Sam stood in the mirror and admired her new dress. It was the day before she and Justin would graduate, and she had been forced to buy a dress for the ceremony. Normally, dresses and skirts weren’t her style, but she had to admit that this one looked good. She leaned in to apply some lip gloss and then heard a knock at the door.
“Come in,” she called.
The door opened and she turned to see that it was Justin. He glanced over her, surprised at how she looked in the dress. “You look stunning.”
He hesitated and then gave her a huge hug. He held her for a long time, longer than she expected. He ran his fingers up and down her back and then he slowly pulled away. He looked into her eyes, and it gave her butterflies. That’s when she knew it wasn’t Justin staring back at her.
“Ryan?” she breathed out.
He nodded. “Please let me talk to you. I just want to start over with complete honesty.”
She looked at the ground. “I don’t know if I can do that.”
He nodded, dejectedly, feeling hopeless.
She saw his disheartened expression, and then spoke up again, “…but maybe I could try.”
His face lit up and he took her hand. “Okay, well let me introduce myself. I’m Prince Ryan Phillipe III. I like Cherry Coke and watching the sun go down from the Tower. I hate sour milk, taking orders, and also when the water turns cold in the shower.”
Sam giggled. “Nice to officially meet you, Ryan.”
He bent to kiss her hand, like she was the royal one and smiled. “The pleasure is all mine.”
“I can’t believe you actually got on a horse!” Sam laughed, almost spilling her soda. She, Ryan, Justin, and Olivia were all eating dinner at the pizza place where she had been so many times before.
Ryan laughed out loud. “I bet it was just a pony!”
“Actually, Your Highness, my horse was a black stallion named Shadow,” Justin said, sticking his nose in the air.
“Hey, how come Emma never gave ME a stallion!?” Ryan pouted.
Olivia giggled. Sam smiled, looking back and forth between the two. She could definitely tell the difference between them now. It was just a matter of getting used to having two of them around. “Maybe after I pay for college, I’ll give you a horse, okay Ryan?”
He smiled at Sam, happily. “Okay, Babe.” Then he stuck his tongue out at Justin.
Olivia frowned, defending her brother. “Real mature, Prince Ryan.”
“Yeah and that comes from an eight year old,” Justin laughed.
Ryan pointed at Justin. “You better be nice to me, man. I have something for you, but I could always take it back.”
The girls perked up, curiously. Justin looked up at him, “What do you mean?”
“So after my parents calmed down, they decided that they still wanted me around, after all,” He laughed. “But, they think we need to hire an assistant at the palace who knows how to reach out to the people and how to plan events for charity.”
Justin looked confused. “Don’t your servants, like William do that?”
Ryan nodded. “Yeah, but they can‘t do the job like you do. We want you, J.”
Olivia squealed with delight. “Justin, a job!”
Sam smiled as Justin‘s jaw dropped. “You’re serious?”
Ryan smiled and nodded. “Only if you’d be willing to abide by the terms…”
Olivia wrinkled her nose. “Terms?”
Ryan paused before continuing. “You and your family, meaning Olivia, would have to move into the palace immediately until you can afford to live close by.”
Olivia and Sam both squealed this time, nearly jumping out of their seats. Justin just smiled from ear to ear, trying to let it all sink in.
Olivia threw her arms around his neck. “Justin, it’s a miracle! Do you know what this means?”
“Yeah, sweetie,” he said, smiling down at her. “We’re finally going to have a home.”
Sam waited until Olivia and Justin weren’t looking, and then she kissed Ryan’s cheek. He looked over at her surprised. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she whispered.
“Does that mean I’m on your good side?” Ryan asked, smiling mischievously.
Sam squeezed his hand under the table and winked. “Almost.”
Emaria was led towards the dock and wrapped her arms around her small body. She was supposed to be doing a photo shoot outdoors, but the weather was about to change her plans. She could see clouds rolling in as the photographer ushered her towards the tiny rowboat, where she would have her pictures taken. “If we hurry, we can beat the storm,” he said.
She nodded and climbed into the boat. She sat down and did her best to be patient as the photographer prepared his film and cameras. She noticed the wind rippling the water and fought to keep her teeth from chattering.
Being in the rowboat gave her a déjà vu feeling as she remembered the last time she was in such a boat. Thinking back on the romantic moment, made her shiver even more. She should have known that Justin wasn’t Ryan from the beginning. He was too sweet and thoughtful to have ever been a prince. Maybe a prince wasn’t what she wanted after all.
Emma finally stopped pushing the thoughts of Justin away and listened to her heart. HE was the one who had invited her over and walked her through the romantic garden. HE was the one who had listened to her as she talked about her family and what was upsetting her. HE was the one who went out of his way to make her feel special every second of every day he was with her. HE was the one who put aside his pride to fearfully climb on a horse. HE was the one who sang to her in a rowboat like this one…not a prince.
She forced a smile for the camera as these thoughts ran through her head. It was then that she had to honestly ask herself, which was better? The pauper or the prince? Respect or royalty? Love or money?
“Justin!” she yelled, resolutely. The photographer looked at her as if she were insane. ‘Maybe I am,’ she thought. ‘I am crazy. Crazy in love with a guy named Justin.’
The rowboat tilted from side to side as she began to row herself toward the dock. “Princess Emaria? What are you doing? We aren’t finished with the shoot yet…”
The photographer’s voice rang out as she climbed onto the dock and started running away. She called back, “We’ll do it another time, okay?”
She ran as fast as she could to her house and announced to a servant at the door that she needed a car immediately. “We can have a driver prepared for you…”
Emma shook her head. “There’s no time.”
Another servant approached and tossed her the keys to one of their many vehicles. She smiled at him. “Thank you!”
The rain poured down on her windshield as she approached a beat up apartment building. She quickly parked and opened the door to her car. Running towards the building she knew had been Justin’s, she pulled open the door. Sprinting up the stairs, she stopped at his door and banged on it. “Justin?! Olivia?! Anybody home?” She yelled.
A neighbor across the hall stepped out. “Those kids moved out a couple weeks ago.”
She said a quick a thank you and dashed down the stairs. ‘Where would they have gone?’ she thought as she climbed back into her car. ‘Think. If I were Justin, where would I go?’
Suddenly a light bulb went on. ‘Samantha’s! Of course!’ She picked up her cell phone and dialed information. After receiving the address, she sped off to Sam’s house, splashing water on the old apartment building.
Several miles later, she pulled to a stop in front of Sam’s house. She barely took the key out before scrambling out of the car. As she ran up the driveway to the door, she noticed her soaking wet hair and clothes clinging to her body. She rang the doorbell a couple times before a figure appeared in the doorway. To her disappointment, it wasn’t Sam or Justin, or even Olivia. It was Sam’s father.
“They’re all at the graduation,” He told her and began to give her directions to the high school. As soon as he finished, she took off again. Sam’s dad waved his hand and called out after her, “Go get him, Princess!”
