Disclaimer: I. Own. Nothing. Meg. Cabot. Is. A. Genius. I. Only. Wrote. Story.

Ch 3. In which Mia becomes confused, distressed, angry, jealous, and happy

French

CRAP! It's in the NEWSPAPER!

HOW did they find OUT? HOW did the reporters get the scoop that I am the Princess of Genovia?

I was serious when I said that things would only get worse. And look, they DID. I've already fully heard it from Lilly, and let me tell you she is FURIOUS. I don't think I've ever seen her face get so purple, except for that one time with the cupcakes and the spatula.

Ok, so let me start at the beginning.

Hans pulled up in front of the school like always, and I went to open the door. And I was actually pretty sure that today wouldn't be such a bad day, besides, you know, the whole ball thing. My hair didn't even look that triangular after I brushed it a couple of times. So I got out of the limo, feeling happy, when I noticed something weird was going on.

First of all, all the kids standing around the school outside were holding newspapers and whispering to one another. And plus they were all staring at me, like I had grown four heads, or something. Despite the fact that I was being stared at, that was not the worst of it. The worst thing was, there were reporters.

EVERYWHERE.

And the minute I stepped out of that car, all these bulbs started going off and blinding me until I was sure I would never be able to see again. And there were people shouting, asking me really weird questions like "Princess, what's your favorite food?" or "Princess Amelia, what's your advice for teenagers around the world today?"

And I just kind of stood there, in complete shock, not really knowing what to do, letting my eyes get burned out by cameras. Apparently though, Lars, who was in the front passenger seat, saw what was happening and jumped out of the limo and then started shoving me towards the school doors, fighting off all the camera people with one arm. He didn't need to do much, though, because most of them saw the nunchuks he had on his belt.

As soon as I got through the school doors, I wished I had stayed outside with all the reporters.

"A PRINCESS!" Lilly shrieked, where she was apparently waiting for me on the other side of the door. "WHEN WERE YOU PLANNING ON TELLING ME THIS, MIA? AT GRADUATION!" I swear, her whole face was all contorted up in anger and she closely resembled a plum.

"Um," I said, watching Lars make a call on his cell phone, probably to my dad, "Can we talk about this later?" Because, you know, there were all these kids standing around watching me get verbally attacked.

"NO WE CAN NOT!" she screamed again, pushing a newspaper in my face. " YOU'RE WORTH THREE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS, AND YOU NEVER BOTHERED TO TELL ME? I'M YOUR BEST FRIEND!" And then she dramatically threw the newspaper down on the floor at my feet and stalked off, pretty much unaware that the whole entire hallway was watching us.

So now I'm sitting here in French, with Lars standing at the back of the room, and I can totally tell that the whole class is watching me. I would MUCH rather be at home, but my dad insisted that I stay in school with Lars until the end of the day, and we would talk about it then.

HOW could he THINK that? Like staying HERE is going to keep me safer than being at home. Mademoiselle Klein had to pull down all the shades in the classroom because there were reporters standing at the windows, too.

After Lilly's rage, I did get a chance to look at the paper. There's a really bad school picture of me on the front page of the Times and the headline reads Manhattan's Own Royal. This is TERRIBLE. I was fully content with nobody knowing! And yeah, Lilly started getting suspicious after I stopped riding the subway with her to school, but she still didn't KNOW anything. And you can see now why I wanted to KEEP it that way.

I wonder what Michael thought when he saw the paper. He probably thinks I'm a total freak now. Not that he didn't before.

My. Life. Is. Over.

Loft

Well, Lilly is most definitely angry with me. She gave away my seat at our usual table at lunch to that mouth-breather-sweater-tucker-inner BORIS PELKOWSKI, the Russian exchange student we always lock in the supply closet. So I ended up sitting at a table with Tina Hakim Baba, this girl who's got a body guard because her dad is all worried that she'll get kidnaped by a rival oil sheik. I am so sure, like that would ever happen. Whatever. She's nice enough, anyway. Nicer than my ex best friend.

As soon as I turned up at the Plaza for Princess Lessons after school, I was hounded by about FIFTY MILLION reporters, who probably would have COMPLETELY attacked me and possibly run over me if Lars wasn't there to scare them off with one mere glance at his HUGE arms. Then he shoved me through there until we got all the way up to Grandmere's suite.

"HOW DID THEY FIND OUT?" I half asked half shouted at Grandmere the exact minute I got in there, who was simply drinking her sidecar. My dad was looking kind of under the weather, in the understatement of the month. He was fully going back and forth to the liquor cabinet.

