Waking Up A Princess

Chapter Ten

"I'm just totally confused about everything, really. I mean, a week ago I was covered in dirt with bruises all over me and planning how I was going to decorate my dorm room. Now I'm going to balls and wearing tiaras that cost more than our entire apartment building and thinking about how I'm going to run an entire country." Ailey sighed and bit her lip in frustration. Nothing seemed to be making any sense. She kept waiting to wake up at home in the apartment she shared with Jenny to find out she was late for practice. While this was all very exciting, she was having trouble deciding whether she should label it a dream come true or a living nightmare...

The line was quiet for several moments. Ailey even checked to make sure the call hadn't been disconnected.  "I understand that everything seems crazy now, honey, but your parents obviously planned on this. Or at least something like this. They were going to give you the choice, at least. Both you and I know that they would never have expected something you couldn't do and do perfectly." She had a point. It was like they had put Ailey through all the terrible dance lessons, extra classes, and public speaking for this specific reason. That was the only real explenation for all the crazy things she had done so early in life.

A warmth spread through her veins at Jenny's words, and it was not thanks to the tea. "I guess that's true," she agreed.

"Of course it is. You're going to be one hell of a princess and I am going to be spending every summer and vacation from school in a royal palace. So, who's the real winner here?" she joked. A laugh escaped Ailey's still peach painted lips. Jenny always knew the right things to say. She was a lot like her sister,Ailey's mother, in that way. "And as far as these two men go, they both sound ridiculously hot." 

It was easy to forget just how young Jenny was, but when she let slip things like that, Ailey couldn't help but smile. They really weren't very far apart in age. "They are," she agreed with a laugh. "That's the whole problem." Liam was a prince and Michael was a noble man with a prominent family in Elmira. It wasn't like she had to announce her betrothal to either of them any time soon, but she had always hated boy drama. Always.

A quiet beep echoed through the phone, the familiar sound of Jenny's straightener finally heating up to the correct temperature. "I'm glad to hear that your grandfather isn't forcing you to marry someone right off the bat. He sounds like a nice man." Jenny's voice echoed as if from far away from the speaker. She had put the phone on speaker to enable her to do her hair. 

"He's great. He reminds me a lot of Dad, honestly." Ailey sighed as she finished her tea and placed it onto the table. "And this whole idea of marriage is seriously stressing me out. I mean, I get that I have to and it's important and whatever, but I'm only eighteen! It honestly makes me a little nauseous to think of getting married and having kids and stuff." 

Jenny was twenty six and still unmarried. She blamed work for her lack of a dating life, but Ailey couldn't help but feel like she was partially to blame as well. It couldn't help having have a teenager waiting at home. "That does sound a little scary. But, hey, you have college in the fall and everything will fall into place. You can do this, Ailey. I know you can. And you haven't been given a deadline, right? So live up the princess life until you have to give it up." 

"I don't even know where I'm going to go to school. I mean, I can go anywhere now. Playing softball seems so...insignificant now - which is a strange thing for me. I've always played." Ailey was totally confused about everything. Softball had been her life for years. She had played since she was a little girl and it was strange to think of a life without it. Even if it was a very real possibility in the near future.

"In the scheme of everything that's going on around you, I'm sure it does. But, don't let someone else's expectations for you ruin what you want for yourself. You have to make yourself happy first," Jenny pointed out.