The Prince of Arc - Part I

Chapter 9 - Henry's Plan

9.

After I told her I was on the rebel side and against my family, Skylar ran home, and the crowd scattered. I turned to see if Abby would come out of hiding, but I saw no one emerge.

"We cannot tell Henry about this." Cam says, pushing his hands towards the ground.

"I know, he'll tell my parents..." I start thinking about them after I say that, about what I just did, and how it will completely ruin my relationships with my family if they hear about it.

"Exactly. Let's go home, we can tell Henry about the press conference once he gets back." Cam says, and then he starts walking. He leads us up a steep street and then the rest of the way till we get to the house.

"Should I write anything in the notebook?" I ask, walking to our room.

"Just that everyone is talking about the press conference. Write down what Skylar said, and absolutely nothing else." He says, laying down partially on his bed. I follow his directions, go to write it down, but I find myself hovering the pen in my hand over the paper. Then the situation hits me.

"We can't keep this a secret, Cam." I set the pen down to look at my friend, who looks just as, if not more, worried as much as me.

"I know," He says, letting his head hit the wall beside his bed. "No matter what we do, someone we don't want to hear it will hear it, either Henry, Abby, or your parents. It's not like the rumors are going to keep themselves from getting to them."

"What are we going to do?"

"I don't know yet. Do you think they'll believe that you said that just to stay alive? If you would have told her you were just like the other royals she would have killed you with that crossbow." He says, coming up with an awesome idea.

"Yeah, if they were me they would've said anything too, right?" I say, "To stay alive,"

"Exactly, there you go. Now if Henry asks, just say that you said it to stay alive." He says.

"Even better yet, I'll act offended by him for actually believing the rumors." Grinning, I add on to the situation. Then I remembered something else. "Abby,"

"Crap, I forgot about her. If she was there after everyone else left, she must have heard us talking. Then she'll know you actually are a rebel..."

"Well was she there?" I ask, "Remember, I looked around for her once they were all gone, and she didn't come out."

"Probably because she was scared that you'd do something to her because she just found out you're a rebel."

"That means she believed me." I say, hitting my head against my wall. "Now what?"

"Maybe she was just confused; maybe she thought we were just freaking out, trying to think of a way to explain this to your parents."

"You think so?"

"Well, can you think of anything else to say?" He asks, lifting his head off the wall.

"No." I respond, turning to my stare from Cam to the floor. "Hopefully we can tell her we were lying before she tells my parents,"

"Should we go see if she's still there?" Cam asks, standing up.

"Yeah, hopefully she is, because I don't know where else she'd be." I stand up too.

"It's 1:15, so let's go." Glancing at the clock, Cam starts walking towards the door. We get to the front door, and hear the sound of a car door slam from the driveway below us. It's Henry, home already.