by Mia Archer
“Very well. You stay in the park and enjoy yourself. We can talk when you return at the end of the week,” father said. “Your mother and I both love you very much, Amelia. I’m glad to see you finally talking sensibly for a change.”
I glanced over to mother. The way she stood there with her arms crossed and her mouth puckered up made it seem like she was in anything but a loving mood, but I decided to take father at face value. The screen closed a moment later and I sat back and sighed before turning to Felix and Renata.
“Well that went better than I thought it would. What do you think, Felix? Looking forward to a couple of days wandering the park?”
Felix smiled. An unpleasant smile. He leaned forward, and his voice was barely above a whisper. It was clear he relished what he was saying.
“What makes you think you’ll get any time in the park for the next few days aside from your official appearances?”
“But father said…”
“Your father doesn’t know what’s best for you. He might have fallen for whatever this new thing is you’re doing, but I’m wise to your tricks, Amelia. You’re confined to your room. I’ll just make up some excuse when I see your father. He’ll certainly believe it given your past.”
I stared at him in disbelief. My mouth moved but no words came out. What could I say to that? He’d gone from asshole to full on cartoonish villain in the space of a conversation with my father.
“Renata, escort her to her room please. I want you to stand guard in there, and I’m going to post extra security outside her door to make sure there’s no funny business. Are we clear?”
Renata stared at him, her jaw obviously grinding, but finally she nodded. “Understood.”
She turned to me with a sympathetic frown and I stood and walked with her in a daze. I’d been good. I’d done the right thing. And because of Felix I was still getting punished for it. That meant no more seeing Dani during the limited window that she was in the park.
Which meant it was game on as far as I was concerned. If Felix thought he was going to keep me from that park then the old Amelia was going to come out to play one final time, and damn the consequences.
13: Dani
I woke, bleary-eyed, to the phone going off. I frowned. Why on earth was the phone ringing at this hour? Not that I could tell what hour it was. My vision was blurred to the point that I couldn’t see a damn thing.
I squinted. Six A.M. Entirely too early to be getting up on a summer day. Unless, of course, you were under the care of a crazy band director who insisted that everyone be up early enough to get ready and stick to his equally crazy schedule.
Then another thought occurred to me. What if that was Amelia calling? It wasn’t a rational thought, if she was calling it would be on my cell phone and not the ancient landline attached to the hotel phone system. How would she even know what room I was staying in?
I wasn’t thinking rationally, though. So I picked up the phone, excitement coursing through me.
“Hello?”
“Hello!” the voice of some princess cheerily cooed into my ear. “This is your wake up call! Have a great day at Royal Realms!”
The line went dead. A call from a pre-recorded princess. Definitely not Amelia. Damn it. I slammed the phone back down in its cradle and fell back against my pillow, but that brief moment with the phone blaring in my face was enough to well and truly wake me up.
“What was that?” Sarah asked, sitting up and looking just as out of sorts as I was in her be on the other side of the night stand.
“Wake up call from some cheery princess that I wanted to throttle,” I said. “You didn’t schedule it?”
“Hell no!” Sarah said. “That has Fredericks written all over it.”
Sarah fell back against her pillow and let out a mighty sigh of her own. A moment later she sat up and moved to the bathroom muttering about how if she’s already up then she might as well start getting ready. The shower turned on and Sarah was gone, leaving me all on my own in the sleeping area with nothing but my thoughts.
Thoughts that naturally drifted towards Amelia. I wondered what she was doing right now. Probably sleeping if she had any sense. She was here on her own, sort of, after all. It’s not like she had a crazy band director yelling at her to get up at a certain time or anything like that. It must be so nice to not have a regimented schedule while she was out here.
Thoughts of her naturally led to thoughts of that conversation yesterday where she gave me her number. I opened my texts and stared at it, a funny feeling worming its way through my stomach as I looked at it. The number was a little weird, presumably because it was from some European area code, but it made me shiver nonetheless. Her phone number. I got her phone number yesterday!
I debated for a few moments as to whether or not I should send her a message. Part of me screamed that it was way too early. That I’d wake her up and probably piss her off. That I’d seem way too crazy if I was messaging her.
The other part of me, though, said that I needed to just go for it. Yesterday had gone well enough that I didn’t think she’d think I was nuts. I hoped. So I shot off a quick message. Quick in the sense that it was only a few sentences. It actually took me a few minutes to get the message absolutely right, though.
Finally I settled on:
“Good morning! ;) Thinking of you. So when are we meeting up today?”
I sat in the dark staring at the text screen. My nerves screamed. I waited a minute. No response. Five minutes. Still nothing. I heard the shower turn off and figured Sarah would be back out here shortly. Reluctantly I put the phone down. I was worried, but I told myself it was a crazy worry. She was probably still asleep, that was all.
That text was still all I could think about while I was in the shower. Along with the added worry that Sarah might get curious if she heard my phone buzzing and go over to see who was texting me, which would naturally lead to a bunch of questions if Amelia responded. Questions that I wouldn’t mind in the least because it meant Amelia responded. It’d almost be worse if there weren’t the questions because there was no response.
