The Bookworm Meets the Prince Page 4

  We talked about different things, like where I wanted to go after graduation and which university was my preference, while we were busy eating fries dipped onto our chocolate shakes.

  He mentioned some of his childhood experiences with his younger sister, Andie, and Mel. Apparently, his parents had a bonsai made from a flower called santan or Ixora coccinea shipped from the Philippines. Drew’s mom had a certain fascination towards this flower, and she wanted one for herself.

  His mom was so excited to show them the latest addition to her bonsai collection. She even raved about the fact that if you picked the flower, pulled out the string-like thing in the middle, and sipped on it, you can taste its sweet nectar. Unfortunately, what she didn’t know was that when she left for work, she left three kids curious about the taste of the said nectar. When his mother returned to her new plant, it was missing something important—the flowers.

  They liked the taste of the santan’s nectar a lot, so much so that they’d just pick one flower after another, dropping them to the ground to serve as evidence for Drew’s mom to see. According to Drew, she went ballistic.

  “You had to see her face. It was as red as the santan flowers we finished. She went on and on about the loss of her plant. My dad, on the other hand, laughed hard at the whole incident. He simply said, “What do you expect from five-year-old and three-year-old kids? You told them about the nectar, and they explored.” After my dad said those words, my mom just walked out on us. She didn’t talk to us for a few hours, and then, lo and behold, my dad shipped another one the next day.” He then looked at the distance.

  “They really do love each other. Growing up, I understood that my dad couldn’t love another more than he loves my mom.” He then smiled at me like he forgot who he was talking to.

  “Well, I don’t have that much childhood stories with siblings and such. I just have stories with Rissa. She’s the sister I never had. I always wonder what it would feel like having a sibling. But yeah, I know what you mean when you talk about your parents. I see that with my own parents and wish I could find the same thing they have with each other,” I said in a wishful tone.

  We just talked and talked, not noticing the fact that someone was approaching us from a distance.

  “Sugar, I didn’t know you would be here. Oh, and Andrew, I didn’t know you were already in town. Mel didn’t say anything about it,” a familiar irritating voice said.

  I looked to my right and saw Ryan taking a seat beside me. Great, another moment with Drew was ruined because of his presence. Ryan was wearing a grey T-shirt that showed off his toned body.

  “Hi, Ryan. Please stop with the pet names because they are totally not appreciated,” I said while rolling my eyes, a habit I had acquired since the time I met him. I tried to move away from him as much as possible.

  “I arrived last week. I’m staying at Chad’s place right now. You know, the typical parental problems,” Drew answered Ryan’s question like he was talking to his younger brother.

  I couldn’t help but look at them while they talked. It was like they knew each other for years. They were bantering like old friends. Then I suddenly felt a little stupid, finally remembering Mel. She mentioned being connected to Drew’s family, and that Ryan was her brother. So technically speaking, these two did know each other for years.

  While I was thinking how and why they knew each other, I didn’t notice Ryan suddenly wrapping his arms around my shoulders. The moment I got out of head and noticed it, I made it known it was not appreciated.

  “Get your stinking arm off me, player,” I said while trying to get his arms off me.

  The jerk simply laughed like he was enjoying himself. On the other hand, Drew seemed to look at Ryan disapprovingly; like he did not like what Ryan was doing.

  “Aw, sugar, don’t you like being with your good old boyfriend?” Ryan asked in a really irritating voice. His pitch suddenly went up. It was something I only hear when Chad was teasing Rissa about something.

  “How many times do I have to tell you that you are not my boyfriend?” I said. Well, almost shouted.

  “Whatever you say, sugar,” he said. When he felt the matter was settled, he focused his attention back to Drew. “So, Andrew, how long will you be staying here?”

  He totally ignored anything I did to get some space between us and dismissed the fact that I wanted him out of the way. He was busy talking animatedly with Drew so that Drew wouldn’t be able to talk to me.

  This went on and on, and I just gave up. I got my trusty phone out and started reading again. This time, I was able to finish the last chapter of the book I was reading and was starting a new one. I heard the bell from the door rang, and to my utter disappointment, I saw Rissa and Chad walking in. They were walking towards our way!

  “Sup, Cuz? I didn’t know you were going to be here,” Chad asked Drew, while his arms were conveniently placed around Rissa’s shoulders.

  Okay, was this the new way of staking a claim?

  “Yeah, I was here with Liz for a quick snack, and then Ryan found and joined us. Hey, Rissa, nice seeing you. Haven’t grown tired of Chad yet?” Drew said in a teasing manner.

  Rissa laughed like she heard it numerous times before but suddenly stopped when she realized I was looking at her.

  So Drew knew Rissa well. He did say that he was staying at Chad’s, and Rissa is Chad’s girlfriend. Yeah, that made sense.

  “Wait, how do you know Liz?” Rissa asked, giving me a death glare.

  Okay, the best friend code stipulated we were obligated to tell each other everything, especially if it was a cute guy we recently met. Unfortunately, I was so caught up daydreaming, I forgot to mention this detail to her. I was also foolishly hoping she wouldn’t know. I liked keeping things to myself, so she’d better sue me.

