Beth Fleur

(Saturday Morning, August 10th)

When the laptop dings, Chad opens his eyes and sits up, "Did you hear that?"

Bernard confirms, "It came from your computer."

Chad rubs his eyes and checks the clock. It's one-thirty. He gets up and shuffles over to his desk, before he wakes up the laptop. He sees the chat notification. Ben Florian. Chad sighs, as he places a hand to his head and hears the guard walk over to him.

"Who's Beth?"

"What?" Chad glances at him, and the guard nods to the screen.

Chad looks at the chat again and his eyes widen, "Beth Fleur."

"Who is she?" the guard asks again.

"Uh. A friend, I guess." Fleur is French for flower. Ben did say he would talk to him later. Maybe, this is him?

"You guess?"

"Well, only my friends would be able to chat with me on my email," he reasons. "I don't just give it out to everyone." In fact, he would have need to accept their invitation. If this is Ben, then he must have entered into his email to accept. Which means he knows the password.

"Looks more like an ex-girlfriend," Bernard opinionates, and Chad reads the message.

Beth: Hey, Charming. Long time, no see.

Chad types: Who are you?

Beth answers: You know me from school, idiot.

Chad comments: I thought I told you to stop talking to me.

Beth: So, you're not allowed to talk to girls now?

Chad frowns, before he replies: You're not a girl.

Beth: Ouch. Chad stares, as she types. So, you think I'm ugly?

"Tell her she's beautiful, even if she's ugly," the guard recommends.

Chad narrows his eyes at him, "Don't tell me what to tell my exes." Chad turns back to the laptop and answers: You're beautiful.

Beth insists: Then talk to me. I know you want to.

Chad counters: You know, your insistence is why I broke up with you.

It takes a minute for her to respond: I'm sorry about that.

Chad: I know.

Beth: I guess, I should let you sleep.

Chad hurries: I'm not asleep. Who's asleep? I'm not. You're not, right?

Beth: Lol. No. I'm not sleeping.

Chad: Good. We should talk, then.

Beth: We are talking.

Chad smiles: I knew that.

"Beth Fleur," the guard reports. "Prince Chad talked with her for two hours about him being grounded, school, and nutritional health. They played a few sessions of online chess."

Charming sets the table, "What else do you know about this girl?"

"Her parents seem strict," he informs. "She doesn't have social media. Chad said she's struggled with anorexia, so it's possible her parents want to keep her from social pressures."

He nods, "That's probably for the best."

"Chad told her she should get one," Bernard warns. "He thinks it will make it easier to play games and keep record of it."

"Or he just wants pictures of her," Charming considers, before he meets the guard's eyes. "Thank you. Keep me updated."

Bernard bows, "Of course, Your Highness."

After he leaves, Charming enters the kitchen. Ella asks, "Can you help me take these to the dining room?" He fails to answer, and she turns to him. "Charming? Something wrong?"

He takes a moment, "One of Chad's ex-girlfriends contacted him. Bernard said they were talking half the night."

"Well, that's good," she assumes, and he rests an arm on the island counters. "Isn't that what you wanted?"

He thinks, "It's too easy."

"People return to their exes all the time," she disagrees.

"She doesn't even have social media," he mentions.

"I don't have social media," she reminds him.

"Well, yes," he starts.

She walks over and takes his hands, "We can't tell Chad we want him to give girls a chance and then tell him not to talk to one."

"All we have is his word," Charming stresses. "What if she's not even real?"

"If it gets serious," she suggests, "then we can always invite her to dinner."

He relaxes, "I suppose that's an option." There's a knock on the kitchen door, and when they turn towards it, Chad cautiously opens it. "Chad. Why are you knocking?"

"Well," he steps inside, "I just didn't want to interrupt anything again."

His father frowns, "The odds of us doing anything in the kitchen is slim."

"So, continue knocking," Chad confirms. "Got it, but you know it's harder to do that for rooms that don't have doors?"

"It was dark, and we lost track of time," his father defends.

Ella interrupts, "But we see where you're coming from."

Chad looks over the platters, "Which of these are the pig blankets?"

"In the fridge," his mother supplies. "Save room for lunch."

Chad's father watches him move towards the fridge, "Who's this girl we've been hearing so much about?"

"Girl?" Chad inquires, as he takes out a few wrapped hotdogs.

"Beth something," he prompts.

Chad hums as he chews the snack, "Fleur. Beth Fleur."

"Tell us more," he requests.

Chad takes a moment, "Well, she's an ex. We dated for like a month, but I barely ever saw her."

"Bernard said she went to school with you."

Chad pops another pig blanket into his mouth, "I think she commutes or something. She probably turns in her assignments through email or some shit."