I got out of the shower. Sarah stood at the sink putting on her makeup. I casually walked back into the bedroom and glanced down at my phone, my spirits sinking as I did. No message.
I thought I showed a remarkable amount of restraint, given the circumstances. I waited until we were on the elevated train heading into the park before I pulled my phone out again and shot off another text. The one message I got from her yesterday, just her name to let me know this was her number, mocked me. Why couldn’t I get more of a response today?
I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down. I just wasn’t used to this. That was all. In the past it had been guys doing the pursuing, mostly because I wasn’t as into them as they were into me. I was getting used to being the one doing the pursuing rather than the one being pursued. She was probably still asleep, and I didn’t want any desperation to creep into my text.
A status update. Yeah, that sounded about right. It would seem nice and breezy.
“We’re heading into the park now on the elevated train,” I said. “Whenever you get out here send me a text and we can meet up! :)”
There. That seemed like a good message. Nice and simple. I hoped it didn’t come off as desperate as I felt. I sank back in my padded seat and looked out over the resorts as we passed them. I leaned against the glass as we passed Amelia’s resort, but of course there wasn’t a chance I was going to be able to pick her out from this distance. There were plenty of people up and milling around down there, any one of those dots could be her, but I had no way of knowing.
I found myself hoping one of those dots wasn’t her. That would mean she was up. That would mean she was out and about and she wasn’t answering my messages. I couldn’t stand the thought.
“Are you okay?” Sarah asked.
I turned and smiled. She was right next to me with Devon on her other side. There were some underclassmen I
didn’t recognize on the other side of the car, but they’d given us a wide berth. Rank hath its privilege and all that.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said. “Just thinking about some things.”
“Like whoever you snuck off with yesterday?” Sarah asked pointedly.
I stuck my tongue out at her. “Don’t you wish you knew?”
“I do, actually. Very much,” Sarah said. “But if you’re going to keep your secrets…”
I frowned at her and looked to the other side of the train car. The underclassmen were whispering and giggling now, looking at each other. I rolled my eyes. Great. Chances were that was going to get back to Colin. Though I’m sure he already suspected something was up when I showed up with that oversized stuffed animal yesterday.
Not that it was any of his damn business what I did in my love life, thank you very much.
We reached the park proper and I had no idea what to do. We weren’t marching in a parade until tomorrow so there was none of the usual prep. I briefly thought about taking another train trip over to the expensive resort, but I nixed that idea as soon as it occurred to me. If Amelia wasn’t answering my texts then the last thing I needed to do was show up at that resort in person looking for her like some crazy psycho.
I needed to play this cool. Going and looking for her in person was not playing it cool, no matter how tempting the idea was.
So instead I followed Sarah and Devon into the park. Sarah cocked an eyebrow as she realized I was coming with them.
“So you’re actually following your best friend today? Not disappearing into the park?”
I blushed. “I’m sorry. Did you and Devon want some time to yourselves today or something?”
“Not at all,” Devon said. “The more the merrier. We’re just surprised considering the disappearing act you pulled yesterday. I figured you would’ve wanted to spend more time with this mysterious lady friend you were off with yesterday.”
“Allegedly,” I said. “You guys don’t know anything.”
A part of me knew I was being silly. It’s not like not telling them was actually accomplishing anything. At the same time I was already on edge because I hadn’t heard from Amelia. The feeling that I’d jinx everything by telling someone about what happened, that I’d somehow break the magic from that moment, was even stronger and more irrational today than yesterday when it first hit me.
So I kept my mouth shut.
“What ride are we going on first?”
“How about one of the roller coasters?” Sarah asked.
My heart fell. This day was going to be difficult. Already I could tell there were going to be all sorts of reminders of the perfect day I had with Amelia. Especially as we stood in line for the same coaster we’d gone on yesterday and I thought about how beautiful she looked with the sun streaming down on her, laughing at my jokes and leaning in close to put her hand on mine.
Not that Sarah and Devon were poor company. They were my best friends, after all. They were the ones who stuck with me even after all that nastiness with Colin, which had cost Devon his friendship with Colin, but they were nothing compared to my time spent with Amelia.
I pulled my phone out again and took a quick selfie with the roller coaster obviously in the background. That earned me a look from Sarah, but I didn’t care. I attached the picture to a message and fired it off to Amelia.
“Look familiar? Really wish you were here. Text me!”
That simple message also took a couple of drafts before I was finally satisfied that it didn’t reek too much of desperation. The image sent. I waited. Again there was no response. I sighed. I didn’t know why I expected anything else.
“I don’t know why we’re bothering with this,” Devon said. “The roller coasters here are nothing compared to the stuff we have back in Ohio. We might as well go on the Princess Cruise or something and see the sort of ride this place is good at.”
“A bunch of creepy robots singing and kissing each other?” Sarah said, her tone letting us know exactly what she thought of that. “No thank you!”
