Hey. It's been a while....and I have absolutely no plan to plan a schedule for writing. No, it's not writer's block. I'm very lazy most times.
IT'S SUMMER!!! FINALLY!!!
Song Isabelle will sing later is The Way I Loved You by the beautiful Taylor Swift.
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I awoke to birds chirping in the distance. I rubbed my eyes, smiling at the peacefulness. Then I realized, "The date!"
I hit the button to call on Alex, and she came running through the door.
She saw my face and smirked. "Oh look, Sleeping Beauty's up. Your date's in two hours. It's late. Just saying. The queen left, she'll be back at seven tonight. What else? Oh, and Carter's awake too."
I shot out of bed as Alex said "Go! Take a shower...make yourself clean and fresh!"
"You're so cool." I hugged her.
"I know!" She grimaced playfully as she sniffed me. "Blech! Get rid of that scent, girl."
I stuck my tongue out and headed to the shower. I cleaned myself up the best I could and put on a robe.
I sat down on my dresser's chair and Alex picked out some makeup.
She said, "My mother was the queen's makeup artist and stylist so..."
Alex put on light foundation and concealer, a soft rose-and-gold combination eyeshadow, and some pink blush and lipgloss.
When Alex finished the makeup, I hardly recognized myself.
"There...perfect." She smiled.
She blow-dried my hair and French-braided it. As a finishing touch, she put a small candy-cane striped bow clip at the end of the braid.
I smiled at the cute and playful appearance. "Thank you," I faced Alex. "This is why I love you!"
She winked. "Go. Get dressed. Then let's see."
I put on the ensemble and pirouetted in front of Alex. "Beautiful." She complimented me.
She looked at the clock beside my dresser. 12:38. "22 minutes. Breathe."
I took a few deep breaths to calm myself. I closed my eyes and said, "Anytime now, Carter, oh so beautiful Carter, is going to show up, his gorgeous features smiling at me. He'll look at me with those breathtaking eyes and-"
My eyes snapped open at the sound of laughter. Alex was still here. Oops.
"That was..." -snort, chortle- "so bloody..." -chuckle, giggle- "hilarious!"
I couldn't help but laugh with her. So we just sat there, laughing, fueled by the other for quite a long time.
The laughter finally ceased to a few giggles. The doorbell rang, and I froze up.
"Come on," Alex grabbed my shoulders. "You can do this. I know you can. I believe in you. You're a princess. This is just a date."
I hugged her again. "Thank you."
I stood up and mustered all my courage. Alex flashed me a thumbs up. I opened the door. Carter stood there in his black jeans, a plain white V-neck, and gray jacket, and paisley scarf.
He gave me a once-over and smiled appreciatively.
"Hey," I tried to act casual. I heard Alex snicker behind me, in my room. I gave her a warning signal behind my back and she stopped snickering.
"Perfect outfit for the date," Carter said as he gave me a single red rose.
"Thanks," I managed to get out. "Alex helped me pick it out."
"That's right, she did!" Alex's voice carried out into the hallway.
Carter and I laughed as I grabbed a coat. "Love you, Alex! Bye!"
"Don't get too-"
"Don't even finish that sentence," I warned her.
She chuckled. "Bye, Belle!"
I walked out with Carter. "Where exactly are we going?"
"Well, princess, we're going on a picnic." He said.
"In this weather?" I looked at the snow-filled streets outside.
"I know a place."
He didn't say anything else. We snuck out of the castle and walked into the snowy land of Callia. I pulled my coat closer to my body.
"Where is this 'place', exactly?" I asked.
"Near enough."
"That's so informative." Note the sarcasm dripping from every word.
He grinned and said nothing more.
We walked deeper into the city, and a good hour later, I gasped. A red and white-checked picnic blanket with heaps of food was spread out on the snow. It wasn't that cold here, compared to the other parts of the city. And then I saw the sparkling lake.
It was huge. And frozen. But it was beautiful. Near the edge sat two boxes, one red, one black.
"It's...spectacular!" I cried out.
"Nice, isn't it?" Carter walked towards the blanket.
"What's in those boxes?" I pointed.
"You'll find out later. Let's eat first." He took my hand and led me to the food.
I asked him, "Who prepared these?" I gestured to the food.
