by Mia Archer
Anything else was just wishful thinking. Particularly when Felix could pull her out of my life in the next five minutes and I’d never see her again.
“Ready?” I asked.
“Ready,” Dani said. She held her hand out and I regarded it for a moment. I felt the flash of annoyance that usually came with a commoner reaching out to “press flesh” with me, as the PR people father and mother employed always put it. Then I realized what I was doing. This wasn’t some starstruck girl reaching out to have a moment with the princess and heiress apparent of Allora. She was a very beautiful American girl who intrigued me just a little and seemed to have no idea who I was.
It was quite refreshing. So I reached out and took her hand, telling myself that I was just doing it because that was likely to throw off the security people even more. Not that I truly believed that for a moment.
As we walked out of the maze I paused for a moment to look over my shoulder one final time. I was looking for Felix’s people coming up behind us, but the only thing I saw was that massive hedge depicting the iconic scene where the prince and princess kiss in the middle of the maze for the first time. I shivered.
“You okay?” Dani asked.
I turned and smiled. Gave her hand a squeeze. “Better than you could imagine.”
Oddly enough there didn’t seem to be anyone from Felix’s merry band of fun ruiners waiting at this entrance. That was extremely odd. He was usually so thorough. Normally if I went into something like that hedge maze he’d station someone at all the exits to make sure I couldn’t get out without him knowing about it.
Maybe he was starting to lose his touch. All the better for me.
People walked around without a care in the world. Off in the distance a golf cart ran along a paved path, but the people in there looked like they worked for the park and not for Felix. All of his people were pretty obvious with their oversized sunglasses and those earpieces that looked like something out of a bad ‘90s spy thriller or something. Miraculously the coast seemed to be clear.
“Looking for someone?” Dani asked.
I turned to her and she had a frown on her face. Oops. Had I been that obvious in my search for Felix and his flunkies? I was going to have to learn to be more circumspect around Dani. After all, I didn’t want her to discover the truth almost as much as I didn’t want to be caught. It was nice being around someone who treated me like a normal person and not like, well, royalty.
“Nothing,” I said. “Do you know how to get back to the park from here?”
“You don’t know how to get out of here?”
“I just got here today and I haven’t really had time to look around,” I said, hoping that would be enough. It was sort of the truth.
“Oh. I guess that makes sense,” she said. She pulled me off towards the main building. “Follow me, then. The best way to get there is probably the elevated train. It’ll get us there in a few minutes.”
I stopped and Dani yanked on my arm before she realized I’d come to a screeching halt. She turned and cocked an eyebrow.
“Something wrong?”
“Is there another way to get there?” I asked.
The elevated train. I’d heard about it, but never actually seen it in person. It was another of those bits of pervasive American pop culture that I couldn’t avoid even if I wanted to. Unless of course I maybe didn’t watch any movies from the Royal Company at all, and that was a ridiculous thought.
The elevated train would be a choke point, though. Maybe Felix was falling down on the job out here in the resort proper, but I had no doubt he’d have people posted there. That or he’d have people who knew what I looked like and they’d stop me before I could climb aboard.
“Well I suppose we could take a bus or something,” Dani said. “I was reading that they have buses going to all the parks, but we’d probably have to double around to get to the main park and on top of that we’d have to wait for like twenty minutes or something at each stop when we could get there in five if we took the train. Not to mention I don’t really like the idea of spending more time on a bus right now if I can avoid it.”
Damn. I was presented with more and more bad choices. Though ultimately it was practicality that decided me. If Felix had people posted at the exit points then that meant there’d be people at the bus stops as well. If it really took that much longer for the buses to come around that would give them that much longer to track me down. Better to go for the option where I’d spend the least amount of time waiting around to be caught.
“You’re right,” I said. “Let’s go for the train, then.”
So we stepped into the main building which was open concept running all the way up to the top where my suite was situated. I could see the windows staring down and I looked away. There were a couple of people obviously milling around up there, and that could only mean security types who were on the hunt. Maybe that’s why they weren’t waiting for me at the hedge maze exit.
Whatever the reason, I couldn’t drop my guard yet. I wasn’t safe until I was on that train, and maybe not even then. The elevator leading to the second floor where the train station was located seemed to take forever, and I was terrified through the entire ride that it would open on someone in sunglasses smiling at me waiting to spirit me back up to the suite.
Only there was no one waiting. We stepped out onto the station and there was a security person standing there, but they were talking with a guy running the controls that opened the gates to let people on. A train pulled up just as we stepped out, and my breath caught.
It wasn’t fair. I was so close and there was a security puke right there ready to destroy my fantasy of a day in the park without Felix ruining my fun.
“Are you sure there’s nothing wrong? You just tensed up big time,” Dani said. “If you want to go back or you’re afraid of trains or something we can go back and take the bus. It’s no big deal.”
