Amy's POV

After school, I meant to stop by Blue's, but was interrupted when I got a call that I would have to cater to the bitchiest and most arrogant people on this land.

Who? I didn't know...until I saw Logan Christophe, Tood Rune, Emmett Lorre, and Nikolai Tyree with Candace being led into the dining room. FML. The entire night, I was trying to move and serve quickly with my head down so that Nik wouldn't see my face.

After eighth period, I didn't want him to. He acted like a proud royal and then contradicted himself. His pride was a big enough transgression considering he was opposite at the ball.

"Here," I answered Kelly over the phone when I told her to guess where a certain band of royal asses were right now. The last course was already served and the next time I'd have to see them would be school tomorrow, but of course they'd be avoided.

"Well what are you doing now?" she asked.

"I'm in the kitchen doing absolutely nothing," I answered.

"Why?" she asked.

"What do you mean, 'why'?! There's nothing else to do at this point!" I whispered.

"Gah," I heard her sigh.

"While you relish in my confusion and frustration, I got to go," I lied.

"Amy—" click.

I made my way to the bathroom and looked as my stringy hair hung in my face. Why in the world did I even stress about finding a guy to make me feel like a princess? I wasn't pretty enough to be. I wasn't interesting enough to be. As I stared at my drab face, someone opened the restroom door and closed it as quickly as he entered. I looked over to see Nik. He held up a finger to his lips and I stayed quiet. After a couple of moments, he let his held breath go.

"What are you doing?" I asked him. To think, I could've actually been using the restroom! Without answering my question, he made his way to the window.

"Where does this lead to?" he asked me.

"The back field?" I answered. Why did it matter to him? He opened the window and sat on the ledge.

"I know the girls are bad, but..." I prompted. He looked over to me.

"Just tell them that...I got food poisoning," he said.

"Why should I?" I asked. "Just so they can blame me for poisoning the prince out of jealousy? No way."

"I order you—" he stopped himself. "You're that girl."

Sh!t. He remembered the ball. No, no, no, no, no.

"You're that girl from the trainer's," he clarified, making me relax.

"Yeah so?"

"You know, you have quite a bit of attitude for a peasant," he commented.

"You know, you have quite bit of tendency to be a royal jerk," I managed to retort. He gave me a mean look after he winced into an offended frown. "And I am not a peasant girl!"

"Says the girl who cooks the food, serves the guests, and—"

"I can't decide how my step siblings treat me," I interrupted.

"Lydia and Leticia are your sisters?" he asked. I rolled my eyes.

"Aren't you gonna jump?" I asked him to change the subject and literally get rid of him.

"Do you want me to?" he smirked.

"Quite frankly, yes," I answered, honestly. He gave me an incredulous look before hopping out the window. I rushed over to see if he made it. He didn't look back up as he started to run off.

"Where's Nik?" Candace asked when I emerged from the hallway.

"He got food allergies and had to leave," I lied.

"And he couldn't have told me?" she asked with a hand over her heart.

"W—well he wanted to leave early enough so he could have time to get home before dark," I added. Why was I lying for him?

"Uh, I gotta go," a voice said. I looked to Emmett.

"Aw. You don't have to," Lydia said.

"Yeah. You can stay," Leticia added.

"No, we can't," Logan denied. They said their goodbyes—making me question why they were so persistent to leave—and then departed quickly.

***

"She plays volleyball, she cooks, she cleans, she lies," a familiar voice described. I rolled my eyes as I looked over to Nik, who arrived to school earlier than his posse. "Tell me. What else can you do?"

"I can smack jerks in the face, wanna see?" I threatened.

"Quite feisty, huh, peasant?" he teased. I gritted my teeth of that, but refrained from back-talking. He could report me for disrespect to royalty. And I could do nothing about it. He could call me every name in the book and I couldn't title him with any but 'prince' or 'your highness'. He could claim me to any title class and I'd live through it. But I couldn't do the same to him.

"So, did you ever manage to tell your girlfriend what really happened last night?" I brought up.

"Did I ever mention that it's none of your damn business?" he retorted. I slouched in my seat. "Exactly. So shut up."

And this was the guy, who I thought I could have some interest in from the ball?

"Hey, man, good call last night," Emmett greeted him.

"Yeah."

"Why'd that happen?" Emmett asked. Did he lie to his best friend as well?

"I don't know?" Nik answered.

"Well what have you done?" he asked of him. Done?

"Absolutely nothing," Nik answered, but I knew it was a lie somehow. From the corner of my eye, I saw Emmett lean over and whisper to Nik.

"Maybe that's the problem. Ever since the ball, I've changed—for the better, but you...not so much," I heard him whisper.

"But you know her—"

"No I don't," Emmett denied. "I know her as much as you know her."

There was an awkward silence and then my phone rang. Considering it was before school, technically, I was allowed to answer.

"Hello?" I asked.

"I—I know where I put your stuff," Blue's voice told.

"You're calling me now about it?" I asked, confused.

"Well only because I'm afraid that—"

"That what?" I asked. There was a silence and then I looked and saw that the call was dropped. Great. "UGH."

"Problems, peasant?" a familiar voice asked. I turned to face the jerk.

"You are so lucky you're—"

"Gorgeous, hot, irresistible, sexy, smart, powerful—" the only thing that made him stop was a slap to his shoulder by Emmett. I just scoffed and turned around with my arms crossed.

***

"Hey, peasant, do you have my physical yet?" Nik asked me during eighth period. You know, I wanted to take sports medicine to stay away from jocks and jockettes, unless they were hurt. Yet this fool is always here.

