Suddenly Princess

Chapter 13 - Saying Goodbye

*I hope you guys like the video! Just a little throwback to one of the greatest movies of my childhood ;) I know it hit me right in the nostalgia when I saw it again for the first time in years! Anna and the girls watch both movies in this chapter, so I thought it was only fitting to put the trailer for one of them in the multimedia sidebar!*

It’s so nice to not have to wake up to my alarm clock at six in the morning. Let alone face another day of counting down to my inevitable doom (okay maybe I’m being overly dramatic) while I sit in a hard plastic desk and contemplate my normalcy.

I almost feel like I’m moving away or something. But I’m not. I’m not saying goodbye to Ash and Ave because I’ll never see them again. I’m saying goodbye to the life I’ve known for seventeen years. I’m saying goodbye to the late night adventures. I’m saying goodbye to my college dreams (bye bye, Northeastern, Yale, Harvard and UPenn). I’m bidding farewell to my freedom to even walk down the street in peace.

If celebrities think they have it bad… just wait until they see what Victor is telling me will happen.

He says big words like ‘swarms’ and ‘hoards’ to describe the amount of paparazzi and press people that will be descending on my house in no more than two weeks. He says he doubts he can keep it a total secret. After all, the private airport people and his workers are going to see me. Then there’s the trip to the palace to take into account. There’s a lot to consider here.

But right now all that matters is that Ash and Ave are spending the rest of the day with me; helping me pack and letting me vent.

They arrive around noon like I said. Ash is the first one to come bounding through the door and hug my mom.

“Hi mommy!” She laughs and looks at me. I know what she’s silently asking: Can I tell them I know?

I nod and let her blurt out, “So I heard the news!”

My parents send a glare my way. But I simply say, “Ash and Ave have been my best friends since birth. It would be like, a sin to hide something like this from them.”

“Well I hope you told them that if they slip before New Year’s Eve they’re dead meat,” my dad says jokingly, nudging Ave.

Ave gives everyone a look and rolls her eyes. “Do you honestly think we’d do that to Annie? No one would even believe us in the first place anyways!” She exclaims.

“True,” the twins echo in agreement from the sofa.

As I go into the small entry-way to shut the front door I’m stopped by a hand.

“Whoa,” Ben says, “Trying to lock me out?” He chuckles and I look up in shock.

I stutter to get the words out. “W—what are you doing here? You said you weren’t visiting today,” I say, letting go of the door. Victor appears behind him and chimes in.

“We need to talk about the travel plans with your father, darling,” he drawls. I wince at the word ‘darling’. It’s never come out of his mouth before… especially not towards me.

“Are you going to let us in?” Ben asks with a smile. But then he looks up, past me and tilts his head, like something’s interesting. I hear Ash and Ave squeal in unison… then the twins mocking them. I cringe and look up at Victor and Ben. They both look like they’re saying, ‘We’re screwed.’

But I speak up before Victor goes into convulsions or has a heart attack or something.

“Our families have been friends since we were born. I’ve known them forever and I told them a few days ago. They haven’t said a word. I promise.”