This chapter is from Jane's perspective. I'll write a mirror one from Audrey's perspective soon but I first wanted to post this one. I really loved from Jane's POV, she's such a fun character. Thanks for reading and I hope you like it!
Crush
What if he didn't like it? What if he thought I was weird? What if I was an idiot? What if he did like it? What if he liked me? What if he was my prince? What if I didn't get a prince? What if I could be a princess? What if? What if? What if?
I stared up at my blue canopy. It was starting to sag and show some wear and tear. But I couldn't bear to get rid of it, not after how much I had begged Mom for it back when I was in preschool and I'd seen Audrey's canopy bed at a sleepover.
Why was this so hard? I wouldn't even see Ben for three months after today. He may never get the chance to tell me how he feels…
Ugh! I slammed a spare pillow against my face. I should have never written that poem! But what I really never should have done was partner up with Ben in the first place…
"And what we'll be doing this week is researching a magical plant in the Enchanted Greenhouse," Ms. Rosetta told us from the front of the classroom. I couldn't really see her from the back of the classroom because she was a two-inch-tall fairy, but she was very loud, so I had no problems hearing her. "Partner with someone you haven't partnered with before and pick a plant to research!"
Everyone began talking to their friends, making plans, laughing at inside jokes.
"Hey, Lonnie, do you want to…?" I drifted off as the girl in front of me turned, making her pity face. I saw it a lot.
"Sorry, I already asked Ally. She's wicked smart, after all," Lonnie told me.
"I am not wicked!" Ally exclaimed.
Lonnie turned back to reassure her while I restarted my search of the room. But everyone was already paired up. Like always. Fine, I'd do it myself. Maybe Mom knew some good plants I could study. I'd ask her at dinner.
"Hey, do you have a partner?"
I turned to my left and nearly fell over. Prince Ben, who had crept in late after a dentist appointment, was here. Asking me. To be his partner!
"Uh…really? I mean, sure! If you're sure, that is, of course," I stuttered, hands shaking. Gosh, his eyes were breathtaking. Like, literally, I could not breath!
Ben just smiled (Cinderella's slippers, he was even more handsome with a smile…). "Great. Got any ideas for what plant to research?"
The list blurred in front of my eyes. "Uh…what about this one?" I pointed at a random part of the page.
"Holy oak? That sounds cool."
The bell rang, saving me from blubbering through more words.
"We can make our plan tomorrow. See you around, Jane." Then he was gone. And I was left wondering why my heart was racing.
He was so nice. That was one of the things I loved about him. Maybe he wouldn't laugh in my face. Maybe he wouldn't rip it to shreds. Maybe he'd realize he liked me the same way and we could…
"Goodness, child, isn't that enough cereal?" Mom exclaimed, taking the box of Fairy-O's from me. My bowl was overflowing with the pink cereal, many falling off the table and onto our wooden floor.
Mom and I lived in a small cottage next the Auradon Prep, the high school I would be attending this fall. I was trying to convince her to let me board at the school like the other kids, but she was still on the fence about it.
"Well, last day of school. Are you excited?" Mom asked me, sipping a mug of hot coco with sprinkles. A matching one sat in front of me.
"I guess," I muttered, spooning cereal into my mouth. If I sat here any longer, I'd crack and tell her everything. And I did not want Mom's help with this. Not since she'd just give me another lecture about being an independent woman, not a princess stuck in a tower. Those were the worst.
"Any big party plans for tonight?"
"No."
"Well maybe you should invite some girls over. I can make my spinach pinwheels."
"It's fine, Mom. I gotta get going." I quickly stood up and nearly dropped my bowl into the sink. It was early but I that might be better. Give me more time to work up my courage.
"Oh, okay. Well, have fun!" Mom yelled out the door as I started the walk to school. I didn't get a flashy limo entrance like the royals. Like Ben…
The next day, as I was walking to school because 'walking strengthens legs and promotes exercise' (thanks Mom…), I passed Ben as he was climbing out of his royal blue van. It had tinted windows and was flanked by at least two guards, but he didn't seem to notice. Instead, he said hi to nearly everyone he saw, his smile reflecting the sunshine, every hair in the perfect place.
