Ok that was some spring break...no it really wasn't. I spent three of those days not doing homework and every other day was homework, so it was amazing I'd gotten that last chapter up. Probably not the smartest idea, cause now I've got Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo stuck in my head. Oh well. Anyway I hope you all are enjoying the story. It's about to get better. This is the chapter we've all been waiting for. We finally get to meet the Prince! Yes, the Prince in all of his royalty and...princy-ness. XD And for those of you who were wondering who the mystery footwoman is, you're about to find out! Enjoy the chapter of the official meeting between Taylor and Prince Chad!
Disclaimer: I own nothing.

The so-called 'welcome home ball' for the prince was anything but welcoming. As a matter of fact, it was downright boring. Try standing on a small pedestal and just bow politely to every woman that was coming your way to greet you, announced by the official footman - or rather, footwoman - by name and their lineage. This was certainly not the prince's idea of fun. He liked goofing off. He liked dancing. He liked to relax. He even liked to party once in a while. This was none of those things. If anything, it was making him want to fall asleep. Woman after woman in fancy attire and poofy dresses...why couldn't they be more normal? It wasn't like Prince Chad was always looking for the richest girls in the bunch. Sometimes the simpler things were better. In his many travels, he's learned that. He was a prince who lived a charmed life; not everyone else could have the same privileges as he did. As another woman approached, the young prince politely bowed as she curtsied and had no choice but to await the next one.

Being the elder child, Chad was the heir to his father's throne before Troy. He knew how his father ran the kingdom, and that was with a fair and gentle fist. Chad intended to follow in King Jack's footsteps and do the same. But it hadn't always been that way. When Chad was born their kingdom was trying to get out of a battle with a neighboring kingdom. He barely remembered it, having only been a toddler at the time. It was also at that time that Chad's mother had passed away. So while King Jack was off at battle or trying to make negotiations, the servants and other members of the castle were raising Chad. Luckily, it didn't go on for too long. The fight between kingdoms was settled peacefully, as the kingdom had married off their eldest single daughter to King Jack. It was shortly after that the new queen had Troy, although she had passed away in childbirth, leaving King Jack to raise both of his sons.

Chad had always tried to be the best big brother that he could to Troy. Sure they were brothers and they had their fights, argued about girls, disagreed on numerous topics, and had a few different interests, but they were still brothers and they were just that before anything else. Chad was never one to rub it in Troy's face that he would become king first, and Troy had never shown any jealousy. Troy was quite happy for his older brother, actually. And it was Chad who thought that Troy should have a high position so there could be a more equal ground between them. He didn't want it to end with a jealous brother who would do anything to get into power and get the king out of the way. So with that settled, Chad would always do the traveling like a good prince would and Troy would be at home to train and of course be his father's special adviser. Besides, King Jack was getting on in years and he couldn't be in even a small part of the castle on his own for too long.

With Chad's modest and loving upbringing, it was no wonder he grew into such a charming young man. His skin was a smooth cocoa shade and although his brown locks were insanely curly, they were tamed. At an event such as this, Chad would normally have his hair tied back into a pony tail. But with how late he had gotten back that day, he was lucky to have enough of a chance to change. His figure was fit and athletic, with even a few muscles showing from his sleeves. His silver shaded shirt went just below his waist, although it helped show off his physique with a belt tied around. Only a few areas such as his shoulders were glimmering with the silver of the shirt. A pair of blue pants and black shoes finished off his evening attire. As another woman approached the prince, his gorgeous brown eyes locked with hers and he bowed politely. As he rose again, she left into the crowd. As much as he'd love to get out of there and maybe play some ball with his brother or take a nice long nap, Chad knew that was out of the question. Another name was called and once again, he was stuck where he was.

"Mademoiselle Ilene Woods, daughter of Sir Woods and Lady Woods."

