by J. S. Brent
Adrian forced a small laugh as he went to order the ice cream. How had the time gotten away from them so quickly?
“To go it is then. Let’s go. Here’s your cone.” He handed her the vanilla cone as he helped her clean up. Nothing was left of her burger (she’d somehow managed to finish it despite the lengthy conversation they’d had), and the few fries she had left she could finish later. Her soda was finished, and she didn’t need any more for the day.
“Thank you. Not only for lunch, but for listening. Not many guys-” Adrian put a hand up to interrupt her. It was an interesting gesture, one she often saw the king do when he needed quiet at a press conference.
“Listen? I’m not like many guys you’d see in school. You’ll never hear me tell you to belt up.” He quickly finished her sentence for her, leaving her half surprised. The addition he made just added to her surprise on that issue.
“I can tell from that ten minute chin wag we just had over lunch. What was on that slip of paper you gave me?” He held the door open for her again as she spoke.
This was becoming a theme with him, the chivalry he was showing.
“A warning I’d be treating you to lunch today. Did you not-” Cassie decided to have a little fun and put a hand up to interrupt him, just like he had to do the same to her. It warranted a laugh from him.
“I’ve had a busy morning, Adrian. I had no chance to read it.” They were now licking up the cold ice cream from their separate cones, trying to keep them from melting onto their hands
“That would explain your surprise earlier.” Adrian was a few steps ahead of her, but not quite enough to leave her in the dust.
“Yup. Um, just as a head’s up, homecoming is in about a month. It might be hard to catch me when I’m free.” Thinking about it, wasn’t that an American term for the dance? Then again, with her parents studying American English…
“I completely understand Cassie. I’m usually busy too.” With that answer, it seemed more and more likely that Adrian was hiding something to her.
“What about today?” Cassie decided to take a page out of his book and got interested in his schedule, despite what she’d been hoping to do. It got a chuckle from him, but not much else until he actually answered.
“Business meeting at two. There’s a second meeting at five.” Two meetings back to back? Cassie whistled in what could have been called a state of disbelief.
“Tough. What do you do?” She couldn’t contain her curiosity at this point. Why was he making her so curious in affairs that weren’t even hers?
“I’m a note keeper for my dad. Like a secretary.” That made her almost laugh. Him? A secretary? It didn’t seem quite right.
“Even tougher. Have fun. I have to go now.” Somehow they had managed to walk to the yarn store in less time they had taken to get there.
“Of course. I’ll be in touch, Cassie. Most likely through Tristan.” He laughed a little, and smiled softly as Cassie pulled the door open.
“Fun. Well, I’ll see you for the next course?” She smiled as well, propping herself up slowly against the door.
“Of course, Cassie. Cheerio, for now.” He held his hand out for her again.
“Cheerio.” She went to shake his hand in a good old fashioned cheerio.
Adrian took her hand and kissed it again. Then he walked off.
Cassie slowly walked into the shop again. What a lunch break!
“I see Adrian treated you to lunch. A date?” Brooklyn’s voice startled her again. “Sorry. Again. So?”
“Yes. He was quick to cash his rain check. Paid for lunch, a treat, and gave me some cookies. Tristan was never as classy.” She smiled dreamily at Brooklyn.
Brooklyn laughed and left to help a customer, leaving Cassie to herself. Adrian Gold…could he be…no. Prince Adrian Roman is mourning in the palace. He wouldn’t be learning to knit. Adrian Gold is not the prince in disguise. Besides, they don’t even look alike!
The struggle to figure Adrian Gold out weighed on her mind all day. It didn’t leave her head as she left First Stitch Yarns, but instead only got stronger as she got closer to home.
Once there, she managed to put thoughts of him aside for long enough to work for a few minutes on the project she had due the next day, when school was back in session.
After about ten minutes, Cassie sat down at the dinner table, lost in thought.
“How was your day, Cassie?” Her dad sat down beside her. She looked up from her lap, half startled out of her stupor of thought.
