by Amber Heart
“It’s complicated. I’m not sure that you would understand.” There was a little sting to his words, and she immediately got up in arms because he was insinuating that she wasn’t smart enough to follow along if he explained it.
“Try me.” He looked over at her and studied her face, his eyes resting longer than they needed to on her lips. A blush crept up her cheeks again and she was glad that it was dark. Maybe he wouldn’t see it. He gave her an impish grin.
“Alright. Try to pay attention.” She wanted to growl under her breath, but she fought the urge. “I’m not what you think I am. I’m not this slacker, greaser wannabe that it looks like I am. It’s a part that I play to disguise who I really am. I come from a very wealthy family, and I don’t want to be looked at just for the weight of that name. I want to be looked at for who I am. So, this is the cover I use when I’m in school. My last name is actually Flinton.” Rosalie could only stare at him. What? He was part of the Flinton family? That’s impossible. This egotistical brat was really social royalty? No way. His manners were too rough, and he didn’t know how to treat a woman. She couldn’t believe that at all. She arched an eyebrow at him, the look of disbelief plain on her face. Her silence made him glance over at her, and the look he gave her was unintelligible.
“I understand what you’re saying, but I’m having a very hard time believing it. Sorry, but you just don’t strike me as the Prince Charming type.” There was a heavy layer of sarcasm in her voice, and it made him laugh out loud. His laughter was infectious, and she couldn’t help but smile at him a little.
“I deserve that. No, you’re right. I haven’t been acting like the Prince Charming type at all, but then again, that was the whole point. I wanted to act as different to who I really am, as I could. This was the most unconventional role I could come up with.”
“So, is that why Blaze hangs on to you like a little puppy?” The bitterness that she felt made its way into her voice, and she instantly wished she would have kept her mouth shut. Maybe he would take this all as curiosity rather than her admitting that she cared at all about what went on between him and Blaze.
“No. No one knows about who I really am.” He whipped around towards her with a fierce expression on his face. “And I don’t want you to tell anyone, either. This is something that no one knows, so if it starts to spread, I’ll know it came from you.” She leaned a little away from him, wondering if it was still too late to jump out of the car if he went completely crazy and started foaming at the mouth.
“I wasn’t going to say anything. I’m still not sure if I believe it all myself.” She winced. She hadn’t meant to add that last part, but she lacked the filter between her brain and her mouth that kept some things from being said when the situation wasn’t right for it. He turned to her again, and the glare he gave her was an indignant one.
“You don’t believe me, do you?” Rosalie knew they were almost on campus, so if she could draw out the conversation a little longer, and not get him too hotheaded, she could still make it home unscathed. He stared at her until she squirmed. If she didn’t answer him, he might keep staring and run them off the road.
“I’m sorry, but no, I don’t believe you. From what I’ve seen of you, you fit the profile of the slacker more than anything else.” She bit her lip, expecting him to explode.
“I guess I played the part so well that you wouldn’t see anything else. Listen, I’ll prove it to you. How about Thursday night I’ll pick you up around six? I’ll meet you at the library, because I can’t be seen picking you up. My sister has her cotillion, and I was going to blow it off, but I guess I’ll go and just take you with me.” She looked at him for a few long minutes, to the point where she missed that they were at her dorm. “You don’t have to tell me now, you can tell me if you want to or not in class.” She still sat there, staring at him like he’d grown an extra head. “I believe this is your stop.” His voice was starting to sound like he was getting irritated, so Rosalie snapped herself out of it and made sure she had everything she’d brought with her.
“Thanks again for the ride.” He simply nodded at her, and she took that as a dismissal. Opening the door, she almost jumped out of the car in her hurry to get out of that situation. She kept walking, refusing to look over her shoulder, even when she heard his tires squealing out of the parking lot. Everything that he’d told her was just too much for her to take in. A secret prince? With the attitude of high school drop out? No, there was no way. The offer of the sister’s cotillion piqued her interest. What if it was true? Rosalie battled back and forth with herself, trying to figure out if she believed it or not, but she couldn’t come up with a definitive answer. She shrugged as she let herself into her room. Like he said, she didn’t have to answer right now. She could tell him in class.
That night she fell asleep thinking about a wonderful prince with startling blue eyes, dressed in ripped jeans and a leather jacket, riding on a motorcycle with an extra padded seat for his princess. She smiled, watching him completely out of his element in her dream, in the ballroom of a castle, dressed to the nines in a suit of white and cream, his hair immaculate, little white gloves on his hands, bowing to her in a ball gown, and asking her to dance. It was a nice dream to fall asleep to, and that was exactly what it was. A dream. There was no way that what he was saying was true. How could he be two so completely different people? He wouldn’t be able to keep his worlds separate like he claimed he was. There was bound to be a crossover now and again, and she didn’t believe him to be anything more than what she saw on a daily basis. Blaze could have him. She followed him around like a sick little puppy anyway, and she was cut from the same cloth as him. Rosalie was the type of girl who could be taken home to a mother and a family, whereas Blaze was the fling of the week. As she fell asleep, after considerable scenes of Eric in both roles, she decided that she wasn’t going to go. Let him throw his pretty stories in Blaze’s face if he wanted someone to confide in. She wasn’t going to say anything to anyone, because she didn’t want them to think that she was nuts, not so much that she wanted to be his confidant.
