You'll be the Prince and I'll be the Princess - Chapters 24 and 25

Chapter 24

My eyes fluttered open and a smile appeared on my face immediately. I got up and fixed my bed. I went to the bathroom and took shower. After that, I wrapped myself in a towel and returned to my room to get dressed. I wore my usual jeans, a purple shirt and a white sweater. I matched it with a pair of flats. I combed my curly hair and just let it fall on my shoulders. I grabbed my bag from the back of my chair and went downstairs. I caught the smell of pancakes and my tummy vibrated.

Every morning to me is like déjà vu. The same events happen to me every weekday. I woke up in the morning, take shower, get dressed up, eat breakfast, go to school, be hugged by Zac and proceed to class. I'm not saying this because I'm tired of it. Actually, I like it. I've been like this for five months. Still, nothing had changed. Zac and I are still together. The girls, especially Hannah, are still jealous but Mitchie is an exception. The other guys are still asking me out just to annoy Zac. But I already dumped them before they try to make a move on me.

When I arrived at school this morning, I didn't see him where I expected him to be. I got out of the car and went to look for him. Maybe he's late. Or maybe he's trying to hide from me because he got a surprise for me. The people around me began looking at me like I lost something so important and they started talking behind their hands. They don't give me those looks before.

"Hey Juliana, looking for something? Or it someone? Oh I remember, it's Zac, isn't it? Well, you should turn around and go to class before you regret it," said a girl who walked in front of me. The other girls around her smiled.

"Why? What's going on?" I asked with a confused look on my face. Really, there's something weird going on.

"Huh, do you think I'm going to tell you? We're not even friends," she said.

"Please, tell me," I said, not really sure.

She just smiled and walked toward me. She placed her hand on my shoulder and leaned and whispered in my ear. "I gave you a hint. Zac has his toy back." Then she walked away with a big evil smile on her face.

I walked inside the building and went to look for Zac. He's not in the gym. He's not in any of the classrooms. I can't find him anywhere. Is there a possibility that he's dead? The other students were looking earlier like I lost something. But that's impossible. He has many enemies. But it just seems so impossible that someone tried to get back at him. I'm imagining things.

I met Mitchie in the hallway. There were moisture in her eyes but she's not crying. She's fighting the urge to cry, I think. There are mixed emotions on her face. She looked sad and disappointed at the same time.

"Mitchie, are you okay? What happened?" I asked.

She pulled back her lips like she's hesitating to do something. She looked down.

"Mitchie?" I said.

"You're not so going to like what I'm going to say," she said.

"Is there a problem, Mitchie?"

"Yes, but it's not mine."

"What is it?"

She took a deep breath. "Zac's with Hannah."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"They're... they..." She couldn't say it. But I think I know it already.

Suddenly, I don't know what I'm doing. I can only recognize my emotions. I'm sad. I'm disappointed. I'm angry. I saw a bunch of people outside the men's room and their ears were on the door. I pushed past them and made my way to the men's room. Without even realizing what I'm doing, I opened the door. I can hear the people behind me protesting and telling me that it's the men's room. They didn't even stop me. Perfect. And that's because they knew I'm not capable of anything but punching somebody which can hurt for a moment and then gone after a few seconds.

I walked into the men's room. There's no one in there. But I can hear weird sounds coming from the last stall. I walked to the final stall. I pushed the door silently and saw it. The blonde girl's back was facing me. She has her arms around the guy's neck and her legs were wrapped around the guy's waist. The guy was holding her on the butt. And they're making out.

I can feel moisture in my eyes. But I didn't let the tears fall. I kept on blinking until the tears are gone. I slammed the door of the stall so I could get their attention. The girl turned her head over her shoulder and smiled at me. It's Hannah.

"I give you a hint. Zac has his toy back."

"You're not so going to like what I'm going to say."

"Zac's with Hannah."