"You think?" his mother replies.

"I mean, I never really saw her at school," Chad admits, "but she knows the school. She knows the teachers. She has to go there."

"Or used to," Charming contemplates, before he turns to Ella.

She looks at Chad, "How old is she?"

"Seventeen," he answers.

"How do you know that?" his father evenly expresses.

Chad gapes at him, "No. You don't get to fucking do this."

"You're a royal," he reminds him. "You need to be extra careful with whom you date."

"No," Chad yells again. "You told me to find a girl I could at least be friends with, and now one is emailing me and you're saying to stop?"

Ella steps between them, "Both of you calm down." before she turns to Charming. "The guards are monitoring him. If this is some catfish preying on him, we'll know." She faces Chad, "If you start getting serious with this girl, let us know. We're going to want to meet her, before you start dating." She eyes between them, "Would either of you like to add anything?"

Chad's father faces him, "If you sneak out, you're grounded until college."

Chad stares into his eyes, "If I can convince her to come to dinner, will you drop this?"

"If you can get her here," he agrees.

Chad falters, "Ah, um. She kind of has some… issues."

"With food," he recalls. "Bernard told me."

His mother mentions, "We can have a steamed vegetable option."

"No, um." Chad takes a moment, "I don't think she would think the nutritional value is worth it, and dressing would make regular salad too high in calories."

"You know," she settles, "just ask her what she wants. I can put something together."

"I mean," Chad hesitates, "I still need to get her here."

"You will." His father places a hand on his head and ruffles his hair, "Your middle name is Charming, after all. So long as she has nothing to hide, she will be here."

Chad rereads some of the previous messages, before he types: My dad doesn't trust you. I think getting some social media might help him think you're real.

It takes a minute for Beth to answer: I am real, jackass.

Chad glances at the guard, before he responds: I know, but he needs to know too.

Chad stares at the screen, and after a minute, the guard comments, "Maybe your parents are right. She could be hiding something."

Chad glares at him, "I don't care if she's hiding something. I know her." He watches, as he sees her type. "She's probably only pausing, because she knows I'm being watched."

Beth: I guess I can get one, but it's for your eyes only. I don't want anyone to find me.

Chad promises: Your parents will never know.

Beth: You can't promise that.

Chad takes a moment: I promise it will be worth it.

Beth: If I go down, you're going down with me.

Chad: It's going to be forever or it's going to go down in flames.

Beth: You can tell me when it's over, if the high was worth the pain.

Chad: I've got a long list of ex-lovers. They'll tell you I'm insane.

Beth: We're going to take this way too far.

Chad: Love's a game. Wanna play?

Beth takes a minute: You're the king. I'm your queen.

Chad: One more thing. My parents want me to invite you to dinner.

Beth: I don't know if that's a good idea.

Chad: If I keep talking to you, they're going to insist it.

She takes another minute: They're not going to let you date a flat-chested bitch, like me.

Chad: So long as I'm dating a girl, they will be happy.

Beth: I need to think about this.

Chad: Take your time. But they'll want to see you, before I date you.

Beth: I do like you, but I don't know if I like you like that.

Chad: Isn't that what dating's for? To explore how we feel?

Beth: How do you expect us to pull this off?

Chad: You're smart, and you have smart friends. I'm sure you can think up something.

Beth: But dinner?

Chad: They know about the anorexia. They'll make whatever you can stand.

Beth: Can't I just bring a smoothie?

Chad: I think they want an actual dinner. A long one.

Beth: I'm being interrogated, then?

Chad: Yes.

Beth: As soon as your father sees me, he's going to know who I am.

Chad: You mean, a tall, drop dead gorgeous supermodel?

Beth: I'm serious.

Chad: My dad couldn't even remember my mom's hair color. I think you're safe.

Beth: He couldn't remember her hair color?

Chad: He thought it could have been red or brown or something.

Beth: That doesn't leave many colors.

Chad: See. You have nothing to worry about, not that you need to hide anything anyway.

It takes a minute for her to respond: You're not getting any nudes.

Chad agrees: No. You would definitely be added to his no call list, then.

Beth: You're not allowed calls.

Chad: Riiight. Send me a magazine.

Beth: How about a calendar?

Chad: Now. That's hot.

Beth: Just no swimsuits.

Chad: Nah. I'm definitely going to need to see that.

Beth: With a hose? It would blow so hard.

Chad glances at the guard, before he hides his face with his hand: I'm not supposed to be objectifying anyone.

Beth: Return the favor. Give me something to remember.

Chad purses his lips, as he eyes up in thought: If we start dating now, I'm allowed to have sex in six months.

Beth: Nice try. I'm not that easy.