"They had to find out sometime, Amelia," she rasped, choking out a cigarette butt in the ashtray dish, even though I have repeatedly asked her not to smoke while in my presence. "You can't simply keep this a secret for the rest of your life. You have a public to impress."

"Well, now my life is ruined. Everyone at school knows, and Lilly's furious with me for not telling her."

Grandmere scrunched up her nose and gave me the evil eye at the same time, causing me to shudder in what I'm sure was a rude un-royal way. "Is that your friend with that vulgar television show that you insist upon watching? I strongly suggest that you do not invite her to the ball, Amelia."

Wait a second... she said that I couldn't invite Lilly... did that mean...?

"Woah. I can, like, invite my own friends to this thing?" Well, the prospect of having to go through with the ball was a lot less horrible knowing my friends might be there.

"Try that again, and speak in proper English."

Through clenched teeth, I said, "So I'm allowed to invite some guests of my choosing?" I must have sounded less angry or something, because my dad finally looked up at me from his newspaper in an astonished way.

"Of course you can, Mia," he said. "Who told you that you couldn't?" After this he dared a glance at my grandmother, who looked perturbed.

"Your father insisted you be allowed," she practically growled, digging her fingernails into Rommel.

When I left the Plaza, I was slightly less horrified that everyone knows I'm a princess.

But only slightly.

As soon as I got home, I plonked down in front of my computer and went online. My mom wasn't due home for a couple of hours, and I wanted to keep myself from thinking what she would do to my father once she read the paper.

CracKing: So Thermopolis. Princess of Genovia, huh? Didn't see that one coming.

That's my problem. I overlook the fact that Michael would of course be online, working on his site. And now I have to explain to HIM, the LAST person I would want to know that I was a Princess. I mean, come on. I'm freakish enough.

FTLouie: Trust me, I REALLY don't want to be royalty. Lilly's horrified.

CracKing: Nah, only because you failed to tell her that you were worth three million dollars.

FTLouie: Gee, thanks. I feel a lot better now.

CracKing: Man. A Princess. That's gotta be rough. Were you planning on telling any of us at all?

No.

FtLouie: Eventually.

CracKing: What, exactly, do you have to do?

Why in the world is Michael being so... calm about this? Maybe that's one of the reasons I like him. He treats me the same while everyone else treats me like an alien. But still, I'd rather be treated as something different than a little sister's best friend from him. Yeah, like that'll ever happen. I'm a lowly freshman, he's a SENIOR. Why would he ever like me?

FTLouie: Nothing so far. Except attend a stupid ball that Grandmere is throwing here in a couple days. Apparently she's trying to hook me up.

Oh, crap. Why did I just TELL him that?

CracKing: Ouch. That's rough. Well, if I was going, I'd try and help you avoid all the stiffs. Does she know you're only fourteen?

He and Lilly can be so alike.

FTLouie: Actually, you can go. I'm allowed to invite a few people.

WHY did I just DO THAT? He probably thinks I'm some kind of nutcase. Which I probably am. Why would he want to come?

CracKing: Got nothing better to do.

HE WANTS TO COME! What am I going to DO? This is awesome but totally not at the same time. I don't want him to see me dance with a bunch of other guys! Oh well, I can't back out of it now. Stay calm, Mia. Make your hands stop sweating so you can type.

FTLouie: Ok, cool. Lilly probably hates me, but ask her if she wants to come to. It's formal.

CracKing: Sure thing, Thermopolis. Hang in there.

And then he signs off. And now I can breathe. I've got to call Tina and ask her if she wants to come, too. I'm pretty sure Grandmere invited Prince William, so she'll be way excited about that.

My hands are shaking SO BAD! Maybe Grandmere isn't so horrible after all.

Hope you liked it! Sorry if it's a little weak, I wanted to get this up in a hurry because I won't be able to write for a couple weeks beginning next week (vacation!). So don't be alarmed if I don't update during those times, I'll be back on track in no time.

To my lovely reviewers:

the real violet parr: thanks so much for your reviews, I loved reading them! Yeah, I don't think I'd be all that happy to have a psycho royal grandmother try and hook me up at such a young age! Thanks very much!

Literati Lover: Thanks a lot! I can assure you that Michael will have his grand moments in this, although I don't want to go in depth here because that will ruin it for later! Keep reading to see what happens next, thanks for the review!