The echoing voice through a rather small megaphone wasn't coming from a footman as it usually would, but rather a footwoman. the usual footman was out with laryngitis, as the royal family had learned, so they went to the only person they knew to be in charge of his job until further notice, and that was...well, the footwoman. She didn't look much older than Prince Troy or Chad, just around their ages. She had a nice figure and flowing brunette hair. She was in an elegant red dress just as nice as any of the other dresses the women were wearing, only she had a sash around her to signify that she was a member of the castle and worked personally for the king and princes. Through a small pair of glasses she was holding, as it was the job of any footman to read through them - though luckily they didn't have any lenses - her brown eyes skimmed the next name before she announced it. Sure, Gabriella was doing a great job of filling in for the sick footman. And yes, the king had tried to set her and Chad up numerous times. This week wasn't the first mentioning of King Jack wanting his son to settle down with a wife and give him some grand-babies. But after many failed attempts, Jack had made the discovery - quite a shocking discovery to him at least - that Chad was not interested in Gabriella. There was someone else who had his eye on her. There was just one minor issue in the step - Chad had to be set up before anyone else and the king wasn't going to have it any other way. Yes, he was going to be a complete baby about this. He wanted his son Chad to find a bride before anyone else in the castle was allowed to settle down and that was final.

It was from a small balcony in the ballroom that King Jack and Troy were watching over their trapped family member, watching him give the same reaction over and over again to each girl. While King Jack just watched anxiously, hoping that Chad would soon enough find the woman of his dreams, Troy was just leaning against the banister and watching something else. His mind was only have in the mission, as it could be seen from his somewhat dazed look. And it didn't take rocket science to figure out what was causing the daze. Another woman approached the prince and Chad bowed once more before she turned back into the crowd. King Jack sighed heavily before laying back in his chair. How on earth did he raise such a stubborn boy? Chad sure didn't get it from him that was for sure. It had to be his mother. Yes, that was the only place such a stubborn personality could come from. The late queen, not the king. That was all there was to it. No way at all was King Jack a stubborn head.

"He's just not cooperating is he?" the king sighed heavily.

Troy glanced at his father briefly. He rolled his eyes and shook his head. Even he could see how stubborn his father was, no matter how much the king didn't want to admit it. Obviously Troy was the only one who was understanding what his brother was going through right now.

"Mademoiselle Augustina Dubious, daughter of Lord and Lady Dubious." Gabriella's voice echoed as the next woman approached Chad.

The king leaned forward, watching even more anxiously. This was at least girl number thirty...maybe even fifty. Come on Chad, pick a suitable wife already!

Unfortunately it didn't work out that way. Chad politely bowed just as he had been doing all night. As the lady turned and left, Chad casually placed his hand over his mouth to cover up a yawn. Even in his eyes the fact that he was so bored was evident. He looked up to the balcony giving his father a knowing look. He knew this had to be some kind of scheme from the minute he was told about this. While Chad was aware that King Jack had good intentions at heart, it just wasn't for Chad. He wanted to settle down when he was good and ready. And as corny as it sounded, he wanted to marry for love, not for kids. Even he was sure that before King Jack would go to the big castle in the sky he's have grand kids.

"I can't understand it!" Jack exclaimed, not sure how much more of this he could take. He pounded his fist onto the banister. "There must be at least one girl here who could make a suitable mother!"

Troy snapped out of his daydream automatically. His father was so jumping ahead of the game. Wasn't something supposed to come before kids? They learned this when they were like ten. "Dad!" he gasped. He quickly tried to shush him, giving the extra reminder that practically the entire kingdom was in their ballroom and they wouldn't want to stir any problems.

Jack folded his arms and pouted like a little kid. "A suitable wife." he corrected with a mumble.

"Cheer up dad." Troy shrugged. "There's still tons of women Chad hasn't seen yet. He'll probably know his future wife when he sees her."

"And for all we know, a few more ladies and I'll be on my deathbed." the king muttered.

"You're overreacting." Troy shook his head. "Chad's gonna find his dream girl tonight. And then there'll be little Chads and girls running around before you know it."

King Jack raised an eyebrow at his younger son. "Little Chads and girls?"

"Well we don't know the name of his future wife yet." Troy shrugged his shoulders once again. "We don't know what the little girls are gonna be called."

The king hit his head. "Just get me some water. I have a headache."

---

Unbeknown to any of the royal family know that the possible future wife was entering the castle right that minute. Exiting the carriage was none other than Taylor. Donny helped her over to the castle and Taylor nodded a thank you. Turning back to the carriage, she curtsied to her animal friends as another thank you for getting her there and helping her so much. She then turned around once more and looked up at the castle. She took notice of its structure and architecture, admiring it from up close. As beautiful as it was, it was also intimidating. She had seen it from the window of her home so many times that she had never gotten the chance to see it this close before. Just because she was dressed like a princess tonight didn't mean that she could possibly fit in with everyone in there. It just showed how little time Taylor had spent outside her home. But as scared as she was right now, Taylor knew that she couldn't back out now. This was her night and if she didn't let fear rule her life there, she wasn't going to let it rule here.