Tossing and turning for a long time, she finally let herself fall asleep to the image of him that she preferred. The man in white and gold, standing tall and proud like a king, with the leather gloves and the palace manners. Being a hopeless romantic like she was, she often wished that she’d been born into another time and place. One where princesses and knights existed, where things were simple and seemed to make sense all the time. Granted, that would never happen without a time machine, but hey, in the land of hopes and dreams anything was possible. It would be something that she’d hold to herself on the nights where she needed a happy place to cheer her up, but no one would ever know about it but her.
Chapter 9
When Organic Chemistry rolled around again, Rosalie was going to ignore the offer that Eric had made for her to see if he was telling the truth. Part of her, the larger and more logical part, said that there was no way in hell that he could be, and that this was just a trick to make her look gullible and stupid. She took her usual place, set up her notebook, and waited for the lecture to begin. She couldn’t keep her eyes from glancing at the door every few minutes, however, because Eric wasn’t here yet. When the door opened, her heart skipped a beat. When she saw that it wasn’t him, her shoulders sagged in defeat, and she felt like the rest of the day was going to be gloomy. No one had ever affected her like this before. Could it really be some true feelings that she had for him? Infatuations and crushes meant nothing, and she’d had a crush or two, but this was different. Should she open her heart to him? As the professor walked in, she quickly pushed those thoughts out of her head. Besides, just because she was feeling this way didn’t mean that he was. She started to take notes and highlight in her textbook. Twenty minutes later, Eric came shuffling in, looking for all the world like he was just trying to be fashionably late. He failed, however, because the professor was too engrossed in his own lecture to not
ice him slink in.
“Hey. Thanks for not saying anything about what I told you.” She was confused. Oh, right. The social royalty thing.
“I highly doubt anyone would have believed me anyway if I had. Besides, how do you know I didn’t?” She didn’t know if she liked him to assume things about her, but then again, she was the type of person to keep a confidence, so she was caught in a catch twenty-two.
“Because the first person you would have told would be Vanessa, and she would have told the rest of the school.” Ok, so he had a valid point. So? That still didn’t mean that she believed him.
“So, about the cotillion? Do you want to go?” He brought it up. This must be some elaborate joke he was trying to pull off.
“I wouldn’t have anything to wear.” There. Not a yes or a no, just a nonchalant excuse. He grinned at her, and the impish nature of it brought a sparkle to his blue eyes that made her breath catch in her throat.
“I think I can help you there.” For the first time, she noticed that he had a large bag with him. That was strange in and of itself, because he never came to class with any supplies. He started to rummage around in it for a few minutes, as if he was checking to make sure everything was there, then pushed it behind her chair. “I wouldn’t want that to stand in the way of you believing me.” She was dying to dive into that bag and see what was in it, but she refused to give him the satisfaction. She’d do it between classes. When he wasn’t around. She went back to taking notes, and he reclined in his chair, as was his usual, giving the slacker impression he was so known for. Rosalie rolled her eyes. It became a game to her then to see just for how long she could ignore him before glancing his way. Whether he knew what she was doing or not, he never let on, but when the professor dismissed them, she heaved a sigh of relief.
“Um, thanks for this. Whatever it is.” She added the last part hastily so that he wouldn’t know that she was dying to get into that bag. He shrugged.
“See you at six in front of the library.” He straightened the collar of his leather jacket, then flipped it up as he walked down the stadium seating to exit the class. She waited for a few minutes after he was gone before taking the bag and heading back to her dorm room. She still had time before her next class, so she could look through the bag in peace. Usually, when she got home, she stacked her books up nicely and swapped everything out. This time, the books got tossed haphazardly into the corner of her desk and she flopped onto the bed with the bag. She took a deep breath, steeling herself in case there was a snake or a frog or some other slimy gross creature in the bag. The first thing that she pulled out was a shoe box. She frowned. This reinforced her idea that something gross and alive was in the bag. She didn’t see any air holes poked into the lid, though, so maybe it would be alright. Wincing, she lifted the lid slightly, trying to peek in without actually taking the lid off. It was a pair of shoes. A pair of soft pink, satin shoes. They had a little heel to them, but by no means were they hooker heels. They were beautiful.
What was he thinking giving these to her? She had nothing to go with that. Reaching back into the bag, she pulled out a small pouch. Inside of it was a rose gold necklace with a single pearl in the middle. Not exactly a choker, but a little more loose. There was no way this could be real gold…right? It was a thin band, and if it were real, somewhere on it the carat would be stamped. She flipped it over until she found an engraved section. It was 14k gold. Her eyes almost popped out of her head. Was he really giving her all of this? Could he be telling the truth about having all that money? If he was, then she would never cut it as an interest to him because there was no way that she could keep up with him in that respect. One more thing lay in the bag, and it was a garment bag, folded carefully in the bottom. Holding her breath, she pulled it out and hung the bag from her closet door. She unzipped it slowly, watching as pale pink satin in the exact shade as the shoes spilled out of it. It had one shoulder strap, leaving the other bare, and an A line shape with a small sash around the middle. The skirt flounced out like a princess dress, with little roses picked out in gold thread all along it. Tears came to her eyes at the beauty of the dress.
