Chapter 6 – Three Reasons

(Sc. 1)

[Look at that... Four Princes…]

While the entire Sanctuaire went into some sort of frenzy, as Briony recalls, when they all found out that The Feared Derrick Spencer was starting school exactly on the first day, she was just glad that she came out alive when it ended. Everybody seemed keen on not taking any notice of her being new, probably because everyone else was just fixated on Derrick Spencer's early appearance, which was actually a first according to what Briony had been hearing the entire day from her classmates' little chinwags before a teacher came in. And this was with every class she had.

She then realizes she also has Derrick to thank for. For keeping all eyes off her.

[If someone had told me a week ago that I'd be living a life prone to ironies once school kicked off, I would've just laughed it off like it's no big deal. I'm used to ironies… But this one is just… Wow. God, what are you up to? Please get me as far away as possible from anything disastrous this year. Thanks.]

Still a few more blocks before she reaches the shop where she works, Mrs. Robson's Donuts, she tells herself, although unintentionally as she just can't really wrap her head around that part, that, well, "He doesn't remember me…" It's even making her wonder if the library incident was just a dream.

[I know I'm not the most memorable person on the planet but… Ah yeah! What am I thinking? That's it. He doesn't remember me. Which is, I think…again, a good thing.]

Scanning the new memory she has of the sailing book guy, aka The One and Only Derrick Spencer, she has to admit that he looked nothing like the guy she met at that small public library last week.

A few days ago, the bossy guy she met at the library was wearing this really dark brown hoodie, probably taupe, and then a dark gray skinny but not-so-snug jeans. His footwear was a pair of dark brown leather boots—visibly not leaning towards taupe this time and she's sure of that—with what seemed like small, gold serial numbers printed on the far left of the left foot and far right of the right foot. [I think they call those…Chelsea boots?] She also remembers it having white pull tabs, which was the only light color Derrick had on himself that day. To her, he seemed like a runaway rebel surrounded with nothing but weariness, wanting to be discreet, but today, he was the complete opposite.

Wearing the official men's uniform of LCM Preparatory School which is composed of a navy blue vest in a knitted pique fabric with the school's golden-colored crest on the upper left, over a white, buttoned long sleeves and then a pair of dark grey dress pants, Derrick matched it with an all-black pair of buckled dress shoes designed with a checkered black and gray quarter. And then he finished the look with a bathrobe-like trench coat. Briony remembers it clearly from her non-stop gossiping female classmates that it was Gucci.

"So, leader of the pack…"

She ends up scratching her head, ready to let that part of her day go, and that's why, as soon as she catches sight of Mrs. Robson's Donuts' entrance door, she forgets about it on impulse.

"Oh my, that is one heck of a chic school uniform on you, Bry!" are Eunice's words as she goggles at her best friend.

"It is?" Briony asks, sounding skeptical. "Nah… It's the school's reputation that makes it look chic. I better go change."

With the long, narrow mirror they have inside their small locker room, Briony is able to do a quick assessment of herself in this type of clothing. [It's a school uniform, why does it have to be fashionable?] She sincerely wonders.

The Sanctuaire makes their female students wear round neck, navy blue jumper dresses precisely cut according to the student's body shape, with flared skirts that start high around the main waistline and ends five to six inches above the knees. Under that dress, which has the school's golden crest sewn on the traditional upper left side, the girls are required to don the school's gray long sleeves, slightly yet nicely puffed, with distinguishable Peter Pan collars that rest sharply high around the neck, almost turtleneck-ish in appearance, and are closed with three small black buttons. Briony can tell that these are definitely premium fabrics, basing on how they feel on her skin. But she herself finds this style uncomfortable, especially on a hot sunny day. They are also required to wear black high socks or black opaque tights and black flats. Uncomfortable again. Lastly, they are to wear the school's signature black cape coat secured by three gold buttons on the upper left, probably in place of the gold crest on the uniform, during winter. And all these buttons have the 'Leonce-Charles-Marcel' engraved on them. Unquestionably the property of The Sanctuaire.

After asking about each other's first day at school when Briony finally joined Eunice behind the counter, the former then felt compelled to share about the Four Princes of Manhattan. It was initially her gearing up for a mockery fest. But her story didn't leave Eunice shocked.

"Why do you think I keep telling you to finally start wearing a lip tint?" Eunice asks meaningfully.

[What about…the guy who wants to go sailing?] Quickly, Briony decides to leave that out. Not just because Derrick gave the impression that his activities that day including her brief employment were to be done in secrecy. To her, it's not like it's going to happen again. To her, it's not like it will pave way for any kind of connection with…his kind. To her, it's a memory that's no longer important.