"Let's just say, I have friends in the kitchen." I chuckled.
"So," he said. I smiled shyly.
"So...why are you working for the queen?" I asked bluntly.
"As I've said, the Ice Queen chose my family as guardians of the princess. We had to live in the castle and show her our talents. My father's was cooking. My great grandfather was great with fixing things. I'm a dancer."
"Oh," I said. "Your family liked living with the queen?"
"Well, no. It's the most luxurious life we could've gotten, and my family will not pass that up."
"So your family will pass up true happiness and togetherness for luxury?" I said.
"It sounds bad if you put it that way, but yeah, we would." He replied grudgingly.
He crinkled his brow for a bit, then his face lit up. "Would you...sing for me?"
I was surprised by the request. "Sure." I loved singing. I didn't have the best voice, but I loved pretending I did.
I cleared my throat.
"He is sensible, and so incredible and
All my single friends are jealous..."
When I got to the chorus, I was so into it.
"But I miss screaming and fighting
And kissing in the rain
and it's 2 AM and I'm cursing your name,
You're so in love that you act insane,
And that's the way I loved you.
Breaking down and coming undone
It's a roller coaster kinda rush
And I never knew I could feel that much
And that's the way I loved you..."
"You have a pretty voice. But singing isn't really a passion, right?"
I shook my head. "No, it's more of a hobby."
"What is your passion?"
"You'll find out eventually." I shrugged, not really interested in talking about something I could not anymore achieve in my life.
*
After we ate, Carter set out the two boxes before me. He gave the red one to me and he took the other for himself.
"Open it," he ordered me.
I did, and I blinked in utter shock at what was inside.
Ice skates.
"No way!" I exclaimed.
I strapped them on, and gestured to Carter to follow me.
I haven't ice skated in so long. This has always been my one true passion. Not dancing. Before, my friends called me "The Ice Princess", from my talent on the ice.
I laughed at the irony.
If only they could see me now, I thought.
Carter let go of my hand and my skating instincts kicked in. I slid, jumped, twisted, leaped, spiraled and spun as if I would die tomorrow.
I skated on the frozen lake with all my might, as Carter watched me. I finished my impromptu performance with a great leap-and-twirl combo.
I looked at Carter who had his mouth open. He was so stunned! I giggled at his surprise.
"Amazing-no, wait, it's too beautiful. Wow. I can't even describe it." He applauded me.
"Thank you..." I shyly bowed.
"Your passion, correct?" Carter asked simply.
"Yes. I love it more than dancing. I actually learned how to dance because we needed dance lessons before we could skate!"
"Tough dance school?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Trinity Times Ten. Extremely prestigious. Not many people know it even exists—existed." I corrected myself.
"Wow," he repeated.
We talked and skated for a few more hours, and at 5:30 PM, we decided to head off.
We ended up at the entrance of my room.
"Thank you for an amazing day," I kissed him on the cheek. He wouldn't take that so he kissed me full on the lips.
We broke off. "Have a good night, Isabelle."
"You too, Carter."
He walked off smiling, leaving me to my lovestruck thoughts.
I opened the door, turned on the lights, and screamed. "Oh my God!"
Alex was sitting ever so casually on my bed.
"Alex," I said calmly. "Have you forgotten you're still just a maid here?!"
She grinned wickedly. "And have you forgotten, Princess, that maids are supposed to be in your room when you are not? We have to do our job, right?"
I stuck my tongue out at her.
"So tell me everything. Hear that? Everythiiiing."
"Okay, okay." I crumpled onto my bed.
"So...we went on a picnic on this beautiful place with a huge frozen lake. The blanket was filled with food from 'friends in the kitchen' like muffins, omelets, and even pizza!"
"Wow," she raised her eyebrows. "You can't find any pizza these days. My grandmother said they stopped its production when she was just a child." She nodded at me to go on.
I continued to tell her everything that happened.
I finished, "And so I kissed him on the cheek, but he wanted something else, so he kissed me on the lips." I blushed at this part.
"That's so fun! It's wonderful. Amazing. You two are adorable," Alex grinned afterwards.
"Thanks, I-"
The door flew open.
"Hello, Princess."
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Oh hey there, cliffy. ;)