Taking a deep breath, Taylor stepped inside the castle. She stood in the doorway for a moment, seeing just how huge the castle was from the inside. There was a small aisle leading to a rather large staircase, and on each side of the aisle were royal guards watching carefully. Even without looking at them directly, Taylor could feel their eyes following her every move. She thought it best to just move on and stop them from watching her so closely. Even as she walked to the staircase she still got the sense that she was being watched. What, were they checking her out? Just great. Approaching the staircase, she could hear a faint yet loud voice coming from upstairs. That had to be where the party was. She cautiously made her way up, hoping that she wasn't intruding on anything important. Little did she know that by the time she arrived to her destination, that her life was about to change forever.

---

As the last woman stepped away from Chad and headed back into the crowd, Sharpay and Tiara suddenly came to the realization that they were up next to meet the prince. They hurriedly checked themselves over for perfect hair, clean gowns, nothing in their teeth, etc. Both knew very well that their mother wanted them to be chosen as the prince's wife. And they weren't going to let her down. By the end of tonight one of them could be royalty. Living in the castle. Actual princess. Future queen. Better than the other sister. The favorite of their mother. And so on and so fourth.

"Mademoiselles Sharpay and Tiara Darbus, daughters of Lady Darbus." Gabriella announced.

Tiara's head instantly snapped up. Taking the last possible moment to adjust her dress, she then took a step forward towards the prince only to nearly trip. As she quickly regained her balance, Tiara turned to her older sister, seeing how the sparkling pink heels were standing right on top of her dress. Tiara glared at Sharpay and pulled on her gown, causing Sharpay herself to fall over. Sharpay quickly sat up and gave an evil look towards Tiara. Tiara smirked and stuck her tongue out before walking to Chad. Sharpay scowled and fixed her hair as quickly as possible before walking in the most lady-like manner possible, whereas her sister was rushing towards the prince.

Chad watched as the girls struggled to get to him. He tried his hardest not to roll his eyes. He'd seen girls like this before. He wouldn't go so far as to say they were desperate, but they certainly weren't subtle in their attempts to show how badly either of them wanted to be princesses. Oh sure, they were plenty good looking just like all the other girls. But still Chad had not found what he was looking for. He briefly looked to Gabriella with a pleading look, mouthing 'help me' to her. Gabriella could only look back at him and shrug her shoulders. After all, she was merely the footwoman. What was she supposed to do? They had to give every woman a fair shot at him here. Besides, how would Chad even know who he liked if he didn't at least bow to them? Gabriella may merely be the footwoman or related to the footman, but she could see how everything worked. Like Chad, she didn't let royalty get the better of her. She was one of the most level-headed people the castle had to offer. And sometimes, even when Chad and Troy got big heads, they needed her help. While Chad was looking for a different kind of help right now, he still knew she was right. Holding in a sigh, he reluctantly turned back to these girls...what were their names?...Tiara and Sharpay. He watched as they curtsied to him, giving him such puppy dog looks. He absolutely hated it.

Jack shook his head and even his hands at these girls. He could tell just as easily that these girls weren't right for Chad. And although he wasn't looking, he knew Chad didn't like them either. This was all getting so hopeless. Practically every girl in the kingdom had come up and Chad didn't find a single one to his liking. They lived in the worst dating district!

"I give up. Even I can't expect him to find the perfect girl tonight." Jack confessed.

"Not to say I told you so Dad, but I told you so." Troy told him. "And I know how much you hate hearing this..."

"Don't you say it." Jack warned, pointing at his son.

"I'm gonna say it."

"Don't you even think about it!"

"You are..."

"Troy you shut your mouth right now!"

"An incredibly hopeless romantic!"

The king groaned loudly and hit his head against the banister. He was practically a war hero in the kingdom and here his own son was saying he's a hopeless romantic. He hated hearing that, whether it was true or not. He was just relieved that the whole kingdom hadn't heard that.

"I hate you." he grumbled.

