Sunlilly: When history repeats

Chapter 8: ladies and gentleman of the court

Sophomore year came around and the rumors died down so I was back in public favor, however what comes with sophomore year was I had to find my "gentleman of the court" as it were and prepare for my cotillion where myself and my gentleman would be presented, it would normally be done my junior year but then mine and ben's would be happening at the same time so I volunteered to push mine forward. Now I have a boyfriend but he's across the sea on an island prison so that left me with a cavalcade of boys pining for my status, the most persistent being Chad "prince charming" jr, he didn't like me but he liked the idea of me, as in he liked the idea of being with me so if anything happened to Ben he would become default king of Auradon. My days were now filled with event planning, dress fittings and avoiding pining boys, not to mention school, I was on my way to english when Chad came out of seemingly nowhere with a bouquet of roses
"Hey Raina"
He said romantically
"Hi Chad"
I tried walking past him but he blocked my path
"I got you Roses, your favorite"
He said shaking the bouquet
"Chad. I have a boyfriend"
I said pushing past him
"Also, my favorites are hydrangeas"
I yelled behind me as I walked to english. In class I sat down next to Lonnie and looked at the board which read "Romeo and Juliet, act 3 scene 1"
"Lovely"
I sighed
"Hey, at least it's not the balcony scene"
Lonnie said relieved
"Besides, act 3 scene 1 is more fun"
"You just like it because it has a swordfight"
I say as the bell rings, class starts and we start reading through the scene
"Who would like to read for Romeo?"
The teacher asks, Chad's hand shoots up
"Hey Raina, maybe you could be Juliet"
He says, trying to be romantic
"Juliet's not in this scene"
I tell him
"Alright, Chad is Romeo, now who would like to read for Mercutio?"
Lonnie nudges my elbow and I raise my hand
"Ok, Raina will be our Mercutio"
We go through who will read for who and we end up with Chad as Romeo, me as Mercutio, Ben as Benvolio, and Lonnie as Tybalt. Reading through the scene we eventually get to when I die
"They have made worms meat of me, I have it, and soundly to. your houses"
I recite, I look across the room and see Chad looking back at me pretending to be heartbroken at my recited demise, then of course he over acts the hell out of his lines
"This gentleman, the prince's near ally, my dear friend, hath got his mortal hurt in my behalf; my reputation stained with Tybalt's slander"
He recited, shedding fake tears, I simply rolled my eyes as we continued on. Class ended and I was off to my next one when I was once again blocked by Chad
"What?"
I ask bluntly
"You did really good during the reading"
Chad pandered
"Thanks, I have experience being stabbed, bye"
I say, walking past him, Chad grabs my wrist
"So... have you chosen your gentleman yet?"
He asks
"No Chad, now if you excuse me, I have to get to class"
I yank my wrist out of his grasp and go to my next class with Chad trailing behind me
"Well, I'm single, your... long distance"
He started, speed walking behind me
"Fuck off Chad"
I say sternly, speeding up
"All i'm saying is-"
Chad continues, I stop in my tracks and turn around causing him to stumble
"Look, I am in a relationship, and I have been for many years now, leave me alone before I ask not so niceley"
I threatened, Chad reaches for my face and tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear and cups my cheek
"Well I think we could make quite the couple"
He says softly
"No"
I slap his hand off my cheek and went off to my next class. Later at lunch I'm sitting with Lonnie and Jane discussing the events of that morning
"He really did that?"
Jane asked perplexed
"Yeah, no matter how many times I tell him to fuck off he just keeps coming back"
I say exhausted
"Take the fucking hint"
I sigh and almost like clockwork chad comes around to our table now with a bouquet of hydrangeas in his hand
"Go away Chad"
Lonnie said sternly
"Chill out, I'm just here to give Raina her favorite flowers"
He hands me the bouquet and stands smiling like he was waiting for me to jump up and kiss him
"Thanks"
I accept coldly
"Now fuck off"
I wave my hand behind him signaling for him to leave
"Your welcome"
He says cheerfully as he struts away
"Dear gods"
Lonnie says
"He's relentless"
"Your telling me"
I sigh
"Have you actually chosen a gentleman yet?"
Jane asks
"Nope, I was gonna choose Harry, you know, my actual boyfriend, but apparently that isn't allowed because he's on the isle"
I say pissed off
"Well, cotillion is at the end of the month so... you don't have much time to decide"
