Shh.. Secret Princess ;) (Under Major Heavy Re-Construction)

Part 17 - A Lie Forgiven

A/N

Dedi to LindaAlia for the title! XD Haha.. And her baby's so cute. XDD Yeah..

Teen #4 Romance #9 What's Hot #13

You guys are the best! XD This is just a filler chapter, building to the EPIC chapter after this one. :P If you want this chappie dedicated to you, read the A/N below. :D

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Part 17

I woke up with a frown on my face, remembering last night, or this very early morning. I forgave him. He deserved so much worse, but this only proves I'm human. I changed into one of my camping shorts and a t-shirt and tied my hair into a pony. When  I went out, it looked like everyone was up. I spotted Keely and Em, and I went over to them, frowning.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" I said, narrowing my eyes at them.

They both shrugged, pointedly glancing at Chancey. I raised an eyebrow, looking around, seeing everyone practicing for the talent show. Oh, Chocolate! The talent show!

"The talent show!" I said, putting my hands on my cheeks, eyes widened, making Em and Keel raise their eyebrows at me.

"Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate, chocolate," I muttered, rocking back and forth.

Em overly dramatically gasped and laughed, Keel laughing as well.

"What time is it?" I said, seeing Headmaster G on stage.

"9," Keel said, shrugging.

I made a weird sound with my mouth and jumped up and down, spinning in circles.

"Woah! Who let the monkey get into camp?" Sammy said as he walked to us, me seeing him move 'cause I was spinning.

I scowled at him, trying to improvise for my talent thing.

"Who let the walrus walk on land?" I said, standing still, facing them, the world moving slightly.

I could see Chancey from the corner of my eye with Jamie, containing his laughter.

"Oh my gosh! Do I look that fat?" Sammy said in a high-pitched voice, lifting up his shirt slightly.

We laughed, and I smacked his hand away from his shirt.

"Will the participants for the talent show gather near the stage, please? We are starting in a few minutes," a teacher said into the microphone.

I walked towards the stage, receiving good lucks from different people. There were only 10 of us, and most of them were dancing or singing.

After most were done, it was my turn. Chancey and his friends were the last to perform, and I was the 9th, my favorite number. Everyone was sitting, waiting for me to come up the stage. I smiled to myself and prepared to act my heart out. Seth had agreed to be my opposite in my act, and I had briefed him on the flow of the conversation yesterday. We had no exact lines, so we were going with feeling and improvisation.

I nodded to Seth who went up the stage on the opposite side of me, and I slowly walked towards him, smiling like a love sick fool. He had a sullen expression on his face, and we made sure we could be seen by the audience. When I was inches away from him, I looked into his blue eyes, pretending to read him. He frowned, a grave expression on his face. The background song was playing, a slow and sad tune.

"Anna, we need to talk," he said, his voice low, echoing in the area.

We said we'd use our own names, so we wouldn't get confused. We also had mini microphones that the teachers gave us.

My smile wavered, and it turned into a frown. I held confusion in my eyes, and I was about to touch his shoulder, but he backed away.

"What.. what is it, babe?" I said, my voice shaky as I stepped back, too.

"I'm saying goodbye, Anna. I'm leaving," he said, sounding so sad and shook his head, backing away more.

My eyes widened, and I looked him dead in the eyes, trying to understand. I moved my body from left to right, shaking my head, too.

"Goodbye? Goodbye for what? Where are you going? How long will I not see you?" I said, my eyes watering, shaking my head rapidly back and forth.

I put my clasped hands in front of my chest, my hands shaking. Seth shook his head slowly, looking at the audience, not meeting my eyes.

"Forever. I'm so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you, ever. I just, I have to. No, it's not you. I.." he said, trailing off, looking into my eyes, but I looked away and looked at the audience.

Chancey was staring at us so intensely that I almost stared at him. A tear fell from my right eye, and I looked down and shook my head. I then laughed bitterly as I looked up at him, staring at his eyes with a glint in mine. I walked upstage, laughing bitterly at the audience and then at Seth. I shook my head slowly, still laughing. He stared at me, confused, not knowing what to do.

"You know, I thought.." I said and laughed bitterly.

"I actually thought you loved me," I said, my voice breaking, more tears falling from my eyes.