"Love you, too, Dad." Troy chuckled. He leaned up against the chair his father was sitting in. "But if it makes you feel any better, I guess I can be sort of a romantic, too. And knowing my brother he's probably got the perfect picture painted in his head."

"Does he now?" he asked sarcastically.

"Of course. You can see it right now can't you?" Troy replied. "The young prince bows to the lovely ladies. And then suddenly, he stops. He looks up. Look. There she stands. The girl of his dreams. Who she is or whence she came, he knows not. Nor does she care. But his heart tells him to go. Because here is the woman that's destined to be his bride."

King Jack was only caught off guard for a moment. "Have you been reading too much Shakespeare again?"

"No..." Troy lied.

But what the king was lucky enough to quickly realize was, just as Troy had been explaining everything, he could see his son executing just that. From what Jack could see, Troy had given him the perfect narrative of what was going on. He could see Chad walking away from the two ladies in front of him and heading across the ballroom to a stunning young girl. But what the king was seeing and the prince was thinking were totally different.

As the girls curtsied, Chad did as he did all night and politely bowed to them. Then suddenly something caught his eye. There was something in the distance, almost on the other side of the ballroom. He took his eyes off the blonds and slowly looked up. That's when his eyes fell on the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. Her gown highlighted her figure ever so nicely, her hair was nicely styled, and she had the most gorgeous eyes. Chad just had to get a better look at her. Something was telling him to see who it was, if it was someone he knew and why he'd never seen her before. He walked past Tiara and Sharpay, much to their shock, and went across the ballroom right to the girl. Everyone watched wide-eyed as he did that. It wasn't like the Prince to just walk away from something important. The closer he stepped to the mystery girl, the more nervous he felt himself get. Chad had never felt that way around a girl before. If this was the hottest girl in the entire kingdom then he just had to get to know her better. Maybe he'd picked up a few hopeless romantic things from his father and brother, but this could just be love at first sight. He stopped just short of her, taking a moment to make sure his hair was looking good. He then corrected his posture so he was standing up straight and cleared his throat to get her attention.

"Good evening."

Shocked by the sudden voice, Taylor spun around to the guy. And standing right before her eyes was the hottest guy she'd ever seen. Not that she'd seen a lot of guys with the limited time she had outside, but from all the guys she had seen before, this was definitely the most good-looking. Taylor was amazed at how well fit he was and how strong he looked but so kind and gentle as well. He had the nicest smile, the craziest hair, and just...he was just so dreamy. For the first time in ages Taylor felt weak in her knees. What were the odds that such a guy would come talking to her? She had merely been trying to find out where the party was, unaware that it had been right behind her the whole time while she was wandering around. And it was at that same time that Chad had seen her. Little did she know that this was in actuality the Prince and not just some hot guy. Taylor quickly got a hold of herself, remembering that he was high class, or so judging from his attire. Odds were that he was just being polite to her. As he bowed with his greeting, Taylor politely curtsied.

"Hello."

As he stood straight once more, he took in her beauty. When it got to the point that he was just staring, Chad shook his head to snap out of it. "Um...are you alright? You seem kind of lost."

"I'm sorry." Taylor apologized. "I was just looking for the party. I got here a little late."

"Just like a girl. Loving to be fashionably late." he teased.

Taylor giggled. So he had a sense of humor. "I suppose so."

"Well you're not just going to walk around the castle all night are you?" Chad wondered.

Taylor shook her head. "I don't know. I mean...I don't know anyone here."

"Well maybe we should fix that." Chad said with a smile. He held out his hand to her. "Can I have this dance?"

Taylor smiled at him. He seemed like such a nice guy. And with a smile like that, somehow it was just able to melt her heart. "Of course." she answered, taking his hand.

Chad replied with another smile and led her over to the dance floor.

The king watched all that right from the balcony. While he couldn't hear at all what they were seeing, he could still see some kind of glow in his son's eyes. That's a glow he hadn't seen in ages. He even rubbed his eyes in disbelief. After looking through girl after girl tonight, one that didn't even step up to him was the one that caught his eye. That was the girl! That was going to be Chad's future wife! Jack couldn't even describe how delighted he was. Unfortunately, Troy had taken no notice as he had just gone on with his little narrative.

"A perfect fairytale, maybe. But this is real life, Dad." he said. "Sorry to break it to you, Dad, but it sounds like it was all doomed to failure. Maybe now you can set me up with that nice girl we've been talking about...?"

