Secret Royalty

Prologue

I sat alone in my favorite leather couch at Snaps, the cool air from the open door grazing the front of my neck. I was there to listen to poetry, as usual, when he appeared on stage. His brown hair fell over his eyes. I flickered my gaze away from him, knowing I get attached too easily. As I studied the carpet, with different shapes of maroon squares, I listened to his words, the words I now know by heart. Tears welled in my eyes as I listened, my last breakup still tugging at my heart. My eyes quickly blinked away the salty drops and I brought my knees up onto the couch with me. Even though I knew it was bad manners, I had to; I couldn't let the foolish tears spill.

I once thought I loved Sam, the way his blonde hair glimmered in the night-light, but I soon learned otherwise. I was too witless to believe he would cheat on me, but I was wrong, I always am. I never wanted to cry because of him, because of the breakup. I came to my favorite place to hear horrid poetry that would make me cry of laughter, not sadness. I never noticed the snapping for his words, or the fact that he was standing over me, watching me with careful blue eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice softer than onstage.

My head shook yes, the roughness of my jeans holding back my tears. I felt his presence next to me as I took a shaky deep breath. "You don't look that way," he responded nicely.  

I slowly lifted my head from its spot resting on top of my knees. "I'm fine," I said calmly, letting out a small huff as shifted my head, causing my brown hair to blow up in the air for a brief second.

I could feel him watching me protectively, his eyes glancing around my face, from my curly, chocolate-brown hair, to my emerald eyes. "There you go. Now can you take your beautiful green eyes and look at me?" he had said attentively.

My head moved steadily to where he sat next to me. From onstage, I couldn't recognize the color of his eyes, but with him sitting so close to me, I could. They were sparkling blue. I shuddered inwardly, afraid of what he might say of me gawking at him. "Much better. May I ask why you are like this?" he asked as I dropped my feet off of the couch and crossed one leg over the other. I never realized that poetry hour was over with him being the last. People were now gathered around the coffee shop, drinking caffeine at ten-thirty in the evening.

"I-I. I just broke up with my boyfriend," I stuttered, "I don't know why, but- nevermind." I easily became afraid of him judging what I said and looked away, back down at the fading maroon carpet. 

"What's your name?" he responded, disregarding my answer. I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding hostage.

I bit my lip and looked at my hands placed in my lap. "Emilia," I practically whispered.

I could see him nodding in my peripheral vision. "That is a very pretty name. Mine is Jed."

My eyebrows furrowed with slight confusion. Most people's names related to their personality. For one, I knew mine related to my free-willing, laid-back personality, but Jed seemed like a name reserved for boys with a bad side. It appeared as if Jed couldn't ever be evil or mean, which shocked my slightly. "Like Jedediah?" I asked curiously, hoping to calm my thoughts.

"Yeah," he smiled faintly, causing his blue eyes to sparkle even more, "Jedediah. I think it's a cool name."

"It is," I spoke, then knowing that his name did fit his mood in a way.

We were silent for a while. He glanced around the coffee shop, and then turned his eyes back to me. "How did you get here?" he asked almost eagerly.

I took a deep breath and thought back to my ride here. I took the city bus because I didn't feel like driving; I just needed to think. I remembered that at ever bump the bus rolled over, the elderly lady’s perfect white curls would bounce on cue. "I took the bus," I mumbled, avoiding his gaze. 

"Do you need a ride?" his eyebrows raised as I finally looked over, "Doesn't the bus stop after ten?"

I sighed, almost annoyed. I had never thought about that; I was so persistent on coming to Snaps. "Yeah," I said, my lips pursing afterwards.