Another way (Young Royals)

A magazine

"According to rumours former prince Wilhelm, 22, and singer Simon Eriksson, 22, are now engaged. The rumours came to light after pictures from Eriksson's concert last night, where the singer and former prince wore new rings on their ring fingers. The former prince was seen in the audience with friends, supporting his high school love on stage. Fans are now speculating about the couple's future and when a wedding might take place," I read in a magazine by the little store at school. I was waiting for friends to buy their coffee before class. Simon and I had gotten engaged that June. It was September, and it had only caught people's attention. The whole summer, we got to ourselves.

"I see you are reading gossip about yourself. Narcissistic much?" Ada said teasingly. I grinned. I was rather looking at the photos of Simon. I never liked looking at pictures of myself. It brought me anxiety. My picture had been taken since the day my parents left the hospital when I was born. When I became older my mother used to give me critique on what I should do in pictures. A straight posture and a smile. The smile should not be too big or too small. It should be perfect. No hands in the pockets of my trousers. No hugs or other sort of physical intimacy in front of the media. The pictures in this magazine did not follow any of my mother's rules. I smiled big, showing my teeth in all of them. I had my arms around Simon in one picture from an award show we had been to. My eyes were drawn to Simon. His perfectly styled hair. His eyeliner and his expressive outfits. His sweet smile.

"Very funny, Ada," I said. We both started bickering and laughed.

"You don't understand that he is drooling over his boyfriend?" Emelie commented. She stole the magazine I had in my hands from me. "Look how cute you two are. It should be illegal." Emelie and Ada looked at the articles and the pictures of me and Simon.

"Wille, why does it say that you and Simon are engaged?" Ada asked. Simon and I had decided to keep it lowkey, for now. We had told the closest family. For me that was Erik. Simon had told Sara and Linda. Rosh and Ayoub did not need to be told. They had figured it out themselves. Felice, who had the best detective skills in my friend group, had also figured it out at Simon's birthday party. No one else knew, right now. We had not hidden it, but we still wanted to keep it out of the spotlight. I knew that Ada and Emelie would never tell the media. I had meant to tell them, but I did not want to do that on the phone. Simon and I had rarely been at home that summer. Simon had a big tour, so I had slept in countless hotels and backstage on different stages around the Nordic countries.

"I might have asked him to marry me," I said. "And he might have said yes." They could not hold themselves from laughing happily.

"And why have you not told us?" Emelie asked.

"I did not want to tell you over the phone," I said.

"Of course he said yes to marry you," Ada said. "I have seen you two together."

"So how did you propose to him? Was it romantic?" Emelie asked.

"I proposed to him by a lake where we used to hang out in high school. It was midsummer night, and we took a night swim. When he came back up I just asked him. I didn't really plan to do it. I just did," I said.

"So you did not even have rings or anything?" Ada asked.

"No. But you know that he is a fashionista. He wanted to pick them together, anyways," I said.

"Simon was not a fashionista in high school," Emelie said. "I have seen pictures of him from his early career, and he wears button ups with t-shirts with weird prints. And he had a pair of pants that looked like pyjama bottoms." He did dress like that, back then. That had changed. He had help from stylists and his budget for clothes was higher than the one he had in high school. And he was no longer sixteen. He nowadays knew what he liked. What fitted him.

"Hey. I think he looked cute in that," I said.

"You are biassed," Ada and Emelie said. "You would have thought he looked cute in a potato sack too, no doubt."

"He is cute whatever he wears," I said. "He does not even have to wear anything at all for me to think that he is cute." Ada and Emelie laughed and then we went to our first class for the semester. 

Author's note

In Sweden we have celebrated Midsommar this weekend. I hope you all have a nice summer!

A.A.