He couldn’t go all out for just a cruel joke, could he? If he was giving her all of this expensive stuff, just to embarrass her, people would ask where a slacker would get the money for it. If he had been telling the truth, he wouldn’t want anyone to dig into that question very far. She put her head in her hands. He was giving her all this proof that what he was saying just might be real, and yet she was doubting it. No one had ever been that nice to her before, and she was just too gullible for her own good. Ugh! What was she going to do? Meet him at the library, or calmly return it all in the next class they shared? She was staring around the room, looking for some kind of inspiration as to what she should do, when her eyes fell on the clock. Shit! She was going to be late for her next class! She threw the right books in her bag, locked the door behind her and tore out of the dorm at a run.
Eric had been just outside the dorm, waiting to see when she’d come back out. He knew that she wouldn’t take the bag with her to her next class, and he knew that her innate curiosity would make her rifle through it as soon as she could. When he noticed that she came out at a run, he patted himself on the back…figuratively. He’d made her late for class. He considered that a point on his scoreboard. She was so tight lipped with her head stuck in her studies that he couldn’t really see himself with her mousy type of person, but if he could get her to loosen up a little, then she just might be a great girl for him. He hadn’t really thought about it before, but when he’d been taking her home from the party, he’d seen some glimpses into her that he’d never seen before, and he’d liked it. Maybe he should start getting rid of the slacker reputation and start going after her for real. He shook his head. No, it couldn’t be that serious. He barely even knew the girl.
He saw Blaze and Vanessa heading towards the dorm out of the corner of his eye. Ducking behind the tree he’d been leaning on, he hid himself as best he could. Blaze was annoying. No matter how many hints he gave her that he wasn’t interested, she just wouldn’t stop. He wasn’t sure whether or not she’d picked up on the possible, maybe, kind of attraction between himself and Rosalie, but if she had, he knew that she would make the poor girl’s life hell. She was the type of girl who didn’t care about anyone but herself, and when she wanted something she went for it. The pushiness was really getting old, and he’d even canceled on his friend Rob a few times, just because he knew she’d be there. It was like having a stalker that he couldn’t get rid of.
As he walked back to his car, he couldn’t help but feel some excitement towards his sister’s stupid party. He’d been dead set on not going, but now that he had an excuse to get Rosalie out with him, he really should do something nice for her to let her know. Maybe some flowers or something. She was one of those romantic saps that loved flowers. He headed towards the little mom and pop flower shop at the edge of campus.
Rosalie managed to get into her seat just before the professor walked in, and as she sat there breathing like a winded rhinoceros, she managed to get her notes out and ready, like she did for every class. Unfortunately, this time her mind was nowhere near anything that even remotely resembled the topic of the chapter they were studying. She was thinking about that beautiful pink dress, hoping against hope that it would fit her, and that she wouldn’t look like a sausage in it. She was blushing, even as she thought about it. If he had taken the time to know her size, get her something that she would like, and buy her expensive jewelry, then it had to mean that he was noticing her, right? Unfortunately, this wasn’t exactly something she could talk to Vanessa about, because it would blow his cover. The cover that she was beginning to believe more and more. Furthermore, it would just cause more animosity between her and Blaze, and that wasn’t something that she needed. That girl had a stare to her that would curdle milk, and she wanted to make sure it was never aimed at her. Her daydreaming must have translate
d to her face, because the professor chose that moment to ask her a question that she didn’t even hear.
“I’m sorry, could you repeat the question, please?” Her cheeks flamed as she listened to the laughter of her fellow students. The professor indulged her, however, and when she heard the question, she breathed a sigh of relief. That one she actually knew. Answering it quickly and with more detail than necessary, she felt a little more than just satisfied when the giggled stopped and the rest of the class went back to what they were doing. Ha! I can still pay attention, thank you!
Chapter 10
The nigh of the cotillion was warm, and just slightly breezy. Rosalie had done her best to twist her hair into an elegant knot at the back of her head. It had taken her more than an hour, but she was finally happy with it. After that, she’d put on the dress, shoes and necklace, gave herself a look in her mirror, and frowned. She still couldn’t like what she saw. She just felt like she was a little mouse dressed in silk, but still a mouse nonetheless. She’d dabbed some makeup on her face, and that was the best that she could do. Part of her was still a little nervous that this was all a setup, just a joke that he was going to play on her, so she took an overcoat with her that hid most of her elegant attire. It was almost time for him to pick her up, and she still needed to get to the library. She put her ear up to the door, listening for Vanessa. The silence in the front room told her that it was safe to leave. Coming out into the living room in front of her roommate, dressed to the nines as she was, would take some explaining, and she’d been so busy getting ready that she didn’t have a cover story. Even if this was a joke, she would never tell the secret that Eric had confided in her. That wasn’t who she was.