I couldn't stop staring.
"Hey, Jane!" he greeted me, his dimples showing from his wide smile.
"Hi…hi, Ben. How ar-are you?" Why were my hands shaking?
"I'm excited to start our project in science. See you then!"
He walked away, continuing to greet everyone. But I was watching him, not believing that he'd actually spoken to me. No one did, at least not any of the royals. And Ben was the royal. And he said hi to me.
Everyone was busy signing yearbooks and jotting down summer addresses by the time I got to school. I pushed through the throngs, smiling at people who wished me a good summer (a whole whopping two people), and froze in front of his locker.
This was it, my big moment.
Come on Jane, just do it. Do it. Do it!
I stumbled away, heading to homeroom.
Coward.
"According to this, druids live in holy oaks. They tend to sacred groves of them and they're often used to protect people," Ben read from a textbook as we studied in the library. I'd been rereading the same passage for nearly fifteen minutes at this point.
"Should-should we maybe write a paper on that? Interview a-a-a druid?" I stuttered, my shaking hand gripping my pencil to take notes.
"What if we did something different," Ben suggested.
I was nodding before he finished. Honestly, I probably would have swam to the Isle of the Lost if he wanted to.
"We could take a branch of the holy oak and wear it during the week. If it helps us, then we'll know it's really protective. We could even get together on the weekend and do some risky things and see if the oak works then."
"Together? Sure, yes, great."
"You can come over Saturday, Mom loves watching me work on school work," Ben laughed, shoving his books into his bag. "See you later."
The teachers didn't teach today. Instead, we played games like trivia or pick-a-princess (which was basically heads-up-seven-up but the royals liked the idea of being important). I didn't participate or focus on anything. I was counting down the seconds in every class till the break when I would go back to Ben's locker, stare at it, and walk away.
Right before lunch, I was back in front of the blue locker, staring at the slots, trying to summon my courage, when a fruity smelling princess ran into me.
"Sorry!" I gasped as I was knocked into the lockers.
"Oh, Jane, I didn't see you," Audrey apologized (I think; it didn't sound like an apology).
"Are-are you heading to lunch?"
"It is lunch time," she laughed, flipping her hair.
Gosh, she had great hair. She was literally perfect and, sadly, the future girlfriend of Ben. They'd been born nearly a week apart and had been inseparable ever since. She would make a great queen, all noble and friendly smiles.
But maybe Ben didn't like perfect. Maybe he liked girls who were different, girls who liked books like his mother, girls who were quieter but still worth knowing, girls like…
"What are you doing over here anyway? Isn't your locker in Dinglehopper Hall?"
My eyes darted to Ben's locker but quickly returned to Audrey and her crinkled, confused, perfectly plucked, brows.
"I…I…I was just, uh, just wandering…around. It is our last, er, our last day here. I wanted to…say goodbye?
Was I lying now? People in Aurdaon didn't lie, girls who were worthy of Ben didn't lie! My head was spinning.
"Of course." Audrey's smile was pale pink and perfect. So perfect. Why couldn't I have been born beautiful? "Have a great time."
She was gone with a swish of her hair and a few clips of her kitten heels. My heart was hammering out of her chest and I knew I couldn't give Ben my poem not now. Maybe not ever…
"Sorry about my Mom, she's kind of into guests," Ben apologized as we settled in at a table in his courtyard. His palace was so big, I felt like a very small, but very lucky, ant.
"It's okay, I love cookies," I replied. The buffet Belle had provided had had every dessert a person could want, but I was too nervous to eat much. "So…how was your week with the oak?"
He pulled the branch out of his pocket. "Pretty good. I didn't have many accidents in Track and Shield but I don't know if that was the oak or just the fact that we had maps for our gymnastics unit. What about you?"