"Failure?" King Jack gasped. "Failure you say?" He practically forced Troy over the banister to get him to see Chad and the girl with his own eyes, even letting his excitement get the better of him. "Take a look at that, you pompous windbag!"

Troy gasped and looked right at the king. "Dad!"

Jack rolled his eyes. "I'll apologize later. Just look, boy!"

Troy sighed and followed his father's gaze. But as hard as it was to believe, he was seeing it with his own eyes. Chad was getting ready to dance with a girl. A girl he really seemed to like. "I don't believe it..."

"Do you know her?" the king inquired.

"No sir." Troy shook his head. "I've never seen her before."

"Well that makes two of us." Jack said.

"What do we do?" Troy asked.

"The only thing that we can do." his father replied. He called over to the orchestra. "The waltz! Quick, play the waltz!"

Seeing the king's signal, the orchestra nodded and began playing their music.

The king then went to the other side of the balcony and called to the lighting crew. "The lights!" he whistled, leaning over the banister once again to get their attention. "The lights!"

"Dad careful, you're gonna fall!" Troy gasped, quickly pulling his father over.

The dance floor cleared as the lights dimmed. Chad and Taylor made their way to the center. Chad didn't seem intimidated by the change at all, as he was used to it. But Taylor seemed a little more caught off guard.

"You ok?" Chad asked as he put a hand on her waist.

"Yeah." she nodded. "But...I don't really dance."

"Me either." Chad said with a chuckle.

Taylor looked at him doubtfully.

"Ok I do dance a little." he admitted. "So I'll teach you. Just follow my lead."

Taylor nodded. "Ok." She placed a hand on his shoulder and held onto his other hand. As the music played, Chad gently spun her around and she followed his every lead. She seemed to struggle a little at first, but with Chad leading her Taylor caught on rather quickly. And somehow, whether it was a slow dance or the waltz, Taylor just felt comfortable dancing with this guy. There was something there that she just couldn't explain. They were dancing so wonderfully together, their eyes locked every second.

The king smiled as he watched his son dance contently. "Well that takes care of that, it looks like." he said with a yawn. "And now it's time for all good kings to hit the hay."

"You do that, Dad. I'm going to go see if I can catch a quick dance with Ga-" Troy started.

The king immediately sat Troy back down before he could even finish. "You will stay right here. You are to keep an eye on your big brother. Make sure that under no circumstances are they disturbed. And when he proposes, notify me at once."

"Propose?" Troy questioned. "But Dad, he's only..."

"I don't care if he's five and dancing! He's going to pop the question and you'll let me know as soon as that happens." Jack insisted. Then he skipped happily towards his room. He was so happy in fact, that he even danced with one of the guards before entering his bedroom.

Troy couldn't help but roll his eyes. "I love my dad, but he can be such a stubborn head." he said to himself.

---

Everyone in the ballroom gathered around to watch the prince dance with the girl. They formed a circle around the pair and just watched them dance. No one had any clues as to who the girl was, but the other girls could only watch in envy wondering why it couldn't be them dancing with Prince Chad. Among the group of girls was especially Sharpay and Tiara, who were desperate to find out who the girl was. After all, the prince had practically shoved them aside like they were nothing just to see her. She had some nerve to steal their man, too. The sisters struggled to look through the crowd and look past the people to see who she was.

"Who is she, Mother?" Sharpay asked Darbus as she tried looking over everyone.

"Do we know her?" Tiara questioned as she looked through people's legs and arms to try to get a better look.

"It looks like the prince does. He's the one dancing with her." Sharpay answered as-a-matter-of-factly.

Tiara got down on her knees and looked through some legs to see the dancing couple. "Well I've certainly never seen her."

"Nor I." Darbus mentioned. "But she's certainly..." Darbus stopped short of her sentence as she watched the two dance by. Sure they were still sort of hidden behind the crowd for Darbus to get a really good look, but Darbus was still getting a strange feeling from that girl. A sense of familiarity perhaps. "Wait a minute...there is something familiar about her." She then began doing as her daughters and followed the couple as they danced; Darbus tried looking above and around the people to get a better look at them, trying to see why she had the feeling that she'd seen that girl before. She quickly saw them dancing outside, towards what looked like a courtyard. Darbus made her way around the crowd and tried to follow them out, only to get stopped by some red curtains closing in front of her. She turned to see the Grand Duke was the culprit. She glared at him, almost giving some kind of warning that she'd better get through. But Troy refused and held his ground, following the king's orders precisely.

