The secret princess of Genovia

Crystal goes to school

"Crystal, hurry up!" My dad yells up to me. "Coming Papa!" I yell back, grabbing my bag, my pocketbook and my personal computer and running down the stairs. I get downstairs and papa is waiting for me by the car. "What took you so long darling?" He asks me, looking concerned. "It's nothing papa. I was just feeling a little dizzy is all." I tell him. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather just come to work with me today?" He asks. "I'll be fine papa. I'll have Anna call you if anything happens." I say as we're pulling up to the front of the school. "Ok. I'll see you later then." He tells me as I'm getting out of the car. "Yep. Oh, and papa?" I say. "Yes darling?" He says. "Try not to worry about me all day. If I say I'll be fine then it means I'll be fine." I say, shutting the door and running through the front doors of the school. An hour after lunch, as I'm in math class, I start to feel sick so I go to the office, straight through the office as Anna's calling my dad and straight into the nurses office. I lay down as she's walking in behind me, talking to my dad still. "He wants to talk to you Crystal." She says, handing the phone to me. "Hi dad." I groan. "Hey darling. I thought you said you were going to be fine." He says, sounding concerned. "I thought I was. It might be something I ate but right now I want to go home or to your work and get an exam done." I say. "Ok. I'm on my way. Do you have your stuff with you?" He asks. "Yeah. I don't know if I'll be able to walk out of here without doubling over in pain. You might have to carry me out." I say. "Ok. I'm on my way. Hold on a little bit longer then I'll be there and I can get you to the hospital, k?" He asks. "Ok. I'll see you soon dad." I say, handing the phone back to Anna. He gets there 10 minutes later, comes into the nurses office, scoops up his daughter, grabs her stuff and carries her out to his car. He sets me in the front seat, throws my stuff in the back seat, gets into the drivers seat, shuts the door, buckles in, turns it on and pulls out. "Crap." I say, 5 minutes later. "What?" Dad asks me, sounding concerned again. "We forgot to tell Carrie where we were going. Oh well. I have to head back there later this afternoon for a staff meeting. Yes dad, technically I am on their staff. Have been since Carrie talked me into joining them." I say to him. Just then my phone rings. I look at the caller ID and it's Carrie. "Hey Carrie." I say, answering the phone. "Hey, you ok? Anna told me that you left but she wouldn't tell me why." She says. "I don't know. I'll tell you about it when I come back for the staff meeting. I'll be back 20 minutes before the staff meeting so that we have time to talk and I have time to get my assignments from the teachers." I say. "Where are you heading right now?" She asks. "Dad's taking me to his work to figure out what's wrong with me. I'll call you on the way back. Have to go now. We just pulled into the parking lot." I get out and immediately realize that there's something wrong. "Dad stay here!" I call, running into the hospital, jumping for a bar attached to the ceiling and kicking the bad guys. I jump down and take them all out to the song 'Every time we touch' by Cascada. I go out 20 minutes later and grab dad's arm. "We're good." I tell him. "What the heck was that?" He asks me as we're running down the hall towards his office to the tune of 'Shotgun rider' By Tim McGraw. On the way down the hall I decide to show off and do some fancy flips. "It was me protecting your butt. You seem to have lost some of your perfect intuition." I tell him, doing cartwheels, Back hand springs, front flips. I'm doing these so that he won't see the tears running down my face although he'll see them when we get into his office. I get there before him and try to dry my tears before he comes in but it's not worth it because I don't get my face dried in time and he sees my face when he comes in. "Hey, what's wrong?" He asks me, coming over, taking my hands and looking into my eyes, trying to see what I'm hiding from him. "You're hiding something from me, I know you are. You can tell me you know." He says. "I know dad, I'm just trying to figure out how to explain it to you." I say. "Just spit it out. I'll wrap my brain around it eventually." He says. "Remember how Don told you that my ex-boyfriend, Jason, broke into my room?" I ask him. "Yeah, why?" He asks me. "Will you turn around so that I can put the gown on? I'll be quick about it, I promise." I say to him. "Sure honey, no problem." He says, turning around. I quickly change and put on the gown then tell him that he can turn around. He turns around and gasps. "What did he do to you?" My dad asks, furious. "He beat me." I say, collapsing on the floor with my hands covering my face and crying. "I'm calling your uncle." Dad says, digging out his cellphone to call Uncle Danny. "Don't. He's already on his way here." I tell him, standing up and getting dressed again. "You called him already?" Dad asks. "Yeah. I didn't want to steal your thunder but I thought he deserved to hear it from his own niece and not his sister's husband." I tell him, walking out of the room, down the hall through the waiting room, walking out to the front of the hospital and leaning against one of the pillars to wait for Uncle Danny. 