven't been yourself since Monday," Jake, one of my closest friends, said from across me, oblivious that looking at him would only make me look beyond him.

"Yeah. Even James has been pretty weird," Martin said from beside me.

I looked at my brother momentarily, seeing him shrug. I looked at Martin and shrugged, too.

"Seriously, guys. It's like you're always thinking about something else all the time. I bet you didn't even hear a word we said about the camping trip," John said, all the other guys at the table nodding their agreements.

We both shrugged and used our forks to move the food on the plate. I heard Annie's laughter from her table along with her friends, and I could just hear how forced it was, but no one else would know. She couldn't even get the two words that happened out without choking on them or sobbing.

"And you look like you haven't slept at all. Seriously, dude, you got bags under your eyes."

I closed my eyes, put my fork down and pinched the bridge of my nose. When I opened my eyes, they instantly landed on Annie smiling at her friends, and I quickly looked around the table, making sure no one saw me. Luckily, no one seemed to have noticed, except my brother who raised an eyebrow at me. I've noticed he, too, was really quiet this week.

The guys gave up trying to get us to tell them what the problem was when we completely ignored them for 5 minutes. Even after the 5 minutes, I still ignored them, zoning out of the conversation and felt my eyelids droop.


When I arrived home, I went into my room and pulled out my jogging pants and a white T-shirt. I put them on, grabbed my jacket, wore it and stuffed my iPod into the jacket pocket. I changed into my running shoes and headed downstairs, past the door, out the palace and into the field out back. I shuffled my iPod and absently listened to the music while running around the maze of bushes.

I looked over at the rose garden and my eyes landed on the gravestone we had put. Then, I saw a figure-- Annie, stand up from behind the plants, wiping dirt from her knees. She caught my eye and gave me a small smile. I jogged around the bushes and on the pathway, to where Annie was, pulling my headphones down as I did so. I saw the bags under her eyes and shook my head.

"Annie, you've got to get some sleep," I said as I stopped a few steps away from her and frowned.

She turned to me and smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes. She used her right hand to push me lightly on my arm.

"Look who's talking, Mr. slept well himself," she said, trying to smile at first but frowned in the end.

I bumped my shoulder with hers and said,"Awww. C'mon. I thought I was pulling off the overly-stressed dad of 4."

I smiled as she smiled a little.

"C'mon, Nie. What do you say we run 'til one of us passes out?"

She nodded and zipped up her jacket, covering her tank top underneath. She was wearing  short shorts that she would never wear outside here and her favorite pair of running shoes, her headphones also around her neck.

She jogged out of the pathway first with me following right behind her. When we got out of the rose garden, we ran around the grounds, catching our breaths only a few times. We talked about random stuff that come to mind, which was my way of distracting her from how she felt. The sun was going to set a quarter of an hour from now, so we decided to run all the way to the private beach. We passed to out of the palace grounds' walls, but the way there was part of the extended grounds, so there were borders, but we had guards around since we came out.

We took minor detours a few times, so when we got there, the sun was just on top of the horizon. We crashed into the soft, cool sand, in the middle of the beach, listening to the waves rolling on the shore and discarding jackets with our iPods and headphones to the side. She lay on my left, her head propped up with her arms, with me in the same position. We were silent the whole time. Even when the sun's middle was perfectly in between the horizon, we just watched, not saying anything. It wasn't at all awkward. It gave me time to think about ways to make sure she cheers up. She told me she was going to see Rikku the day before she died, and she regrets not going. She knows she can't change the past, but, of course, she couldn't help but think about 'if' she di go.

"Chancey," she said, barely audible.

I turned my head to face her, and her eyes were red. I moved closer to her and put an arm around her shoulder, holding her close to me. I din't say anything as she clutched my t-shirt with her hands. We both let ourselves fall to the side on the sand, now both my arms around her back, her head on my chest. It was really uncomfortable, but I would not ruin this moment for comfort. She used to be cautious around me, especially when she knew there were security personnel everywhere, but it doesn't bother her now; but it might be because she's so hurt that she doesn't care anymore. Everyone needs to let go of their sane selves sometimes.

She raised her head to look up at me, biting her bottom lip, her face all red, her dimples coming out on both sides. But her eyes held so much sorrow and pain, tears spilling out little by little. I wanted to take it away, to never see them in her eyes again, but I couldn't. My heart ached as I looked at her. But even with all the sadness and pain, her hazel colored, almond eyes still held me captive. I could see the tiny green flecks in them coming out, very visible now. She just doesn't know how she entrances people --- scratch that; she knows she can put people in trances, young and old, but she doesn't know how much of a hold she actually has.

