I hopw you guys are still enjoying this book, despite the long wait between updates... I'm kind of losing interest, but maybe I can go on an editing streak soon and just get it over with. It does get more interesting as it gets closer to the end. (Yes this is a hint to keep reading it :P)
Thanks for reading, first person to vote/comment gets the dedication!
After breakfast, Kia spent the rest of the day training me. Until the clock reached five and she ordered me to get dressed up nice. She’d made me wear one of the only dresses we’d bought and I had to admit, it looked good.
The silky fabric was a vibrant shade of green to match my strawberry blonde curls that I had pulled into a style called ‘Belle’ because of the Disney princess. I borrowed a bit of Kia’s make up and achieved a look I was happy with. Something that had become rare after joining this lot and having absolutely no time to waste on appearances.
I left the bathroom and found Zane in his usual attire, reading a book, lounging on the bed. He looked up when I came in and his mouth fell open in shock. “You look… beautiful.”
I blushed as dark as my hair. “Thanks; you’re coming to, right?”
“Of course I’m coming, it is a date. Dates usually require two people,” he replied, sitting up. His words made me freeze.
I turned to face him. “What are you talking about? I thought we were going to a party…”
“No, we’re going to a restaurant downtown, I told Kia to tell you,” he said, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
A knock came from the door so I hurried over to it. I opened it and came face-to-face with a normally clothed Kia. “You told me we were going to a party!”
She raised an eyebrow at me. “I figured you wouldn’t wear one of the dresses if I told you it was just a date.”
“You lied to me,” I complained as she barged inside.
Zane smiled at her, revealing a small dimple appearing in his left cheek. “Thanks Kia, she looks good.”
“It was my pleasure,” she chirped before turning to me and holding out a pair of silver heels. “You can wear heels, can’t you?”
“Yeah,” I muttered, yanking them out of her grip. I put them on without looking up. It was safe to say that I was a bit embarrassed at my lack of knowledge. And upset with her for lying and making me appear stupid.
Once the shoes were on, I stood up and Kia clapped. “You look awesome!”
“I look overdressed.”
She shook her head. “Nonsense, have fun on your date!” She was halfway through the door when she added, “Oh, and, I told you so!” And then she was gone.
I sighed and turned to Zane who was now leaning against the wall. “Should I change?” I felt pretty in the fancy clothes, but I didn’t want to go to somewhere low-key dressed like a princess. A princess... That’s what I’d be if we succeeded. I tried not to dwell on that.
“No, you look amazing,” he told me, placing his hands on my hips and pulling me against him. He smiled down at me after a soft kiss.
I smiled back and stepped away from him. “Come on, let’s go.”
“Alright,” he joined my side and held the door open for me. Zane was not the type of person I’d expected to have such good manners, but hey, people always surprise you, don’t they?
Zane was driving us out of the parking lot before it occurred to me that I still didn’t know where we were going. So I asked him.
“It’s a restaurant I found on the internet with pretty good reviews. And, by the way, you’re paying,” he winked at me, keeping most of his focus on the road.
I laughed. “I figured.”
“Yeah… so… ha, I don’t know what to say. It’s been forever since I’ve been on a date,” he admitted. It made sense that saving the world didn’t allow much time for anything recreational.
I shrugged. “Well, don’t ask me! I haven’t been on any dates that I can remember.”
“Really? Why not?” He glanced at me for half a second, but it was long enough for his teal eyes to make me forget all about our conversation.
“I was too busy with the circus and trying to figure out my past. Besides, I wasn’t really attracted to anyone I worked with,” I replied once I’d gotten ahold of my senses again.
His smile made my stomach flutter. “Oh. Well, I’m flattered to have caught your attention.”
“You should be,” I teased, brushing my hands along the dress. The silky fabric felt odd under my hand, but also perfect. I was used to wearing silky dresses… The car began to blur. “Zane, I…” And I was whisked into a memory before I could even finish warning him.
I admired the ballroom as I glided in on pink flats. My dress was the same color and almost reached my knees with another part that trailed behind me. It was my seventh birthday party and I was standing between my two best friends. Kia was on my right, Blake on my left.
“It’s beautiful,” Kia breathed, looking around the room. Everything was bright pink and sparkly, exactly like I had wanted.
I nodded with a smile. “Yeah it is.”
“How many people do you think are here?” Blake asked, observing the crowd rather than the decorations.
I smiled at all the people that had turned to watch us enter. “Hello,” I greeted them, following my friends to the table adorned with drinks. Neither Kia nor I bothered to answer Blake, how should we know how many people there were?
“Ugh, I hate pink,” a boy with dark hair muttered. His green eyes were narrowed and darting around the room with distaste.
I marched over to him my mood already souring. “Excuse me? This is my birthday party!”
“Are you obsessed with this color?” He asked. “I don’t see why you would be, it’s disgusting.”
“You’re mean.”
He rolled his eyes, trying to act like a grown up. “No, I’m not! I’m bored, your party sucks. At my party, we had lots of different decorations and people that did magic tricks. And there were animals too.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “My party is pretty. Who are you anyways?”
“Prince Zane,” he said proudly. I scowled, he thought he was so cool.
“Well I’m Princess Victoria and this is my house and my party. And if you keep being mean, I’m going to kick you out.” My mother would lecture me on good manners later, but I didn’t care right then.
He laughed in my face. “Yeah right, my dad is the king of Ridgewood, he wouldn’t let you kick us out so ha!”
The boy grinned and I frowned in return as Blake and Kia joined us. Blake observed the boy critically like he did with everything. He was going to become a guardian and wanted to show how good of a job he would do. “Who are you?”
Zane repeated what he’d told me, but added, “Who are you?”
“I’m going to be Tori’s guardian,” he answered formally, making me smile. I loved my friends; they were amazing.
Prince Zane rolled his eyes again, “You- a guardian? Yeah right.” He wouldn’t stop laughing so I did what I had to. I slapped him. That shut him up.
“Stop it, you’re just mean to everyone,” I exclaimed before grabbing my friends’ wrists and pulling them away from the mean prince. Hopefully I would never have to see him again.
My eyes snapped open as I regained consciousness. Zane had parked the truck and was waiting for me nervously. When he saw me looking at him, a look of relief spread across his face. At any other time, I would’ve been flattered by it. “What did you remember this time?”
“You were in it,” I informed him, still feeling a little woozy.
His eyes got wide. “So it was recently then? From right before you went missing?”
“Actually it was from when I was seven, I had a pink birthday party and you were complaining about that so I slapped you,” I reminded him, blushing lightly. I could probably write a book on how to ruin a date with a boy you really like. Maybe it would become a best seller; I could see it now!
Zane looked confused for a minute before his mouth fell open in realization. “That was you!? I completely forgot about that until now…”
“Yeah, sorry about that, but you were being a bit rude.” And there I go again. Why couldn’t my mouth just stop talking when I asked it to?
“I was only being honest!” He argued.
“Sure, so where are we?” There, get away from the topic of us hating each other in the past.
“A restaurant,” he answered evasively, getting out of the car. I climbed out as well, feeling a little light headed from the memory. Zane quickly walked around and laced his arm around my waist to help support me. I didn’t really need it, but having his side pressed against mine felt nice.
I smiled at him thinking that maybe this date could be salvaged after all… if I didn’t do anything else to ruin it, like spilling my drink on him. Maybe I won’t get a drink just to make sure that doesn’t happen.