A Jottie Romance - The Rosewood Chronicles

Chapter 9 - Heartbreak

Lottie's P.O.V:

Elated. That was the only word to describe how Lottie felt since that Sunday. It was now a Tuesday, and she had a free period. She was sat on a bench, opposite the pond with the statue of Ryley. The sky was filled with grey clouds, ready to rain, so Lottie wanted to get some fresh air whilst she still could. With her sketchbook and pencil, she began to draw Ryley the statue.

That's when she saw him. Jamie. They hadn't spoken much since the kiss, which was still a secret, so they both pretended that everything was normal between them. But Ellie wasn't acting normal recently; she seemed to have an intense mood swing every few hours that Lottie tried her best to deal with, and she acted short and cold around not only Lottie, but also Jamie.

There was definitely something up with Ellie. If only I knew what, she wondered.

Lottie looked up, and saw Jamie walking towards her, sitting down next to her on the bench. She greeted him, but he didn't seem to be able to look her in the eye. Instead, he just stared off past the pond, and into the Rose Wood, a vacant mask on his face once more. Something was clearly wrong with Jamie now too.

"Jamie...are you okay?" She asked him tenderly. "Is there something wrong?" He turned around to look at her, still avoiding her eyes. A lock of his dark hair flopped in front of his intense brown eyes and Lottie found herself suddenly breathless.

"Lottie, about the other day," he began, "I know that there's something between us...but...it can't grow."

This wasn't what Lottie was expecting to hear. "What...what are you talking about?"

"What I mean is," he continued, still avoiding eye contact, "you're a Portman, who everyone believes is the princess. And I'm her Partizan. A Portman and Partizan can't date. A princess can't date."

It hit Lottie hard like a blow. If I'm the 'Princess of Maradova', than I can't date. Especially not 'my' own Partizan who is not of royal blood. I can't date Jamie. At least, not in the public eye...

"Well, no one has to know about us. We could keep it a secret and the press will never know!"

"Lottie, you know that it doesn't work like that. The world will find out, one way or another. We can't risk Ellie's reputation like this. It's our job to protect her, not create and spread more rumours about her."

"But...but surely we can do something... We...we can pretend that you're of royal descent, right? Maybe..." She trailed off, desperately grasping at any attempt to try and convince Jamie. She didn't want to lose this soft, caring side of him. But from the look on his face, she knew it was too late. His cold, indifferent mask was close to cracking, a vulnerability in his eyes, yet a firm, resolute look there too. He had made up his mind. There was no persuading him.

"I'm sorry, Lottie." His voice was barely a whisper, and there was a pained look on his face, in his eyes. Lottie wanted nothing more than to say or do something, anything, to make that hurt expression go away, but she didn't know how to. She could feel her heart shattering into broken pieces, not just for herself, but for Jamie too. The very least she wanted in life was for him to be happy. Clearly, she was incapable of that.

Jamie held Lottie's gaze, then he got up, and walked back to the Ivy dorms. Her heart was breaking with every step he took in the direction away from her. Then, finally, the sky above started to rain, it's tears falling in time with Lottie's.