The Lost Princess

by R. G. Angel

  He came back out not more than two minutes later in the same blue jeans and white shirt which he’d complimented with a black leather jacket.

  I looked at him from head to toe. “Okay, I lose. What are you supposed to be? Calvin Klein lead model?” I teased.

  “Maybe…” He arched a brow yet again. This brow thing made him look all badass when it made the other boys look like they were on the verge of having a seizure. “I’m disguised as your bodyguard.” He grinned.

  “Humph… You will be the only one without a costume.” I looked around as a boy walked past us in a pirate costume and I had to smile when he checked me out appreciatively. “We won’t go unnoticed.”

  “See? You need a bodyguard.” He pointed at the boy who was still staring at me as the elevator door closed on him.

  I slightly pouted but surrendered. “Okay…”

  He sighed. “Fine, you win!” He looked around before walking to the pay phone and scribbled something on a yellow Post-it, before sticking it to his shirt.

  “Is it better now?” He walked back to me to show me what was written on the paper. It said: ‘Hello, I’m God.’

  “Nobody can say it’s wrong; it’s not like they ever met him,” he added with a proud grin.

  I burst into laughter as it was really not something I expected. Damn, this man also had a good sense of humor! Was he really that perfect? I hoped not, as it was terrible for my ego. “That’s perfect… God, let’s go.” I started to walk to the elevator, and I was startled to feel his hand settle on the small of my back as we waited. This was going to be a night to remember.

  As soon as we made it to the gymnasium, I tensed up. I had never been to a place with that many people concentrated in one area; plus, the lighting and the body heat were making it hard to breathe.

  “Is everything alright?” Tamlin looked down at me. He probably felt my back muscles contract under his hand.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just… ummm… borderline agoraphobic, you know.” I shrugged slightly. “I never really felt that well in crowded places.”

  “And you decided to come here?” he asked with astonishment.

  “Yeah.” I scrunched my nose. “I promised my mom to try to be more sociable.”

  He chuckled. “Well, maybe joining a club of some sort would have been more appropriate than going to the busiest party of the year.”

  I looked up at him, not really knowing what to say because he was right. I was pretty sure I looked mentally challenged at this exact moment.

  “It’s all good.” He smiled down at me as he ran his hand up and down my back in a comforting gesture, giving me goosebumps. “You wanna know a little secret?” he asked, leaning down. “Crowded places make me nervous too,” he whispered in my ear.

  “Really?” I asked, surprised. I never expected such a big guy to be nervous in any situation. I had turned to look at him and as he was still looking down at me, his face was a breath away. He was completely mesmerizing.

  He smiled and nodded.

  “So… so why did you come?” I asked, even more pleased than he was.

  “I wanted to spend some time with my fairy friend.” He winked. “Come on, we’ll be fine!” He took my hand, leading me through the crowd.

  His hand was warm and powerful around mine, sending an electrical current down my spine, but it seemed natural to him. I was probably the only one who was that affected by such an innocent touch.

  “Let’s have a drink. You know, just to give us time to get comfortable with the atmosphere.” He handed me a plastic glass full of an electric blue cocktail.

  “Thank you.” I was so thankful for how caring he was. He was truly making it bearable.

  “Anything.” He took a glass for himself, pulling me to the corner of the banquet table.

  I started to feel better, well almost, but I knew it was only due to Tamlin’s presence.

  We chatted and laughed. It was so nice that I didn’t feel this awkwardness anymore at being in a room full of people.

  “Oh, I love this song!” I exclaimed as “So Close” by Jon McLaughlin started.

  “Sweet fairy, will you dance with me?” he asked, raising his hand, palm up, and bowing slightly in a gentlemanly manner.

  “I… don’t dance. I’ve never danced, really,” I confessed, revealing to him the outrageous extent of my lack of social skills.

