The Princess School for Idiots

Chapter 1

It was all surreal!

Even though they had never met before this day, Cassie knew the girl's face all too well. How could she not, it was her face too! If only she had a chance to know the girl.

"I guess this is how I'll look when I'm dead," Cassie said to herself as she looked in the casket.

The girl lay in the white polished wooden box with her hands folded over her stomach as if she were sleeping. That's a nice way of looking at her, Cassie thought...sleeping; she's sleeping. It was fitting too; the girl was resting comfortably on a nice white puffy bed. Everything was right with the world because the girl was only sleeping. Cassie didn't just find out she had a twin sister only to lose her the same day. They would have time to talk and learn all about each other as soon as she woke up.

A clicking sound, followed by a bright flash of light, broke Cassie out of her daze, bringing her back to reality. Looking up, she scanned the sanctuary. The room was packed with people; there were hundreds of strangers except for one person, her mother. At that moment though, Cassie felt all alone. How could she still trust her own mother when the woman lied to her for fifteen years?

She had a twin sister. One Vanessa Sophia Alexandria Rastovick.

Cassie turned her attention to the flashes of light coming from the side aisles. Oh, that's right, she remembered, I mean...Princess Vanessa Sophia Alexandria Rastovick. How could I forget? Looking at the man sitting in the front pew, next to her mother, her anger began to rise. This man, this stranger, was not only her long-lost father, but also the king of the small country Stovway. How could her mother keep something like that from her?

Cassie began to walk back to her seat, in between her parents, when she tripped. She reached out in front of her, catching her fall to the floor before meeting it with her face. A collective gasp rung through the church and Cassie could tell by the sound of shuffling feet that a few people stood up. The flashes of light went off in a frenzy and Cassie's face became heated. Great, as if it wasn't stressful enough, now I have the whole world witnessing my epic embarrassment, she thought.

Someone's hands wrapped around her, one near her right elbow and the other around her waist. She turned her head and found herself looking straight into the King's tear streaked face. Cassie gasped; she never thought a king would lower himself to help her. Why would he bother, she was no one? Using his strength, Cassie allowed him to help her to her feet and walk her back to the pew.

The cameras were still going off a thousand miles per hour and all she could do was hold her head down. She wanted to melt into the back of her seat or at the very least, hide under the chair.

"Lift your head, Casandra," the King whispered next to her. "Don't let them see your shame."

Cassie looked up at him. He was staring straight ahead with a straight face. It was quite different from what she just saw. The only way she could tell he was in pain was by the tears that still fell down his face.

She looked back at her sister's casket and forced herself to keep her head up. She could feel her cheeks heating up and hoped that she wasn't blushing. The stress of it all kept her from paying attention to the memorial service. She just wanted to leave as soon as possible and go back home.

Everything went by in a blur and before she knew it, she and her mother were sitting next to the King in a limo.

****

Cassie couldn't believe what she was hearing.

A princess!

How could she be a princess? She just found out that she was a twin, now she's a princess. Everything was changing. She stood up and began walking back and forth in front of the couch, shaking her hands rapidly. They were back at the Palace in the Royal family parlor, but Cassie couldn't even appreciate where she was at the moment. Not when she was once again given bomb shell information. She wasn't good with change.