Rosie had been missing for nearly two hours. Carter had searched everywhere for her, trying to find her before her dad found out that the princess they were supposed to be protecting was missing. Left without a choice, carter knew she had to tell her father what had happened. She had to tell him that it was her fault the princess was missing. She was after all the one who was screaming at her.
Just as Carter walked outside of the back door and headed up to the bait shop, a beat up old truck pulled into the driveway. It was Ed, Carter's neighbor. Carter gave a small wave but had something more important to attend to then a chat with Ed. "Carter!" he said opening the door and standing up, "Does this belong to you?". Carter turned back to see what Ed could possibly be talking about when she saw Rosie sitting beside him in the truck.
"Oh my god, rosie!" Carter said as she flew over to the truck and opened the passenger door. "Found her in my backyard" Ed said, "I think she got lost in the woods". Ed lived nearly a mile away from Carter's house. "Thank you so much ed!" Carter said as relief washed over her. "Anytime!" He said as he got back in his truck and drove away.
Carter followed Rosie back into the house and into the living room. "What the hell were you thinking?" Carter said she collapsed onto the couch, "I have been looking everywhere for you!" Rosie just took a seat across from carter and stared at her. "We would both be dead if my dad found out about this" Carter said rubbing her head. After a few minutes of silence passed between them Rosie still hadn't said anything.
The awkwardness that filled the gap between them was becoming to much for carter to handle. She stood up from the couch and went to her room, closing the door behind her. She grabbed her ipod from the bedside table and put the earbuds in as she laid down. Scrolling through her music she finally settled on Let go by Safetysuit and turned it up as she stared up at the ceiling.
A few minutes later Rosie came into the room. Carter watched as she stood in the doorway for a few moments and walked towards Carter's bed. She could see Rosie's lips moving but couldn't hear anything she was saying. Realizing the problem, Carter sat up and pulled her earphones out. "What?" Carter said, asking Rosie to repeat what she had just said. "I said you are right" Rosie said staring into Carter's big brown eyes. "About what?" Carter asked even though she knew what Rosie was refering to. "About me" rosie said, her voice shaking.
Rosie sat down at the foot of Carter's bed, found a spot on the wall to stare at, and took a deep breathe. "My entire life has revolved around the fact that I am princess. Everyday there is someone that I need to impress. Sometimes it's a room full of Royals at a ball or maybe a prince that could be a potential husband and co-heir to the thrown. Other times it is just commoners walking down the street as I pass by." Carter listened to the girl carefully as she spoke.
"A princess is expected to look and behave in a certain way at all times. From the time I was born I have been being prepared for the day that I am queen and ruler of Costa Luna. My entire life has been filled with etiquette classes, dress fittings, royal balls, and politics classes. The money, jewels, and popularity come with the title and I am ashamed to admit that I let it go to my head". Rosie now had tears in her eyes but fought to hold them back. "I am truely sorry for the way that I have treated you Carter" Rosie said as she continued, "But I cannot change the fact that in just eleven months I will be Queen of Costa Luna and must find a suitable husband before then and I must prepare myself as best as I can while I am away from my country. As soon as I hear from program headquarters I will be relocated with until we can return to Costa Luna and will no longer be a bother to you".
"Girls! Burgers are ready!" Major Mason yelled from down the hall. Before Carter could even think of something to say Rosie stood up and walked out. Carter sat on her bed dazed, thinking about what rosie had just said. "Let's go Pal! Dinner is ready!" Major Mason yelled bringing carter out of her thoughts. She jumped off the bed and jogged to the kitchen where her dad and Rosie were waiting.
"Have you ever had a burger before Rosie?" Major Mason asked, completly unaware of the tension between the two girls. "No I have not" Rosie said trying to sound as cheerful as she could. "Let's show her how it's done shall we?" Major Mason said smiling at Carter as he handed her a plate and hamburger bun. Carter walked around the table and took a seat beside Rosie. Carter gave a weak smile to which Rosie returned.
