When I arrived in Genovia the next day (I left early so I wouldn't have to see him) I was surprised to see Sophie waiting for me in my bedroom. "What in the world are you doing here?" I asked, hugging her tightly.
"I'm doing my semester abroad here, silly."
"I know, but I thought that was in a few weeks?"
"Well, I was on break and thought why not? I could either spend that time working in a supermarket serving thankless customers, or spend it with you. I think I made the right choice."
"Uh, duh! Of course you did. How were your holidays?"
"You are sooo turning European."
I laughed. "Well, okay, how were the days that were holy?" I teased.
"Christmas and New Years?"
"Yup."
"Remember Kip?"
"Kelp?"
"Of course you wouldn't You were too busy in the woods with Joshua."
I rolled my eyes, "Wasn't he one of the volunteers?"
"Yes. We've gone the past two summers down there. Oh, Rachel says hi by the way."
I loved how she told two stories at once.
"So? Kip?"
"Oh, right. Kip. He and I have been together since last summer."
"I've talked to you since then. Why haven't you said anything?" I asked, looking at the messages on my desk.
"Because it was in the infantile stages. But..."
"But?" I asked.
"I'm pregnant."
"So I guess it's still in the infantile stages?" I asked after the shock wore off.
She laughed. "I know...I know...well, we are getting married. In May."
"But you are still in school!" I reminded her.
"I know. But next year is my last year. He is going to take care of the baby while I finish up. Then we're going to move to where he grew up."
"Which is where exactly?" I asked.
"California."
"You are going to be sooo far from me then...."
"San Francisco," she said simply. "It's going to be great. Plus, you can always visit us there."
"I can't wait to meet Kip."
"Oh I can't wait for you to either. He'll be visiting in a few weeks."
"Great. We'll have to have an engagement party for you."
"And invite who?" she asked rolling her eyes. "Please, don't make it into a big deal."
I nodded. How had I become just like Grandmere? "Sorry, Grandmere moment."
She laughed.
"When is the baby due?"
"July nineteenth," she replied. "I'm kind of nervous."
"So you are two months pregnant?" I guessed.
"Yup. It'll seem shorter...the pregnancy, since I'm out here in the nice weather."
"I can't wait," I said excitedly. Then I realized that Grandmere would not like the idea that I was having my pregnant friend staying here with me.
Woot, my math skills amaze me, hold your applause please.
"Don't worry, I won't start showing until I have to be in the dorms," she said hastily. "I know your grandmere would flip."
"Oh, no, it's not that..." I lied. "I'm just thinking about a million things at once. And I'm shocked that you are getting married and having a baby. I mean, this is the girl who told me she had fallen in love with Joshua Bloom at first sight."
She looked at me sceptically, "And I'm looking at the girl who had him fall at first sight."
I laughed and turned my back to her, "I don't know about that."
"I do. I was talking to him yesterday."
My head shot back to her, "Oh?"
"Yes. What is going on?"
"Nothing," I lied.
"Right. Hey, I really would like to get some pizza with peanut butter, want in?"
I laughed, "Food cravings already?"
"No, I always have liked pizza with peanut butter. Just now people will think it's normal."
I laughed, "You know Tawny is coming, right?"
"Yeah, we planned it like this."
"Sneaky devils," I teased. "Allow me to change into something else before we go for our meal."
She looked at me oddly but said fine.
That night I had her settle into the room once used my Joshua. "Will you be all right here?"
"No way. This is just not good enough for me. I demand a suite as large as yours," she joked.
"Good night Sophie."
"Good night Mia."
I returned to my room to a ringing cell phone. "Hello?" I asked, not looking at the caller ID.
"Mia, glad I caught you," Joshua's voice sang.
Too late to hang up. "Oh, hey. What's up?"
He laughed softly, "I hear Sophie is in town?"
'Yes. In your room...I mean, the room that you stayed in over Christmas."
"Yeah, that's great. So...."
"Yeah?"
"About the other night..."
"What about it?" I asked, playing dumb. Hopefully he would think that I had just done what I had done out of my drunken stupor.
Silence.
"Joshua?"
"I-I um...kissed Lucie."
Okay, was NOT expecting that. But I was at the same time. "Oh?" was all I could manage.
"Yeah. She came back after you left."
"Oh."
"Is that okay? I mean, I know she's writing your-"
"Why wouldn't it be okay?" I snapped. "It's not like you're my boyfriend, or ever would be. Why should I care? You are just my friend. Not even that close of one at that."
I hadn't meant to say all that.
"Oh. I-I just thought..."
"What? That I was holding on those stupid feelings I had for you what, three almost four years ago? Geez, you are always thinking we 'could have'."
"Feelings?" he asked.
"Oh you knew I liked you back on that mission. But I got over it. I am over it. I was hardly ever even under it."
Silence. I could tell this was not where he had planned this conversation going.