Jane reminds me
"Why does it have to be a guy anyway? You could just as easily ask one of the girls here to be your lady"
Lonnie protests. I thought for a minute, there was never anything saying it had to be a guy and I swing both ways so...
"Hey Lonnie... how would you like to be my lady?"
I ask
"Really?"
Lonnie looked at me stunned, yet pleased
"Well yeah, your the one who gave me the idea"
I assured, Lonnie gave me a smug look
"I would be honored"
She extended her hand out to me and I kissed it
"Lady Lonnie"
Jane proclaimed
"Got a nice ring to it"
Lonnie said, we all laughed as the bell rang and we walked off to our next classes. Later that day I was at a dress fitting with my mom and aunty Belle, we had settled on a black strapless floor length silk gown with flecks of gold coming up the skirt
"So, have you chosen your gentleman yet?"
Belle asked
"Yes actually"
I said, she lit up and my mom smiled
"Who did you pick?"
My mom asked
"Oh, Lonnie"
My mom and aunt looked at me perplexed
"Lonnie, Mulan and Shang's daughter?"
Belle asked
"Yep, there was nothing saying I had to choose a guy so I chose Lonnie"
I assured
"Oh lovely"
My mom supported
"I know Chad has been very pushy with you"
She laughed
"Your telling me"
I snorted. The next day I had to spend the whole day with Audrey (I know, tourture) but she was head of the events committee so I had no choice
"Alright so, you still have to choose the color for the banners, finalize decorations, and announce who your gentleman is"
Audrey tells me, holding a tablet with decoration options in front of me
"Black and blue, think stars and the midnight sky, and Lonnie"
I say
"Wait, what was that last one?"
Audrey says
"Lonnie, I chose Lonnie to be my lady"
I confirm
"Can you do that?"
Audrey asks
"Well there's nothing saying I can't"
I tell her
"...Ok"
Audrey acknowledges. The month went by and suddenly it was cotillion night, me and Lonnie were in our dorm room doing the finishing touches on our hair, I had my hair half up, half down and Lonnie had a beautiful chinese rose barrett made of rose quartz and gold in her hair and a knee length off the shoulder dress with floral lace detailing, she looked like a goddess
"Well damn"
I gasped
"You like what you see?"
Lonnie jokes
"Maybe"
I reply, we have a small laugh and were about to leave to get into the limo to take us to cotillion
"Oh! One more thing"
I run to my bed and grab a golden ring with the corona sun crest atop the band with a small diamond in the middle
"I got this made for you"
I hand Lonnie the ring and she puts it on her right index finger
"It's lovely"
She says as we walk to the limo. The Cotillion was held in a giant ballroom at my parent's castle in Corona. There were black and blue banners hanging from pillars on the walls and everything looked like a starry night sky, the ceiling almost covered in a veil of stars and constellations. At the top of the stairs Lumière was standing observing the festivities when it was time to introduce Lonnie as my lady
"Introducing, lady Lonnie"
He announced as a spotlight shined on Lonnie making her way down the stairs, our peers gawking and cheering while a still bitter chad stood with his arms crossed pouting, Lonnie made her way to the middle of the room when Lumière announced my name
"Ladies and gentleman, Princess Raina"
I emerged at the top of the stairs, my dress glistening in the spotlight as I walked down to Lonnie, we met in the middle of the room and curtsied, I bent down and kissed her ring as the music began and we started our dance, we glided around the floor as if we were weightless and floating on air, I took Lonnie by the forearm and spun her to my chest as we danced and the music swelled, I looked into Lonnie's eyes, brown like fall leaves, as our dance came to a close we came face to face back in the middle of the room, I looked at her and she looked at me and next thing I knew her lips were on mine and we shared a kiss, we could hear gasps and side comments but didn't care. Everything felt warm and everything suddenly shined a little brighter.

Dearest, Harry
Hey darling, so you were 100% right about how awesome it is to kiss a girl because damn is Lonnie great at it. In other news Ben has been talking about a big "royal decree" he'll make once he's king, he hasn't shared all the details with me but he's talking about bringing villain kids to Auradon, though I doubt it, I might finally be able to bring you here and show everyone what I see in you, though how you would deal with Audrey... I don't think you could. I hope to see you soon
Love always,
Raina