My father's Princess

Chapter 12

"Nailed it!" I said as she closed the door. I did a happy dance around the courtyard in celebratory. I walked back to the servants courters full of exuberance. "Woah, dude. Calm down." Elijah said as I entered our shared room. We had been roommates and best friends for 9 years. Elijah moved from Xing to live with his grandparents after his parents died in a car crash. My parents died when Sheaveland attacked Unika, so after that also I moved to Rondalland to live with my grandparents. "Sorry man."
"What's got you so excited at this hour anyways?" I glanced at the clock on the wall which read 11:47. I didn't realize until then how long we were gone. "She said yes. I asked her and she said yes!"
"Wait hold on," Eli said sitting up in his bed, "You mean to tell me, that you actually balled up and asked your princess crush out? And she didn't puke?" I prune he'd Eli's arm playfully as he let out a laugh. "Congrats bro. I gotta say, I honestly thought you made your little dates up. Now will you let me know when your done dancing so I can go back to sleep?"
"Sorry Eli. I didn't mean to wake you up. I'm done now." Except my heart kept dancing while I got ready for bed and climbed up the ladder to my bunk. That night I went to bed with a huge smile on my face.
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"Aaaaaahhg!" I exclaimed after slamming the door and plopping down on my bed. "What's wrong?" Said a familiar voice. The voice didn't belong to Baylee. I wondered who else could be in my room as I opened my eyes and saw the owner of the voice. "Selena! What are you doing here?" I said pulling my childhood best friend into a hug. "Well I was just in marshland when I got a strange text from your maid that said you needed a pleasant surprise to distract you." I saw a mischievous smile spread across Baylee's face as she folded my laundry on the other side of the room. I let out a small laugh. "So how have you been? How's Ben and the rest of your family?"
"They're good." She usually wouldn't stop talking about her little brother, but today she hardly said to words. Though I was curious to why I didn't ask. "It was so thoughtful of you to come visit me. I can't believe you left your uncle, who you only see once a year, to come see me!" Selena twisted the string on her hoodie, obviously not wanting to discuss this subject either. "It really wasn't that big of a deal. I see uncle Chad all the time now."
" Really?" Three weeks after Selena turned 15 her parents got a divorce, and neither one had much money afterwords so I was surprised that her mom not only still took her to visit her favorite uncle, but that she visited him even more often. "Theres something I have to tell you. My parents both got remaried."
"Oh Selena that's great!" Selena's eyes looked down at her feet and shook her head. "No. It's not great. Both of my step parents hate me and didn't want to live with me. That's why it wasn't a big deal that I came from marshland. I live there with uncle Chad now and why I  didn't say much about Ben. Cause I don't know about Ben. If you want to know how he's doing just ask Sean and Brooklyn." I didn't know what to say. Her step parents not only kicked her out of the house, but also stole her brother away from her. I pulled her in for a hug. I could tell that she needed to see me as much as I did her. "But I don't really want to discuss it. What I want to talk about is you. Obviously I'm not the only one who needs a hug." Classic Selena. Caring about my problems more than hers, even though mine were pity compared to hers. "Well it all started when my mom met her royal boyfriend." We talked for hours about my problems, her problems, and other things best friends discuss until finally we fell asleep. Baylee must've wrapped us in blankets because when I awoke we were both covered in fluffy blankets. After sneaking breakfast up to my bedroom for Selena and me we headed down to the stables. I was grounded for a full month so we had to use a rope ladder and sneak out the window. This was nothing new for me, but I couldn't help but laugh as Selena maneuvered her way down the wobbly ladder, her feet slipping every few steps. Finally when we reached our destination I was pleased to see that four houses were ready. Baylee must've told Cooper that Selena was visiting, and he decided to join us for a ride. However I couldn't figure out who the fourth horse was for. I could never convince Baylee to ditch her long list of chores to come riding so it wouldn't be her. Then I saw cooper walking towards me and Selena with another man about his age but much shorter. "Hey Annie." Cooper said as he put his arm around me and pulled me closer.  I could tell Selena was confused on why he called me Annie but she didn't say anything. "Hey. This is my best friend Selena. We were in the same school back in Unika. Sel, this is my boyfriend, Cooper." The word slipped off my tongue with ease but I didn't regret it because one, it was true, and two, and made Coopers smile spread even farther, enhancing his sparkly teeth.
Selena greeted Cooper with a simple, "Hi."
"Hello Selena. It's a pleasure to meet you. Any friend of Annie's is a friend of mine. Speaking of friends, This is my best friend Elijah."
"Pleasured to meet you."
"You too my princess, and you as well Selena."
"Thanks you too."
"Well should we get going?" Cooper said. We all nodded and border our horses. Me and Cooper road slightly ahead, obviously more skilled, as Eli and Selena road farther behind. Cooper and I talked, but nothing to serious. However when I looked back it seemed that Selena and Eli were deep into a conversation. Elijah was smiling and looked as though he didn't want this day to end. Selena was harder to read, but I think she felt the exact opposite. An hour later we went back to the stables. Selena and I said goodbye and started to walk back to my window, but Elijah stopped us. "Selena? Would you do me the pleasure to let me call you my girlfriend?" He stuttered as he spoke his words, not sure what to say. Selena glanced at me as if to say "help me". I had to cover my mouth not to laugh. Selena finally gave Eli an answer. "Look, Elijah. I hardly know you. We only have known each other for one hour and-"
"But that's all I needed to know that you are the fairest maiden in Rondalland, no offense princess."
"That's very sweet and thank you, but for now we should just stay friends." And with that we ran back to my window and climbed back into my room.