Behind the curtains, Chad and Taylor continued their dance. Their eyes were locked as they moved in step with each other, perfectly synced. Taylor had not been expecting this at all when she was granted her wish to go to the ball. She was merely assuming that there would be dancing and talking. Never had she imagined dancing with such an incredible guy. The longer she danced with him, the more she wanted to get to know him. And there was no way this could be love at first sight. She had to get to know him better first. Not like Taylor would make the first move, of course. He'd been the one leading her. And it was working. Chad, on the other hand, was merely drawn in by her physical features. But even he knew there was more to a girl than her looks. If her looks drew him in, then her personality would keep him in. He had to get to know this girl better. For once, any thoughts of his father trying to set him up with someone were pushed out of his head. The only thing Chad was focusing on was him dancing with the most amazing girl.

"I thought you said you didn't dance." he chuckled.

"I don't." Taylor admitted.

"Well you're very light on your feet." Chad complimented.

Taylor smiled. "I guess I must have a really good teacher. You dance a lot?"

"I travel a lot. I've picked it up from around." Chad shrugged his shoulders.

"What else can you do?" she inquired.

"If you toss me a ball I can show you some skills." he said.

"I don't have one on me." she replied.

"I'll have to remember that for next time." Chad said.

"Next time?" she wondered.

"Would you like a next time?" he asked.

Taylor smiled shyly and nodded. "I would."

For a guy to make Taylor so nervous and her heart skip a beat, that was rare. She'd never felt quite a sensation like this before.

"Enough about me. Tell me about you." Chad said.

How was she supposed to tell him that she was a maid in her own home to her step family? That would make a horrible impression. And she certainly wasn't going to lie either. It was pure common sense; if she lied from the start then there would be no trust, and any relationship with no trust was doomed to failure. Plus, she's had to clean up enough of Sharpay's and Tiara's magazines to memorize such dating tips by heart.

"There's not much to tell." she shook her head.

"Oh, so you want to turn this into a guessing game." Chad teased playfully. "Alright. I like games."

Taylor giggled.

Chad smiled. "So are you a girlie girl? A funny girl? Maybe a smart girl?"

"Working girl, mainly. And maybe smart." she answered.

"And modest." Chad replied with a smile. "You work out a lot, too?"

"No." Taylor shook her head. "And I'm guessing you'd like to be tougher than a girl."

"It never hurts." Chad chuckled. "But you can kick my butt any day."

"I'll keep that in mind." she grinned.

"You party like this a lot?" he wondered.

"You could say I'm married to my work." she answered half truthfully. In all honesty, with all the chores and work her family gave her, Taylor might as well be married to her work.

"And should I be jealous of this work?" Chad asked innocently as he dipped her.

"Maybe." Taylor giggled. "I'll give it a warning you'll be after it."

He then spun her under his arm. As her back was leaned up against his chest, Chad's arm was around her waist. "If you were my girl, you'd never have to work again." he whispered into her ear.

Taylor blushed at his response. He was so flirting. But without him not looking directly at her face, at least he didn't see her nearly freak out. Not freak out, more like catch her off guard. But if Chad wanted to play this game, Taylor could run with the big boys.

"Dancing requires a lot of work. Aren't we working right now?"

Chad spun her back around to face him and they stopped dancing. "Maybe we should stop, then."

"We just did." she giggled.

Let the flirting continue. Chad was just grateful that they weren't being watched. "Is it hot out here or is it just you?"

"So the smooth moves come out now." Taylor observed. "What's next? Rearranging the alphabet to put u and i together?"

"You're good." he said resting his forehead against hers.

"You're not too bad yourself." Taylor replied.

"Wanna take a walk around the courtyard?" he wondered.

Taylor smiled and nodded, not even thinking to see how much time she'd have left for the evening. "I'd be honored."

He then took her hand in his and began showing her around the couryard.

