The Prince

Chapter Seven: I Watched Him Strip

And thank the heavens for that. Mom is more beautiful than my Dad is handsome - though he'll never admit it.

And you wonder where I got my ego from?

"So, just try not to... repulse them, and you'll do fine!" He gets up, straightening to his full height - just slightly taller than me, and claps his hand on my back. I straighten instantly, a natural reflex I've developed over the years. He would always place a hand on my back; not hitting me, just placing a hand on my back until I straightened up.

"Make me proud, Xander." He says in a solemn tone giving me a sad smile, making shivers run up my spine, as he exits the bathroom, his black, leather dress shoes leaving heavy thuds with every step.

Why do I have the feeling that he meant it in a more serious manner; not just talking about charming a couple teenagers? I turn to look at myself in the mirror, sitting on the polished counter top. I simply sit for a few minutes, my deep blue eyes staring back at me blankly.

What am I doing?

Do I really want to turn into a mega flirt? Do I want to be the kind of teenager that goes to parties, gets wasted and can barely remember the thing that I did the night before? I know I came to Wellingtons for a break, but... I don't know, it might be the way my Dad looked at me, with sad eyes, as if he knew I'd do something bad. Something that would make him hang his head in shame.

Argh, is this some sort of subliminal message? Is he tricking me? This has to have some sort of mind-fuckery. It has to be.

I shake my head to clear my thoughts, and slide off of the counter top. The bright white walls and the faint fragrance of vanilla must be getting to me; it's too much like the time-out room that Mom put me in, back home in the castle. That must be it.

I turn the knob to the bathroom, reassuring myself with some ego-boosting strategies, but when I step out of the room my heart drops and I feel a vague sense of melancholy.

I shrug it off and close the door.

♛♛♛

It wasn't half as frightening as I thought it would be.

Turns out, we spent the whole hour and a half watching Dianca dance as Odette. Man, as boring as it was, it was really awesome to have two girls sitting beside me, leaning on my shoulder as they wept their eyes out.

Okay, maybe that's another con. The whole tears and mascara thing made them both look, not to be rude or anything, kind of scary. Like the dead zombie girl sort of scary.

Eh, that was alright with me. I mean, aren't undead chicks the coolest?

Right up until they begin to claw at your head, demanding brains and other sorts of vital organs to possibly feast on. But I guess it's no different from what most girls demand from men.

"Dude!" Cameron hisses, ruffling the leafy bush, turning his smoldering gaze to me. The olive colored leaves stuck in his hair; combined with his ebony gaze makes him look like the world's most serious lumberjack. "Are you even listening?"

I choose to reply with a firm nod, as we skirt around the gardens. A cool breeze ruffles the impeccably shaped hedge, prickling my cheeks with the ends of the leaves. My back itches from the scratchy material of the woolen ninja suit that Cameron insisted we wear, and my legs are sore from holding a squatting position for so long. If someone saw us, they'd probably guess that we were doing our business in Cam's backyard.

"Okay, here's the tricky part. In that clump of Japanese cherry blossoms, no, the ones with the disgustingly pink petals. The one to the left. Your other left." He says as purse my lips in frustration. Well sorry if I don't know what the heck a Japanese cherry blossom tree looks like.