"Because my level of simplicity might give them a heart attack?" Briony answers with a smile that intends to poke fun at her best friend's seriousness. And so, it becomes a sermon speech for Eunice while for her, it's a verbal memory dump game.

"Well, yeah, that's number one. What's number two?"

"It's not yet Halloween?"

Eunice almost bursts into laughter at that, "No! Silly!" And so after she successfully contains herself, "I am a hundred percent sure you don't remember me showing you those articles before. A bunch of rich kids going to these really prestigious schools in Manhattan?"

"Of course, I don't."

"Exactly," Eunice seconds that one. "I know very well that your only window to the outside world is me, your dearest best friend, thank you very much. So, the second I found out you're attending LCM, I knew you're in trouble. So yeah, that's number two. You're in trouble. Number three, your level of protectiveness, an instinct I admire in you greatly don't get me wrong, might be too much for them."

"W-well, it's different this time. I'm not…going to be…"

"You."

"Yeah. I'm just…going to keep to myself. I'm going to focus on…just school."

"Bry, I think I forgot to tell you that your level of protectiveness has the ability to inspire others, too. And that means, 'make friends.' It's definitely okay. But when you're being…provoked… Keep it mellow?"

"Don't worry, I'll keep that in mind."

"You're welcome."

And they giggle about it amiably.

"So, you know about the Four Princes of Manhattan, huh?" Briony asks, ready to mock her best friend again.

"A little bit. I just figured it was useless to gush about them with you."

Briony grimaces and then arranges the pile of unused cartons in one of the cabinets under the counter top before asking, "Are you saying they're, like, celebrities? Because the most feared member is like…the most feared but also the most…fancied. So weird." She thinks she hears her best friend say 'Ssh' but doesn't mind it and doesn't look at her either. She just keeps going. "But you know what Eun, it was a good first day. And that level of good means that nobody thought twice about asking who I was, let alone looking at me twice. It was peaceful. I really think I'm off to a good star—"

The moment she rises to her feet, she ends up shutting herself up upon realizing a customer is standing before them.

[Wow. A customer who could easily be one of those prominent kids.]

Briony may not be updated with the outside world but she definitely understands the definition of handsome and attractive. [But he seems different...]

And then another one like him enters. And then another one.

When she checks her best friend's current state, she reckons that Eunice looks worse than she is now.

Eunice, who's standing next to Briony to the right, is just standing there ogling the three. Gaping even.

"Hmm, looks delectable," says one of them. The last one who entered. The one with a beautiful set of blue eyes eyeing the donuts available, long and layered ash blonde hair that almost touches his shoulders and an angular face shape.

The second one, the one with the purposely messy light brown hair in short asymmetrical cut, grey eyes and also an angular face shape that is rounder, is obviously busy on his phone. Busy and a tad frustrated.

"They look like round Éclairs," the first guy who entered gently giggles on what he's seeing inside the display refrigerator. He is bending down forward, getting a closer look of the donuts through the glass, and so Briony can't tell if those eyes are green-hazel, blue-hazel like hers or amber. It's because the fringes of his short shag hinders her from seeing completely, especially that his dirty blond hair color fuses with his eye color.

[Okay. They're definitely not from around here.]

Then, she remembers a memory.

[Wait, his words actually remind me of someone…so beautiful. Like a female version of him. She used to come here before because she said she liked the way our donuts were made. I haven't seen her for like a year now. I remember Eunice saying that she looked very familiar…and then I saw this fashion show poster but…I don't know, I don't think that's Ms. Maine. She's different. She's so…free spirited and has this raw…personality.]

That was roughly a year ago when she and Eunice were manning Mrs. Robson's Donuts as usual. The owner, 50-something Mrs. Anya Robson herself, whose preferred shift was 6pm, phoned them that day to advise that an old friend would be paying a visit to the store. But she wouldn't be there. Not one name and not even one hint was given. But they imagined him or her to be the same age as Mrs. Robson.

Instead, that one typical yet pleasant morning, this beautiful girl with long and wavy strawberry blonde locks and green eyes entered through their store's door.

"That's why I love donuts. They're like éclairs, only round and without the filling."

Briony remembers thinking, [I wonder where she's stocking up all that sugar. She's ridiculously gorgeous with that impeccable sun-kissed skin.] She also remembers being awestruck alongside Eunice. Pretty much the same curse they're in right now.

Then, Briony sees her best friend get a brown table napkin and a black pen and then starts writing on it behind the cash register. Without completely removing her gaze on the three male customers. After a few seconds, Eunice points to what she has quickly written, which Briony reads in silence.

[Princes. 3 more.] It only takes a few seconds, like three or four, for Briony to understand what Eunice means.

"What?!"

Without thinking, Briony has just let out that 'what' out loud, grabbing the attention of those three gorgeous young men before them. This she realizes when she looks back at them, too.