Caught in a Lie ~ h.s.

♕ XIV ♕

"How was your day?" I bite down on my lip, hard enough to potentially draw blood. I hate having to lie to him.

"It was uneventful." I settle on a lie that can easily be passed as the truth. After this morning, my day lacked any true events at all, so in a way my day was uneventful. "What about you? What did you get up to today?" I want him to tell me about his day, why he was at the school and how he ended up seeing Niall; I want to know everything from his perspective.

"Actually, the craziest thing happened to me this morning." He pauses, as if for dramatic effect, before continuing. "I saw your friend Niall, did you know that he's a royal guard?" There's a laugh that leaves Harry's mouth at the end of his question, as if the fact that Niall being a royal guard is the funniest thing he's ever heard. Wait until he finds out that Niall's my personal, royal guard.

"I did know that, but he really doesn't tell me a lot, privacy reasons I guess. Pretty sweet gig, I hear." I explain, hoping that Harry won't press me to harshly about it. "Where did you see him?"

"Well, Gemma's oldest, Blair, goes to primary school in the Mayfair area and I got a call this morning from Gem that there was this big event going on today to encourage kids to read. Now, as a book fiend myself I was interested upon hearing this, then I found out that the Princess of Weybridge, what's her name..."

"...Mabel." I can't stop myself from uttering my name, though I don't think Harry catches it before he's shouting my name in remembrance.

"...Mabel was going to be there. I've never met a royal before so I thought, why not. I mean she's not like the Queen of England but she's still a royal, you know. Plus my niece was really excited about it and begged me to tag along. I can't say no to her. Anyway, Niall was there scoping the place out, walked right by me. I'd recognize the lad that slammed me against my wall anyday. So yeah, small world, huh?"

"Small world."

Honestly, I'm at a loss for words. It eases me only slightly that he doesn't remember my actual name, meaning he doesn't pay too much mind to me, whether that's a good thing or bad thing I'm unsure. It also makes me more angry at myself for letting down his niece and all the other children, parents, and teachers that wanted to meet me.

"So, how was it? What's she like in real life?"

"Oh, well actually she never showed. The headmistress came out and said she had fallen ill, but maybe she just had better things to do." My heart falls in my chest. He thinks that I'm a stuck-up princess who can't take the time out of her day to read to children. My last intention was to come off as rude; I don't like having a reputation like that.

"Really, I don't get that vibe from her. She seems rather kind, perhaps she really did fall ill."

"Are you sure you don't have some crazy obsession with that royal family, I mean you do live in Weybridge?" I laugh out loud at that, my eyes scanning my much too large bedroom. "Are you guys neighbors?"

"Oh yes, the princess and I get on great. We have afternoon tea every once and a while." I jest, trying to make jokes upon the matter, hoping that it'll make me feel better.

"Blair was really upset." Harry says after our laughter has died down. I hate the feeling of disappointment that creeps up inside me, but I embrace it. I deserve to feel this way.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

My brain is racking up a million ideas on how to make it up to Blair and all the other children I let down today. Just picturing their sad, impressionable faces makes me want to cry. Perhaps I'll donate more money to the school, maybe I'll even stop by on a whim to meet with the school (that way I don't chance Harry being there), or I could just suck it up and tell Harry the truth and then revisit the school.