Carter placed a bun on rosie's plate and one on her own and watched as the girl eyed it curiously. "That is the bun" Carter said as she reached for the plate of hamburgers and grabbed on and placed it on the bun for Rosie, "Now it is a hamburger!". "It looks very strange" Rosie said eyeing the hamburger. "Now we have to put some mustard and Ketchup on it and it will be complete" Carter said as she reached across the table for the mustard and ketchup. After putting it on the hamburger Carter smashed it together and held it out towards Rosie. "Grab it" Carter said smiling at the look on Rosie's face.
"Take it in your hands like this" Carter said picking up her own burger, "And you just bite it". Carter took a big bite of her burger and watched as Rosie looked down at her burger sitting on the plate in front of her. Slowly she picked up and the burger and attempted to neatly take a bite of it as Carter had just done with her's. Much to her surprise Rosie loved the odd food called a burger. In fact was one of the best things she had ever tasted. "What do you think?" Major Mason asked as he watched.
Rosie lowered the burger from her mouth to reveal mustard and Ketchup smeared all over her face. Major Mason and Carter burst into laughter. This momentarily eased the tension between them. "Here" Carter said grabbing a napkin and reaching over to wipe Rosie's face. "What am I doing?" Carter thought to as she stopped herself and ended up placing the napkin in Rosie's hand.
Carter quickly finished her dinner and then ran back to her room. She needed time to think. For some reason despite her best efforts to hate Rosie, Carter couldn't do it. Why? Why was this girl different from the others? Carter replayed everything that Rosie had told her before dinner. Carter would be scared out of her mind if she had find a husband and rule over an entire country in just eleven months. The thought of it alone scared her much less actually having to do it. Carter also couldn't imagine losing her dad and being forced to live in a completly different country with complete strangers and top of all of that having one of those strangers hate you.
Suddenly Carter felt like she was the size of an ant. She beyond crossed the line when she flew off on rosie earlier. Just then Rosie came into the room. Without even thinking Carter reached out and grabbed rosie's arm as she walked by. "I'm sorry" she blurted out. Rosie's arm tingled from Carter's touch. "I crossed the line earlier" Carter said, "I should have thought about everything that you've been through the past week, I know I would be scared to death if I were in your shoes".
Before rosie could even process what she was feeling the tears began to fall. Carter pulled rosie down onto the bed and wrapped her arms tightly around her. Rosie sobbed into Carter's shoulder. Rosie held on to Carter as tightly as she could. Despite the tension that had been between the two girls since Rosie's arrival, Rosie felt safe with Carter.
"It's ok" Carer whispered as she ran her fingers through Rosie's long hair. Suddenly instead of seeing a stuck up, self centered Princess Carter now saw a terrified seventeen year old girl. Her heart broke for Rosie as the young girl continued to cry. Carter wanted to make her feel better, she make everything that was hurting Rosie go away. Rosie's enitre life had been pulled out from underneath her and suddenly she was forced to see that she had no one to help her, no one to talk to, and most of all she had no one that she could actually call a friend.
"I don't know what I'm doing!" rosie sobbed, "I'm so alone". Carter pulled Rosie away just enough so that she could see her face. Rosie may have been alot of things, but carter decided right then and there, that alone was not one of them. Carter wiped a few tears from rosie's red cheeks. "You have me" Carter said "I will be here for you, always". Carter held up her pinky and grabbed rosie's hand and linked their pinkies. "Carter what are you doing?" Rosie said as she tried to stop the tears from falling. "This is called a pinky promise" Carter said, "It's show you that I'm serious about being for you". "I do not see what our pinkies have to do with a promise" rosie said as she continued to calm herself. "A pinky promise is very serious business" Carter said smiling, hoping it would help cheer rosie up, "Once you make a pinky promise, It's unbreakable".
Rosie couldn't help but smile at this. She also couldn't help but notice how much she liked the feeling of Carter's arms around her. "Thank you Carter" Rosie said as a smile spread across her face. This smile was different from the others that Carter had seen. The others were lifeless and seemed to all look the same. This one however was bright. Even rosie's eyes were lit up. Carter felt her chest tighten as her breathing slowed and her heart started racing. "We should go to bed" Carter said. Rosie nodded, smiled at carter and then walked across the room to her bed. "Goodnight Carter!" Rosie said taking one last look at her before turning out the light. "Goodnight Rosie".