“It was interesting. Delilah and Tristan showed up for the class. I met Tristan’s brother, Luke. And… there was a guy I hadn’t met before; his name is Adrian Gold.” Cassie smiled while her dad laughed. It was a good natured laugh, one that he used often when he was almost unsure that she was telling the truth.
“I see. How’d it go?” Now her dad (Ashton Jennings) smiled as she laughed. There was just something about being around her dad after being at work for a long day that made her easy and light…that made her laugh aloud.
“He asked me out for a date on Saturday, right when I’m supposed to be cheering at half time. Adrian was quick to cash his rain check. He treated me to lunch and ice cream. And gave me some homemade jammie dodgers.”
“He’s anxious to take you out then, huh?” Her father smiled at her again.
“Took Tristan forever to ask me out. It’s a nice change in pace.” Funnily enough, her words rang true. Tristan had taken forever to get the courage to ask her out to begin with, and he had gotten nervous when he asked her out on every subsequent date.
“Just be careful, Cassie. He might be all mouth and no trousers.” Her father laughed after a few moments of silence.
“I know.” She managed a small smile at her dad’s phrasing. He was still British at heart.
Her dad patted her leg and walked off. What was Adrian hiding, if anything at all?
4) Football Hijinks
“And let’s hear it for your home team, the Crests!” The loud announcer voice came through the loudspeakers.
Cheers arose loudly from the crowd as the team ran onto the field. It was music to Tristan’s ears. Seeing Cassie all week at school had been a strain.
Tristan raised his hand in excitement as he ran out first. Three more wins and the Crests would have a perfect streak. All wins for the first time in Sea Crest high history…and Tristan was the center forward this year.
“Tristan!” His brother called from the stands. He waved. Tristan smiled. Luke had been to all of his games, even when he had been a freshman and Luke’s junior friends blew him off for it.
“Let’s get ready to play some football!” Cassie’s voice led the cheer team. “One we are Sea Crest! Two a little bit louder please! Three we can’t hear you! Four more more more!” The crowd went wild. Cassie repeated it at a bit of a faster rate. The crowd got louder.
It was a process that ended with a loud roar in support of the Crest team.
Tristan took his position on the field. The game would be beginning soon. This was one of the biggest rivalries in England, and the victory was riding on him.
“And in the biggest rivalry yet we have Sea Crest high center forward Tristan Jemmingway on the field. Pressure is high tonight.” The voice was typical of a tele reporter. The voice made his nerves spike.
Pushing the voice away from his mind, he took a deep breath and focused on the ref.
The whistle blew and the pressure was released as he got to the ball first, kicking it strongly towards the opposite side of the field.
He ran to keep up with the ball, continually kicking it towards the goal. The opposing team had no chance as he kicked it hard one last time and the ball flew through the air. Ten feet until goal…five feet…
“Goal for Sea Crest High, curtsey of center forward Tristan Jemmingway!” The announcer’s voice came loud and clear over the loudspeaker. “And Sea Crest High takes an early lead over the Eagles of Sir Noah Byrd Academy.”
Cheers
from his team came up through the adrenaline of his run, and Tristan threw his arms up victoriously. The biggest rivalry yet…and they had a leading point on them in the first five minutes of the game.
The ref blew his whistle, signaling the reset of the field. As he ran back to his position, Tristan could hear the cheering of the crowd, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see Cassie.
Her cheer costume outlined her form perfectly, causing her to seem thinner than she really was. The blue and white pleated skirt flowed to her knees, and he knew there were some shorts under that skirt to keep her modest while she was doing flips and lifts.
Her shirt consisted of a tank top with the Crests logo in gold, a white long sleeve top underneath, and the body of the tank top in the same blue color that the skirt was in.
The colors worked on her really well in Tristan’s opinion.
Then he was in position and the whistle was getting ready to be blown by the referee. The last thing he saw before the whistle was blown, signaling the beginning of play, was Adrian sitting down beside Luke, where he knew Cassie would end up sitting sooner or later.
