To Win the Prince's Hand

Chapter 7

 7.

I didn’t get to see Gabriel for a few days. Several of the other girls were buzzing about how they had been invited to a private meal with the royal family. Some of the bolder ones even bragged about how sure they were that they’d be picked.

I’d spent my days cooped up in my room, only leaving for meals and nighttime visits with Serena. However, one week later, my day was going downhill. I’d been running out of books I had brought with me to read, and I finished the last one the day before.

To make matters worse, I had fallen asleep when I visited Serena, so I had to make up a story to Abigail to explain why I walked in my room late in the morning wearing the same dress from the day before. She bought the story about how I had fallen asleep in the garden on a midnight walk, much to my relief.

I tried to avoid leaving my room for as long as possible. I had decided that I detested human interaction. All the other girls just gave me headaches. It had only been a week out of my year long stay, and I could not stand any of them.

I supposed Jasmine would be fine, but I hadn’t seen her. At first, I wondered if she had managed to go home, but soon I realized she was doing the same thing as me.

“Are you just going to sit there for the rest of your stay?” Abigail asked with a raised eyebrow. I shrugged, rustling the dark green fabric of my day gown.

 “I don’t like people,” I excused as she laughed.

“That doesn’t give you an excuse!” she argued. “You can’t just sit in your room all day and only see the castle while everyone is asleep!”

“I can, and I plan on it,” I stated stubbornly.

“Not everyone’s bad, I promise! Gabriel’s not like that,” she defended. I shrugged again. I had told her about how I had ran into him that night, and she confessed that she was also friends with him. She told me that a lot of the stories she told on the trip actually included him.

“And if all these girls acted like you and Gabriel, I would be fine. Unfortunately, they don’t ,” I declared. She just rolled her eyes.

“You’ve survived my brother; you can handle them!” she tried for the last time.

“There was one Ethan. There’s 19 other girls,” I deadpanned.

“Well, fine. I’m not going to talk to you until you leave,” she announced.

So we sat in silence for an hour. Then, she suddenly got up and disappeared. And I was left totally alone. I couldn’t help the silence that was bugging me as I waited for her return.

“Fine,” I sighed as I stood up. Straightening my skirt, I cautiously opened the door and looked around at the deserted hallway. I took a careful step out, still looking out for girls.

“You don’t have to be so nervous. No one’s here,” a voice that was definitely not one of the girl’s said from his position leaning against the wall.

“Whatever, Ethan,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Not a social person?” he guessed.

“Whatever could have made you think that,” I muttered under my breath. He heard and laughed.

“Oh, Danielle, only I can bring out this sarcastic side of you that you try to hide,” he teased.

“Where’s the library?” I asked, ignoring his last remark. He began to walk the direction he came from as I fell in place beside him. We walked in silence for a few minutes before I decided to comment. “So… best friends with the prince, huh?”