She must've noticed the concern etched on my face because she looked down and put her head on my chest again. My breathing came out ragged, and I don't know how long I can still keep this up.

What if Amanda knows what you're doing with Anna right now?

I groaned and tightened my hold on her. I will never lose her. She'll be with me forever, even if I have to keep my distance. I felt the warmth and dampness of her tears on my chest, most likely soaking my shirt already. With me really close to her now, I could hear her heart beating very faintly that it almost seemed like nothing. I looked at her feet, and she was burying them under the sand. I closed my eyes really tight, suppressing my own pain.

The sky was getting dark, and my right side hurt from the uncomfortable position, so I thought it best to head home now.

"Annie?" I said into her ear, and I felt her back shiver from the cold.

We better head home now, her legs are going to get really cold since she's only wearing her shorts.

"Mmm?" she mumbled into my chest, and I felt her close her eyes.

Keep this up any longer, and she wouldn't be in my future.

"We better go now. You're getting cold," I said as I glared up at the sky.

I felt her head lift off from my chest and looked down at her. She nodded  and vigorously wiped her tears away, blinking couple of times. I couldn't help but smile. I could still tell that her cheeks were red, and she bloated them up to keep from sobbing.

"You look so cute," I said and smiled as I scrunched my face up; like people do with babies.

She glared at me and scrunched her nose, her eyes still a little red.

"I don't wanna run," she said as she escaped my arms and lied with her back to the sand, arms and legs spread out, looking at the sky with stars starting to appear.

I heard the waves crashing into the shore getting louder, the tweeting of birds, and the sound of the trees swaying in the breeze. I also let myself fall back onto the sand, my shoes filled with them already.

"I'll just call for a ride here," I said while reaching for my jacket and remembered I didn't bring my cellphone.

I heard Annie laugh and turned my head to face her. She met my eyes and gave a brief smile.

"Well, you never fail to bring your phone all the time. And, now that we actually need it, you didn't," she said, humor laced in her voice.

I was about to open my mouth to reply, but she said,"And you didn't forget it, clearly. So, who're you avoiding right now? It can't be someone who knows your number, C."

"I ran to have a sense of freedom, Nie," I said, sighing after, staring back up at the darkening sky.

I saw her roll her eyes from the corner of mine.

"Yeah, right," was all she said, leaving the topic untouched--which she rarely does.

"So, what're we gong to do?" I asked, going back to the matter at hand.

"This," she said, looking at me then around the beach.

"Help!" she screamed with her lowest volume of her screaming volumes.

Just to make it clear, Annie can scream so loud that your eardrums would break if she wanted to.

I saw a dark silhouette jogging towards us, followed by two other silhouettes.

"What is it, Miss?" a guy in the standard black security suit asked as he stood in front of us, or above, or whatever its called in this position.

"We need to call for a ride back home, but we didn't bring our phones and stuff," Annie said nonchalantly, her face clear of all signs of crying.

If I hadn't seen her crying, I would've never guessed she did.

We were driven in one of their standard-issued black jeeps in silence, except for the music. When I went into my room, I immediately checked my phone. Sure enough, I had 12 missed calls from Jonathan.

I called him, and he picked up on the first ring, a sigh, probably of relief on his part.

"Your Highness! Thank God you came back. I've been calling you," he said.

I groaned.

"Sorry, John. I went on a run and left my phone. So, why'd she call this time?"

"She was asking for you. She's already called me 20 times in the past 2 hours."

I sighed and said,"Okay, I'll handle it. Thanks."

"Yes, sir," with that, I hung up.

I dialled Amanda's number, and she immediately answered.

"Oh my god! You're alive. When Josh what's-his-face said you weren't answering, I was really worried. What would I do without you!? I was soo scared, boo."

She sounded like a desperate, clingy fake.

I rolled my eyes and said,"Sorry, babe. I forgot to bring my phone."

"Why? Where'd you go?"

"Out running," I said, keeping the irritation out of my voice.

I sat sat on my couch as she said,"Out running, what?"

"Out running, babe," I said in monotone.

"Oh! *cue giggly psycho girl laugh* Oh. Yeah, sure, wait. Umm. My dad's calling me."

The heavens still do have mercy.

"Yeah, sure. Bye."

"Hmmmm," she said, irritating me to no end.