10 minutes later he pulls up, parks by the entrance, jumps out, runs towards me and pulls me into a hug. "You called?" He asks me. "First, let go of me because this hurts and second of all, yeah I called. Dad and I have something we'd like to talk to you about." I say. We start walking in but halfway down the hall I collapse and curl into a ball, my Uncle hovering over me, yelling to one of the nurses to get my father. Dad yanks open the door to the room he's in, runs towards us, scoops me up, runs back into the room and sets me on the bed. They back off and let me lay there till the pain stops. The pain stops a couple minutes later and I sit up. They stand back still, in case the pain starts again, because their afraid that, if they start to move forward, they'll jinx it. "I'm fine." I tell them, wiping my eyes, standing up and pulling them into a group hug. We pull out of the hug and my dad's pager beeps. "Crap!" He yells. "What's wrong?" I ask him. "Code blue." He says. I pale. A code blue is code for someone who's flat-lining. "Who?" I ask, close to tears because he doesn't even have to say it for me to know who it is. "Your mother." He says. When he says that I immediately break down. Just then dad's pager goes off again. He reads it and says solemnly. "I'm sorry honey. They did all that they could but they couldn't save her." When he says that I start crying harder and he wraps his arms around me. 10 minutes later I stop crying and go to get up. "Oh no you don't. We can visit your mother in a bit but right now I'm going to do an exam while you tell your uncle what your jerk of an ex-boyfriend, Jason, did to you." Dad says. "Ok, then will you at least turn around long enough for me to put on the gown again?" I ask them. "No problem honey." He says, turning Uncle Danny around by his shoulders then turning himself around. "Ok. You can turn around now." I say to them. They turn around and Uncle Danny looks like he's going to blow a gasket. "Jason did this to you?" He asks me. "Yeah, my no good ex-boyfriend did this to me." I say to him. Dad does the exam while I tell Uncle Danny everything then they turn around so that I can get dressed again and we go visit my mom in the morgue. We've known that her dying was a possibility for months now but we were still hoping that she would wake up and remember us and we could be a family again. Surprisingly, when I see her I don't burst into tears like I did when I found out about the code blue or when I found out who the code blue was. I just stand there and blankly stare. "Why did it have to be her? I would give anything to be in her place right now but I guess it just wasn't meant to be." I say, turning around and walking out. I quietly walk back to our room with my head down, grab my pocketbook and dad's keys, leave a note for him telling him to have Uncle Danny bring him back and that the car will be unlocked with the keys in the glove compartment. I walk out, get in the car, buckle in, turn it on, pull out and head for the school. I do exactly what I said I would do then walk inside for the staff meeting which is in 20 minutes but instead of going directly to Carrie's office I go directly to the conference room, knowing that nobody else will be there yet. "Thank god there's nobody here yet." I say to myself, sitting down, putting my headphones in, playing 'never say never' by The Fray, turning the volume up loud and putting my head in my hands and silently crying. My music is up so loud that I don't even notice when the others come in. They all take their respective places then Carrie puts her hand on my shoulder, signaling to me that the meeting is going to start. I look up and wipe the tears off of my face. "Let's get started." I say, totally ignoring the concerned glances that the rest of the staff are throwing my way. We talk about staff things then, when I'm getting ready to leave to help my dad plan my mom's funeral, Carrie pulls me back down into my seat by the tail of my personally tailored Armani jacket. "Oh no. You aren't getting out of here that easily. You still have to tell us what happened. Why were you crying when we walked in?" She asks me, concerned. "We lost my mom before I came. She never came out of the coma like we thought she would." I say, starting to cry again. I get up, walk out to my car, with as much dignity as I can keep, get in, buckle in, turn it on, pull out and head back to the hospital to visit with my dad and Uncle Danny. Halfway there I can't see anymore because of my tears and the rain but I still try to keep it on the road. It doesn't work though, it just causes me to run off the road and hit a tree. A witness calls my uncle and when he asks for the license plate , immediately gives it to him which is when he knows that the crashed car is me. He yells to my dad to get a room ready for when he gets back then he comes out to get me and have my brother tow my hummer to the nearest garage. He finds me next to the white pine where we spread my grandmothers ashes when she died. He jumps out, runs to my car, yanks the door open, drags me out, carries me to his car, yanks the back door open, slides an unconscious me into the backseat, slams the door, runs around, hops in the drivers seat, buckles in, turns it on and rams out of there in a hurry to get to the hospital. He gets there and honks the horn at my dad, who's waiting there by the door. He runs over to us with the gurney and I.V, yanks open the door, grabs me carefully, puts me carefully on the gurney, sliding the I.V into my arm and rushing me into the hospital. "Somebody get me Dr.Daniels, a private room and the best non-surgical medical equipment that we have!" He yells, looking down at me with a sad look on his face. "What happened?" He asks my uncle. "A witness called it in so I don't know how accurate this is but according to the witness, who is a teacher from the school who just happened to be on her day off, it was raining and she was crying again and she tried to keep the car on the road, even when she couldn't see and ended up ramming the car into the tree next to the one where we spread her grandmother's ashes." He finishes. Just then I groan and they know that I'm waking up. "Crystal? Crystal,baby, can you hear me? You're going