I get it. Zac has his toy back. Meaning, Zac's playing with Hannah again. I'm not going to like what she's gonna say because it'll cause me disappointment. Zac's with Hannah because they're doing a miracle. I get it. They didn't stop me from entering the men's room, thinking that I'm just this weak cry baby.

"Hey guys, it's nice to see you here," I said with a big smile.

I yanked the blonde wig away from Hannah's head. I jerked her hair and it must have hurt her so much because she lost her grip on Zac and fell on the floor. I pulled her by the hair for her to stand up. What surprised me was she didn't fight back. Her stick-to-the-hot-and-rich-guy-always-forever-and-ever-even-if-I-have-to-kill spirit was gone. I pushed the door open and everyone gasped when I came out, holding Hannah's hair firmly, and her head's almost to the ground. I dragged her and pushed her to the floor.

"Juliana," I heard someone called me. I turned and saw it's Zac, walking out of the men's room.

I walked toward him with no emotion on my face. "Are you going to explain?"

"Yes. I -" I punched him on the mouth. Then my knee flew to where-it-would-really-hurt-for-guys.

Then I walked away and left them. When the crowd was already out of sight, I ran out of the building. I went to my car and got it. I drove out of the school parking lot quickly. Tears started to roll down my cheeks. And then I saw someone coming out of the building. It's him. He shouted my name but I didn't return.

I went home, driving as fast as possible with tears rolling down my cheeks. I didn't think of anything. I just went back to my house and saw a familiar car parked outside the house. It's my parents' car. I parked my car just behind theirs and got out. I ran inside the house and went to look for my mom. Dad's sitting on the couch and mom's just getting down of the stairs. I ran to my mom and threw my arms around her and started crying like when I was still younger and my teddy bear was either lost or ruined.

"Sshhh, what is it, honey?" She asked, stroking my hair.

I lifted my face and looked up at her. "I thought he loves me, mom. I didn't think that he's going to do that to me," I said, crying. I buried my face in my mother's chest. "Mom, I don't want to remember anything. I wanted to forget him."

"Don't worry, Juliana, darling, you'll forget about him soon enough," mom said.

I wiped the tears away from my eyes and looked at my mom. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I thought I'll be saying this a little sooner. But, we're leaving next week for Australia," she said.

I looked at my mom's blue eyes. I don't know if I'm gonna be happy or not. Should I be happy that I'm going away from him? Or should I be sad that I'm going to leave this memorable town where I grew up? I closed my eyes and let the tears fall.

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Comment Reply

Ria - I wasn't planning to quit the story. I was just so lazy to write chapters. Anyway, I'm so glad that I'm back.

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Chapter 25

They're back together!
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I was absent for three days. But it was almost four because I skipped school last Monday. I went to school today because it's going to be the last day, they're gonna see Juliana Gale in this town. And I should show everyone that I'm not heartbroken about what happened. I'm gonna pretend like nothing happened. I'm gonna act like he's not there. But his14 missed calls and 27 messages were hard to ignore that I have to turn off my phone and place it under the mattress.

My parents already scheduled our flight and we're leaving this coming Monday. Mom and dad gave us time to say goodbye to our friends and pack our stuff. They told me that we're gonna live there for the rest of our lives. And I'm happy for that news. This is a perfect timing. Once I arrived at Australia, I have to keep in mind that I'm not going to be that close to any of the guys there. I want to go there so I could forget about him.

When I took shower this morning, I wore my bathrobe and dried my hair using a towel. I sat on my chair in front of my mirror. I looked at myself. There should be something about me that would change. I looked at my wet curly blonde hair. Then I suddenly had an idea. I combed, I pulled out a blower from my drawer and dried my hair using it. When my hair was already dried, I reached for my hair straightener and straightened the tresses from the top to the ends.

