CHAPTER 33
The last three days of the selection were filled with dates. One every single day. The first date Luke was going on was Sydney's. The curly haired girl had been delighted at the prospect of spending the afternoon in the zoo, even if it meant a camera crew following them. Luke's selection might not be as highly publicized as it would have been if he was the crown prince, but people still wanted to see the final three dates.
Speaking of the people, Luke would have to have been blind to miss the seemingly continuous stream of articles that had been published since he announced his final three ladies. Luke didn't even know that there were that many news companies in Illéa. Not to mention the bloggers and metubers who had made content about him. Fine, maybe he had watched a few. He would have to say that his personal favorite was a russian roulette challenge where the metuber spun a wheel and the girl who it landed on would be his future wife. (It landed on Esme. Probably rigged, let's be honest here.) Of course Luke had refrained from using a fake name to comment on it this time. It seemed improper, more improper than before he actually knew the ladies.
Back to the focus of the day though. Sydney.
He was standing outside her door now, waiting for her to be ready. If there was one thing Luke learned during the course of his selection was that girls took outrageous amounts of time to get ready for dates. He didn't even want to think about how long it would take them to get ready for a ball.
Finally, Sydney came out to greet him. She was wearing a pair of loose white and black zebra-striped shorts, a white blouse with bell sleeves, and a pair of wedge sandals. She was going to regret that. The Northern Angeles Zoo was huge, a lot of walking was required to spend a day there. Luke was wearing his old running sneakers. "Are you sure about the shoes?" Luke asked, raising an eyebrow.
Sydney wrinkled her brow. "What's wrong with them?"
"You've never been to the NAZ have you?" Luke asked.
"No."
"Your feet are going to hurt starting around the sea lion enclosure. I would bring sneakers." Luke suggested.
"Oh, fine. Let me go put them on." Sydney saud. "You want to wait inside?" She asked.
"Sure, why not."
Sydney's room was on the smaller side of the guest rooms. Not to say that it wasn't large, it was, just not quite as big as the others. He doubted Sydney minded though. From what he could tell, the decorations hadn't been changed, the room was still done up in shades of green and gold. The only thing Sydney seemed to have added was a picture of her family.
Sydney caught Luke looking at it, "Hey, I never asked you. What did you think of my family?"
This was a dangerous question. "They seemed nice." Luke answered carefully. "Your dad is very...passionate about engineering."
Sydney laughed, "I'd assume you weren't listening then?"
"I was listening!" Luke protested quickly. "It was just a long explanation filled with words I didn't know...and it was boring. Don't tell him I said that though."
"My lips are sealed. I don't mind, I've thought the same thing for the past five years of my life." Sydney told him. Right. It had only been five years that she had been with her parents. Even Quinn, the only other adopted girl had been with her parents since she was eight. It must have been heard for Sydney, adjusting so quickly. Luke didn't think he could have done it. He didn't do well with change on a good day, a whole new set of parents would be too much for him.
"Good. I don't want him to know that he's boring. Not that he is boring!" Luke backtracked quickly. "I just thought that he was...I mean the explanation was boring."
"Luke, you're rambling." Sydney told him. "Believe me, telling your dad that the prince of Illéa finds him boring isn't a great conversation starter." Luke chuckled for a moment. She was right about that.
"Okay then. Are you ready to go?" Luke asked, nodding towards Sydney's now sneaker-clad feet.
"You bet I am!" Sydney said excitedly, bouncing towards the door.
"What's your favorite animal?" Luke asked once they settled into the car that was going to take them to the zoo.
Sydney paused for a moment, "Definitely dogs. Did I tell you I have four of them?" Again? Jeez. What, did everyone in the selection have dogs? Was this the universe's plan to punish him? To make him finally like dogs? Why did everyone seem so intent on making sure that Luke would end up with a dog? Someone had probably rigged the selection so that only girls with dogs got in.
"Four?" Luke echoed. "That's a lot of dogs."
Sydney nodded happily. "Benedict, Bear, Nellie and Cat." She counted them off on her fingers as she spoke.
"Don't the dogs fight with the cat?" Luke asked, confused. If they all got along then what was the point of the expression Fighting like cats and dogs? Was it not a true saying? Or did Sydney find herself some cat who loved the dogs? The world just didn't make sense sometimes.
"No silly. The dog is named Cat." Sydney explained, looking like she had to have this discussion many times before.
"You named a dog Cat?" Luke clarified.
"Yup." Sydney stated proudly.
"Why? That's a form of cruel and unusual punishment." Luke protested as the Angeles scenery flashed by the windows.
"I liked the name!" Sydney insisted. "If I can't have a cat and a dog, calling one of the dogs Cat is as close as I'm going to get."
"Okay. Fine, but why Bear? Please tell me you don't want a bear as a pet."
"It's illegal to have a bear as a pet."
"So you wanted a pet bear?" Luke said dumbfounded. Who the hell would want a pet bear? That seemed dangerous. He would have assumed that Sydney preferred her furniture intact and her face scar free.
"Yeah. Ever since I was little."
"Not to criticize you, but that doesn't seem like the best plan." Luke said cautiously. Here he thought Sydney seemed level-headed. But no. Of course she wanted a pet bear. As a cub it could be cute, but what would happen when it got bigger? Luke was fairly sure the whole experiment would end with the couch having no stuffing in Sydney's living room.
Sydney burst out laughing, "Nah. I'm just messing with you. My younger brother named it after a stuffed animal. It was this blue teddy bear I think. I can't believe you actually bought that. Please. Do I look like the type of person who would want a bear as a pet?"
Oh.
That definitely made more sense then Sydney wanting a bear as an actual pet. In hindsight, it was a pretty funny joke. "You got me." Luke admitted, laughing.
"Mission accomplished." Sydney said back, tossing her curls behind her head.
"We're here, Your Highness, My Lady." The chauffeur said as the car drove into a brightly painted tunnel with illustrations of different animals.
"That's so cool." Luke said, peering out the window at the mural that encompassed the tunnel.
"Oh my God, that's amazing." Sydney agreed. "I like the one of the lion."
"The one of the ladybug is my favorite." Luke said. He had been to the zoo a few times when he was younger and knew to look for his favorite illustrations. Of course, he had never been to the zoo before with someone who was actually interested in the murals. Usually his father just responded with a bland "That's nice."
"Oooh, that one's pretty too." Sydney looked at the picture of the ladybug Luke was pointing out to her.
Once they had parked, Luke led the way into the zoo. He already had purchased their admission for the day so they didn't need to stand in line at the crowded ticket window. "I hate to disappoint, but I don't think they have dogs here." Luke told Sydney.
"Probably not." She shrugged. "The zoos in Hudson don't have dogs."
"Most people don't need to come to a zoo to see dogs." Luke pointed out.
"Yeah, I gu-Look! Look! Look!" Sydney squealed running over to the monkey enclosure. A few baby monkeys were sitting near the glass wall. They were adorable, Luke had to admit. Maybe almost as cute as him.
"Look at the baby monkeys." Sydney cooed, her nose pressed up against the glass. "They're so cute. I love them."
"Aw." Luke said. "How old do you think you are?" He asked Sydney.
"They're six months old." Sydney told him matter-of-factly, her face still looking at the monkeys. "Their parents were both brought into the zoo because they were injured. Once the babies are old enough, they're going to place them out in the wild."
"How'd you know that?" Luke was just plain old confused by Sydney's sudden knowledge of the little monkeys. How the hell did she figure that out?
What, did Sydney do research on all the zoo exhibits before they came today?
Maybe she did. That seemed like a Sydney thing to do.
Sydney shot him an odd look, pointing to a plaque affixed to the front of the enclosure. "All the information about them is on the sign. Their names are William, Martha, and Venus. They were named after a few of the retired zookeepers."
Luke peered closer at the slab of metal. Sure enough, all the information that Sydney had known about it was on the plate. He really should have looked there. "That's a cool name, Venus I mean." Luke said. "Martha and William are a bit boring, no offense to any Martha's or William's." He added quickly.
Sydney giggled. "Martha is a boring name. It makes me think of old ladies in victorian-era dresses and powdered wigs."
"I thought the men wore the powdered wigs." Luke supplied.
Sydney shook her head, "Nah. Both genders did. They were supposed to be a sign of wealth and power." She provided, her eyes bright as she told him this information.
"Oh. I think they look silly." Luke said.
"Silly? They're the stupidest thing I've ever seen. Ah well. People in the eighteenth century clearly had no fashion taste. " Sydney paused for a second. "Or common sense."
"Clearly." Luke repeated. "Now, do you want to move on? There are a lot more animals to see then these monkeys."
Sydney frowned but nodded. She said goodbye to each monkey as if she hadn't just found out the existed 10 minutes ago. Not to mention the fact that she didn't know which monkey was which. The Venus she was saying goodbye to could have really been William.
Sydney didn't seem to mind though, so Luke decided not to comment.
The next animals they visited were the anteaters. Luke looked over at them, an odd mixture of disgust and fondness filling him. They were kinda...cute?
"Is it weird then I find them cute?" Luke asked, turning to Sydney.
"I mean, they eat ants...but their noses! Look how adorable!" She said.
"You said the same thing about the monkeys." Luke pointed out.
"Well, yeah. Can't I think that all of the animals are cute? I mean, they all are in their own weird way." Sydney told him, a smitten smile on her face. Luke wasn't entirely sure if it was for the animals or for him, but he really hoped for the latter.
"What about sharks?"
"Oh. That's one exception." Sydney said, shrugging.
"Rats?"
"I mean, if you can get over the grossness of them, they're kinda cute. Like, I would have one as a pet." Sydney said thoughtfully, twisting one of her curls around her finger. A pet rat? That was just gross. A form of torture in the medevial ages was to have a rat chew through you skin, Who would want that as a pet?
"No. They will literally chew through human skin." Luke shuddered at the thought. Personally, he liked his body rat free. Not to mention the amount of diseases they had to be carrying with them. He turned his attention back to the anteaters, hoping it would calm him.
"You would have to keep it in a cage. I don't know, maybe rats aren't that cute either." Sydney finally conceded with a frown. Luke had resisted the urge to laugh, as judging by Sydney's face, pointing out that he won was not going to make her feel any better.
"They're really not." Luke agreed. "Where to next?"
Sydney studied one of the maps affixed to a board near them. "Do you want to see the reptiles?"
"Not really, no."
"Good." Sydney looked relieved. "I didn't want to either. Snakes are scary."
"At least you won't be trying to adopt a pet snake. If I can't stomach a rat, there's no way I would want something that eats rats." Luke told her.
"I was on a school field trip once to a conservatory and they brought a snake out to show us. It was the most disgusting thing ever. I think I cried in the bathroom for half an hour after that." Sydney recalled. As uncomfortable as the memory seemed, Luke couldn't help but to feel a spark of jealousy. He had never been able to go on a school field trip.
"That sounds awful." Luke said seriously.
"Oh it was more then awful. It was the worst thing I have ever seen in my thirteen years in the public education system."
"13?" Luke asked, confused.
"I counted kindergarten." Sydney explained.
Luke nodded. "That makes sense. Well, I promise to protect you from any scary snakes." He said, wrapping an arm around Sydney's shoulders as they walked. She giggled slightly, content to relax into his embrace. Luke couldn't help the warm feeling that overcame him as she didn't immediately shrug off his arm.
Now this was a date.
After the date with Sydney, Luke knew that he had to continue on the next of his speed-dates. It felt wrong to go out with someone else the day after her, but Luke had learned to bury those feelings deep down inside him during the selection. Besides, the girls didn't seem to mind too much, or if they did, they hid it well. Luke was happy that he hadn't ended up with and of the jealous type. That would not have ended well for him, the girl, or anyone else involved.
When Luke stood outside Quinn's door, he was more relaxed then he was with Sydney. For starters, he already had a trial run of the final date that had ended well, and second, unlike Sydney, their date was going to be in private.
As much as Luke enjoyed going around as the prince, sometimes it was better to be away from people's prying eyes.
So, instead of going to see a show or visiting an amusement park, Luke and Quinn were going to try and bake a pineapple upside down cake. He said try, because Luke doesn't even know how to work an oven, and unless Quinn failed to mention her baking prowess, she didn't seem to be a star chef either.
Well, if the pineapple upside down cake went...upside down, then they could always go get cupcakes at Lavender Bakery. Luke had told the driver to be ready just in case.
"You ready to bake?" Luke asked, striding into Quinn's room. She had tied the front of her hair into a bun, leaving the rest hanging down her back. Instead of wearing a dress, she donned a loose gray tee shirt tucked into a pair of denim shorts. Luke's outfit was similar. A pair of khaki shorts and an old black shirt. It was probably going to get messy, so best to wear something he didn't really care about. Better for him and for whoever did his laundry.
Quinn groaned, "By bake do you mean use a pre-made cake mix?" She asked hopefully.
"Nope. Baking with a recipe and everything." Luke told her cheerfully.
"Look, I don't really bake…" Quinn said her voice trailing off. "Brownie mix? That I could manage, but I'm not sure about...what are we making again?"
"Pineapple upside down cake. And, I'm not a very good baker either. I was kinda hoping you were, but it's the fun that counts right?" Luke said.
"Sure. if you actually enjoy eating a charred mess."
"You know Quinn, you're highly negative." Luke told her as they walked down to the palace kitchen.
Quinn looked at him. "How am I being negative? I'm a realist. I don't know how to bake, and do you even know how to use a mixer?" She asked.
"Well, technically I don't. Tons of morons do it though. How hard can it be?" Luke asked her.
"Remind me to stand six feet away when you plug that thing in. I prefer my face batter free." Quinn grumbled as they entered the kitchen. Her eyes quickly scanned the cavernous room, her lips forming into a little o shape. "This is the palace kitchen?" She asked in disbelief.
"Yeah. It's pretty cool, huh?" He said.
"It's ridiculous. Why do you need a kitchen this large? I mean, do you even come down here?" Quinn scoffed. "Actually, I don't think I want to know the answer to that. Whatever. Let's just make out cake and hope we don't set the palace on fire."
"We have a very good alarm system." Luke supplied helpfully.
"The alarm system is no match for a burned strawberry shortcake."
"Pineapple upside down cake." Luke corrected her quickly.
"Same thing." Quinn shrugged. "I enjoyed staying at the palace before it was burned down at least."
"So did I." Luke agreed. "Oh well. I'm moving anyway. That's Farrah's problem. I think the cooks set up a workstation for us here." Luke gestured to a cleared table. A mixer, ingredients, a spatula, a few bowls, and a cake pan sat waiting for them as well as a single page of typed instructions. "For you." He said, handing her an apron. He put one over his own clothes as well.
"Oh yeah. How was that coming?" Quinn asked as she tied the apron around her back.\. "Did you choose a house yet?"
"Not yet, no. I need to think about it more."
"By that I'm assuming you mean you'll put it off to the bitter end and then eeny-meeny-miney-mo it?"
"How'd you know my secret strategy?" He might have been joking, but that was remarkably close to what he usually did when he had to make a decision. Having someone else make it for him or, in most cases, just choosing randomly. Hearing Quinn phrase it like that, as funny as it was, did make him re evaluate what he was doing. This was a house for God's sake, not what he wanted for dinner. Maybe he should take it a bit more seriously.
"Lucky guess." Quinn held up the recipe, squinting at it, "Do you know how to separate egg whites?" She asked.
"No, do you?"
"I know how it's supposed to be done. I've never actually tried doing it before." Quinn took a deep breath. "There's a first time for everything."
"That's what I always say." Luke told her.
The first attempt at separating egg whites went horribly. Yoke ended up in the bowl and the egg whites were splattered all over the table. After quickly wiping it down (Where Luke pretended to help) Quinn tried again. It was slightly better this time, though still unusable. "What a waste of eggs." Quinn muttered as she reached for another egg.
"It's just eggs. It's not like they're hard to find." Luke said, absentmindedly tossing one up and down. Hopefully it didn't break. The cooks might not be able to yell at him because of his title, but they could be very passive-aggressive when it came to it.
"Still. I feel bad for wasting them. Now shush, I need to focus." Quinn held up the egg to her eye, and with laser-focus she tried to separate the egg whites. "I did it!" She yelled triumphantly as she poured the egg whites into a stainless steel bowl."
"Finally." Luke said as he placed the egg he had been tossing back into the container.
"Excuse me. You didn't even help." Quinn placed both her hands on her hips and glared at him.
"Well, if I had tried it would have taken even longer and wasted more eggs. You should be thanking me." Luke joked.
"You're ridiculous." Quinn said laughing. "Can you mix the egg and butter? That always makes my arm cramp up." She said passing the bowl to him.
Luke looked doubtfully at the eggs and butter. "You want me to mix it with...with this?" He asked, holding up a silver instrument.
"It's called a whisk." Quinn said.
"I know that. Fine." Luke took the bowl and started mixing as Quinn watched with an amused grin. Five minutes later the butter was still in solid form and his arm was aching. Who knew baking could be so strenuous?
"I don't think it's working." Luke said.
Quinn burst out laughing. "Of course it isn't working. You had to use the blender. Oh my God, Luke you were working so hard on that."
"I guess this was payback for the egg comment?" Luke said, laughing along with her. It was pretty funny, he'd give her that.
"Yup. Here, Lemme set up the mixer." Sure enough, when Quinn plugged in the mixer it was done in about two seconds. They added the rest of the ingredients quickly, the flour, sugar, pineapple and vanilla extract.
"Do you think the batter looks a little thin?" Luke asked, poking at it with his spoon.
"Yeah. There are a lot of bubbles in it, but we did what the recipe said." Quinn double-checked the instructions. "We followed them perfectly."
"Let's just stick in in the oven then." Luke said, shrugging. "You need to preheat it to 375 degrees."
"Fahrenheit or Celsius?"
"There's a difference?" Luke asked. Quinn sighed, looking like she was ready to lecture him. "I'm joking, I'm joking." Luke added hurriedly. "Fahrenheit of course. 375 degrees Celsius would not end well. We really would burn down the palace with that."
"Clearly." Quinn said, rolling her eyes. "By the way, you should have told me to preheat it before we actually started on the batter. Now we actually have to wait for the oven to heat up before we can stick the cake in."
"Oops." How was he supposed to know that? How long did it even take for an oven to heat up? He always assumed that it just became hot immediately. Like a microwave.
Quinn set the dial on the oven and then stood looking at it. She checked the temperature every few seconds, grumbling to herself. "A watched pot never boils." Luke told her.
"It's an oven not a pot."
"Same thing. Just give it a rest. The alarm will go off when it's ready for the cake."
"Alright." Quinn conceded. "Can I ask you a question?"
Luke bit his lip, unsure of what she was going to ask. Knowing Quinn it could be anything from a proposal to bring back the guillotine to asking what time the ceremony was going to be. Actually, Luke didn't know the answer to the latter one. He should probably find out before he showed up late to the ceremony where he chose his wife.
He had a feeling that would look bad to the press.
"Only if I can ask you one later."
"I can agree to that." Quinn said nodding. She wiped her hands on her apron, leaving two handprints made of flour on either side.
"Okay then. Shoot."
"Why did you want a selection?" Quinn asked. She didn't add anything to the question or try to preface it. She didn't try to speak eloquently or beat around the bush. She just said it bluntly, clearly, and honestly. Luke suspected that was what she wanted in return: A blunt, clear, and honest answer.
"What do you mean?" He asked, stalling. He wasn't sure he exactly wanted to answer that question. It was a heavy topic to be discussed in a busy kitchen while waiting for the oven to heat up.
"You're eighteen. You don't seem like you want to settle down anytime soon. It was so out of the blue. I thought it was weird. So, why did you want a selection?" She explained. Her reasoning made sense. Luke had never considered how the individual girls might feel about his selection, he assumed they just bought whatever he happened to say on the report.
Luke took a deep breath before answering. "I didn't feel like having an arranged marriage." He said simply.
"Arranged marriages? They still happen? That's so…ancient." Quinn said in disbelief. Her face was shocked, even as she tried to downplay it.
"Says the raging guillotine girl." Luke joked. "Yeah, they still happen. It's much more discreet though. The selection was the only way I could think of to get out of it. Probably not my best plan, but I think it turned out pretty well for me."
"You think you found the person you love?" Quinn asked.
Luke smiled. "Yeah. I think I did."
Quinn pursed her lips. "Well, whoever she is, I'm happy for you." Quinn sounded sincere, but Luke had a feeling that she was starting to be a bit bitter about where the conversation was going. It was probably wrong to talk about this stuff with the selected before he announced his winner.
"Anyway, my parents weren't that happy about it, but my sister agreed. I don't know why, but I think she felt bad." Luke said, quickly changing the subject.
"You're telling me that Her Majesty, Queen Farrah Schreave felt bad for her little brother?"
"Somewhere, deep, deep, deep down inside she has a heart you know."
"I'll believe it when I see it. Now, what's your question?"
"Okay. If this is overstepping, just let me know. Um...How did you come to be with your dads? I mean, they're clearly not your biological parents…" Luke said, hoping that it wasn't considered rude of him to ask. He wasn't sure of the societal norms when it came to most things, let alone a tragic childhood.
"No. It's fine. It's a pretty sad story. My mom was sixteen when she had me. We lived on and off the streets. It was rough. I never really had a home. I wasn't even enrolled in a school. She overdosed on drugs when I was five and I was placed in foster care. My dads adopted me a few years later." Quinn explained. She wasn't staring at the ground like Luke assumed most people would when recalling sad stories, Instead, she was looking Luke dead in the eye.
"Oh. Do you still keep in contact with your mom?" Luke asked.
Quinn bit the inside of her cheek. "No. I used to visit her once a month, but she overdosed on drugs again when I was twelve. She died."
What did Luke even say to that? "I'm sorry about that." He said after a few quiet moments.
"Don't be. I don't need your pity. I need change. My foster experience wasn't as bad as some, but there needs to be some major reform in this country." Quinn stated boldly.
"I don't know if I could do that."
"You're a prince, Luke. You could do so much. You're wasting your opportunity."" He really couldn't. That's what no one seemed to understand. Luke had absolutely no control over his life, he was just a pawn in the game of a crown. In protecting the country. After about a minute of silence, Quinn spoke again. "Let's put the cake in the oven. I think the alarm went off when we were talking."
"Alright then. I'll grab the tray."
They waited nearly an hour for the cake to be finished baking. Finally, when the timer went off, Luke grabbed the cake out of the oven. It was a lumpy, gooey, dark brown mess. It looked repulsive. "You're sure this is edible?" he asked, glaring at the sorry excuse of a cake.
"It should be…Oh damn it." Quinn said, slapping her hand against her forehead.
"What?"
"The total bake time was an hour. It was supposed to be baked in 20 minute increments." Quinn pointed to a line of the instructions that they had both managed to miss. "This definitely isn't edible." She decided, tossing the cake into the trash without a second look.
"Shame." Luke complained with a sad glance at the cake. "How do you feel about cupcakes? The driver is ready to go."
Quinn perked up, "I love cupcakes!"
The last date Luke had to do was with Esme. Unlike his dates with Sydney and Quinn, the brunette had asked to pick out the date hersel. Luke had obliged. Admittedly, his idea of bowling was lackluster at best. Hey, it was hard coming up with all these options. He was relieved that Esme would be the one choosing this time. She had told him that they were going to make flower crowns. Why they were making them or what they would do with them after was beyond him, but at this point he didn't really care. The sun was shining and he was more than happy to sit outside, even if it meant playing with flowers.
"I was worried you forgot about me," Esme said lightly as they walked down to the spot she had set up in the gardens. Her light brown hair was braided, curled tendrils framing her face. She was wearing a pale yellow dress with a white floral design and a pair of sandals. Her jewelry was mostly bronze, a simple necklace and a pair of earrings.
"Why?" Luke asked curiously.
"I mean, I'm the last one you took on a date."
Luke shrugged. He had actually thought about that. "You were my first date, I figured it was only fitting that you would be my last."
Esme giggled. "That's so sweet. I love that."
"You actually thought I forgot?"
Esme shrugged, her face heating up. "I don't know. It's just not the best feeling to watch everyone else go on dates while you're sitting alone in the women's room." Luke had never really considered it that way before. Sure, maybe he felt bad asking out a girl while others looked on but here everyone knew they were getting a date. He never thought that the order of them would even matter.
"So...How do we make flower crowns?" Luke asked as they approached the set up. A blanket had been laid over the grass for them to sit om. There was a tray with a glass bottle of lemonade, cups, and a small plate of cookies. Baskets of flowers stood by as well as strings, scissors and beads.
"Don't worry. It's super easy." Esme assured him. Luke doubted that. "I'll show you how to make it, you just need to follow what I do."
"I've never been good at following instructions." Luke said offhandedly, picking up one of the blossoms from the basket. The rose was a soft pink, it must have been an early bloomer.
"You don't need instructions for this. It's just common sense." Esme told him. She plopped onto the blanket, patting the spot next to her. "Sit."
Luke complied, sitting next to her. "I can't believe you got the gardener to get you all these flowers." Though Luke had never personally met any of the palace gardeners, he knew they prided themselves on the gardens. The flower arrangements in the palace couldn't even come from the gardens, they had to be ordered.
"I don't think they're from the gardens." Esme confided in him. "My maid probably just told me that so I wouldn't ask any more questions."
"That makes more sense." Luke nodded. "Do you and your maid not get along?" He asked.
"No we do...Just, promise you won't judge?" She asked, looking at Luke for confirmation.
"Promise." He said. What could she possibly say, and even if it was embarrassing, Luke was in no position to judge.
"I've been freaking out about this for a few days. I think my maid just wanted me to calm down, and she probably heard enough about flowers at that point. How do you even organize so many dates? It's exhausting." Esme threw her arm across her head dramatically. Luke laughed slightly at her antics.
"I don't really organize them." Luke told her. "I just come up with the idea and pass it along to someone who organizes it. Perks of being the prince."
"No fair. I want someone to organize all my stuff for me." Esme grumbled.
"You have a maid. It's kinda the same thing."
"I guess." Esme sighed. "Here, let me show you how to make the flower crown."
"Please do. I have no clue what I'm doing." Luke happily handed over the mess of string to Esme.
She took it from him, tying a knot on the end as she spoke, "I can tell. Take a needle, prick it through the flower stem then put the string through the hole. Just make sure not to tear the flower or it'll be messed up." She handed back the string, adding a needle to the pile. She then passed a basket of flowers over to him.
"Like this?" Luke asked, trying it for the first time.
Esme nodded encouragingly, "Yeah. Try to make the hole smaller next time, but that's good for your first attempt."
"Oh, I never asked. How'd your exams go? Did you take them yet?" Luke asked.
"I took them at the end of May. I got my results back yesterday, but I was too scared to look." Esme pulled out her phone, showing Luke the unopened email.
'Do you want me to check for you?" He asked.
"Please." She said, placing the phone in his hand. Her homescreen was a small field of daisies. "The password is 2752."
Luke entered it. "That's a weird password."
"If you have the letters attached to the numbers it's how you spell my name." Esme explained, waving her hand.
Luke opened the email, skipping the standard Have a great summer paragraph. Esme's score was bolded at the end of the email. "Oh." he said, his voice quiet.
"Oh no. Is it bad? I thought I studied. I guess I should have studied more." Esme started to ramble. Luke cut her off quickly. He probably should have just said her score instead of making her worry.
"Yeah, if you cared about the last two precent I guess you could have studied more."
"Last two precent…? I got a 98?" She exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "Wait. You're joking. Please don't tell me you're joking.
Luke handed the phone back over. "If you don't believe me check for yourself." Esme did just that. She quickly read the email, inscloudin the boring paragraph at the beginning. When she got to the end, she let out a squeal of delight.
"Oh thank God. I was so worried about that." Esme cheered. "Thank you so much!
"What did I do?" Luke asked confused. He certainly didn't help her study. He didn't even think he was capable of helping her study for a med school exam. All those fancy words and diagrams confused him. He had barely understood biology, it had taken hours of extra tutoring for him to be able to name the parts of a cell let alone their functions.
"I wouldn't have even checked my score if it weren't for you. I need to tell my mom about this after we're done here." Esme glanced at the mess of flowers in Luke's lap. "Oh...Here, let me take that for a moment." She quickly took off the last two flowers, replacing them with much more skill than Luke possessed. "There you go."
"Thanks." Luke looked at his half done flower crown. It was pitiful compared to Esme's. How she had managed to freak out about her test grade and still finish her flower crown was beyond him. "This is too hard." He complained.
"It's not hard. You just need more practice." Esme told him seriously.
"How can you be good at so many things?" Luke asked, ignoring her statement.
Esme pursed her lips. "What do you mean?" She asked.
"Not only are you a flower-crown making machine but you're a medical genius." Luke told her. 'I don't even know how that's possible. It should be one or another."
"Guess I'm the exception to that rule." Esme singsonged.
"Were you planning on going to med school?" Luke asked.
"No. I took pre med so that I could go to law school once I graduated. Of course I want to go to med school. If I don't win the selection, I mean." Esme told him.
"You would make a good lawyer."
"I don't want to be a lawyer. If I can't be a princess then I want to be a doctor."
"Which one do you want to be more?" Luke asked. He didn't want to crush Esme's dreams of being a doctor, and if that's what she wanted to do, then he wouldn't stand in the way of that, his feelings be damned.
"That really depends on you, doesn't it. I think any of the girls left would be more than happy to be a princess. I would be." Esme told him.
"You would be okay with not being a doctor?" Luke asked urgently.
"I want to help people. Sure, being a doctor means I can help sick people, but there are so many things that I can't do. I can do all that as a princess. I could reach more people, help create a better country. A doctor is great and all, but I could do so much more than just being a pediatrician."
Luke didn't know what to say. Esme's words were moving. She was sincere, she wanted to help people. Luke didn't say it, but he wasn't sure she was right. He wasn't sure that over time, she wouldn't come to resent her position. Yeah, she would have access to more charities, but really, when you're royalty, your hands are tied. She could only volunteer at places that support a specific agenda and even then, she usually wouldn't be able to volunteer, She could sit on the boards of charities, sure. She could make donations. But she wouldn't be able to get her hands dirty.
"That's really sweet." Luke said, keeping his thoughts to himself. He really liked Esme, he didn't want to scare her off.
Esme flushed. "Thanks. I promise you that I didn't rehearse that. I didn't even register what I was saying, it all just kinda came out like word vomit."
"I couldn't tell." Luke assured her. Just then, he pricked his finger on the needle he was supposed to be using to thread the flowers. "I give up!" he declared, brushing the flowers off of him.
"Why don't you try making a bracelet first? That could be easier." Esme suggested, handing him a new string.
"You could have told me that twenty minutes ago." Luke complained playfully.
"Sorry. I didn't think."
"It's fine. I'm not even bleeding that hard."
Esme's face blanched. "You're bleeding?"
"Oh yeah. I pricked myself on the needle. Now I'm going to fall asleep for a thousand years and it's all your fault. Good luck explaining that to my parents." Luke joked. There was a drop of blood on his finger, but he could barely feel the sting of the needle anymore.
"Great. Now I'm going to end up in jail."
"No you won't." Luke assured her.
"Putting the prince to sleep for a thousand years is pretty bad."
"Oh well."
Luke and Esme talked while they finished up their crafting projects. The bracelet did turn out to be much easier than the crown, though his looked like a preschooler's art project compared to Esme's final product. She placed it on top of her braid. It fit snugly on top of her head. "How do I look?" She asked, grinning broadly.
"You look like a fairy." Luke told her truthfully. Esme giggled slightly.
"I used to love fairies when I was younger. I collected ceramic statues of them."
"Do you still have them?" Luke asked.
Esme shook her head, "Nah. They're in the attic I think. Put on your bracelet!" She exclaimed, looking at Luke seriously.
Luke groaned. "Do I have to?"
She narrowed her eyes. "Yes." She said firmly.
"Alright, alright."
After a quiet dinner, Luke couldn't stand the tension in the air anymore. The ladies were making polite conversation, though they were clearly apprehensive of each other. With Esme's date wrapping up earlier today, they all knew it meant the selection was over. That tomorrow night, two of the girls would fall asleep in their beds at home while one remained at the palace.
Bennet and Allyson had both tried to breach the subject with Luke, but he didn't feel like listening to them. Max and even Farrah had approached him, but he had brushed them off to. Instead, he had decided on having a movie night with the girls.
It was a way for them- and him- to relax before the craziness of tomorrow.
"You're late." Quinn chastised from the movie room when Luke walked in. He was wearing a pair of pajama pants and a white shirt. Quinn was wearing a pair of blue cotton pajamas. Sydney's were a pair of ye;low shorts, Esme was wearing pink satin pajamas and bunny slippers.
"I can't be late to my own event." Luke told her.
"Yet you managed." Sydney quipped.
"You guys are mean." Luke complained, settling onto one of the plush chairs in the movie theater. "To be fair, I thought it would take you all at least ten minutes to find the room."
"I showed them where it was." Esme told him. "I remembered from when we had our date down here." She said sweetly.
Luke really wished she hadn't added that last part to her sentence.
"That was nice of you." Luke cleared his throat quickly, it was time to change the subject. "What movie does everyone want to watch."
"You were so late that we decided while we waived for you." Quinn said. Of course they had. He had only been a minute late. Jeez, some people needed to loosen up. What happened to a fifteen minute grace period?
"Oh?" Hr asked.
Esme nodded in agreement. "The verdict was Princess and the Toad."
Luke wrinkled his nose. "That's boring." He complained loudly.
"If you wanted a say in it, then you should have been on time." Esme shrugged, in a what can you do manner. He wasn't even that late. This was completely unfair.
"Fine. You win." Luke relented. This night was supposed to be for them, not him. He could move his personal preferences aside so that they could have a nice time. The women were under a lot more stress than him. Unlike the girls, Luke actually knew who would be staying tomorrow.
If Luke was in their position he would be driving himself crazy trying to guess who was going to win.
Sometimes sacrifices had to be made, and if it meant watching a boring movie then so be it.
"Yay!" Sydney cheered, clapping her hands together. "Also, before we start the movie, can we get a round of applause for Esme's grade on her final?"
Luke, Quinn, and Sydney all clapped and yelled while Esme blushed a darker and darker read. After about a minute of this she spoke up, "What about Sydney? She got her finals back too."
"Please do not bring up my final exam score." Sydney said.
"You did good!" Esme insisted.
"Not compared to you."
"I didn't know you were taking exams too." Luke said, jumping into the conversation.
"It wasn't an exam. I had to write a thesis paper. I'm a english major." Sydney added after seeing the bewildered look on Luke's face. This probably wasn't the best time to mention that he had no idea what a thesis paper was.
"Alright. I'm going to start the movie." Luke said, pressing the play button on the remote. He only half-paid attention to the movie. Everyone knew how it ended. He was more preoccupied thinking about tomorrow. About the crowds, the cameras, the ring. He actually hadn't seen the ring yet, but there must be one. It was going to be weird, being engaged tomorrow, at the tender age of eighteen. He was ready though, at least he thought he was.
What could go wrong?
A/N: Omg, I know it's been a while since the last chapter, I'm so, so, so sorry about that. I went away for the weekend and then I had school, but we are back. So, in this chapter we went on the final dates! Yayyyyyy, fun times. And that means the next chapter is….the ceremony! This is actually happening guys. If you have any last minute predictions just drop them in a review, believe me, I cannot wait to finish this story!
Joke: What is a tornado's favorite game?
Twister!
