by Mia Archer
The man was actually sweating. That wouldn’t be a surprise with anyone else considering how hot it was down here, but the man was like an alien who didn’t seem subject to the same cooling mechanism as the rest of humanity. He must be really nervous now for some reason.
“I didn’t want to say anything about this earlier because I didn’t want to worry any of you,” he said.
Sarah and I exchanged glances. What was going on here? Was he about to announce his retirement or something? He seemed way too young for that. Maybe he was getting fired and this was the last time he’d get to do this too? Though he didn’t seem nearly angry enough for that. He’d just been his usual base level of cantankerously annoyed the entire weekend.
“I’ve gotten word from the people working here at Royal Realms that the Crown Princess of Allora is in the park today, and she’s going to be sitting in a special review stand along the parade route watching us perform! We’re going to be showing off that tiger pride for a real princess! Not any of that fake stuff!”
That earned him an irritated look from a Royal Realms minder who was standing in between us and another band warming up for the same parade, but Fredericks didn’t seem to notice. Not that it was my problem if he screwed up his every four year paid vacation by biting the hand that fed him.
The band started muttering even as I felt electric excitement course through me. Allora. Apparently they had a princess and she’d just shown up today. That was the country Amelia was from, and she’d been secretive about staying in that super rich resort. What if she worked for this princess or something and she’d been playing hooky on her job for the past couple of days to spend time in the park with me instead? What if she was part of the royal family or something, maybe a minor noble sent off ahead of the princess, and that’s how she was able to throw around money like it was going out of style?
The idea seemed crazy, but still. An actual princess. That was something!
“What the heck,” Sarah said, a grin on her face. “We get to perform for an actual princess! Y’know, I think I remember reading something about a princess from Allora recently…”
“Really? What was it?”
“Some scandal about her making out with someone or something. I can’t remember exactly. I just saw the headline and brushed past it. Too bad Fredericks would bite our heads off for pulling out our phones.”
“Yeah, that is a shame,” I said, though not because I was interested in learning any more about the royal family of Allora. I couldn’t care less about them. All I cared about was Amelia!
I hoped she didn’t get in too much trouble for shirking whatever it was she was supposed to be doing over the past couple of days. Suddenly some of her secrecy made a little more sense, though. Obviously she couldn’t talk about what she was doing here if she was representing a royal who was flying in to get the royal treatment as only Royal Realms knew how!
Fredericks appeared behind us again and clapped both of us on the shoulders. He beamed at the two of us and I wondered what strange alien had replaced our band director.
“Are you ladies ready? I know you’re going to do us proud while you’re out there!”
I turned in time to see the gates open. I looked to Sarah and gave her a quick high five. It was a routine we’d started doing for good luck ever since we both became drum majors two years ago. It was time to go.
I raised my hands and blew my whistle and started walking backwards out of the gate with the occasional glance over my shoulder to make sure I didn’t fall on my butt and cause myself some severe embarrassment and risk getting run over by the band who followed dutifully behind us. In front of us. Wherever the hell they were as we walked backwards in front of them and got ready for our big moment in the sun at Royal Realms.
The entire time I couldn’t contain my excitement. We were going past the royal review stand. I knew I only had a hunch to go on, but I was convinced Amelia would be around there somewhere. I just hoped I could sneak a glance into the stands and maybe wave to her without letting this princess know something was going on. The last thing I wanted was to get Amelia in trouble with the frickin’ future ruler of her country.
22: Amelia
“Isn’t this wonderful?” Katie asked from her spot sitting next to and slightly behind me. They wanted to make sure I was the guest of honor, after all, even if I’m sure there were hundreds of Royal Company PR people snapping an endless stream of pictures of this moment.
I was having a hard time thinking of her as anything but Katie, now. Learning her name and chatting with her in the car had pierced the veil of secrecy they usually kept around their actors in this place. Not that I minded. She was nice. Friendly. Nothing compared to Dani, but then again no girl could compare to Dani.
I was only half paying attention to all the happy characters streaming past the street below. They all had those creepy smiles that looked like they were frozen forever on the plastic or foam or whatever it was they used to make those faces.
“It is pretty cool,” I said.
Music blasted out from hidden speakers all around us. Those same hidden speakers that had done all that announcing the night before when I shared those few stolen moments with Dani. At times it felt like that had been an eternity ago. At other times I almost thought I could feel her lips brushing against mine.
And that was why I sat here ignoring some of the most technically impressive parading that had ever been invented by man. I was more interested in the marching bands going past. Already two had gone by, and I wasn’t even sure if Dani had been in them. The one had ridiculous hats with plumes overhead, and the other was big enough that I didn’t get a chance to really look at everyone as they moved past the stand.
Then again no one in those bands had lost their step when they looked up into the stands and realized I was up here, so I figured it was a good bet she was in a band that was still coming down the way.
