Chapter 1

"Amelia Isobel Nicola Devereaux!" Mom hollers as she barges into my room quite forcefully, might I add. I understand why she was nervous though, sending her first and only daughter to a boarding school will always be an emotional thing, I think.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" I mutter as I check if I have gotten everything I needed. Clothes – check. Books – check. Schedule – check. Toiletries – check. I ponder about what I could have missed but it seems like my mother has other plans. She begins muttering stuff about me being late to everything, I was ready to protest but decided to shut my mouth.

I was never late to anything. Be it a fitting, a dinner, or anything of the like. I try my best to be the perfect daughter my parents could ever have. As my parents were the rulers of a small country called Genovia, I was never really taken care of by them, exactly, but they did try their best. Queen Amelia and King Nicholas never planned on having a child until later on, but they had me and decided it be kept a secret from the public. One, because it would endanger my safety, and two, for me to learn like a normal girl and live like one, too. When great grandma Clarisse passed three years ago, mother was hysterical. Don't get me wrong, I was sad myself; Queen Clarisse and I were close, but she had told me that it would make her even sadder. So I tried my best to keep my head held high.

Today, I was going to be shipped off to Jane Deane Academy for the Arts. Of all the schools I applied to, I was overjoyed that I was accepted in this school. This school specialized on arts, and I, myself, am a musician. They were glad to take me in, saying that there are never too many talented kids there. They even offered to give me a scholarship, but my parents disagreed. They wanted to help, just like they always did.

I sing and play the piano, nothing special, but they said that my skill on these two were extraordinary. The fact that I wrote songs was also a part of the fact that I was offered a scholarship. They also ensured my parents that my identity shall be kept a secret. In the public, Princess Amelia Isobel Nicola Thermopolis Devereaux never existed. So, I was given the name Isobel Nicola T. Devereaux. Not too obvious, right? I hope so.

"Are you all ready, sweetheart?" Dad asked as he grabs both of my suitcases and my mom grabs the last one. They insisted that we could only call help if we really needed it, so the people could focus on the task at hand. I nod, "Yes, father," and we kept going.

"Bye, Isobel. I'll see you on winter break?" Dad murmurs as he hugs me for the 3rd time in a span of 2 minutes. I roll my eyes and hug him back, "Yes, Dad. I'll call you every weekend, just like I promised." I kiss his cheek and move on to my mom, this will be emotional, and I just know it.

I knew it. I knew that she was going to do this. When I stepped one step closer to my mom, she burst in to tears, now here she is, sobbing while I patted her back awkwardly. "It's okay, mom, I'll text you everyday and call you every weekend, okay?"

My dad took over, thank heavens. They both waved good-bye and I smiled at them reassuringly. Parents weren't allowed in the dorms, and again, I thank the heavens. I turn towards the headmaster, Ms. Evans, who cocks her head to the side, as if asking if we could go on with our tour, this is the last stop though. I smile at her and nod, I didn't really like talking to people I just met; it's plain weird, and at the palace I can't really make friends since there weren't many kids my age.

"So, this is Room 13B, which you will be sharing with Annalisa Mercury. Don't worry, she's real nice and talented." I smile at her, but inside I'm a nervous wreck. I learned this trick from Ms. Pensington, my teacher in princess classes, she taught me how to seal emotions with a blank face or a smile. "So this is our last stop, if you have questions feel free to visit me at my office," Ms. Evans states before walking in the direction where we came from.

I take a deep breath before reaching for the door knob, but it seems that the door had a mind of its own and opened. Then a pretty brunette's head appeared; ah, this must be Annalisa. "Are you Isobel?" I nod, "You must be Annalisa?" I ask, it was the polite thing to say, though it was obvious she was. She nods and grabs my bags and I start to protest, "Oh no, it's okay. I can carry them."

"Nah, it's okay. We're going to be roomies now, so we should help each other!" She beams at me and I can't help but grin back. She seems like a lovely person. She dumped the bags she carried in a small room by the back. There were two rooms, one bathroom, and a kitchen/living room. All in all, it was a nice place.

"I take it this is my room?" I ask Annalisa politely. "What do you think?" She answers me rather rudely. I raise my eyebrows at her; she seemed nice! Ugh, people these days. "What are you looking at?" She snaps at me, I shake my head in reply, terrified. This is the first time I encountered something like this, and my terrified face seems to have amused Annalisa for she started laughing like a crazy person. "What's so funny?"

"You're too, gullible. Anyways, I'm Annalisa Mercury, actress in the making and Lizzy for short." She smiles up at me. Ah, that makes sense; she was an outstanding actress. "I see. Isobel Nicola Devereaux, musician." I smile at her, offering her my hand but she hugged me instead.

"You have a long name, so I'll call you Izzy instead so that our name will rhyme. Mehehe. And we'll be bfffffffffs!" Lizzy beams at me and I can tell that we really were going to be 'bffs.'