Jottie: Rewritten - The Rosewood Chronicles

"Our Choice" • UP

Chapter 34, Undercover Princess

A/N: Some of this story is extracted straight from Chapter 34 in 'Undercover Princess', the first instalment of the series, so the credits go to Connie Glynn.

I hardly think that I have to recap this iconic scene, but for those of you who somehow can't remember, the summary is as follows.

Lottie and Jamie are together by the Conch pool, away from the others at the New Year's party. Jamie's drink has been spiked, which means his guard comes down, showing Lottie his vulnerable side for the first time. Sparks seem to pass between the two of them, and they see each other in a different light.

This is how the scene could've been if Lottie had realised that she liked Jamie.

"Don't you ever wish you could just be an ordinary boy?"

Lottie blurted out the question before she'd even processed it. Her mental question from moments before continued to ring in her head: Who are you, Jamie Volk?

When he didn't reply, Lottie instantly regretted asking such a rude question, wondering if she'd blown her chance at ever uncovering his mystery.

"I'll never be an ordinary boy."

She tensed at his response. There was something undeniably vulnerable in his voice and she felt as if she was luring a deer towards her and had to be extremely delicate in case she scared it away.

Jamie stood up slowly, knocking over the dregs of his drink as he shook off his blanket. She watched as he walked to the gazebo's edge, leaning on one of the stone pillars, and stared out almost wistfully into the water's sapphire surface.

Carefully, still with the deer in her mind, Lottie stood beside him. She didn't know why she followed him, because she knew that he probably wanted to be alone, but it felt as if she were being pulled towards him, in a way that she didn't mind. She wanted to be near him. Lottie found that she always did.

The Conch House pool was hidden away behind thick rosehip bushes and crab apple trees, the red berries peeping out from the branches, contrasting to the dreamy blue atmosphere of the silky moonlit pool. They were isolated, just the two of them, away from the rest of the world. Alone.

"But hypothetically," Lottie asked gingerly, her heart beating faster, "if you could be?"

He smirked and gave her a little sideways glance. "I almost wonder if you're insulting my skills as a Partizan." Lottie was not expecting this response and Jamie laughed at her confused expression.

"What I mean is," he went on, "it's my job to try to blend in with the other students as much as possible. Do you not think I'm like other boys?" he asked, a glint of humour twinkling in his eyes.

Lottie playfully pretended to think for a moment, tapping her finger on her chin as if trying to tap the thoughts out of her head. "Hmm," she began, "I mean, for one you have about zero sense of humour, and you're so freakishly strong you're basically a superhero. You're definitely not like other boys." Because I don't fall for them like I fall for you, she added in her head, involuntarily blushing.

A soft smile spread over Jamie's lips and he laughed low, the sound humming through Lottie's body. For a split second, she wondered if he had read her mind again. To Lottie's surprise, she no longer found the thought of it creepy, but instead found it comforting. The twinkle vanished from Jamie's eyes and he was serious again, but he turned back to the water and she could sense that he was still with her.

"When you live your life for someone else, you find strength that you didn't know you were capable of." He spoke with such a powerful sense of assurance that it made Lottie's heart ache.