"Mia-"
"I gotta go. I'll talk to you some other time. Have fun with Lucie."
I spent a lot of time with Sophie. Shopping, eating junk food that I am not supposed to eat, and gossiping. "There's this one band that Kip has gotten me hooked to," she said one after noon at a music store. We were killing time before we were picking up Tawny at the airport.
"Oh?"
"Ferris Bueller."
"That's a movie, sweetie," I said picking up a movie soundtrack.
"No...this band from New York. Totally underground. You should listen sometime."
"No thanks. You know me, I like pop."
"The lead singer is soo hot. You really should-"
"Sophie, I do not listen to music based on the hotness factor of the lead singer. Except Rooney. I only heard of them because of Robert Schwartman slash Cage slash Carmine. He is a beautiful specimen of a man. I totally should have gone after him. I did say he was my celebrity crush when I did an interview. I mean, I'm a princess and he goes and marries some random girl from no where. Talk about frustration!"
"You need to accept it and move on to a more attainable man-"
"Besides, I'm sure we don't have the Ferris Bueller CD here."
"Oh, they don't have a CD."
"Then how am I supposed to hear them?"
"Good point. Nevermind then. You'll have to wait until they become huge rock stars. Then I can say I told you so."
"Yeah, I'm sure that is going to happen. Hey, we better get going. Her plane should be landing soon."
The three of us stayed up late that night, acting much like I used to with Lilly and Tina and Shameeka. But no eggplants were harmed. "Truth or dare," Sophie asked.
I tried to read her face about what she had planned. "Tr-Dare."
"You are boring. I had a good truth. Lemme think here...." she tried to look thoughtful for a moment. "Call up that old guy."
"What old guy? The one we saw at the airport?" I asked, referring to a much older man who confused me for his girlfriend.
She laughed, "No. That guy you always were dreaming about when we were on that mission."
I gulped. "No."
"Yes," she said with a wide smile. "Call. Now."
I did and I didn't want to hear his voice. "Fine," I said bravely. I picked up my phone. I dialed the number that I had stored months ago.
"Yeah?" the voice said. "I told you no before...wait, who is this?"
"Hi Michael Moscovitz."
"Who is this?"
I laughed, "You've only known me since you were nine years old."
"Oh."
"Guess, come on Floppy."
"Mia," he said simply.
"Is this you, Mia?"
"Yes."
"Hey! W-What are you calling for?" he asked nervously. "Are you back here in the city? Did you want to meet-"
"No."
"You don't want to meet?" he asked.
"No, I'm not in the city. I just decided to ring you."
"Oh."
"How are things?"
"Fine," he said simply. "You?"
"Fine."
"Great."
"Great," I replied.
"Happy?" he asked.
"Yes, you?"
He hesitated, "Sure I am. But uh..I gotta go. My band is going to be doing a gig tonight. It was nice talking to you."
He hung up. I hated that our conversations were so....strained. Then again, I had to remember how we had left things. "There you go. Dare completed."
They smiled at me, "Good girl! Now you can finally grow up."
"What are you talking about?"
"You have put him in the past. Shut the book and lock it. Now you can look forward and get some balls and talk to Joshua about getting together."
I shook my head. "No...that's another shut book. That chapter of my life is over. He's dating Lucie Priestess."
"No way! That hussy! You are soo much better than her!"
"We were friends...." I said softly, "But I can't even think about accepting her phone calls. Knowing that she's with him..."
Tawny took my hand, "We'll find you someone even better."
And so the search began. Tawny and I started going to clubs on Friday nights with girls from school. Sophie stayed in most of the time because she couldn't look at food or anything too much without wanting to throw up.
"Hunk at four o'clock," Tawny said pointing with her eyes.
I shook my head. Too much like Michael.
"Let's just dance on our own, shall we?" I said taking her, and our friend Jennifer's hands.
This went on for weeks before I met a guy that I could actually talk to. "Like a really bad National Geographic special," a voice said coming up behind me. I had been sitting at a table, drinking my cosmopolitan.
"Huh?" I asked.
"Mind if I take this seat? There's no others..."
"No, go right ahead."
"Name is Robert," he said sticking his hand out for me to shake.
"Mia."
"Nice to meet you. It's sick here, how the men line up the women."
"Are you trying to pick me up?" I teased.
He laughed, "That transparent?"
I smiled, "You could just ask if I wanted to dance."
He stood up and put his hand out, "Care for a dance?"
I accepted.
I went out on a date with him the next night. I had him pick me up at Tawny's dorms though. No need to freak him out with an entire palace. Or with the fact that I am in fact a princess. I convinced Lars that he could simply meet us at the restaurant, and could sit a few tables away to keep an eye on us.
"So, this accent," I said to him, "Where you from?"
"The south. Near Italy."
"I see."
"And yourself? You don't sound Genovian."
"Because I was raised in New York."
"No way! I always wanted to go there. What's it like?" he asked.