  “Yeah, we met at the library on the same day as Chad’s party. Then, we saw each other again during the party,” Drew explained in a matter-of-fact tone. Typical guy, he didn’t even know he was practically digging my grave. Rissa started giving me death glares for keeping too much information from her.

  At this point, I was trying to look at anything but Rissa. It was a rare moment; I would consider looking at Ryan just so I could avoid the glares Rissa were giving me.

  “Alright, so how about we leave these two alone, Ryan? They obviously don’t want any other company,” Rissa said while grabbing Ryan’s arm, effectively dragging him out of his chair. For someone small, Rissa was really strong; probably from all that training. It should be normal for me, but it still surprised me that she could drag a guy twice her size out of his chair.

  “Oh, by the way, expect a call from me later, Liz. You have some things you failed to tell me about,” she said and walked to the cheerleader slash football player table.

  Drew and I watched as Rissa and the gang settled in the other table. The encounter was so weird that I honestly didn’t know how to start the conversation again. It was a good thing Drew talked first, but I wasn’t really a fan of the topic he decided to open.

  “So, Ryan is your boyfriend?” Drew asked casually.

  I immediately shook my head and gave him a death glare. I might have done this a little too much as I felt my head ache.

  “Are you serious? I’m never dating that guy,” I said in the most irritated voice I could. “Unfortunately, he never understands that memo even after my constant protests. He, somehow, has it in his head that I am his girlfriend even when I can’t stand his arrogant attitude.” I decided to get another set of fries and dipped them onto my milkshake.

  For some reason, Drew laughed at what I said. He was very amused about something I wasn’t invited to know.

  “Well, that’s typical Ryan for you. The only difference is that this is the first time I see a girl give him a run for his money. He always gets the girl. When he was four years old, he was able to charm his way to the heart of my twenty-year-old cousin. Of course, she thought nothing about it, but the fact still remained that Ryan was
able to make that girl blush when no one ever got a smile,” he said at the memory. He then looked at me and whispered to himself, “Looks like I have my work cut out for me,” and then laughed.

  I didn’t really read too much from his last statement since I was still irritated with Ryan’s presence.

  “Whatever! This is not a laughing matter, Drew. I mean he’s practically announcing to everyone I’m his girlfriend even when I’m not,” I said, pouting.

  He just smiled and held my hand, causing me to blush. Alright, I had to find his flaws fast or else I’d be in so much trouble.

  “Hey, don’t take Ryan too seriously. I guess he just doesn’t want anyone destroying his chances with you like I don’t want someone else sweeping you off your feet. But I guess there are just some things we can’t control no matter how much we want to,” he said, looking at me straight in the eyes. It was as if he was making a promise. Whatever it was, I had yet to find out.

  I was seriously praying that Drew would eventually like me as much as I liked him because, for the first time, I liked someone real, unlike the fictional characters I had fallen in love with.

  Chapter 6

  My Cousin and a New Friend

  It was already around seven when Drew and I left the diner. He walked me to my car before he proceeded to enter his own car and waved at me. When he rounded the corner, a thought suddenly came to my mind.

  What happened to his black Lambo?

  I had to ask him one of these days why he was suddenly driving a blue Pajero when he could have driven that sweet cool car of his.

  I was adjusting my car’s radio volume when Rissa tapped my passenger window. When I unlocked the doors, she opened one and went inside my car. She got comfortable, fixed her bag, and reclined the chair to her preference.

  I took that as a sign I was driving her home, so I proceeded to back the car up and headed to her house. After a few minutes of silence, she started telling me what was on her mind.

  “So, when was I supposed to know about Andrew?” she asked after she got everything to her liking. I didn’t bother to ask why Chad wasn’t driving her home. I knew the answer to that. She was looking for a way to corner me about Drew. Her mission was clear; she would make me tell her every detail, so she could analyze it and give me her thoughts. This was the main reason why I didn’t tell her about Drew; I was afraid of what she was going to say.

  “Well, it was a long story,” I responded, but she gave me the ultimate glare, so I spilled the tea. I told her about our initial meeting in the library, the talk I had with him in the gazebo at Chad’s party, and our moments together while I was working with Mel. I told her everything she needed to know while I was driving towards her house.

  I found it odd that a black SUV was following us since we left the diner. I couldn’t point this out to Rissa as she might panic, but I got a weird vibe about that SUV.

  Call me crazy, but isn’t it a cliché when a black car happens to follow you around? Was black the in thing for hooligans? But when I rounded the corner, it stopped following us and turned the other way. Maybe I was just being paranoid with all the books I had read.

  “Interesting. I shall dig deeper into this, but I have one question. Who do you like better, Andrew or Ryan?” she asked.

  “Who do you think?” I said in a sarcastic voice.

  Did she really ask such a stupid question? She knew I didn’t want to date at the moment; I had better things to do. Yes, even with my school-girl crush on Drew, I wouldn’t count it as relationship material. Besides, Drew didn’t like me like that; we’re friends, just friends.

  Ryan was a nice guy according to the people who knew him, but he just couldn’t get a hint. He was a borderline stalker, someone you would want to report to the cops. Drew, on the other hand, was perfect. The only problem was he was so perfect, it seemed he was impossible to reach. Right now, I just wanted to stay away from this drama that made my life a total cliché story.