Shaking that off as he began to play, he realized that his split second zone out had allowed the rival to gain possession of the ball. In a split second, he was off and running to gain possession of the ball from the center forward of the opposite team.
Another player overtook him just yards from the goal. The center forward kicked, and the other player stopped the ball.
“OFFSIDE!” The ref called it. He blew his whistle.
“Oh, looks like the Eagles are having a bad start. They’ve been called for being offside.” The announcer painstakingly then began to explain what the offside was.
Essentially, the team was offside because of Tristan’s position in relevance to the other team member of the Eagles. Since the opposing team was both in front of and behind (and the kick was directed towards the second player) Tristan, the ref called it. If Tristan had intercepted or been level (meaning beside or at least near and slightly behind), it would’ve been fine.
“You should’ve intercepted that Tristan!” The call came from another team member, Riley. He just shrugged, as if to tell Riley that he hadn’t realized the center forward would do that.
Riley simply threw his hands up in frustration. For a goalie, he was quite verbal when playing and was the one most likely to get the yellow warning card flagged for them.
As the game continued, the Crests kept the lead. Tristan scored three more goals, giving them four points. The Eagles scored once. With a four to one score, Tristan pulled ahead again and scored two goals in the last fifteen minutes or so of the first half of the game.
“Half time!” The ref yelled, then blew his whistle.
Sweaty, happy, and ready to sit for a few moments, Tristan walked off the field, arms raised triumphantly.
***
“Great cheering, ladies. Take a five.” Cassie sat next to Luke, who had arrived with Tristan. “I like cheering, but sometimes you need a break, you know?” She wasn’t asking Luke in particular, but he smiled and answered anyway.
“Yup.” Luke looked out to the field. Tristan had the ball with ten minutes to go in the first half.
“I haven’t missed anything, have I?” That voice was familiar to Cassie.
“Adrian?” Looking towards the voice, she saw his face, blue eyes, and hair. It seemed half weighed down with something today.
“I told you I’d be in touch.” Adrian sat on the other side of Cassie, fidgeting with something in his pocket. “That, and I have something for you.” He pulled out the blue bracelet he’d made on Monday.
The stitch work was simple, but the embroidery amazed Cassie. It said (in white lettering and simple English) Adrian’s girl.
He gently handed it to her. Then he proceeded to ease it onto her wrist, as if he really wanted her to wear it.
“Thanks, Adrian. There’s a goal.” Cassie stood up. “One we are Sea Crest! Two a little bit louder please! Three we can’t hear you! Four more more more!” Cassie smiled as the crowds roared with her as she cheered. She did it again as the announcer told of the point, and this time her voice disappeared in the sea of voices proclaiming that they are Sea Crest.
“Wow. One cheer riles everyone this much?” Adrian chuckled as Cassie nodded. “That’s cool. You’ve got to be one of the most down to Earth people I’ve met. And I’ve met a lot of people.” He smiled as Cassie giggled.
“I don’t think you’re here to support Tristan today. Care to explain?” At this comment, Adrian smiled. Had he expected her to catch on to the fact that he wasn’t here to support Tristan?
“I wanted to give you the bracelet, get a phone number, and I need to talk to Luke, privately. I hope that’s not a bother, Cassie.” The quirk of using her name was coming back. That would get annoying...fast. Especially since Cassie was beginning to think that he wasn’t going to let up on seeing her anytime soon if he had his way.
“Not at all, Adrian. I’ll put my number in your phone and you put yours in mine?” She pulled her phone out of her bag, keeping a close watch on the field as they reset to continue playing for eight minutes.
“Of course. Here you go.” With that, he handed her his phone. She began to look at his contacts as his “Add contact” option was most likely at the end of the list.
“You have a lot of contacts. Very well connected, I see.” She had to scroll faster. He was almost done with her phone.
