My Prince Charming

Chapter 1

Ava POV

When I was younger, I never had anything to worry about. I always had a nice house to live in, caring parents, and enough money for my parents to buy me gifts for every holiday.

But when I was 18, it started to go downhill. I remember my parents went out for the night to see an old friend. I was home alone, choosing school work over spending time with them, but now, I wished I had gone with them. I wish I had so badly.

When they were driving home, there was a drunk driver. They were driving through an intersection, but the drunk driver didn't stop like they were meant to. Instead, they rammed into the side of my parent's car. My dad was driving, and they rammed into his side. I was told that he died on impact, same with the drunk. My mother, on the other hand, was hospitalised. She had gotten hurt really badly, and the doctor told me that she was lucky to be alive. But of course, it wouldn't be as simple as that.

My mother had gotten paralysed. From the waist down. When I first saw her that night, I felt so sick. She was still covered with her blood, and she laid motionless on the hospital bed. The poor doctors had to encourage me repeatedly that she was alright. 

I had to wheel her out of the hospital a few weeks later, and she looked so defeated. She hadn't been the same when she left for dinner that night of the incident. She had been so happy and excited, but now, she was silent and defeated. I had never seen her that way in my entire life. And it wasn't any better that had my father died as well. She rarely spoke, and even though she couldn't, she demanded that she looked after herself; taking a shower, getting into bed, and things like that.

Another impact of the crash was money. My father died, which meant no more income from him, but my mother was paralysed. When she was in the hospital, she received a call from her boss at her IT company. Even though she was still recovering, he fired her there. Zero compensation. So, that left me to look after the money.

I had to quit my plans for a university and get a job. Not just one, but two! Since working at the markets didn't pay enough for rent and food, I had to get another one at a clothing shop. Working two jobs at a time, I had barely any time for myself to do what I wanted. I worked every day and barely scraped by. 

The only good thing about that was meeting my two best friends. Since I didn't have much spare time anymore, my old friends and I drifted apart. But that was fine because I met two people who were better than them.

Olivia and Quinnie. Olivia had light brown hair with green eyes and was the same age as me. She had met Quinnie in high school, and they had been inseparable ever since. Quinnie had blonde hair and brown eyes, and if you looked closely, you could see light freckles scattered over her face. We were all the same age, and I met them at the clothing shop when I was applying for a job opening. I am so glad that I met them because they were with me every step of the way.

I remember the first time I brought them to my house. My house was a lot more run down now that nobody was able to look after it. Weeds grew in the garden and the white paint was scratching off the wall, revealing the cream colour beneath it. The inside was much nicer than the outside, though. I always made sure to keep the house clean for my mother, because I didn't want to risk getting her sick. We just couldn't afford it. Whenever I had a cold, I just kept my distance from everyone. I couldn't afford to miss a day of work.

When I introduced Quin and Liv to my mother, the result was unexpected. They hit it off. My mother had been happier that night than she had been ever since she came back from the hospital. She was smiling the entire night and told them stories about her childhood, and mine. She told them a lot of embarrassing stories about me. But if that kept her smiling, she could tell them as much as she wanted.

After they left, my mother became more social and it was as though she was trying to reconnect with me after so much lost time. I was incredibly grateful for Olivia and Quin. I don't know what they did, but whatever it was made my mum happier.

That was 5 years ago. The three of us were inseparable, and my mother and I were as close as we were before the incident. 

It was now a Thursday afternoon, and I was working the fruit stand at the daily markets. The area was filled with wood market stands, all having a unique patterned roof. The roofs were made of fabrics, making each particular stand look different in a way. There were logos, plain colours, stripes, and more. My stand had a bunch of grapes in the middle, then the rest was coloured purple.

There were a series of gravel paths, giving customers the chance to see each store. In the middle of the markets, was a large fountain. The fountain was made of grey marble and had one large spout spitting water in the middle of the water. There were five smaller spouts evenly spread in the fountain, and there were two benches facing the fountain on opposite sides. I had a perfect view of the fountain because I worked at the stand next to it. There was still a good amount of space between my stand and the fountain, but I had a clear view of it.

I was packing fruits into a recyclable bag provided by the woman buying them. The woman was a regular customer at this stand, and she was very nice. She was an elderly woman, and always had her grey hair up in a bun. She knew about my financial situation, and always gave me extra money, and refused to accept the change. 

"Thank you, dearie." She beamed, handing me the money for the fruits. Once again, she gave me more than what was needed. I knew better at this point than to try to give her the change, so I gave her a smile as I handed her the bag of fruits. 

"Thank you. Have a nice day!" She gave me a wave before she waddled off to another stand. I smiled softly at her kindness, before focusing on replacing the fruits to look more appealing to customers.

"Hello, missy." I look up from the fruits to see Quin and Liv standing on the other side of the stand. I beamed up at them.

"Hey, you two. How have your days been so far?" I asked, returning back to the plums. I saw Olivia shrug.

"Same old, same old." Quinnie nodded in agreement, and I sat back down on the chair behind me.

"Same here," I responded. "But I'll probably have some fruits to take home." Whenever there were leftover fruits at the end of the day, my boss would let me take them home for my mother and me.

"That's good-" She was cut short by a sudden loud chatter. We looked in the direction of the noise and saw three horses striding down the path to my left. As they got closer to my stand, I got a better look at the men on the horses. On the outsides were two men in grand, silver armour. As they passed, I saw a crest on each of their chests. There was a shield coloured in purple and yellow, a rose with thorns in the middle that represented the Royal Family.

The Royal Family? What could they possibly need? If the men in armour weren't enough of an indication, the man in between the two was. The man wore purple and gold clothing that looked incredibly expensive. He held his head up high with confidence as he rode his horse and guards on the path towards the fountain. They turned their horses to face the crowd once they reached their destination, gaining everyone's attention. 

"Good afternoon, everyone!" He said clearly enough to be heard from the other side of town. "I come with news, regarding the Royal Family." There were whispers of excitement in the crowd that had formed from curiosity. 

"Yes, very exciting." The man laughed. From the way he held himself in front of everybody, but still spoke of the Royal Family as distant employers, I assumed he was an official sent out to give the surrounding towns messages from the family.

"In two days' time, the King and Queen will be hosting a masquerade ball at the Royal Palace-" He was cut short by shrieks of surprise and excitement from women in the crowd.

But not me. I wouldn't be able to attend anyway. I was more intrigued by the fact that there was a ball being held. The last ball held by the Royal Family was years and years ago; when I was a child. So why were they holding one now?

"If I may." The official said sternly, causing the chatter to immediately cease and all attention to go back to him once more. "Thank you."

"As I was saying, there will be a masquerade ball held at the Royal Palace on Sunday evening. It will begin at 5 pm, so all of you prepare you're most elegant gowns and most dashing suits. And who knows?" The official smiled.

"You might just meet one of the Royal Family."