  “Don’t worry, I can.” He pulled me to the dance floor, locking me tightly against his hard body before wrapping an arm around my waist. He kept my other hand in his and brought it to his chest so I could feel his warm skin and heartbeat under my palm. “Trust me and let me lead,” he whispered against my ear. His warm breath made me shiver. There was no way he didn’t notice the effect he had on me, but he was gentleman enough to pretend otherwise.

  It was so different than the only other time I had danced before. I danced at the university ball last summer. I didn’t go to my prom, but Nick wanted me to experience the full thing. So, he begged me to be his date and I knew it was no pity; if it had been the case, I would have refused on the spot but I knew he also enjoyed the company of his little sister. I had spent most of the night at our table listening to him discuss strategy for the next basketball season and when it had been almost time to go home, Nick, very embarrassed, asked me to dance but, despite him being very coordinated as far as sports were concerned, we couldn’t have called him a dancer.

  However, right now, moving in rhythm with Tamlin was easy, nice, and comforting. I loved it! A part of me just wished the song would never end.

  “See, you’re dancing just fine. It’s in your blood.” He looked into my eyes.

  “And now you’re just being nice.” I brought my free hand to his cheek without thinking.

  As my hand touched his skin, I could feel his heart accelerating against the palm of my hand that was resting over his heart.

  He leaned into my touch, showing me that he enjoyed it as much as I did. It was like we were both pulled into each other’s gravity. At that moment, we were the only ones in the room.

  As the song ended, he gently moved his head, and when I thought he was about to step away, he pulled me even closer, closing the distance between our faces… between our lips.

  I realized he was about to kiss me, and my heart accelerated so much that I thought it was about to jump out of my chest.

  As soon as his lips touched mine, my whole body relaxed. His lips were warm and soft and felt right. I brought my hand to his neck to deepen our kiss when a voice, way too close for my liking, interrupted us.

  “Hey, Tam. Sorry, man, but we need your help.”

  Tamlin broke the kiss and I could see it was a tall lanky blond who lived on our floor. His name was Andy or something like that.

  “What’s up?” he asked curtly, and I could hear the underlying frustration in his voice.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt.” He quickly glanced at me, his eyes widening slightly with surprise as he probably didn’t expect the little, rather plain, freshman to be enough to attract someone like ‘killer Tam’ as they enjoyed calling him.

  He was, apparently, a pretty hard RA but he was, in my opinion, very considerate. “Derek is kinda drunk and he is getting uncontrollable. I—We just need to get him out,” he added with embarrassment under Tamlin’s glare.

  Tamlin’s nostrils flared with anger. “Does it look like I’m working to you?” he asked, resting his hand on the small of my back. “Go talk to one of the chaperones,” he added before turning his attention back to me.

  “Well… the… you know, he’s having a rough time and all,” he insisted now, fidgeting with his hands. “I mean, he needs a break and involving the campus chaperones will cause him trouble plus…” He ran his hand through his hair. “He looks up to you, man. He will listen… please,” he added in a tone which actually made me feel bad for him.

  Tamlin looked at me, clearly reluctant.

  “Come on, go help him.” I reached for his hand, squeezing
it.

  He rolled his eyes at me before looking at ‘probably Andy.’ “Kay, but it better be fast.” He pulled me to the cocktail table. “Here, have a drink because I intend to dance a lot more as soon as I get back.” He winked.

  I followed them with my eyes, but I was so small that they disappeared pretty soon in the crowd.

  I sighed loudly, reaching for a bottle of water. It was so hot and humid in this room. I looked around trying to spot Krysten because being completely by myself surrounded by so many people was uncomfortable. It was to the point that I'd rather be with annoying Krysten than be left on my own.

  I scanned the room again and frowned when I noticed a narrow green door by the DJ station. The door was half open and there was a Giant Angora rabbit standing in front of it. It was just beautiful, but it was the second rarest breed in the world and it was here, in the middle of a ball. It looked so scared with all the noise and people. Poor thing.

