"At least people aren't staring at us," I said, scrapping the last of my ice cream out of the cup.
"Is that what you're worried about?" he asked.
He looked mildly insulted. Did I say something wrong?
"Uh, yeah," I answered. "I mean, what else would I be worried about?"
He let out an exaggerated sigh. "I'll take that as a good thing. So, apart from eating ice cream, is there anything else you want to do?"
Honestly, I hadn't given it much thought about what we were going to do once we were out and about. What did couples do on a date? I should have done some research beforehand.
Then, it suddenly hit me. "Oh yeah. Let's look at something for you to wear," I blurted out. "You have that ball coming up, right? I doubt your dad is going to let you skip out on it. We can look at something for you."
He laughed. It was a genuine laugh too that made me feel like an idiot. My face warmed.
"Oh Rin," he sighed. "I have tailors that are going to take care of that."
I wondered if I threw something at him if that would hit him. Not to mention that ever since I started dating Alexander, I had become more violent.
"Well, excuse me," I said hotly. "You asked what I wanted to do and I told you."
"Right," he said, swallowing his laughter. "I shouldn't laugh."
"You just realized that, huh?"
Alexander's face suddenly lost all humor. I followed his line of sight and I immediately spotted Cassidy. She was with Lisa, Connor, and Miguel. Had they seen us before or after Alexander had noticed them? It was too late to do anything about that. We were seen.
Lisa wasted no time walking towards us. She didn't look surprised to see us together. Did that mean Cassidy had told her?
"Hello," Lisa said. She waved. "Fancy meeting you two here."
"Hi," I forced out.
Alexander didn't speak. Lisa kept the smile on her face but it was starting to look strained.
I cleared my throat. "You guys shopping for something?"
Lisa looked back at her friends who hadn't gotten any closer. "Kind of," she admitted. "We have a, uh, a party coming up so we're just shopping around. I mean, we know where we're going to get our dresses but we like to look around just for fun."
"Oh, that seems nice."
I thought back to the ball Alexander and Cassidy had mentioned. Was that their 'party' or something else? I thought only important people got invited to the ball. Were they important enough to get invited? No, that couldn't be it.
"What about you guys?" Lisa asked. "You here shopping too?"
"I'm . . . just here for the food," I told her.
She turned to Alexander but he still didn't reply. So much for helping me out here. Lisa's strained smile continued.
"Well, have fun," she said. "I won't take up any more of your time."
She waved again before heading back to her friends. When they were out of sight, I turned back to Alexander.
"Was that necessary?" I asked.
"She's beneath me," he replied. "I don't need to answer her questions."
I shook my head. " I hope you're not going to act like this when you're on the throne."
He sighed. "Rin, it isn't as easy as you think. Regardless of what anybody thinks, I am still the crowned prince. You might think it's rude but, in my society, we must still act according to our social class. It just so happened that Lisa is beneath mine."
I felt saddened hearing that. Didn't that mean that I was also beneath him? I understood what he meant, but that didn't make me feel any better.
"That makes sense," I finally said.
"Besides, didn't you want to keep this our relationship a secret?" he asked. "One way to stop someone from asking questions is to ignore them."
"I don't think it works like that," I said with a frown. "That just makes people more suspicious."
He shrugged. "What Lisa thinks is the least of my worries."
"How much free time do you have today?" I asked, trying to change the subject. "Do I just have you for a couple of hours or the whole day?"
"As of right now, I'm yours," he replied.
"Okay. Good. Then, let's go ice-skating. They have a rink on the first floor."
"You know how to ice-skate?"
"No, but I think today is a good day to learn. Besides, it's either that or staying here in this very awkward and uncomfortable silence."
Alexander smiled apologetically. "Alright. I'll teach you."
There was a short line at the ice-skating rink. Alexander got us our skates and led me onto the ice. I was latched on to him. My legs were stiff. It also didn't help that I wasn't dressed. appropriately.
"Rin," he said, swallowing down his laughter. "You have to relax."
"Shut up," I grumbled.
I tightened my grip on him. A child raced past us like this was second nature to him.
"See, if a human child can do this, you can too."
I shot a glare at Alexander. "He has nothing to do with me," I told him.
"You wanted to do this. So, as your instructor, I'm telling you to relax and stop holding onto me."
I raised an eyebrow. "Is that what you want?" I asked. "I'll stop touching you completely."
He gave me a look. "That's not what I meant." He grabbed my hands and pried them off of him. "Alright, let's practice standing."
He eased away but kept hold of my hands. I was locked in place.