“You’re sure there will be more bands?” I asked, leaning in close to Katie. I didn’t exactly whisper, though. I had to shout to be heard over the endless racket created by the parade.
“Oh yes. They usually have five or six high school bands in all the parades. It’s a new band every day. Very impressive the way they give them all a chance to have their moment in the sun!”
Their moment in the sun. Yeah. I’m sure they loved that. The first band with those plumes looked like they were about to melt under the sun. It couldn’t be comfortable marching down the street in eighty degree weather wearing the thick outfits they’d had on. Still, it was impressive discipline that compared favorably to the royal band back home. I had to commend them for that.
I smiled and leaned forward. Peered down to a curve in the crowded street that I couldn’t see beyond. Amelia was out there somewhere. I knew it. Any moment now she’d round that curve and it would be magic all over again.
At least until she looked up and realized who I was. I felt queasy thinking about it. I wondered if she’d be mad at me for being responsible for her face being plastered all over the Internet. I’d had plenty of time to get used to that sort of thing, but Dani hadn’t.
I really wished she’d answered some of my texts.
“Do you enjoy these band performances?” Katie asked.
“More than you could imagine,” Renata said from her position behind me. I turned and almost stuck my tongue out at her, but stopped at the last moment. I had to remember that there were cameras all around us. On top of the Royal Realms PR people there were countless news outlets with photographers taking shots, and then on top of that there was the crowd with people pointing cameras and phones in my direction creating a blinding series of flashes that was almost worse than the sun beating down from overhead.
“I’m so glad you enjoy them! It must make this trip especially magical for you,” she said.
I smiled. Magical. Yeah. It was a little more difficult to talk to Katie out here when she was playing a part, but I couldn’t blame her. After all, she
was out here in the open where her bosses could presumably see whether or not she was playing the part. I didn’t want to get the poor girl canned or anything.
I heard something that made my ears perk up. The sound of snare drums off in the distance. Another band was coming around. My skin prickled and I looked down to see goose bumps running all over my body despite the heat. Another band. That meant a very real possibility that she was out there with them. I forced myself to sit back and smile and wave at the crowd for a moment.
I didn’t want to seem too interested, after all. Renata might have her suspicions about what was going on here, but so far Felix seemed oblivious. He was out there, somewhere, though thankfully he’d decided not to hang out in the stands with me. Maybe he knew he’d finally gone too far this time. I had a strong feeling he and I were going to have it out when father got here.
I just wished I could be certain that father would take my side over his. That didn’t seem likely. This glimpse of Dani as she marched in a parade might be the last I ever saw of her. That thought made me even more queasy than the thought of her looking up into the stands and finally realizing who I was.
I really wished she’d managed to answer at least one text. I could understand that she was probably busy if they were going to be performing today, but still. One message where I could maybe try to explain things was all I asked.
Some girls twirling flags appeared around the bend down the way. I leaned forward again without really thinking about it. All rational thought flew out of my head as I watched the band approaching. I ignored a float filled with princesses who were doing their best to get my attention with the same amount of fervor that little girls along the parade route were trying to get their attention.
All my attention was focused on that band. In particular it was focused on two girls walking in between the flag twirlers and the band proper. I guess I didn’t need to worry so much about being able to pick Dani out in a crowd, because it turned out she wasn’t in a crowd at all. She was right there in the front waving her hands and directing, walking backwards, as they approached.
I felt dizzy. She was right there. And the whole walking backwards thing made it clear why she wasn’t able to answer her phone or take the time to shoot off a text message. She was obviously very busy.
“Do you know someone in that band?” Katie asked.
I darted a panicked look to her, then up to Renata who shook her head and smiled. It was a thin, knowing smile, but I figured a smile was a good sign. Had I been that obvious?
“Not really,” I said. I didn’t feel like going into the whole story of my life at Royal Realms over the past couple of days with a fake princess who I didn’t really know all that well even if she was nice enough. The last thing I needed was to gossip to the wrong person and have that get back to the media as well.
The band moved closer. Closer. The entire time Dani was turned away from me. She was so focused on doing her job that she didn’t have time to look at the surrounding crowd. She continued staring straight ahead, or behind, right up to the moment that they were in front of the stand.
Then, finally, she turned.
Time froze.
Every detail of that moment was seared into my memory forever. Dani turning to look up into the stands with a huge smile on her face. The moment she locked eyes with me that smile froze on her face and she stumbled back, only catching herself when the girl standing beside her swooped in and helped her to regain her footing. In that moment I knew that she hadn’t known who I was. She’d just looked up here expecting to see a princess and instead she’d seen the girl she’d just spent the last two days with kissing and canoodling and getting into all sorts of trouble.
The moment passed. She regained her composure and continued looking at the band and directing, but every couple of seconds she would look up into the stand. It was too far away to see the look on her face and eventually the mass of the band obscured her, but in that moment I wanted nothing more than to run down there and explain everything.