"Love you, babe," I said as I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"I love you, too, boo! Bye! Be sure to answer when I call," she said, and I hung up before she could utter another word.


~~~~~~~~~~~~Anna's POV~~~~~~~~~~~


It's been 11 days since my dog died, making it Thursday of the 3rd week of school. I'm glad no one noticed my very brief moments of discomposure. After my cry fest last Thursday with Chancey, I can't shed a single tear anymore. I guess my eyes have had enough of my breaks. Well, I'm totally pumped for the camping trip tomorrow. Yes, it's tomorrow! Even though a trace of sadness is still inside me, I promised I'd be fully excited for the trip. It's gonna be a 3 days and two nights stay in the woods. Sky and I already discussed what we were most definitely going to do there.

Since the trip's supposed to be by homeroom classes, I just knew nothing could go wrong -- which means something will go wrong. After school, Sky, Luke and I went to the mall to buy our own stuff on our "Camping Trip Necessities List."

Camping Trip Necessities List

I. Spooky stories
   1. 3 difft. colored flashlights
   2. Scary stories book (Laugh our butts off reading that)
   3. Captain Hook hook (Catch fish with it, maybe?)
   4. 3 Scream Masks (with the light up thing and sounds O.O)

II. Food and Drinks
   1. 5 big packs of Marshmallows (big & fluffy :P)
   2. 20 bars of chocolate (different kinds, but none with PEANUTS or any other NUTS or ehh.)
   3. 17 big Cheetos (!!!! Gaaah. Dun forget the spicy one)
   4. 8 Pringles big (cheese, original and sour cream, dude)
   5. Big box of powdered milk (!!! O.O I am not a baby for loving milk!)
   6. 15 bottles of 1.5liters of Gatorade (3 for each of us, one for each day :P including C n J)
   7. ##################################my)
   7. 6 packs of Graham crackers (SMORES, Bitz! :D)
   8. 7 big packs of Gummy bears! (choose packs with less orange and yellow and more red and green)
   9. 5 packs of yakult (:P)
   10. 10 fruity kind of cereal bar (dunno the name :P)
   11. 10 packs of raisins (yummy. :P)
   13. Big lucky charm box
 
III. Misc.
   1. Safety matches
   2. Extra batteries
   3. 3 Matching red bandannas
   4. 5 identical whistles (should sound exactly the same, so we'd know each other :P the other two for C n J)
   5. Anna's sleeping bag (:P)


The three of us looked at the paper with the list on it.

"Were the side comments you put really necessary?" Luke asked, amusement in his eyes.

We were headed to buy the food in the grocery place first.

"Yuuuuus," I said.

"And, you do know there are two number sevens under the food part, right?" Luke asked, raising an eyebrow.

I shrugged and pointed at Sky.

"She put cake there earlier, which would spoil. She put up quite a fight, too," Sky said, laughing as she remembered me giving various facts about cake and off-topic facts.

Luke laughed, and I scowled.

"Cake," I muttered as we got our shopping cart.

"C'mon, we'll eat cake later, after we finish buying all the stuff there," Sky said, making me smile and hastily find everything.

After 2 hours, we had everything, so we ate cake at a little cafe in the mall. I got 4 different slices of cake only 'cause the other ones had peanuts.

As I finished chewing the piece of cake, I said,"Who thought of putting peanuts on a cake anyway!?"

I looked at the array of cakes with peanuts and scrunched my face up in disgust. They both laughed and shook their heads, eating their own cake pieces.

"Did someone accidentally spill peanuts all over a perfectly delicious cake or something!?" I said angrily, being a rhetoric question.

"Anna, you've got to keep your voice down," Luke said as he looked around.

Yeah, people were looking at us; so? Wherever we go, people would still be looking.

I shrugged and ate my cake, discussing about the origin of peanut butter and peanut conspiracies.

When I got home, I made sure I had everything packed. I brought the food that we bought with me and put all of it in 2 big duffel bags. After that, I put 4 pedal pushers, 5 a-size-too-big t-shirts, 2 sleeping shorts, undergarments, jogging pants, the school sweater, 2 tank tops, my toothbrush, a pair of slippers, bathing necessities, Teddy Bearbear and my blankey into another duffel. All the other stuff was with Sky and Luke, so I was ready to go.

I was so excited that I had a hard time falling asleep.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N Vot/Comment/Like/Tweet/Whatever

:D   Heyyyya! :D I uploaded like I promised. Exams this week, so we only have half days, but I'm not sure if I can post.. I'll try.. So, I'm excited about the camping trip. I always planned it to give everyone a li'l more info about everything... I've always wanted to blurt out the secrets in the chapters, but my mind just won't let me unfold it ahead of time. Well... If you didn't not it, then note Chancey's feelings towards Amanda (hate her) here.. Well.. Give ur opinions and stuff.. Comments make my day, actually. They motivate me to write, so, yeah.. I'm so happy with my steady flow of votes and fans! XD Keep it up, guys!

Thanks so much.. Yeah, I have to end my ranting.. Bye! Peace!