to be fine, you're in good hands." He says. "Dad, stop yelling. I'm awake and can hear you fine. My hearing doesn't get impaired when I lose consciousness." I tell him, opening my eyes and glaring at him. He laughs, finally believing that I'm fine and not in any way, shape or form impaired. It took me glaring at him for him to realize it. He knows that I wouldn't be glaring at him if I wasn't fine. Just then Dr.Daniels comes running up and skids to a halt when he realizes who's on the gurney. "Crystal? What the hell David?" He asks my father. Dr.Daniels, or Chris to me, is my godfather. My dad and him have been friends since pre-school, when my dad shared his PB&J sandwich with him when his mom forgot to pack his lunch. They've been inseparable ever since. They even got this job at the same time and applied for the same position. They got their letters of acceptance on the same day and were guaranteed the exact same position. They get me into my room and move me to the bed. "She was crying again when she left the school after the staff meeting plus it was raining. She tried to keep the hummer on the road even when she couldn't see anymore but she couldn't and ended up ramming it into the tree next to the white pine, on the highway coming here, where we spread her grandmother's ashes." He tells him. "Oh Crystal, why didn't you just pull over when you couldn't see anymore?" He asks me. "Because I wanted to get here and be with you guys when it got bad. I obviously got here, just not the way I wanted." I say, coughing. Just then my body stills and a strange blue light surrounds me. "What the hell?" Uncle Danny and Chris ask my father. "Oh, didn't I tell you? Everyone in my family from my ancestors to me and now to my daughter has healing powers." He tells them. 10 minutes later I sit up, take the I.V out, jump off the gurney and do a bunch of gymnastics flips to make sure that it did what it should and that I can go to cheerleading practice tonight. Just then I look at my watch and yelp. "Dad, I have to get back to school. I'm going to take my Ferrari that's in the garage here. I have classes then cheerleading practice then I'm coming home and changing in to my Armani floor length blue sheath dress, tiara and heels then going to that social function that my boyfriend, Don, invited me to." I say. I Crystal Mendez, am no ordinary american girl. I'm the Genovian princess, Her Royal Highness Princess Crystal Anastasia Rinaldi. "Ok, I'll meet you at the function. Save your Uncle and I seats at your table and leave the invitations on our dining room table so that I don't forget." He says. "Ok, I will." I say, hugging him then running out the door to the tune of 'Rewind' by Rascal Flatts which is playing from my phone. "Hello."I say. "Hey Crystal, where are you?" Carrie asks. "Getting into my Ferrari and heading back to school. I keep my Ferrari in the hospitals garage usually but since my hummer's in the shop I decided to take the Ferrari for a spin." I say, buckling in and turning on the engine. "Yeah baby." I say, revving the engine. It purrs. "Ok, on my way back. see you in a bit." I say, opening the garage doors, putting my top down, putting my sunglasses on, taking my hair down, turning the radio to country music, turning it up and pulling out. I get to school and everybody who hangs out in the parking lot before classes start stares at me as I pull in. Their all wondering who the chick in the sweet ride is. I get out and they all recognize me even though I'm wearing skinny jeans, which I almost never wear, a t-shirt, which I also almost never wear, and heels and didn't take my limo. "Sweet ride Crystal." Carrie says, coming out with Amelio, my bodyguard, and Dr.Caruso, the school psychologist, to protect me from the hordes of people who are crowding around me to check out my car. "It's not smart to leave the top down Crystal. You should know that, you've had this car for three years." Carrie says to me. "I know." I say, hitting a button on my key fob. Everybody stares from my car to me. "How do you do that?" She asks. "One of the perks of being the princess of Genovia. When you get something you can get it with almost all of the bonus features." I say. "Cool." She says, as their escorting me to my first class of the afternoon. As we're walking Dr.Caruso, My Uncle David, is evaluating me. "What do you think?" Carrie asks when their back in her personal office. "I honestly don't know. I can tell that she's grieving but I can't tell much else about her. I'll speak to my niece later and gather what information I can then report back to you. k?" He says. "ok." She says to him. He gets up and walks out and back to his office. Later, after school, I'm getting ready to leave class to get ready for cheerleading practice when Uncle David requests my presence via a pink slip. I grab it, throw it in the trash and head to the gym lockers to change for practice. After practice he tries to get to me again but I just ignore him, go back to the locker room, change back, run out the door telling him I'll grab stuff from my place and spend the night at his after the function, get in my car, buckle in, turn it on, peel out and head for home. I get inside, throw 2 invitations on the table for dad and Uncle Danny, and run upstairs to get ready. I grab my silver strapless ball gown, silver heels, tall tiara and white gloves. I hit the shower, scrub myself clean, dry myself, get dressed, do my hair and makeup, put my tiara on, grab my purse that matches my gown then run downstairs. I get in the back of the limo and when we get there my presence is announced. I walk inside and go straight to the podium. I make my speech then go sit down with my boyfriend, Don. People try to sit in the other two seats but I just tell them that their reserved for my father and uncle.