Author's Note: This story was inspired by the royal wedding between Kate Middleton and Prince William and the Lifetime Movie, William and Kate. Also to schoolcandyshoppe whose author note regarding the Royal Wedding made me think of the idea for this story. Jess is Kate, Darcy is the Prince, Darcy is still two years older than Jess. Emma is now Jess' sister and she's "Pippa" in this story. Mostly the same character parings-Cassidy/Tristan, Megan/Simon and Emma/Stewart.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Mother-Daughter Book Club or the Lifetime movie, William and Kate.
"Ahhh!" squeals Megan. "I can't believe that the Prince goes to the same school as us!"
"It's not that special," Becca says haughtily. "I've met the Prince many times."
"So what Becca?" Cassidy replies.
"Well, the Prince and I go back," she says, rolling her eyes.
"No one cares," I tell Becca.
"Well, I'm going out for a run," I say. "Anybody want to come?"
"Me, Jess," Cassidy says, getting up and putting her running shoes on.
"I'm staying here and hoping to catch a sight of Prince Darcy," Megan says giddily.
"You know Darcy," Becca says, emphasizing the Darcy part to show off how 'close' they apparently are, "can only date a girl of impeccable pedigree. You don't quite fit the bill. And besides, he's a year three while you're just a year one. Darcy doesn't want to date little girls."
Cassidy and I drop our mouths open in shock. Megan, who apparently kind of likes Becca, just rolls her eyes.
"You know Becca, keep your stupid thoughts to yourself," Cassidy huffs and we get out of the room before Becca can say anything else.
I quickly tie up my thick blonde hair and put in my earbuds. So what about the Prince? I heard that a lot of girls came to St. Andrew's only because of him. Who would do that? That's just a crazy and stupid obsession. Anyways, he'll graduate next year and then what are they going to do? Transfer to another school with another prince?
As Cassidy and I follow the street path, we both see a gigantic crowd of girls carrying signs that say, "Marry me!"
Cassidy rolls her eyes at me and I laugh. She thinks it's stupid to like boys. I don't know why though. She's really pretty with her fabulous red hair. All the girls in our dorm are jealous of her because of how she's friends with the hot guys. I think it's funny.
"He's just a guy," she says, annoyed. "And why make him feel awkward with all the signs?"
"Some people are just crazy like that," I tell her and we both laugh. "The whole girl population is crazy for him."
The next day, in my advanced science class, I see Prince Darcy for the first time. He has an adorable smile and cute curly dark brown hair. He's sitting with his friends and all the love-struck girls are staring at him.
I roll my eyes again. Most of the people in this class are year threes. You'd think their shock of being in the same room as the Prince would have worn off by now.
"I'm going to assign you partners for a project in which you take one area of land and write a comprehensive report on the geographic features of the land," Professor Stanhope says.
Some girls are crossing their fingers, hoping to be put with Prince Darcy. I roll my eyes again. That's just pathetic.
"Jessica Delaney and," Professor Stanhope scans his paper, "Prince Darcy."
A bunch of girls let out sighs and eye me enviously.
Prince Darcy picks up his books and scans the room for me. One of his friend's jumps up and points to me. Prince Darcy nods and comes over, pulling a seat out next to me.
"Darcy," he says, sticking out his hand.
I gingerly take his hand and shake it. "Jessica Delaney, but call me Jess."
"Jess," he says, nodding, before saying, "I don't mean to be rude, but how come I've never seen you before?"
"Oh yes, we'll, I'm a first-year student," I tell him. He has really nice eyes.
"Really?" he asks, bewildered. "So you're smart?"
I laugh. "Whatever you want to think."
I'm surprised at my own boldness. Usually, I'm pretty quiet around people I don't know.
We make a plan, split up the work and head off in our different directions.
The next time I see him is at a party at a local restaurant.
Cassidy has decided to change her philosophy on guys. She's now dating this really handsome guy named Tristan. He's a third-year student too and he's friends with Darcy. Megan's with his younger, blonde brother named Simon and Becca, well, she's still hoping Darcy will whisk her away and marry her.
The second Darcy stops dancing with Ashley, an exchange student from North Carolina, Becca stands up and tries to talk to him.
He looks engaged, but all of us can hear exactly what she's saying and we're laughing.
"Oh yes Darcy," she says in an over-modulated high pitched voice. "My parents would love to see you again."
Cassidy snorts and I laugh. "Someone's a little bit too much in love."
Megan laughs too. "She's been obsessed with him since we were at Charterhouse."
Looking at the two them talking, I can't help but feel a small pain in my stomach. Am I jealous? Dear God, I hope not. But looking at his disheveled curly hair, warm brown eyes and adorable grin, I decide that yes, he's good looking, nice, smart and athletic, but no, I do not like him.
Of course, my heart skips a beat when he asks me to dance and Megan winks at me as Becca scowls at me.
His strong arms hold me close and for a while I just enjoy the feeling.
Three months later, when it's time for all of us to head home for the holidays, I blush at the memory. Since then, Darcy and I have only been good friends, no more, no less. Besides, he's dating Eva, a statuesque blonde girl.
I fly to London and my Dad picks me up to take me back home.
"Emma!" I squeal, seeing my year-younger sister. I give her a big hug. "I've missed you so much."
"Me too," she says.
"I love your hair," I tell her. Her normally straight brown hair is now curly.
"Thanks. University is doing wonders for your figure," she says admiringly. Emma is in her final year at Marlborough College.
"So," she says as I plop down on the couch. "I heard that you and Prince Darcy are seen together a lot."
"No, not really. Darcy and I are just friends," I tell her.
"Friends?" she asks, excited. "Has he invited you to Buckingham Palace yet?"
I laugh at Emma. "No and he's thinking of transferring schools so I'll probably never see him again."
My thoughts are proved wrong when Darcy calls my house.
"Hello?" Emma asks into the phone.
"Oh yes, she's here!" Emma says excitedly. I know that that reaction from her can only mean that one person is calling. Prince Darcy.
"Hi," I say into the phone.
"Hey Jess," his deep voice replies.
We chat for a while and he tells me that no, he's not transferring. He decided to endure a year and a half more before he can go back to Clarence House with his dad.
The second I hang up, the phone starts ringing again.
"Hello?" I ask.
"Hey, this is Stewart," an unrecognizable voice says. Who's Stewart? I mouth at Emma. She blushes and grabs the phone.
"So he's your boyfriend?" I whisper and she shoves me away, still blushing.
The holidays are wonderful and I've missed my family so much, including my horse Sunshine. I got her for my sixteenth birthday and it's been ages since I last rode her. Emma gives me a new Burberry Trench coat and my parents shower Emma and me with clothes and jewelry.
As much as I love home, I also love St. Andrew's and I'm giddy with excitement as I ride the plane out. When I land, I have another reason to be excited. Darcy has invited Tristan, Cassidy, Simon, Megan and me out to visit his father at Balmoral Palace the coming weekend.
Besides the fact that I'll be meeting the Prince of Wales and living—for a couple days, at least, in his castle and that I'll be with all of my friends, the best part for me is that I'll be spending a few days with Darcy and his warm brown eyes and curly hair. I can't wait.