There was no distinct patterning to the names. Some were Spanish. Some were French. Others were German. While others still were of Polynesian origin.
“Not bad yourself, Cassie. Since I’m the only Adrian, that’s all I’m going to put for name. Feel free to do the same.” He had probably seen some of hers, and she didn’t mind that too much. There wasn’t anyone on there she wouldn’t be ashamed of if her parents saw their name on her phone. That was her rule of thumb pretty much.
“It’ll be Cassie Jennings. You’re a friend now, so you can call me Cassie.” As she spoke, she finally found the add contact button.
After the screen popped up, it was smooth sailing from there to add in her number and name.
“I think I prefer Cassie. Luke?” He handed her phone back to her in exchange for his and looked over to Luke.
Once Adrian had his phone, and she had hers, he motioned to Luke to get up and follow him.
Luke and Adrian walked away as Tristan scored another goal in the last few seconds of the game.
***
“What do you need, Adrian?” It was highly unusual for Adrian to talk royal business outside of the palace, especially when he wore a wig and contacts. This had to be serious business, or he just wanted to ask about Cassie without her hearing it.
Luke wasn’t quite sure what to think of that particular thought.
“When’s the homecoming? Surely Tristan’s talked about it by now; he loves going to these things.” Adrian’s question only half surprised Luke. How did I see that one coming?
With a soft sigh to himself, Luke quickly thought. Tristan had indeed talked
“It’s October 20th. Tristan was ready to ask Cassie. Obviously that’s not happening now.” Adrian’s question concerned Luke a little bit. There were a few things going on in his…personal life that might make the average Joe squirm.
“Right. Think she would go with me?” He obviously meant Cassie by she. Had Adrian begun to fall for her? If this question was any indicator, Luke almost saw trouble in their future.
“What about the sniper rumor?” He hated to have to bring it up, but the sniper rumor was a concern of both him and Adrian’s dad. If there really was a sniper out to get Adrian, he couldn’t be going on dates with anyone!
Technically, he really shouldn’t even be out of the palace!
“Luke, I can handle it. I’ll have Uncle Lucas come. And she hasn’t made the connection yet. Has she?” Adrian was half worried that she had figured out that he wasn’t really who he sai
d he was.
Luke could understand that stress. Having to bring someone innocent in on his sniper possible life was not going to be fun, by any means.
“Not to my knowledge.” Luke had to tell him the truth. He honestly didn’t know.
“I can do it then. Just keep her from finding out. Do what you can to see if there’s any truth to the sniper rumor.” Adrian’s two commands were a bit contrary to each other, but Luke was sure he could make it work out without blowing his cover…somehow.
“Of course, Adrian.” He smiled. Working with him at times was a royal pain, but it always paid off in ways that he never would’ve imagined. Adrian had shown him that as long as you put your mind to it, you could do anything.
“Thanks Luke. You make one heck of a right hand man.”
Luke pondered the question again as Adrian walked away. A sniper after Adrian sounded ridiculous, even to the king and queen.
He sighed. Right hand man to the prince was pretty much a right hand man in training, and learning to deal with situations like this one would come in quite handy when Adrian actually did take the throne.
Adrian had chosen him to be the right hand man almost five years ago, when Luke had inadvertently saved Adrian’s life by simply walking into the gun holder. The gun went off, but the bullet hit the building behind Adrian and just barely missed his shoulder.
Shaking the thought of the meeting away, he went to do as Adrian had asked. The sooner he did it, the sooner this problem would go away.
***
“Do you have a shot?”
“No. He moves too quickly.”
“What about the Jennings girl?”
“The same. She cheers.” His earpiece buzzed softly as he waited for a reply from his consort.
“The right hand man?”
“Nowhere in sight.”
“Take a break. I’ll let you know about his next outing with her.”
“Alright. If I get a shot, should I take it?”
“Why do you ask?”
“I just got a visual on Luke Jemmingway. Should I take it?”
“Will you attract attention?”
