For The Crown

Chapter 1

Mornings always sucked. It didn't matter whether is was during the week, or if it was during the weekend. They always sucked. There was not much chance for a second opinion when you are forced to get out of bed every day at about five a.m. to have pointless rules of etiquette and rules of succession of monarchs past drilled into your head.

And that's exactly where I found myself on a Friday morning getting the covers yanked away from me and pulled out of bed so that I fell on my butt. The contact with the cold floor instantly made me jolt awake and it did not take long for me to figure out who my assailant was.

"Goddamn it, Weston. Why can't I have one day to just have to myself and to sleep in?" I sighed. I was past the point where I wasn't even angry anymore. I was just tired and wanted to sleep in for once in my life.

"You'll have plenty of time to sleep once you're dead. For now, you have things to learn," he replied.

This man seemed to have absolutely no sympathy for me.

"We've been over this stuff about a billion times. I don't even understand why you think all this old crap is relevant for my life," I stood up off the floor. There was no point in staying down there; I knew this was not going to be a battle that I am going to win. I never win with Weston.

"We learn about the past so that we can apply it to the future," he said before walking out of my room. He always said the most profound things before he left a room. I think he does it because he's a dramatic person.

I quickly threw on a pair of pants and a t-shirt. There was no reason to try and look nice at five in the morning. I would be sitting at the kitchen table learning about useless things until it was time for me to head out for actual school at seven o'clock. I don't think there's ever been a time where I looked particularly nice for school.

As I walked out of my room, I could feel Weston's scowling face even before I saw it.

"Again with those clothes. I don't understand why you can't try to look nice for once in your life," he said, "There's going to be a day where you won't be able to rely on being able to wear something so worn out as those jeans. You might as well get used to wearing nice clothing now so you won't look so strange when you finally have to make the switch."

"That's exactly why I'm taking advantage of my clothing freedom right now," I said with a huff as I sat down on the dining chair, "Besides, I doubt that I will have to be wearing stiff clothing all the time when I have to be on my own. I'll have the weekends, and after I get done working to be comfortable. You're over exaggerating."

Weston just gave me one of his looks where he seemed to know something that I didn't, but let the topic drop. That seemed to be happening increasingly as of late. It was beginning to make me uncomfortable.

"So to begin where we left off yesterday, we're going over the different responsibilities of heirs to the throne," Weston said.

The walk to school was rather brisk. It wasn't bad though, it was always a good way to wake me up after spending my early morning getting bored to death. It also gave me a bunch of time to think about why my life seemed to be so much more different than every other teenager my age.

Cars with teenagers zoomed past me. All of their basses were thumping loudly and shook the air near me for the millisecond that they were next to me. I never understood why they felt the need to make themselves deaf by playing their music that loud, but I also can't pretend that I am not slightly jealous by their option to do so.

"But having a car and fitting in isn't as important as lessons on monarch crap," I mumbled to myself as I trudged through the school doors.

The only good thing I had to look forward to was that my birthday was tomorrow and then I would have the option of leaving Weston since I was turning eighteen. Maybe then I would be able to begin to live a shred of a normal life. I don't know how I would go about getting out of there, as I have never had a job because I was not allowed to, and I obviously couldn't crash at a friend's house, because that would require having one.

I just let out a sign which became lost in the chaotic bustle of the hall way. Kids were chatting at their lockers, talking about either homework or the latest gossip. Every now and again I would accidentally make eye contact with someone, but nothing but a blank stare was mirrored back at me.

My day was the same as usual. I went into each of my classes, sat down, took notes, the bell rang, and I left. Only every now again again did someone mutter to me or ask me a question. Usually all of it was school related.

This has been my school experience for all of my life. The same day in and day out. It wasn't the most exciting, but it was what I had gotten used to. I'd gotten over expecting some kind of high school fairytale to happen to me. I knew I was just going to have to wait to get to college to make the life that I wanted. I still didn't know where I was planning on going, but I had plenty of options. I wasn't the smartest, but I did work the hardest so I was one of the top three students. That was probably a result of Weston's strict way of life.

I looked up into the sky as I trudged home, my backpack full of books and homework. All I wanted to do was be done.