The Prince and the Bookworm

Chapter 13

The weekend went by in a blur, as it almost always did when spending time with the family. Before I knew it, Saturday night had come upon us. My mom and I were leaving the next morning and Mariah and I crawled under the covers of the bed we were sharing.

"So, who do you think won the insult war this year?" I asked, toying with the edge of the quilt as Mariah pondered the question.

"I would say the champion of last year has kept her title." Mariah answered, a grin spreading across her face a I went for a high five. I sprawled out on the bed, staring at the ceiling. The TV was on, but I wasn't in the movie mood. A couple minutes passed before Mariah nudged my side.

"Okay, I'm done. I've been patient. All weekend long! Now tell me what happened with you and dreamy boy!"

"Dreamy boy?" I snorted before rolling over and bed and slapping her arm. "Keep your voice down. Ten bucks says either my mom or Caleb is eavesdropping."

"I don't care. I know he was the one who called you at lunch on Thursday. What happened?"

"We agreed upon a mutual friendship." I replied, trying to hold back laughter. I always liked messing with Mariah. Unlike Caleb, I could always count on getting an amusing reaction from her.

"Sadie Mason! Would you quit being so vague?" The light from the TV spread across her face, and I could see her look of rage.

"I'm serious. He seemed sorry for getting mad at me on Wednesday, and we just worked out our problems. It was not a big deal."

"This is huge! Aw, this was your first fight you've had to work through!" Mariah gushed, and I just pictured Caleb making fun of us on the other side of the wall.

"Would you quit it! This was most definitely not our first fight, so stop acting like its some big milestone." I didn't mean to sound harsh, but if you didn't, Mariah would never drop something.

"But, it's your first like major one, right?"

Great, now being harsh doesn't even work with her. I stuffed my face in my pillow, letting lose a muffled groan.

"Mariah, I know you don't have much of a love life and you really want one, but please don't let that interfere with mine."

There was a long silence, and I was afraid I had really offended her. But then she gasped so loud it startled me.

"Sadie!"

"What?" I grouched, rubbing the bridge of my nose, trying to ward of the headache her high pitched gasp had started.

"You just admitted he was apart of your love life." Her voice sounded really excited, like she took this as a sign that I wanted to be with him.

"What? No! That's not what I meant. I just-"

"You really like this guy, don't you?" Mariah cut in, but her tone had changed. It was soft and gentle, like she was trying to ease her way into figuring out how I was feeling.

Afraid that I might give a stupid answer that would spur on her excitement even more, I rolled over in bed once more to grab the remote that was on the bed stand. I turned the TV off and slammed it back down.

"I'm going to bed now."

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When I woke up the next morning, Mariah was already out of the bed. I turned my neck to check the clock. It was only just past 7. I groaned, massaging my temples.

No one should be awake this early, especially on a Sunday. But then that made me think of where Mariah would be that early. It took me awhile, but I eventually persuaded my body to climb out of bed. The first thing I noticed was a blanket of snow that had fallen outside. Looking at it gave me a slight chill and I pulled a jacket out of my bag and put it on before quietly opening the bedroom door. I walked down the stairs at the speed of a snail, my movement sluggish.