"The total opposite of Genovia. Loud, crazy...fun."
"What, we aren't fun here?" he teased.
"No, it is....just...it's a different kind of fun."
"Why'd you decide to come here for school?"
"Because it's somewhere no one had ever heard of," I lied, hiding my face behind the menu. I liked this place. It was a little hold in the wall type of place. A lot of the college kids went here. "What do you do?"
"I'm on the rugby national team for Italy."
My eyes perked up, "Oh? You play rugby? My best friend in England does too."
"Aren't you continental?" he teased. "Yeah. My dad is Italian so I qualified to play for them."
"We are going to be getting one...so I hear."
"That's cool. We'll wipe the floor with them. How'd you hear about it?"
"Uhm, I read it somewhere..."
"You know...you remind me of someone... I can't figure out who..."
"Hey Mia," Brock called, walking into the shop with a pretty brunette on his arm.
I nodded, "Hey Brock," I said with a smile. I hadn't seen him in weeks. He came over and gave me a hug.
"What have you been up to pretty lady?"
"I'm on a date....this is Robert Giovanni. He is a senior at the Academy."
Brock raised an eyebrow, "Oh really? Aren't we all high and mighty?" he teased. "Have a good night, Princess," he said with a wink.
Hopefully Robert would see that as a cute nick name. But no. "Now I know! You are Princess Mia...I-I hadn't realized..."
I rolled my eyes, "But you did. If you want to cut this date short it's fine."
"N-No, it's fine. Really. Um, did you have another place in mind?" he asked nervously. Suddenly realizing why people were staring.
"No, this is perfect. I hear the pizza is great."
Robert and I became boyfriend and girlfriend without us naming ourselves that. Magazines pictured us together and questioned how serious it was...
Princess Amelia, or Mia, has suddenly found a new man! And for once he is one of our own! Robert Giovanni, a senior at the Academy of Arts and Sciences, is the son of an olive grower and a housewife. He attended public schools through out childhood and plays for the Italian national rugby team. His father, Mike Giovanni is from Italy and therefore that qualifies him for the team.
The young couple has been seen eating dinner together, and going out with friends. Is it serious? Well, she has been seen wearing a new ring on her finger....
As I read that last line I looked down at my middle finger where I was wearing a ring my grandmother had given me. How would they believe that a college kid could afford to give this to me?
We stayed together, against all odds, and he agreed to go to San Francisco with me to attend Sophie's wedding. "It'll be fun," I promised.
"And it's in another month?" he asked.
"Yup."
"Okay....that'll be fun...."
I held his hand, "Robert-"
"I like being called Rob, you know that."
"Sorry," I said quickly. All the other men of my life had preferred their real names. "Rob, you don't have to go. But I assure you, the press in the states are much nicer. They give a lot more privacy."
He nodded.
"And besides, you always wanted to go over there."
He nodded again, "I know...I'm just nervous. That's all."
I smiled and leaned in for a kiss, "It'll be okay. And you will get to see me in a fancy schmancy dress-"
"I never did see that before," he teased. "So, birthday next week. What does one get a princess?"
I shrugged. "I have never bought myself a gift. I wouldn't know."
He smiled and kissed me softly. I loved how he kissed. He was never too pushy, he was very gentle. He always had a way of making my knees melt into the ground. "That's a start," I whispered after he pulled away.
He grinned, "I bet I could find a few more of those around."
We started making out in his dorm room. He was always very careful though, never making me go further than I really wanted to. He waited until just now to try for second base. Yeah, and we've been dating since February. Most guys his age would have done that after one week.
"Do you mind?" he asked.
"No," I whispered, "Go ahead."
As he raised his hand up my back to undo my bra the door opened wide. "Giovanni, your dad is coming up right now. Get your shirt on," his roommate, Pierce said tossing the shirt at him.
I stood up and straightened up my clothes. I sat at his desk and pretended to be reading one of his text books. I hadn't met his parents yet.
"Robbie!" the man yelled.
"Here Papa," Rob said poking his head out of the room. "Is everything okay?"
"Of course. I was in the city and thought I'd pop in. Go get a beer?"
"There's someone I'd like you to meet," he said, pulling his dad in. "This is Mia."
His father stood in shock. "I-I knew my Robbie was dating you...I just....it's an honor to meet you, your highness," he said genuflecting. I held back my laughter.
I tried imagining what it'd be like if everyone knew who I was and did that. I would never finish anything. "You too, sir. Rob has told me a lot about you," I lied. He never talked about his family.
"Yeah, right. This boy is-"
"Dad. How about that beer?"
"Did the princess want to come?"
I took a look at Rob's terrified expression, "I would love to, but I have a meeting. Thank you for the invitation though, sir."
He nodded and smiled, "I hope to see you a-again..miss..uh, your Highness."
I smiled sweetly, "I'm sure we will. Bye Rob...bye Pierce."
"See ya Mia."