I wiped them quickly and sniffled.

"I actually believed you!" I said, shaking my head and laughed bitterly again.

"I was so wrong! I knew I shouldn't have fallen for you. I really shouldn't have! I knew it, but I didn't listen to my head. I listened to my naive heart that was dead wrong!" I said and looked at the audience, the tears freely falling.

"I--" he started to say and reached out to grab my arm, but I shook myself away and stared at the forest with hurt in my eyes.

"No! I was stupid! I know. I believed you.. I believed you," I said in between my cries, shaking uncontrollably.

He went near me and pulled me into his chest, my back leaning on him, his arms wrapped around my waist. I didn't pull away. I cried a little more as he shushed me. The sobs racked my body, and I shook my head, pushing him away after a while.

"Why?" I said, my voice small and full of pain, my hands turned into fists on the sides.

Seth looked me in the eye.

"I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you--"

"But you did," I said, disbelief in my tone.

"I didn't want to. Believe me, I didn't want to. I just realized, throughout our relationship.. I still loved my ex. We saw each other yesterday, and we--"

I laughed, a mocking one.

"Yeah, tell me everything. Tell me how better she is. Tell me how much you love her. Remind me how much she has you, and I don't," I said, my voice cracking.

I backed away, almost at the edge of the stage and scoffed, the tears pausing.

"I thought I loved you at one point," he said, his voice small and pitiful.

I scoffed again as he let his hands fall to the sides, slightly slumping.

"You thought? You should've kept quiet if you 'thought.' I believed in love because of you, and you do this. I expected so much more from you," I said, my last tear falling.

I faced the audience, showing them my teary face, my eyes red, my cheeks red, too. I don't remember when I learned to fake a crying face, but I mastered it.

"Anna, look at me. Look at me damnit!" he said, and I was taken aback, but that worked well for the performance.

I looked back at him, eyes hard.

"You are someone's everything. Just because I don't love you as much as I do my ex, it doesn't mean all guys are like me. I was confused! Someone will come along and love you," he said.

I walked up to him and pretended to slap him. It looked real, but I had learned how to slap in acting. After that, he held his cheek and winced. I stepped back and held my right hand in my left.

"You sure know how to destroy someone, for someone who claimed to know what love is," I whispered, backing away and fled, my eyes downcast.

"Anna!" he said and ran after me, down the stage.

At first it was deadly quiet, but an applause suddenly broke out, and we received standing ovations and hoots from my friends. I laughed and turned to Seth, grinning like a maniac. I jumped and hugged him, laughing, and he laughed, too. Em, Keel, Sam, Liam, Sky and Luke went near us and gave us a huge group hug. As Chancey and his friends went up stage, he gave me a thumbs up, and I laughed.

"That was a spectacular performance to witness. My, my. Miss Caprione acting with the Sethaniel Masters. He didn't even outshine her one bit. And I actually believed she was heartbroken," Headmaster G said and laughed, joking in some parts.

Some of the students laughed, too. Then, After Chancey's dance, the judges, 2 teachers and the student council president, were given time to tabulate the scores. I was standing beside my friends, sitting on the slightly damp grass, looking at the stage as the judges went up.

"That was a tough decision, I assure you," Valerie, the student council president, said and laughed.

I smiled and crossed my legs, leaning on Emi.

"Well, I don't want to keep you all in suspense. The 2nd runner-up, receiving a point for their group, 3rd overall is... The Brigade!"

I clapped as I watched Chancey go up the stage with his sexist friends. After they went down, Valerie smiled while looking around.

"Our 1st runner-up, 2nd overall, receiving two points for their group.... Britanny Feller for her beautiful song."

She was a junior, and she was good... really good.. When she went down, Headmaster G took the mic.

"I'm sorry, Valerie, but I would like to do the honors for this one," Headmaster G joked, and Valerie laughed.

"Well... Accumulating three points for their group, 1st place in the talent competition is... Annalisa Caprione!" he said, making my eyebrows shoot up.

I wasn't expecting that, I really wasn't. I didn't stand at first, and my friends were nudging me and elbowing me. All eyes were on me, so I stood up and went up the stage. I emotionlessly thanked them, got my wooden trophy, and I robotically went back to where I sat.

I wasn't expecting that.