Something Peculiar

23

On Friday, with the party only twenty-four hours away, Hye-kyo felt the need to check on my progress, not that I blamed her. Her plan was dress rehearsal for dinner, testing my ability to converse and eat, apparently. She didn't want a massive audience to witness my possible failure, so she just invited In-sung, Nayeon and Jisoo over to join her, Lisa, Wooseok and me. It was the biggest group she could assemble without risk of embarrassment. Since I had already met these people. I didn't feel all that nervous, even though Hye-kyo informed me beforehand that I needed to act the same way I would tomorrow night.

Everyone had been instructed similarly, and they all appeared far more regal than normal. Even Wooseok had dressed in a blazer, and he looked rather handsome. As usual, Lisa was unnecessarily attractive. Thanks to Lisa's random confession of jealousy, I wasn't entirely sure how to act around her, She had come into my room before dinner to make sure that I was getting ready, and I couldn't help but feel that she was purposely avoiding looking at me.

When I reached the dinning hall, Hye-kyo instructed us where to sit, with her at the one end of the table and me at the other. Wooseok and Lisa beside me, and Jisoo, In-sung and Nayeon, took their places in between.

"Who will be I sitting by tomorrow?" I asked between careful sips of wine.

"Between Tove Kroner and I." Hye-kyo narrowed her eyes at the drink in my hand. "Hold the glass by the stem."

"Sorry." I thought I had been, but I moved my fingers, hoping I was holding it more correctly now.

"A Princess never apologizes," Hye-kyo corrected me.

"Sorry," I mumbled, then realized what I had just done and shook my head. "That was an accident. It won't happen again."

"Don't shake you're head; it's not ladylike," Hye-kyo chastised me. "A Princess doesn't make promises either. She might not be able to keep them, and she doesn't want them held against her."

"I wasn't really making a promise," I pointed out, and Hye-kyo narrowed her eyes more severely.

"A Princess is never contrary," she said coolly.

"I've only been a Princess for like a week. Can't you give me a little break?" I asked as kindly as I could. I'd grown frustrated by all the Princess talk. Nearly every sentence she'd said to me in the past two days had started with "A Princess" and was followed by things that a Princess never or always did.

"You've been a Princess your entire life. It's in your blood." Hye-kyo sat up even straighter in her chair, as if she were trying to loom over me. "You should know how to behave."

"I am working on it," I grumbled.

"Speak up. Use a clear strong voice no matter what it is you're saying," Hye-kyo snapped. "And you don't have time to work on it. Your party is tomorrow. You must be ready now."

I wanted to snap back at her, but both Wooseok and Lisa were giving me warning stares to keep my mouth shut. Jisoo stared nervously at her plate, and In-sung just went about munching his food politely.

"I understand." I exhaled deeply and took another drink of my wine. I'm not sure if I held the glass right this time, but Hye-kyo didn't say anything.

"So I got your picture of the dress." Nayeon smiled at me. "It was really stunning. I'm a little jealous, actually. You only get to be the belle of the ball once, and you definitely will be tomorrow. You're going to look amazing."

She was coming to my aid, changing the subject from things I was doing wrong to something I was doing right. Even if she was a bitch to Lisa and Jisoo, I just couldn't bring myself to hate her.