The Annoying Prince

Fresh Apples, Useless Discounts, And Sweet, Sweet Revenge

  No. Way.

  I can't believe it.

  Of all people, he's the one selling apples.

  Stella points at him excitedly and says, "Hey, Jeanette, look! It's the new hot guy in town!"

  The new hot guy, who is also a devil.

  A devil in disguise.

  And devilishly handsome.

  Wait, what?

  "Oh, Lucas?" I say, faking my excitement, "Ah yes, you mean the same guy who does chores for Pop!" In the corner of my eye, I see him waving to a passing kid with an innocent smile on his face, then turn towards me with another smirk.

  "He does?" Stella says, her eyes growing wide. She bounces up and down, her hands flapping, "Oh my goodness, that means we can get to see him more often!"

  "Yeah, that'll be great," I say, gritting my teeth into a fake smile. So fake that it looked like I was using toothpicks to prop my mouth open.

  "Let's go," she says, tugging at my arm and walking towards the apple stall.

  Keep it together, Jeanette. If he throws a knife at you, at least you'll have a witness.

  In fact, I'll bring hell upon him before he even touches me.

  I approach the stall as calmly as I could, trying to resist the urge to catapult an apple into his face. "Hello, sir," I say, my voice dragging along slowly so that I wouldn't slap him, "I'd like to have three apples please."

  Lucas looks at me with that fake innocence in his expression. "Sure, coming right up," he says with a smile.

  No. Stop. Seducing. Me.

  Argh!

  Why is he so cute and so evil at the same time?

  He picks up a couple of fresh apples - and I mean fresh apples - and hands them to me.

  "Say, are you the new boy named Lucas?" Stella asks.

  "Yep, that's me alright," he says.

  "I hear that you help around this village a lot. I'm surprised you don't even ask for pay."

  "Oh, it's simply because I love helping people," he tells her, "I especially love helping the ladies, so feel free to call me if you need my help," he adds with a wink.

  He did not just.

  I look at Stella as she blushes and giggles at him.

  "Well you are certainly a fine young man," she says, swooning.

  Steam pours out of my ears. How do people even like this guy? He is going to be the end of me.

  I clear my throat to get his attention. "How much for the apples?" I ask him.

  "Two bucks total," he says, turning to look at me.

  Since when were apples that cheap?"

  "Two bucks only?" I ask him just for clarification. I'm sure I have mushrooms stuck in my ears. No thanks to you, Joker.

  "Yeah. But you know, since you're such a pretty lady, I'll offer you just one buck."

  Please do not wink at me...

  And he winks.

  Darn it.

  Stella squeals at me. "Oh my goodness Jeanette, you're soooo lucky!" she says, her arms flapping, "You have to take it!"