Author: Jen
Author's Note: Things might not be perfectly accurate!
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own anything or any of the characters
A/N: Chandler's family is not just rich, but royalty. Chandler must learn how to be happy and accept the life he was born into.
You know what I've learned? Being royalty sucks. There's no privacy, no normalcy, and only desperate people after your money, fame or royal status. I should have realized this back in middle school when my parents decided to put me into a very rich private school to see if I could make friends. I thought I was the most popular kid on earth. You should have seen the other kids flood to me. That is, until I discovered the secret tally of who had gotten an invite to the castle. Once, they had those bragging rights they lost all interest in actually being my friend. So, I went back to home schooling, but I stayed optimistic - for some dumb reason. I still don't have many friends other than some cousins my age and a couple of their friends. I also talk to the servants a lot; I do see them everyday. Of course, none of them are really my age, but they laugh at all my jokes.
I started to accept my lonely life until I got older and fell in love for a year. His name was Gabriel; I met him while traveling in Spain. I fell so hard, so fast, that I asked him to fly home with me and move in together and he agreed.
Since I was gay, my family kept it secret and got away with it too. That's why I was confident it was real, genuine love because he couldn't have been in it for the fame or bragging rights when the public had no clue. No one, but the castle knew about it. It was a blissful year, maybe the best year of my life. Until, one day Gabriel threatened to sell a tell-all story about our relationship to the press unless we gave him a lump sum of money. My family paid him off to keep him quiet and he went back home to Spain. We never heard from him again. This betrayal hit me like a train, a full-blown, lying, two-faced train running full speed into my damn face.
That was last year, so it's been pretty bleak for me since then. I guess the hopelessness has finally caught up to me. My family has since decided to put it on themselves to find me love. They bring me bachelor after bachelor, but none of them truly love me, no one probably ever will. I have begun to despise every man they bring to meet me. I finally convinced them to stop looking for me and that was last week. That's about it, that's where I am in my life and it sucks.
Tonight, my family is having their annual charity gala. It's this grand event we do every year where my family and all the rich folk donate thousands of dollars to various charities. I've been to every single one and I'm sick of them. I wish I could get out of it, but I can't.
On this morning, I head downstairs for breakfast. I hear my father yelling in a distant room. My mother is rolling her eyes at the table until she sees me.
"Chandler sweetie, hi!" she exclaims with joy. She rushes over to kiss me on the cheek and sits me down in a chair. Our waiting staff rushes over with a hot, delicious plate of breakfast and places it in front of me. I thank them and start digging in as my mom starts rambling on about the gala.
"…So, I really believe it's going to be our best one yet!" She finally finishes talking after explaining every little detail, which I couldn't care less about.
I still hear my dad screaming angrily.
"What's he yelling about?" I question her. She glances in the direction of his yelling for a moment and sighs annoyingly.
"Oh, he's unhappy with the entertainment for tonight, so he fired them all of course. Last minute, as always. He's trying to scramble a new acting troupe together."
"Acting? That's new," I comment.
"Well, it will be if it happens. Your father screwed it up. Who knows if a new troupe can make it by tonight?" she spits with frustration.
Yeah, if you haven't already pieced together, my parents are far from being in love anymore. In fact, my father is secretly gay too; well, secret to the public. Which is why I had no problem coming out to them. They stay together in the public eye. No one in the town has any idea how much they fight. In public, they hold hands and kiss and gush about each other – it's honestly gross.
My father finally finishes his loud arguing and returns to the breakfast table. He sits down and is instantly greeted with another fully prepared plate of food.
"Ah son, good to see you. Tonight, we are going to have the pleasure of watching a special performance of Shakespeare's 'All's Well That Ends Well'," he shares.
My mother scoffs at his words.
"Are you sure?" she tests him.
He glares at her.
"Yes, Carlos is positive we can get a great troupe for tonight," he tells her.
Carlos is my dad's right-hand man for everything, but literally everything. He's not just his employee, they're partners, secretly of course. It's another reason my mother hates anything related to Carlos, which is basically everything related to my father.
I finish my plate of food and jump up from the table, ready to escape.
"Wa-wait, hold on Chandler, don't you want to sit and talk with us?" my mother stops me.
"I'm gonna see you tonight," I tell her.
She looks hurt for a moment, but brushes it off.
"Alright, your tux will be hanging in your room at six," she informs me.
I nod and run back upstairs.