“Oh my goodness. Was that the girl from the pictures?”
I turned to regard Katie with what I thought was a fairly even and level stare, but there must’ve been something about the look on my face that wasn’t at all pleasant from the way she pulled back from me slightly. I forced myself to smile, but it was pretty damned obvious to me that I’d done well to not trust saying anything in front of this girl. Obviously she’d been online before our meeting, and obviously she’d had a look at the pictures posted from the night before.
Damn it. Those pictures were going to follow me everywhere!
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said with a forced smile on my face.
“Of… of course,” she said, blushing in a way that was distinctly un-princesslike. “Sorry I even mentioned it.”
She gave a little giggle in character, but the moment was ruined. She was just another reminder that I was living my life in the public eye and I was nothing more than a spectacle for people who wanted to pass by and gawk.
“Your friend looked surprised.”
I jumped at the voice in my ear. On the side Katie wasn’t sitting on, obviously. I turned to see Renata leaning over.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, thinking even as I said it that it was ridiculous to play dumb with her.
“That girl looked up here like she was shocked. She didn’t know who you were, did she?”
“Why would she?” I hissed. “I finally found someone who liked me for who I was and not for what I was. It was nice.”
Renata shook her head. “I can see why you’d want to do that, but that’s going to complicate things.”
“You say that like I don’t already know it,” I muttered.
“Why don’t you send her a text message? You can meet up with her after this if you want.”
“Really? You mean that? What about Felix?”
“Let me worry about Felix. I think you need to have a chat with this girl. I’d also strongly recommend that you come clean when you have that chat.”
I sighed and fell back in my chair. I put on the perfect fake smile and waved to the crowd, including pointing to some girls dressed in princess outfits in a copy of a gesture I saw some of the fake princesses in the parade using. The girls beamed like I’d just made their day, and I realized that I could get used to the high from that sort of attention. No wonder people like Katie busted their butts to get those jobs.
Under the fake smile, though, I was roiling. I’d get to see Dani again soon enough. I pulled out my phone and sent another text telling her that I saw her performance, thought it was wonderful, and we really needed to meet up when she was done with the parade. I told her to text me a location that would work for her and I’d make it work.
Only I was suddenly very unsure of myself. How would she react now that she knew who I really was? Would she change? Would she treat me like a princess rather than treating me like Amelia? Would she hate me for lying to her?
There were just too many unknowns, and I knew the time between now and when I got to meet up with her to get answers to some of those questions was going to feel like an eternity.
23: Dani
I stared at my phone in disbelief. I’d torn it out of my back pocket the moment were were back at the backlot and away from prying eyes. I didn’t seem that out of the ordinary considering everyone else was doing the same thing.
The information blackout was over. Fredericks was no longer snapping at anyone about pulling their phones out.
I had a couple of messages from Amelia, but the last one was the clincher. She saw the performance. She thought it was wonderful. She needed to talk.
Talk about a fucking understatement!
Amelia wasn’t part of the party for that visiting princess. Amelia was the visiting princess from Allora! I’d been hanging out with an actual princess for the past couple of days! I’d made out with a princess!
All that secrecy from the past co
uple of days was starting to make a lot more sense. I couldn’t believe I didn’t press her more for why she was acting so weird. I couldn’t believe she hadn’t trusted me enough to tell me the truth, for that matter. I felt betrayed, but more than anything I knew that I had to see her.
Knowing that she’d been up there, that she’d seen our performance and liked it, was a thrill. We’d seen each other, even if it was from a distance, and in that moment I’d felt a shock, but in a good way. I couldn’t wait to see her again. I didn’t care if she was an honest-to-God princess. I fell for Amelia, and I wanted to spend more time with her!
“So Devon and I were thinking of going on the Princess Cruise ride after this,” Sarah said. “You want to come with?”
I looked over to her and blushed as I thought about going on the Princess Cruise ride the night before. I had no doubt that Sarah was planning on doing pretty much the same thing that I’d done the night before, and I’d just be a third wheel for that. Amelia and I had gotten pretty hot and heavy on that thing towards the end. And people had snapped pictures.
My blood chilled. People had snapped pictures. Last night I figured they were snapping pictures because it was a couple of girls kissing each other and there were always assholes who wanted to get creepy about that, but now that I had this extra information about Amelia it occurred to me that there might’ve been another reason for people snapping all those pictures. A reason that had everything and nothing to do with us making out.
I switched my phone over to the browser and started searching, but my unspoken question was answered before I had a chance to finish my search.
“Holy shit Dani! You’ve been a naughty girl!”
Colin. He must’ve opened his phone and looked at the news and of course there’d be pictures out there on the web. The Crown Princess of Allora was making out with some strange girl on a ride at Royal Realms. How could that not be a juicy news story for the sort of gossip sites that made that sort of thing their creepy business? Either Colin had found it or one of his buddies had and then told him all about it. Either way, I was busted.