"Have fun?" A voice interrupted my thoughts as I leaned back against the door.
I jerked away from the door, my thoughts of the past couple hours vanishing from my head. Elisa, Cora, and Beth were all staring, smirks on their faces. Cora wiggled her eyebrows at me, while Beth and Elisa smiled amusingly.
"Stop staring at me like that!" I blushed, giggling a bit. Since when did I act like a silly little schoolgirl? That boy was already messing with my head.
Cora laughed but, thank god, Beth saved me from being teased further.
"I'm glad you had fun, but Prince Derek brought you back later than we'd thought he would. We really have to get you ready for dinner." Beth said, leading me over to the vanity where makeup was scattered.
While they touched up my makeup and hair, they asked me questions about my date with Derek. They seemed disappointed with the lack of romance, which was utterly stupid considering it was a first date, and were mortified when I described what we had talked about.
"You actually teased him? And hit him on the arm?" Beth asked, looking like she was about to cry.
"Um, yeah. Wait, was I not supposed to do that? He didn't seem to have a problem with it." I shrugged.
Beth stared at me, horror on her face. "He's the prince, Erika. Not some regular boy you'd flirt with on the street."
I blushed. "But he's a person too, isn't he? And if I acted like some prissy proper princess, I wouldn't be acting like myself. How can you start a relationship on a lie?"
Beth looked at me. "Celia's going to hate you once you start etiquette lessons."
I couldn't help but snort. "She already does."
Beth sighed. "At least tell me that you don't eat your food with your hands."
I rolled my eyes. "I grew up on a farm, not a cave."
"To Celia that's practically the same thing." Elisa walked over, carrying a cream colored evening dress.
She motioned for me to stand up, and helped me into the dress. "Just don't act like an animal, and you'll get along just fine."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence Elisa." I rolled my eyes as I slipped my feet into a pair of shoes.
"My pleasure." She grinned. "Now get out of here before you're late."
The good thing was that there was no person standing in front of the door, so I didn't trip anyone on my way out. The bad news was that that meant I would be walking down to dinner by myself, and that I was probably late. I rushed down the stairs as quickly as I could without tripping, and finally burst into the Great Room.
I wasn't the last person there thankfully, so I curtsied quickly and rushed to my seat.
Audrey frowned at me from across the table when I sat down. "Where were you?" She asked, while other girls leaned in to hear what I had to say.
"I fell asleep." I lied quickly, not wanting to tell everyone I'd been on a date. The last thing I wanted was all the girls hating me on my third day at the palace.
Audrey sniffed, but before she could say anything else, Derek walked in. He was wearing a different suit than earlier, and his hair looked neatly combed. He flashed a grin towards us, causing girls to fall into giggles and swoons. He took his seat at the table with his family, in between Genevieve and Princess Everly. Even after our food was set in front of us, the girls were gossiping over him.
Liana rolled her eyes at me. "They don't even know a thing about him. How can they possibly talk this much about him?"
I shrugged. "It's probably all lies. I doubt he had time for more than one date before me."
She squeaked. "You've been on a date with him?"
Oops. Hadn't meant to let that slip.
"Oh. Yeah...it was just before this. It was just a walk in the gardens; nothing special." I whispered quickly, hoping nobody else would hear.
She hit my arm. "That's huge! You were one of his first dates! What did you do?"
I shrugged. "We just walked in the garden and talked. I told you, it wasn't anything special."
She sighed. "Well, what was he like?"
"He was nice. And funny. Sweet too." I shrugged again.
She rolled her eyes. "You're ridiculous. When none of these other girls are around, you are telling me every single detail, got it?"
I chuckled. "Alright Liana. But trust me, it wasn't that exciting."
"I doubt that." She scoffed, and turned back to her food.
After a while, girls started excusing themselves from dinner. Liana and I stayed for a while, until it was just us and some of the royal family. I looked up to see Derek walking towards us, but Genevieve beat him to our table.
"Hello girls." Genevieve grinned as she strutted up to us, her hair flowing behind her. Derek stopped in his tracks, dumbfounded at the fact that his sister was talking to Liana and I.
"Hi Genevieve." Liana and I smiled at her.
"How was the rest of your day?" She sat down beside me.
"Boring. Although Erika here had a wonderful date with your brother." Liana smirked at me.
"Liana!" I gasped and glared at her.
Genevieve laughed. "I know. He told me he was going to ask you out. He didn't know that you and I were already friends, but he does now." She motioned to where Derek was, still staring at us.
I blushed. "He told you?"
She nodded. "We tell each other everything. We are twins after all. I'll find out all the juicy secrets about him and the other girls. It was smart of you to become friends with me."
I tilted my head. "Didn't you tell us that we would be friends when we first met? This morning?"
She shrugged. "That's not the point. Anyways, I came over here to tell you to come to my room tomorrow. We can talk and do whatever you want to do. I'll tell the guards you two are allowed up on the third floor to see me. See you then." She said, popping up from her seat and flouncing out the door.
Liana watched her go. "She's an interesting princess, isn't she?"
"That she is." Derek walked over before I could say anything. "I see you two have met my sister."
Liana stood quickly, pulling me up with her. "Hello Prince Derek. And yes, we have."
Derek smiled amusedly. "I'm surprised that she's decided to be friends with you all. Everly was the one excited to meet you all, not her."
I shrugged. "Some people can surprise you. She's definitely one of them."
He nodded slowly, smiling at me. "Yes, some people definitely can."
_________________________
Just a quick little update for you guys. I'm sorry it's been so long but school and soccer have hit me like a truck. I have no motivation or time to write after school, and then weekends are filled with soccer. Not sure when the next update will be, but hopefully it's soon. For my Blue Hill readers, I'm not sure when the first chapter will be edited by, but I hope to start the editing and rewriting process soon. Please comment and vote, I love you all!
(P.S. Holy crap guys. This book is getting so close to 1K reads, and that is just beyond amazing. Seeing your comments and votes gives me the motivation to keep writing, and I'm so glad you guys enjoy this. This book is nearing the halfway point, and I'm so excited because I have so much planned for this series. Thanks for your support guys, it means so much!)