The roller coaster was just as boring today as it was yesterday, only without Amelia there sharing the experience it somehow felt even more dull. Definitely nothing compared to the stuff we had back in Ohio, thank you very much.
“Where to next?” Devon asked once we were done.
My phone buzzed at that moment and I immediately reached for it. I was so fast yanking it out of my pocket that I nearly dropped it. I spent a moment juggling the thing before finally snatching it midair and checking my text messages. I looked down and frowned. It was from Sarah.
“Just testing a little theory,” her message said.
I looked up at her and realized she had her phone behind her back.
“Why’d you do that? I nearly lost my phone!”
“I wanted to see if you’d go jumping for your phone. The way you’ve been checking it every couple of minutes and sending text messages off had me thinking you might be trying to get in touch with someone.”
I rolled my eyes. “You two go off and do what you want. I’m going to go spend some time on my own in the park.”
“Yeah, I bet you are,” Sarah said. “Be sure to tell her I said hi when you meet her, whoever she is. Is it someone from the band?”
“What are you talking about?” Devon asked.
I didn’t stick around to listen to the rest of their conversation. I wasn’t interested. All I was interested in was getting a response from Amelia. It was getting close to noon and I hadn’t heard a thing. What if she was just being polite yesterday when she said she wanted to meet again? What if she was frowning at her phone every time I sent her a message wishing I’d leave her alone, already? What if I was making a pest of myself or something?
This was going to drive me crazy. I needed something to take my mind off of things, and I decided the Princess Cruise was just the thing. It would be the perfect place for me to relive some of my favorite moments from Royal Company movies while wallowing in self pity because I wanted to go on that ride with someone special.
I looked down at my phone. I was tempted to chuck the thing into a fountain or something. That’s how useful it was. I didn’t do anything of the sort, of course. My parents would be pissed off if I lost the thing and there was still the off chance that I’d get a message from Amelia, but that was looking less and less likely with every passing moment.
I stopped in front of a fountain and decided I would send one last message. That was it. I’d only sent a couple throughout the morning, over the course of several hours, so it’s not like I’d be too crazy to send her one final note. I paused and tried to think of how to word it so I didn’t sound like a complete psycho.
“Hi! Not sure what’s going on or why you’re not answering my texts. Hope everything’s okay on your end. If you still want to meet up let me know, otherwise I get the message.”
I paused. That seemed like a hell of a downer to end things on. Especially considering how well things had gone yesterday. I sent one last message.
“Yesterday really was special. Something I’ll always remember. Hope you’re okay. :)”
There. That was a suitably positive note. If it turned out she did get in a car accident or something between yesterday and today then I wouldn’t come off as a total bitch. If it turned out she was ignoring me then I wouldn’t come off as completely desperate or anything.
I sighed. I’d really hoped this would be a special day with Amelia. I told myself I wouldn’t send any more messages, but that didn’t stop me from putting a hopeful hand to my pocket every time I felt a phantom buzz.
Where was she?
14:Amelia
Buzzing. Buzzing woke me up. I looked around in confusion and then my eyes settled on the phone sitting on my night stand. Right. My phone. I put it on my nightstand last night before I drifted off to sleep.
Cried myself to sleep, if I’m being perfectly honest. It wasn’t one of my best moments.
I reached out for my phone and squinted to look at the message. I had crusties on my eyes that I had to wipe away before my eyes started working properly. Damn it. That’s what I got for crying myself to sleep and not bothering to remove my makeup. My stylist would have conniptions if she knew, but she was safely back in Europe where she couldn’t give me disapproving looks regarding my styling choices.
The message was from Dani. My heart leapt! I felt excitement dance through my body accompanied by a strange queasy feeling.
“Good morning! ;) Thinking of you. So when are we meeting up today?”
Talk about a one-two punch to the gut. I was excited because she was thinking about me this early, first thing in the morning after waking up if the clock was to be believed, but I felt queasy because there wasn’t a chance I was going to make any sort of meeting if Felix followed through on his threat.
I was about to tap out a response when I heard something creak on the other side of the room. I turned and blinked a couple of times to clear my vision. One of Felix’s security types, a lady but not Renata, sat in a hotel chair. She was looking at her own tablet, but she was also glancing at me often enough that it was obvious she was keeping an eye on what I was doing.
I frowned. If I started obviously texting someone word would no doubt get back to Felix. Normally I would’ve thought it impossible that he’d do something as audacious as taking my cell phone to see who I was texting, but after last night when he flagrantly defied father’s orders and made it clear he was using my wild past as an excuse to screw me over I wasn’t willing to put anything past him.
So I put the phone down and laid back in the bed. I tried to go back to sleep, but thoughts of Dani out there waiting on me to respond to her message and not getting anything ran through my head. I felt like an asshole for not responding, but at the same time the rules of the game had changed. Felix had shown his true colors, and I wasn’t sure how I was going to get out of this.
If he discovered I was cavorting through the park with some strange American girl yesterday then there was a good chance I’d get my butt carted back to Allora immediately, and that flight was long enough that he could come up with some story that would make me look like the bad guy in the situation even though I was anything but.