I only just managed to avoid letting out a relieved sigh. She noticed I was tensing up. Bad. She thought it was because I was afraid of trains or something. Good.
“No, I’m fine,” I said. “Let’s just get on the train.”
As we got closer the nature of the argument between Felix’s guy and the park worker became more clear as I overheard snippets of their conversation. People were milling around looking back at them with irritation as the train sat there but the gates didn’t open to let them board.
“And I’m telling you that I have to open those gates,” the park worker said.
“You don’t understand. We have a situation here. I’m sure we’ll find the princess shortly and you can resume operations, but until we do…”
That was good to know. They knew I was missing but they had no idea where I was. The guy would have kittens if he just bothered to turn around and look at the crowd like the park dude was suggesting, but of course he didn’t. He was too busy trying to push the guy around and it didn’t seem to be working at all.
I moved in closer to Dani, both because it seemed like it would be a good disguise and because it just felt good. Really good. She grunted in surprise, but then she slipped an arm around me that felt even better. I sighed in contentment and for a moment I almost forgot that I was in imminent danger of being discovered.
Almost. The conversation was ongoing. If this guy managed to shut down this station then I’d be well and truly screwed, and no amount of cuddling up to Dani would save me.
“I don’t care if you do have a situation. You can look at people going through, but we’re not shutting down this station.”
“I’ll talk to your supervisor about this,” the security guy said.
The park employee hit a button and the gates finally opened. People surged forward and I was carried right along with them. The security guy turned to look at the crowd and I looked down, hoping that the hat and the sunglasses combined with walking hand in hand with another girl would be enough to keep him from recognizing me. That and the crowd of vacationers that had,
ironically enough, built up precisely because he was trying to hold the line.
I’d have to track that guy down later and thank him for the assist in getting out of here. As we surged forward I caught a final snippet from the park worker that put a big smile on my face.
“You not doing your job doesn’t mean I don’t get to do your job buddy,” he said, and then I was too far along to hear anything else. That line was genius, though. I’d have to make sure and mention that as well when I thanked the guy for helping me escape.
Then, miraculously, impossibly, I was on the train. Dani sat down next to me and moved in close. Apparently she took all that up close and personal time we just had as an invitation, and I was more than happy for her to take it that way. The more I was around her the more I was thinking that an adventure with this girl might be just what I needed. A real day in the park with a girl who also happened to be insanely hot?
Yes please.
I leaned back in the seat and let out a sigh of relief. Tension drained from my body as speakers overhead chimed a couple of times and then the doors swung shut. I looked out to the platform where more obvious security people had gathered and were having a heated discussion with the guy running the platform.
I got an even bigger shock when one of them walked right past me staring into the window followed by an angry park employee who was actually yelling at the lady. I didn’t know the park people were allowed to do that. It seemed like happiness was mandatory, but I guess that didn’t apply when Felix’s goons were violating local transportation laws because they lost me.
The lady. I had a sinking feeling as I realized exactly which security person had found me, too. I recognized her all too well from our brief encounter out in front of my hotel room. Renata.
She stared right at me and even with those sunglasses on I could see the recognition. She lowered her sunglasses just enough that I could see her eyes. I figured this was it. This was the end. The disguise wasn’t nearly good enough to hold up against someone who was personally tasked with guarding me.
Only she didn’t raise the alarm. No, she winked at me an then moved on, the park person trailing behind her still shouting something about breaking the law. It was difficult to make anything out through the glass.
I sat back, stunned, as the train beeped a couple more times and Felix’s stooges milled about like an angry anthill kicked over by a kid as they realized the train really was going to leave despite them trying to hold it in place.
Why did Renata let me go? There was no doubt she recognized me. I was free even though she could’ve stopped me at any moment.
Maybe there was more to the guard Felix assigned to me than I thought. I felt a subtle shift as the train started moving. There were more beeps and a voice asked people to stand clear of the doors then we were underway. The angry horde of security people disappeared as we moved out over a beautiful view that looked all the way to the main park and the royal palace.
I breathed a sigh of relief. It worked. I’d escaped. Sure it was partially because of an assist there at the very end from Renata, but still. It worked. I turned to smile at Dani and my heart caught. She was staring at me very intently. Almost as though she’d recognized me.
Damn it. I should’ve known. I wasn’t this lucky. She’d recognized me at long last and this was going to be all over social media in no time. Felix would figure out where I was and come and get me and my fun would be all over. Probably forever after pulling an escape like this.
9: Dani
I was staring. I shouldn’t be staring. Staring was something creepers did. Like that idiot Ronald Maxwell who got it in his head sophomore year that I was the love of his life and wouldn’t leave me alone even after I’d made it clear there wasn’t a chance in hell that was happening.
And that wasn’t just because I had a sneaking suspicion I was into girls at the time. I had wound up with Colin later despite those suspicions, after all. No, Ronald was just a creeper. Plain and simple. Now here I was acting like a creeper myself.
Damn it.