So this is love

So this is love

So this is what makes life divine

They walked while occasionally talking, though otherwise in complete silence. But it was more of a comfortable silence, not an awkward one. Whether the guy was saying anything or not, Taylor felt herself getting closer with was an overall nice guy with a great sense of humor, was very easy to talk to, and let's not forget to mention how good looking he 'd never met anyone like him before. As hard a time as Taylor had believing this, maybe this was all it took for her to fall for someone. She was with him dancing and just talking for ten, maybe fifteen minutes tops. That was all it took for her to fall in love.

I'm all aglow,

And now I know

(And now I know)

The key to all heaven is mine

Even Chad was amazed at how fast he could fall for someone. He'd seen thousands of hot girls, but this one was different. She had something special. Suddenly everything his father told him and wanted for him, Chad could imagine. And he couldn't picture it with anyone but her. He felt on top of the world with her. Even as they talked he could tell how different they were. That she worked for a living while he had nearly everything handed to him on a silver platter. That she was serious and he was a goof. That she was smart and he...well, wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. But somehow he felt balanced with her. It felt like a void had finally been filled for him. And now finding his perfect girl he never wanted to let her go.

My heart has wings

And I can fly

I'll touch every star in the sky

Passing by a small fountain, Taylor ran her hand through it and watched as the ripples echoed through it. Chad looked at her and smiled. Deciding to have even more fun, he playfully splashed a little bit at her. Taylor turned to him and giggled before flicking some water in his direction as well. Chad chuckled and took both of her hands, leading her away from the fountain and beginning to dance with her once more. For their last dance of the night, neither of them spoke. They just locked eyes and danced through the courtyard. Everything was feeling so perfect, like everything had finally fallen into place. It was one night that neither of them wanted to end.

So this is the miracle that I've been dreaming of

As their dance slowly came to an end, the couple found themselves at a bridge over a small pond. They had danced further into the courtayrd than they realized. Taking her hand once more, Chad led Taylor over the bridge. They stopped in the middle of it and looked down at the water, seeing a few fish swim by underneath. They took that moment to just relax and enjoy a relaxed moment with each other. But as their reflections in the water were revealed, Taylor could see that it wasn't the fish Chad was watching. It was her. He had been watching her that whole time. Taking her gaze off the aquatic creatures, Taylor turned to Chad and their eyes locked once more. Chad slowly leaned in, almost as if he were requesting her permission. Taylor followed and leaned in a little herself. She almost wondered if it was really her he'd been focusing on this whole night, or if he'd been watching someone else. But there was a certain look in his eyes that revealed they were all for Taylor. They had the same feelings that Taylor had in her eyes. For the first time she didn't feel vulnerable or like someone was taking advantage of her. This was real. And this was her night. And with that, their lips met and they shared their first kiss.

So this is love

Ok that took at least three days to do. xD I started it last week, then worked on a little yesterday, and finished the rest today after being done with most of my homework. This is the chapter we've all been waiting for, wasn't it? I had to make it good and hopefully that mission was accomplished. Before we get started on the characters, did anyone catch a certain voice actress' name from the actual movie in here? 0=) We got to officially meet the footwoman, so now we know it's Gabriella. I'll be honest, I didn't know who else to cast her as, and I figured that would give Troy something to do besides listening to his father and trying to help his brother find the girl. Besides, it's a good twist where you think one of the characters is going to be someone and it turns out to be someone else. Anyway enough about Gabriella. I'm going to say what we're probably all thinking... How about that Prince Chad huh? Meow! Well...technically he is a wildcat so the meow thing kinda works. XD I gave Chad a little back story and we get to see what kind of guy he is. It was hard to give him part of Prince Charming too, since we don't get enough screen time of the prince to see what his character is like. But the Chad part of him definitely shines through. He was so much fun to write here because some of what he said was pretty believable, you'd think he'd actually say something like that in the movies. And this chapter was especially important to the story. In the movie we don't get much Cinderella/Charming action and all we think is a love at first sight thing. I wanted to try and develop the relationship a little more so we know that it was love at first sight but that wasn't all there was to it, and they didn't just focus on each others' looks. And besides, these are the main characters of the story so they need more time with each other than they got in the Cinderella movie. Really, did anyone else notice how little interaction there was in the movie? Great music, lots of funny stuff...not so much happening with these two. That's all besides the point since i think that got across pretty well. I decided to leave the chapter off on a fairly mushy note since we all know what's going to happen next and we might as well milk it for all it's worth. So next chapter, we'll see what happens when the clock strikes midnight! Good-night everyone. C: