Protect the Prince

The Boy in My Dorm

Prince Cassian tightens his grip around my mouth as the knock starts to become more frequent, more aggressive. Then, they start to call out to anyone on the other side of the door. Calling out to me and Cassian. My gaze shifts between the door and Cassian who's mumbling curses under his breath. This is bad for both of us. If he's caught in a room with a girl, I can hear another rumour spreading around the campus like wildfire, and there's no way to convince someone that is nothing, not with our bodies tangled like this.

We have to think of something and fast. I need to think of something since his highness is far beyond thinking clearly. Scanning the room, I try to find anything that could get the girls to leave since waiting it out wasn't working. My eyes glance at the time on my laptop—it's one-thirty in the morning. A flash of an idea comes to my mind, but it means trying to get him off of me.

I tap his shoulder, trying to get his attention on me, and when he does, I quickly rip his hand away from my mouth. He tries to cover it up again, but I place my finger to my lips, signalling to him I plan on keeping quiet. I pull his sleeve bringing him to my room. He glances around, confused, when I grab my hoodie, throwing it on top of my current clothes. I ruffle my hair around and rub my eyes to smudge my mascara, creating dark circles around my eyes. To make it seem like no one was here I pull the Prince in the small opening between the door and the wall, he looks at me with an arched brow but as he settles in his spot there's a realization spread across his face. I start to get into character. I slump my shoulders, shuffle my feet dragging them along the floor as another hello echoes.

I yawn loudly enough to be heard through the wall just as I open the door to my unwanted visitor. Rubbing my eyes, I ask, "Can I help you?" I slow my words and blink, too, trying to be as convincing as possible that they had woken me up.

The two girls were dressed like they had just come back from a party, matching tight dresses but different colours: black and blue. Their light hair is done in loose waves, and the immediate smell of alcohol fills my lungs as one of them speaks, "We're looking for our... friend. We saw him come down this way."

I scratch my head, "Um, I don't think so. It's just me."

The girl in the blue dress looks over my 'sleepy' shoulders, trying to get a peek inside my dorm, but as planned, she sees nothing.

"Are you sure?" The black dress girl asks.

"I'm pretty sure I would have seen someone come in since I was crashing on the couch."

"It's just that. It's the last door down this hall, and I know I saw him come down this way." The blue-dressed girl plays with the hem of her dress. Her eyes look around the room again. I open the door just enough to reveal the messy common area filled with the boxes I left out from organizing my room.

"As you can tell, I've been unpacking all night," I say, adding a little attitude in my voice to convey how much of an inconvenience they are. "Unless they magically fazed through the wall and then fazed back outside, I have been the only one here."

Both girls look at me with disbelief. The girl in the black dress starts to move forward a little as if she could peek around the corner. The one door was covering, so I swing the door to its full extent to again reveal the empty dorm. My room, too, shows just my desk and bed.

I sigh, "Girls, it's the first night back on campus. I'm tired, you're both clearly drunk and must have mistaken which hallway your friend went to or maybe you imagine it but there's no one here but me." They open their mouths to argue but hold out my hand to stop them. "Look, I really don't want to do this, but if you don't leave now, I'll have to tell campus security to tell them that two drunken girls are at my door trying to barge in after telling them multiple times that what they're looking for isn't here." I reach for my back pocket and grab my phone to pretend to call security.