Amelia was just so beautiful, though. Sure I’d seen girls just as pretty as her at school. On TV. There was just something about the way she carried herself, about the easy way conversation came with her, that I found compelling. Maybe it was that she was the first girl who’d shown a flirtatious interest in me since I came out, though I thought it was probably more than that.
I hoped it was, at least. It was also entirely possible that was wishful thinking on my part. I’d read enough stories about girls reading the signs wrong when they thought their best friend was in love with them and ruining things to be just a little wary.
She turned and looked at me with an odd expression. That was the other thing that was bugging me. She’d acted so weird ever since we left the hedge maze. As though she was being hunted or something, as ridiculous as that sounded. Always looking over her shoulder then looking at me to see if I’d noticed. Staring out the window at all those people arguing at the platform. I’d give a pretty penny to know what was going on there.
My mind was wandering. That was bad. She was still staring at me and I was still sitting here staring at her like a creeper. No wonder she was giving me that weird look.
“What?” I asked.
Stupid. Why did I say the first thing that came to mind whenever she looked at me? The first thing that came to my head wasn’t usually that eloquent. Certainly not the kind of thing that would impress a cultured girl who obviously wasn’t from around here.
Amelia sighed. She looked so resigned. It was heartbreaking. What was going on with this girl that she could go from happy to that dejected so quickly?
“Go ahead. Get it over with,” she said.
“What are you talking about?” I asked. My eyes narrowed. “Are you on something? Some crazy thing that’s only legal in Europe or something? Because if you are…”
Now it was Amelia’s turn to look at me as though I was crazy. Admittedly asking her if she was on something was a little out there. Like I said, I just spit out the first thing that came to mind when she looked at me. She short-circuited the logical parts of my brain which weren’t even that logical to begin with.
“Am I on something? What do you mean?”
“You’ve been acting kinda weird ever since we got out of that hedge maze. What’s up with that? Is someone after you or something?”
“That’s the only reason you were staring?”
Panic. That wasn’t the only reason I was staring. I was staring because I was transfixed by her. I was staring because I couldn’t believe I’d gone from thinking I’d be miserable on this trip to sneaking off and running into this beautiful creature. I was staring because, yeah, I thought she was acting just a little weird if I’m going to be completely honest.
“Uh yeah,” I lied. “That was the only reason. Why else would I be staring?”
Good. Deflect back on her a little bit. Sure I was being a coward, but this was all so new to me that I wasn’t sure how to react. She seemed to be buying it, too. She gave my hand a squeeze and smiled.
“No reason. I think we should just enjoy ourselves today,” she said. “Does that sound good to you?”
Once again I found myself wondering if this girl was crazy, but at the same time enjoying ourselves for the day seemed like a good enough idea so I figured why not go with it?
“Sure. That sounds like a good plan,” I said. “Live for today!”
“Don’t you mean carpe diem?” Amelia asked.
My nose wrinkled. That sounded like something I should recognize, but of course I didn’t. Like I said, it seemed like this girl was way more cultured and refined than anything I would’ve ever known in the small town life back in Cornville, Ohio.
“I’m sorry. I don’t really speak Spanish. I took German in high school.”
Amelia fixed me with another one of those odd stares and then the corners of her mouth turned up. I wasn’t sure what I just said that was so funny, but she
started giggling and I went right along with it because I was hoping I wasn’t part of the joke.
“You Americans are so cute,” she said. She gave my hand a squeeze and I decided that even if I was the butt of a joke I wasn’t going to knock it if she was squeezing my hand like that.
The train shifted slightly and Amelia let out a gasp and leaned in even closer. I decided to get a little bold and reached an arm around her back. To my delight and surprise she moved in even closer until we were cuddled right up against each other.
I glanced around the train and saw one couple on the other side of the train looking at us with a smile, though the lady looked away as soon as she realized she’d been caught. Well then. I guess we were giving off a young love vibe if we were getting older people to smile like that, and I didn’t mind the idea of giving off a young love vibe with this hottie one bit.
Alas, the moment wasn’t to last. The train shifted again which caused Amelia to press up against me, though it wasn’t possible for her to get any closer than she already was. Not that I was complaining, mind you.
“I think we’re coming into the station,” I said.
Amelia sighed, and I wanted to whimper as she disengaged and pulled away from me. I wanted that moment to last forever, but then again it’s not like we could just ride in a perpetual circle forever holding each other close like that. Though it would’ve been a hell of a lot more exciting than any of the rides they had on offer in the park!
“Too bad,” Amelia muttered.
I blushed. Yeah, I don’t think this was wishful thinking on my part. This girl was into me, and the thought was as terrifying as it was exciting. Growing up in the middle of nowhere there weren’t that many people who were out. One other girl had come out after I did, but she wasn’t a girl I’d be interested in dating even if she had tried to make a go of it as though we were obligated to date because we were the only two lesbians in the school.