  “Hmm. Well, I’ll update you when I learn something new. By the way, in case you haven’t gotten the idea, you are no longer allowed to hold any information about your affairs. Bye,” Rissa said as she went down the car.

  All I could do was shake my head at my friend’s weirdness. Since I didn’t want to think more about Ryan or Drew while driving home, I switched on my radio and decided to put it on full blast. It just so happened that Maroon 5’s Misery was playing. I was singing on top of my voice.

  I had mentioned that my ultimate crush of the century was Mr. Darcy, but other than him, it would be Adam Levine. He was just so drool-worthy, I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to meet him in person.

  But all fantasies must come to an end. As I parked my car, I noticed a blue car I didn’t recognize parked in the reserved area for our guests. Our garage had spots for five cars: two for my dad, one for my mom, and another one for me. The last one was reserved for unexpected guests who might bring their car.

  When I entered the house, I could hear laughter coming from the living room. I peeked, and I couldn’t help but let out a scream as I saw who was laughing. My cousin Jam was talking to my parents.

  Jam is the daughter of my mom’s brother. She looked a lot like her mother, though. She had black curly hair that reached her shoulders, white skin, a fuller figure (since she’s an excellent cook), and dressed like an ultimate artist. Side note, I always told her that I envied her curves.

  Right now, she was wearing a black beret hat, a black and white striped shirt, and black pants tucked inside her knee-high boots. To say she was the epitome of a French artist was an understatement.

  She was currently enrolled in one of the most prestigious art schools in France. She would visit though every three months for three days to update us on what’s happening with her life. She had been doing this for the past three years since she started school at sixteen. Now she looked like she wouldn’t go back to France.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” I screamed before hugging the life out of her.

  “I wanted to surprise my lovable cousin, and may I say kudos because you don’t have a book attached to your hand? But I am also wondering… why?” she asked. She knew about the constant book ban, but she just loved to pretend not to know about it. She had more liberty than I did; her parents divorced when we were younger, so it made it easier for her to do the things she wanted.

  “You know the answer to that. Let’s go to my room. I have loads of things to tell you,” I said while I grabbed her arm, making our way to my room.

  When we got to my room, she immediately pointed out things that needed to be fixed. I loved my cousin, but her artistic side would never stop. One thing we had in common was our passion for reading. We even made a bet before on who could read the most books in a year. I had beaten her by twenty books. Unfortunately, there was a catch; she was also doing some of her paintings and stuff, so those took away some time for reading. She admitted I was a bigger bookworm than she’d ever be, however.

  “I honestly want to meet this Ryan and Drew; they sound interesting. I just want to ask you though, did you hear that the Crown Prince of Sarconia is in town? Like, here?”

  I wanted to kill her on the spot for believing those rumors. They were called rumors for a reason; they were not proven, and I don’t think they will ever be.

  “Please tell me you don’t believe those rumors, Jam,” I begged her, tossing the pillow I was holding at her.

  “Seriously, Lizzie! It’s true. Have you forgotten I have been staying in France for a few years now? I have seen it everywhere. European media is in a major buzz right now because they couldn’t find him. Well, wouldn’t it be hard to hide the freaking crown prince? But a few weeks ago, they suddenly had a lead. They spotted his black Lamborghini around this neighborhood before promptly losing him again. They said the car left town, but who knows, he might still be here.” Jam then started arranging some of my stuff according to her style.

  I thought about what
she said. Could it be the same car I was thinking of right now? But for some odd reason, I couldn’t picture Drew as a prince. I mean, he did look like Prince Charming, but a real prince and a crown prince at that? I just couldn’t see it, but I also couldn’t stop thinking about the possibility.

  “Ok, so what is the 411 on this crown prince?” I pried. If that irritating cheerleader was right the other day, then I wouldn’t be able to know these things on the net.

  Jam grew excited. I just gave her an opportunity to talk more about the royal family of Sarconia. She immediately found a comfortable place to tell the story.

  “Well, the buzz began during Prince Phillipe’s twenty-second birthday last month. The king announced that he had to find someone to marry by the time he reached twenty-three, or else he would be forced to marry this certain Lady Catherine. After that whole announcement he vanished from Sarconia, and the next thing we knew, most of his images were blocked from the net,” she said in an animated voice. She made it sound like it was a murder mystery she wanted to solve.

  Well, Phillipe was not Drew’s name. So, he would probably not be the Prince, but how would I begin to explain the car situation?

  “Anyway, enough of this missing crown prince drama. How are you?” I asked.

  After that, we talked all night long about her latest crush, books, movies she could recommend, and many other things. It was really nice hanging out with her. It was like hanging out with a twin; we were alike and different in many ways. We then slept at around two in the morning, but not before she mentioned she was staying until the weekend. Her school had this weeklong festival, and they let their students off. She was also planning on visiting her parents for a few days.

  The next day, saying that I lacked sleep was an understatement. I wanted to go back to bed and sleep like Jam. This was so unfair since she could still sleep while I had to go to class.