  I quickly looked up, but Tamlin was nowhere to be found. I looked down again just in time to see the rabbit go through the half-open door.

  “Damn…” I muttered, leaving my spot to follow the rabbit. It was a very expensive breed and it seemed very cared for. However, letting it wander like that was animal cruelty because anything could happen to the poor bunny.

  “Come on, bunny…tsk, tsk, tsk,” I called softly, going through the half-open door, walking into a cold, dim corridor which I suspected led to the changing rooms. I looked up just to see the rabbit take a left.

  I cussed. Freaking animal is not listening to me. That is a first! I thought, following him faster now as this place was really giving me the creeps.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me!” I muttered as I just managed to see its little tail as it turned right.

  I ran and as soon as I rounded the corner, I expected to see the little white fluffball only a few steps away from me, but it was not here; it had vanished!

  “Bunny? Bunny, where are you?” I hissed and it sounded completely absurd even to me, but I didn’t imagine it… Did I?

  It probably just slid into an open room. I sighed. “Well, listen, bunny, you better show up now or I’m going back to the party and leaving you alone here,” I stated, walking up the corridor. “It’s your choice, bunny, so you better make it fast.”

  I was halfway up the dark corridor when I felt it, the ice-cold dread that made my heart accelerate without any apparent reason. It was just like when I was in the woods the last time. I felt some cold air and briskly turned around just in time to see a shadowy form slide in the room behind me.

  I was having trouble breathing. I could feel the danger again and I started to run straight ahead, taking corridor after corridor, not knowing where I was going but the only thing that mattered was that I knew I was being followed and that my pursuer was getting closer and closer even though I couldn’t see him. However, I could feel him and I knew it was bad, very bad.

  As I ran, I sighed with relief seeing a door at the end of the corridor with a green ‘Exit’ banner. I didn’t know where exactly I would land but once out, I could scream for help and I didn’t even care if I looked unstable. It was Halloween after all.

  I was reaching for the handle when a pair of powerful arms caught me from the left.

  I screamed with all I had, but it was muffled as my face was buried into a massive chest.

  “Calm down, Fay. It’s me,” Tamlin breathed anxiously, keeping me buried against his body.

  I immediately relaxed as the combination of his deep voice and unique wooden cologne made me feel safe. I knew that I would be okay now that he was here.

  “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” he asked gently but firmly, grasping my face into his hands to have a good look at me.

  I nodded in his hands. “I’m alright,” I croaked, my voice quivering. “I…” I turned around but everything was quiet. It was just a normal, dark, and slightly creepy corridor but nothing that could lead to such a panic attack.

  “What?” he asked, quickly looking at the corridor before concentrating his attention on my face again.

  “I…” I took a deep breath. Better sound like an idiot than crazy, I thought. “I was curious and I got lost…” I forced a little laugh. “I guess I panicked when I didn’t find my way back,” I added, trying to look sheepish, which was not that hard. I was genuinely mortified to have been caught by him in this state for the second time.

  “I told you to stay put!” he snapped, letting go of my face. “Why don’t you ever listen?” I was so surprised by his anger that seemed clearly exaggerated. “What if something did—”

  “Oh, shut it!” I snapped back. I always hated when people talked down to me… even if they were right. I felt like a child being chastised, and that was clearly not his place in my life. “I made a bad decision and did something stupid; let’s move on, shall we?” I knew it was his fear for me that made him angry.

  He looked at me without a word.

  I sighed. “I’m sorry.” I surrendered. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

  He nodded. “As long as you are okay, that’s all that matters,” he said, much calmer now. “Do you want to go back to the dance or…” He trailed off.

  I shook my head. “No, I’d rather go to bed.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” He opened the door that led outside, gesturing me out.

  We walked back to the dorm in total silence. I could see him quickly glancing at me from time to time, but he didn’t say anything.

  When we reached the corridor, he stopped in front of his room. I figured, with some disappointment, that I would not get a goodnight kiss.