I looked at myself and put down the hair straightener. I ran my fingers through my hair and saw how straight it is. I smiled. I stood and went to my closet. I wore my white tank top and tucked it inside my red skirt. I wore my loose purple sweater. I wore a few necklaces and bracelets on both of my wrists. I also wore my black heels. I took my handbag and wore my sunglasses. Then I walked out of my room and walked down the stairs.

I went to the garage and saw my brother starting the engine of his car.

"Who the hell -" He started to say loudly. "Juliana, is that you?" He said with his head out of the window.

"Yeah, it's me. Anyway, where's the key to the convertible?" I asked.

"What happened to you? Why did you... Did you do that for... you know... Zac?" He said as he stopped the engine and got out of the car. He went to the shelf and reached the keys and tossed it to me and I caught it just in time.

"You know what happened. You said it yourself; everyone's still talking about it, right? Well, I'll show them that I moved on already and I already forgot about Zac Derrel," I said as I walked to the red convertible and went inside. I made the roof pull back so I can only see the blue sky above me. I drove out of the garage and into the road.

I made it in school in just almost eight minutes. I parked my car next to Zac's in the school parking lot. I saw on the side mirror that some of the students behind me were trying to get a better view of me. I grabbed my bag and got out of the car. I heard everybody talking and I saw them looking at me. I looked back at them and they looked away. Good. I was still wearing my glasses as I walked out of the parking lot and went into the building.

A guy started walking next to me. "Are you a new here? I can help you to the office," he heard him say.

I stopped walking and so he did. Then I lowered my glasses a bit and looked at the guy. "I'm not new here. In fact, you already know me. Excuse me," I said and continued walking.

"What's the new girl's name?" I heard somebody said behind me.

"You already know her. And she's not a new girl at all," someone answered.

"What? Why? Who is it?" The first voice said.

"It's Zac's girl," the second voice said.

"Hannah? No, wait a sec, Hannah's not a blonde. Dude... that's... Juliana? Oh god, I can't believe it. I never saw her in anything but jeans and shirts. Whoa."

"Disappointed?"

"No, not at all, I can ask her out, anyway. Derrel and Juliana aren't together anymore. She caught him making out with Hannah in the men's room."

You wish. Go ahead and ask me out. You'll regret it so much.

I proceeded to the first period before I could even meet Zac in the hallway. And my brother's right. Everybody's still talking about what happened. And now, they're talking about me. I was absent for four days and returned to school and everybody thought it's someone else. I even heard them say that I don't look like I'm broken-hearted at all. The girls just look at me whenever I walk past them. The guys will only grin and whistle at me.

I met Mitchie in the cafeteria in lunch. Then she gushed about how good I look. She started to ask me all sorts of questions like any other common day. Only, today's not a common day.

"Where did you go when you walked out? We saw Zac go after you. But he returned with an apologetic look on his face," Mitchie said as we went to the end of the line to get lunch trays.

"I went home. And it was a perfect timing because my parents were there," I answered.

"So, do you think that Zac did make out with Hannah on purpose?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you think Zac really didn't do it on purpose? Do you think that Hannah did something to Zac? Didn't you even think about the blonde wig Hannah's wearing that day?"

"I don't know. I thought about the blonde wig. But I don't know why she's wearing a blonde wig."

"Don't you get it? Maybe Hannah pretended to be you using the blonde wig so she could do that to him."

"Zac's not blind to not to recognize whether it's me or Hannah."

"Yeah, I know that. But maybe Hannah did something to Zac. Maybe she hypnotized him. Or maybe she tricked him. Or - "

"Stop, why are you doing this? Did he ask you to do so or something?"

"No, he didn't. He didn't talk to anyone here in school at all since Monday. Mr. Peters asked him a question but he's in a really bad mood so he shouted to Mr. Peters that he didn't know the answer. He was sent to the principal office because of that. But luckily, the principal let him go because his mom talked with the principal."