"Breathe," he reminded me.
I took a deep breath and tried to unlock my joints. My knees trembled.
"Here." Alexander grabbed my elbows. "I'm going to teach you how to fall first."
"Falling is the last thing I want to do," I told him.
"You need to learn how to fall so you don't hurt yourself."
"Or," I said, "you can just hold on to me and we, meaning you, skate us around the rink. I think that's a better suggestion."
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to use this as an excuse."
"I don't need an excuse to touch you," I muttered.
"That sounds tempting but I think it'll be better for you to learn."
This was a bad idea. It was two hours of embarrassment and pain. Alexander would bump into me from time to time and I was supposed to fall properly. I think that was just his excuse for being mean. At some point, I did manage to fall properly a few times in a row so I was upgraded to holding on to the rail as skated.
By the time we walked off the ice skating rink, I couldn't walk properly. Alexander helped me with my shoes before leading me to a bench overlooking the rink. I plopped down with a groan. Whose idea was it to go ice skating? Oh, right. It was mine.
"Let me go give these back."
I waved him away. "Well, I'll be here. I can't go anywhere."
Alexander walked off with the shoes. Somehow, I managed to pull my shoes on. Off in the distance, there were some giggles. I turned and saw three girls clinging to one another. They whispered and pointed at someone by the ice skating rink.
They continued to whisper until one of them made her way towards me. The other followed a few steps behind.
"Excuse me," said the first girl. "Is he your boyfriend?" When she asked, she pointed at Alexander.
I frowned. "Uh, yes?" I answered.
Alexander hadn't told me how he looked like to everyone else. I had suggested that he'd look different but he never told me if he had. Come to think of it, I wasn't sure how he looked like to my parents.
"Really?" she asked.
The two girls behind her crept up. All three of them stared at me in shock. Insulted didn't cover what I was feeling at the moment. I wasn't the greatest looking person out there but I wasn't attractive (at least that is what I thought).
"Yes," I told her firmly. "He is my boyfriend."
They shared a glance amongst them. I guess I should have expected something like this to happen. Alexander was good looking though I would never outright admit it to him (he didn't have his ego any more inflated than it was already). Plus, didn't I know that there were a lot of girls that were attracted to Alexander? It was probably had to do with the fact that this didn't happen sooner.
"Oh my gosh, he's coming back."
The girls squealed as Alexander walked back.
"Was there something I could help you with?" I asked them.
I had just told them he was my boyfriend and yet they were still drooling over him right beside me. At least have the decency to do it somewhere else.
"Hey, ready to go?" Alexander asked walking up.
"Yeah," I told him. "I'm ready."
Somehow, I managed to stand without making a noise. Alexander placed his arm around my waist and we walked away from the girls without a backward glance.
You handled that very well, he told me.
"Did you think that I wouldn't say something?" I asked. "You're my b-boyfriend. Of course, I'm going to say something. I mean, you're probably used to this sort of thing."
"I'm used to getting fawned over," he admitted, "but I'm not used to having someone tell them to back off. I do like that feeling."
I ducked away from his gaze, embarrassed.
"When are you calling your parents?" he asked. "Considering how you're walking, I doubt you want to do anything else."
"No, I'm good," I assured him. "I just want to go home and give myself a massage. Maybe the soreness won't be so bad with some cream."
"I can give you a massage."
At this point, all I could do was shake my head. I didn't get anything out of rising to his bait. Plus, he just liked to tease.
Alexander waited for me at the pickup exit until my parents arrived. When my parents pulled up to the curb, Alexander said goodbye to them before taking off. My mom wouldn't stop asking questions. What did you guys do? How were his friends? Are you going to have more friends now?
I tried to answer her as best as I could but her questions were endless. A part of me felt like Dad had put her up to it. I told them half-truths. We went ice skating and "Alex's" friends taught me how. I didn't lie about falling or the number of bruises I was probably going to wake up with. They seemed content with that.
By the time we made it come, my body was ready to give out. I dragged my feet to my room and towards my bed. With a groan, I fell upon it. Something crumbled underneath me.
I jumped up and searched around. There was a small envelope sealed with max. My name was written on it. As soon as I saw it, my stomach sank. I was almost 100 % certain who had delivered this.
Gingerly, I broke the seal and opened the thick envelope. Inside, was an invitation written in cursive. I was cordially invited to the Royal Ball held two weeks from now as a guest of the (family name). I was to be picked up at my house, taken to the event, and returned home.
It seemed like the favor I owed had finally caught up with me.