"Here," I said, shoving the packet of papers at him. He looked through it as if something could be missing. I scoffed and went back to work. Moments later, I realized that he remained here. "You can go to class now."

"I don't know where to go," he said. He looked to me with a smirk. "Show me."

I rolled my eyes and got up. He followed me to the door.

"You go out that door, take a left and then that's the office," I pointed. When I turned around, he was right behind me. My breath stopped.

"I said 'show me', not 'tell me'," he whispered with his breath hitting my face.

"Well unlike you, I have a class to be at," I told him.

"I can change that—"

"Don't you have a girlfriend to play these games with?" I asked him.

"Not for long," he said, just like the night of the ball...

"Why don't you prove that?" I asked.

"What?"

"Nothing," I lied. He smirked.

"You think I should break up with Candace?" he asked.

"Why would it matter about a peasant's thoughts?" I retorted.

"You know, for a peasant, you sure have a lot of opinions," he said with narrowed eyes.

"Mmh...thanks," I replied with a sarcastic smile.

"I suppose you wouldn't mind."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked him.

"Nothing," he smirked with a mischievous look that matched my previous one.

"Do you try to annoy me as much as you can?" I asked, starting to walk him down the hall.

"Is it working?" he asked. I scoffed. "I'm kidding. And plus, you know my secret. I can't have my girlfriend finding out about me sneaking out, right?" Amongst other things, my prince...amongst other things...

"Mmh..." I said. I reached the boys' gym, where there were dozens of football guys outside their locker room, cleaning their equipment and gear since their season had ended.

"Hey, sweetheart," I heard I guy say. "Cleaning is a woman's job. Do it for me?"

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. I looked to Nik.

"Have fun being a meat head," I muttered before hitting my shoulder with his side—since he towered over me—and walked off.

***

Nik's POV

"This guy," I heard someone say as I sat in the locker room, outside the coach's office.

"Who?"

"All the royals, actually," someone clarified. I shifted positions as I listened in. "Especially Tyree. He has the finest girl in school, and yet he still tries for other girls. There's not one girl in our class level that he hasn't talked with. Whether pity or not!"

"So what?" his friend asked.

"It's simple. Don't try and spit game to girls that aren't your girlfriend," the first guy said.

"Cuz being a man whore is your job, correct?" his friend asked.

"Not anymore," he denied. I stood up and rounded the lockers' corner.

"Not to interrupt, but I don't think it's your say to declare me and my social life," I told the two football players. They gave me a look unlike most people, and then I left to meet with the coach.

Their looks varied from others' because it wasn't of respect. Girls of all ages and younger classmates looked to me with respect and closer friends and acquaintances looked to me commonly. Seniors—male seniors especially bigger than me obviously decided to disobey from the norm. They did not bow in presence; they did not speak with modesty, or give a damn about my title. Much like a familiar peasant girl.

***

"For the last time, watch where you're going!" Candace roared at the girls' sister and best friend.

The girl scanned me and Candace before smirking and snickering.

"Don't laugh at me you peasant," Candace said, appalled. "Or at your royal."

"Sorry," the blonde and brown frizzy haired girl grumbled and started to bow, but the peasant girl stopped her as if knowing the secret that the gesture was unnecessary for her.

"Just because he's royalty, doesn't mean that you are," the girl said to Candace. She looked to her sisters. "That goes for you as well."

"Well he's my boyfriend. I have the right," Candace replied. The girl looked to me and then back at Candace.

"Says who?" she muttered before grabbing her friend's wrist and leaving.

"You can take that up with my mother!" Lydia yelled after her.

"She's so ungrateful," Leticia said.

Ungrateful wasn't the word I was thinking...

***

"Cantwell...Cantwell..." I said as I browsed the giant library that had all family history in it. That was Lydia and Leticia's last name, so it was my best hope for finding their step-sister, maybe.

"What are you looking for?" Emmett asked.

"Volleyball!" I remembered without answering him. I closed the book and swiftly walked to where they kept the yearbooks from all the schools. I found last year's Richland yearbook. I went back to the table and flipped the pages to find the picture of the volleyball team. I looked at the labeling and found her name: Amy St. Claire.

I looked through the library to find St. Claire.

"Dude. You are not looking up her family history," Emmett groaned.

"I'm not so sure she has one..." I said, noticing that her name didn't come up; the only St. Claire family was just a middle-aged couple that was deceased with a one child.

"Or maybe the fact that she's a minor and you can't really have anything written on her legally," Emmett whispered. I closed the book and sighed. So I'd have to learn about her the hard way. "Is she the one?"

"The one what?" I asked.

"You know..." he prompt. "The girl from the ball? The prophecy girl?"

"I don't know, but...she's definitely interesting," I answered.

"Wait...Amy...I think she's in one of my classes other than geography," Emmett said.

"Dude! Then help me!" I pleaded.

"Chill...I would've talked to her anyways," he said. I cocked an eyebrow and felt my heart tick once in jealous that was masked as brief anger. "Her best friend...I think she's the girl that I met at the ball."

"How do you know?" I asked.

"I...I always find myself staring at her...her voice sounds familiar...and I see the way she acts around me," he answered.

"Lucky..." I grumbled. "All I have is a shoe."

A shoe that sat in my closet so it wouldn't be disturbed. But how could I even find a girl that way? Although it was ironic, this wasn't Cinderella. I couldn't go door to door looking for a girl to match a shoe, but why would I even try? Emmett and his girl spent the entire night together—all I had was a few minutes. And I had a girlfriend anyways. But maybe I could look, without her finding out? Or find some will power to break it off with her...

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