That's what Mitchie told me in lunch. Time was a little faster today. I went to school, ate lunch, went to class and then it's already dismissal. I can still hear what Mitchie told me in lunch earlier. "I mean, do you think Zac really didn't do it on purpose? Do you think that Hannah did something to Zac? Didn't you even think about the blonde wig Hannah's wearing that day? ... Maybe Hannah pretended you be you using the blonde wig so she could do that to him." Those words were still echoing inside my head.

I was speeding down the road when I saw that one of the tires of my car was flat. Oh great. I drove my car to the side of the road and got out to check the problem. I can't drive with a flat tire. Oh well, I can walk until I get home. I started walking on the sidewalk. A minute or two later, I heard someone whistling a tune behind me. I ignored whoever it was. The whistling went louder but I still ignored it. When it started to get on my nerves, I turned around and saw the evil.

"So, it's you. What are you doing here?" I said, slightly irritated. But I was started hurting inside when I saw him.

"Whistling... looking around... tailing you... talking to you..." He said.

"You act like nothing happened," I said.

"Because nothing happened, okay? Hannah and I making out in the men's room was nothing. I don't know why you suddenly became hot but I still want the old you back. I don't know why you're acting like you've moved on already. We didn't even officially break up! And that's because nothing happened, okay? It's just a misunderstanding."

"We're officially not together anymore since I caught you making out with Hannah in the men's room last Monday with your hands on her butt! And don't tell me that nothing happened and it only meant nothing especially when you didn't talk to anyone in school, since Monday and shouted at Mr. Peters and was sent to the principals office. And shoving a blade inside my tire so it would be flat and so you can talk to me also meant nothing, right?" I was so angry.

"How do you know about those... things?" He said, not looking at me.

"Look, you don't know how much you made me mad and hurt last Monday that's why I didn't let you explain. I don't know what to think. I just wanted to cause pain to the both of you. Do you know what it's like to see the person you love kissing somebody else? Everything felt like it's shattering for me. You don't understand how I feel because you always get to be the one who plays and hurts. You don't know how it's like to be played and be hurt." I' was spilling everything out bit by bit.

"Look, I am very sorry. You don't understand. I'm not a player, okay? I don't mean to hurt anyone -"

"And so now, you're denying it? You've been a very nice guy even before we became together? You're not a player? Then what do you call a guy going out with a girl and a new one the next day? And you don't mean to hurt me? Then why did this happen if you didn't mean to hurt me?"

"Can't you hear me? I said I'm sorry! I'm apologizing to you now! Why are you still mad? I really didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't know what's happening. We're fighting right now because of you! If you just let me explain last Monday then you shouldn't have been angry at me!"

"I love you, Zac!" I shouted to his face. "Why can't you keep that in mind? I love you and you hurt me so much that's why I felt so disappointed of you!" I can feel moisture in my eyes already.

"In case you didn't know, I also love you! I don't want to hurt you! Seeing you hurt because of me hurts me more because it makes me feel so bad that you're hurt because of me! "

I started crying. I covered my face with my hands so he won't see my face. Crying makes it harder for me to breathe. Then I felt his arms around me and I buried my face in his chest, clutching his shirt like a kid. He started rubbing my back with his hand and he was stroking my hair with his other hand.

"Sshhh, everything's going to be fine. We're going to fix everything. I'm so sorry. I saw Hannah in our house that morning and I don't know what she's doing there but she left already. My mom left a glass of wine on the counter so I drank it. Then I my vision started to blur and I was dizzy. Hannah must have put something in the drink, knowing that my mom left her glass. When I went to school, I went to the C.R. and then I saw a blonde girl enter. I thought it was you because of the curly blonde hair and then I kissed her and she locked us in a stall. But I promise that nothing happened. She only kissed me," he whispered to my ear.

"I believe you. Just promise me that don't drink anything that people left so it won't happen again," I said, hugging him back.

He laughed and said, "Yeah, I promise I won't. I'm really sorry. Are we okay now?"

"Yeah, I guess so," I said, laughing a bit.