A Rebel Princess

Chapter Thirteen: Memories

Felicity walked into the library after leaving Mal and Evie in search of some peace and quiet. Jasper and Wilhelmina had sent her some changes that they felt needed to be made for the PCP which she had to go over. But she also just needed time alone to calm herself. She hadn't exactly meant to get so emotional but once she left the girls' dorm she couldn't contain herself. Bad childhood memories.

She sat in the far corner of the library and opened her laptop to start working, distracting herself with the words on the group document. Sometimes she'd even glance up from the screen and people watch. It was people watching that had her realizing that Luke and Alyssa had come into the library, probably looking for her. When they saw her they marched over and sat across from her with matching concerned expressions.

"Yes?"Lis asked, waiting for them to ask what they were going to ask.

"What happened?"Alyssa inquired, reaching out and clasping Felicity's hand in hers. "Evie told us you were upset."

The blonde girl just shrugged which made Luke sigh. "Lis, just tell us what happened. She was worried she offended you and we are worried too."

"She didn't do anything wrong,"Felicity took a deep breath. "We started talking about Ben." They both gasped softly. "I brought it up first. I mean, it's been so long. I thought I could handle talking about him." She started tearing up. "This is what I signed up for when I agreed to help him, I knew I'd have to talk to him, talk about him."

Luke frowned. "You looked perfectly fine when you were singing on the Tourney field the other day."

"I-I guess I wasn't thinking about it,"Lis confessed. "I was having such a fun time that it didn't exactly process in my mind that I was up there with him." She sniffled and tried to dry her tears. "I was just blocking him out like I always do when I'm around him, around his parents, sometimes even around Fairy Godmother."

"You don't have to explain yourself,"Alyssa moved to sit next to her and wrapped her in a warm hug. "What happened was awful."

"Yeah,"Luke nodded. "You were just a kid. They had no right to be so cruel."

"You're not a freak, you're not a stain,"Alyssa promised, helping Felicity wipe her tears. "You are beautiful and compassionate and smart and you have so many people who love you."

Luke smiled softly, squeezing Lis' hand. "Your parents love you, Riley and Arianna and Elise and Max love you, the cheer squad loves you, we love you. And all that's never going to stop. There's nothing the King and Queen or Chad or Audrey or Fairy Godmother or anybody else can do to stop it."

"Thanks, guys,"Felicity pulled her two friends closer, still crying but feeling much better than before.

"We're here for you,"Luke told her while Alyssa pet Lis' hair soothingly. "All you have to do is text us and we'll come running."