  “Well, thank you for coming with me.” I looked down at my shoes. “I actually did enjoy most of it and it’s mainly because of you.”

  When he didn’t answer, I finally looked up to see him studying me thoughtfully with a deep frown on his face.

  “Good night,” I muttered, feeling the heat of embarrassment creeping up my neck.

  “I had a good time too.” He snapped back to reality. “Sleep well,” he added with a small smile, walking in his room, leaving me dumbfounded in the corridor.

  Sleep well? If he had patted my head like I was a small kid, it wouldn’t have been worse!

  I walked sullenly back to my room; the evening ended up in a massive flop. The way he said goodbye was like we hadn’t even kissed.

  That night, for the first time since I was six, I slept with the light on. I felt silly doing so, but my irrational fear was still there… deep down.

  Chapter 9

  “What are you doing?” Gareth asked, almost appearing by my side.

  “Holy shit!” I shrieked, slamming shut the book I was studying. I was concentrating so hard I didn’t even hear him approach.

  “Surprised?” he said with humor.

  “Yeah… something along these lines,” I mumbled, resting both arms on the closed book to hide the title from him. I didn’t need his questioning today.

  He sat beside me, and I couldn’t help but scoot back, pulling the book closer to me.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked, a bit colder than I intended.

  He frowned with displeasure, but his face smoothed almost immediately. “Well, it’s a public library.” He chuckled. “And I have a thesis to write so…”

  “Yeah, sorry.” I blushed with shame. He didn’t deserve the way I just talked to him; it was not his fault I was turning crazy.

  He shrugged it off. “The question is what are you doing here at nine on a Monday morning after the crazy Halloween weekend I’ve heard about?” he asked, resting his bag on the table. “I came back last night, only to learn how fun it was and how people were still partying… I thought you would at least sleep in today.” He elbowed me playfully.

  I looked at him and snorted. “Well, let’s just say I’m not party material.”

  “You and me both.” He rested his elbow on the table, settling his cheek in his hand.

  “Tired?�
� I asked, trying to divert the conversation away from me.

  “A bit,” he replied dismissively. “I went home for the weekend, and…” He sighed heavily. “It’s always the same.”

  “Yeah, Rodeo Drive or the Fifth Avenue. It’s a hard life,” I joked, not knowing from which coast he was from, but I was sure he was from the super upper class.

  “What?” he asked, dumbfounded.

  “Never mind.” I automatically looked down at my book, which was a mistake.

  “What are you studying?” he asked, reaching for the book.

  “It’s nothing.” I tightened my grip on it.

  “Come on.” He laughed, grabbing it.

  I was not going to fight for a book, was I? Well, maybe I could have, but I would have lost. I sighed with defeat and aggravation and let go of it.

  Gareth put his finger in the book so as not to lose the page I was reading and closed it to read the title. I saw him frown as he whispered the title ‘Clinical Handbook of Schizophrenia’ before looking up to me, cocking his eyebrows in wonder.

  I shrugged before pretending to look to the table on the far left where a blond girl was silently moving her head to the beat of her iPod.

  “Are you okay, Fay?” he asked, reaching for my arm, resting his extra-warm hand on my forearm.

  “Yeah, I’m super, why?” I asked innocently. I was about to add that it was for a class, but he stopped me before I could give a pretty lame lie.

  “Well, I know psychology is not an option for freshmen in Biodiversity…” He gently squeezed my arm. “You can talk to me, you know,” he added with a small smile.

  “I…” I sighed. “It’s for one of my… friends,” I finished rather lamely.

  “Yes, a friend.” He didn’t show his disbelief, and I appreciated that. “But you know, I did study psychology for a couple of years; maybe I can help you… help your friend,” he added, and I had to smile at that.

  I sighed. What did I have to lose? Maybe Gareth could help me after all. “I don’t know what’s exactly up but…” I shrugged. “He seemed pretty disturbed, and it’s not how he usually is.”