My oak already had little grooves from where I'd rubbed it whenever I got anxious. "Nothing out of the ordinary."
"Maybe we just don't have very dangerous lives."
"Maybe," I laughed in agreement. He laughed with me and my heart glowed.
"Well, then let's do some dangerous stuff!"
We climbed a super long rope (well, Ben did. I just swung on it), jumped off a set of stairs, and climbed a rock wall. Ben did everything amazingly, while I stumbled through every obstacle.
Our last challenge was leaping over a river in woods behind the castle. Ben cleared it easily, landing on the other side barely even losing his balance.
"Your turn!" he called.
I nodded, squatted low, and jumped…!
Straight into a rock. My foot sank into the water and my shins banged against the stone that sat right in the middle of the river. I fell back, my butt hitting the bottom of the very shallow river, soaking my pastel skirt.
"Jane!" Ben quickly leaped into the river. "Are you okay?"
"I…I guess that proves it. Holy oak doesn't really work," I tried to laugh but my voice cracked as I finished, wincing at my bleeding shins. Tears were peaking out of my eyes, but I didn't want to further embarrass myself.
"Let me help you." Ben pulled me onto the bank, so I was sitting on the grass. Now that I was out of the water, my shins were becoming scarlet very fast. Ben watched the wound gush for a moment before he scooped me up, holding me bridal style.
My heart stopped.
"Don't worry, my mom's really good at first aid," he promised, heading back to the castle.
"You…you don't have to…"
"It's not far and I don't want you getting hurt anymore," Ben assured me. "Besides, it was my idea to do this dumb experiment."
"No, it wasn't dumb. I'm just clumsy."
"I'm really sorry, Jane." He looked so sad.
"It's okay, I promise. Thank you for helping me."
"Anytime."
The bell rang and I was headed to my last class of the day. It was now or never. Rose Hall was empty, and I was staring at the locker again. If I didn't make my decision soon, I was going to be late for class.
Come on, Jane. You can do it. Just slip the paper into the slot. Just put it in the locker. Come on, Jane!
I swallowed the huge knot in my throat, pulled the wrinkled paper out of my pocket, and shoved it into the locker. Then I ran into the girls' room to nearly throw up with fear.
I never did make it to my last class.
"They're might be a scar, but you'll be fine," Belle assured me. "Ben, you really shouldn't go into those woods anymore. Bad things still happen in Auradon sometimes."
"I know," Ben muttered. "I'm really sorry, Jane."
"It's okay," I promised.
"Your mother should be here to pick you up soon." Belle patted my shoulder and left the parlor where everything was soft and cushioned. I would say I was my favorite room in the palace, but I'd thought that about nearly every room.
"I am sorry. I wanted to give you this as an apology." Ben dropped something into my hand.
"Your oak branch?"
"I figured if anyone deserved and needed extra protection, it would be you," he explained, staring at me through his long brown hair. My heart fluttered and my lips parted. "That way you can always be safe."
"Thank…thank you," I gasped out.
Ben smiled at me for a moment and I nearly leaned forward, ready to capitalize on the moment. But just then, Belle walked back in.
"Jane, your mother's here!"
What was I going to do now?
As I headed out of the school, ready to walk all the way home, someone tapped me on the shoulder.
"Hey, do you have any oak?" a seventh grader asked.
"Huh?"
"No, she's too broke," their friend laughed.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no…
I ran back into the building, realizing every eye was on me. Something I had dreamed about but now it made me sick to my stomach.
There, on the school announcement board, was my poem to Ben tacked on the wall, with a laughing face and the word weirdo scrawled across the top.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no…
Tears were welling in my eyes and I choked back sobs. I'd given this to Ben. Would he have…? No, he couldn't have. Could he?
"Tough blow, Jane," Audrey simpered from my side, patting my arm. "But I suppose you had to find out some way."
"Wha…what?" I blubbered.
Audrey's lip formed a perfect pout. "Ben needs a princess, a real one, not a girl who writes silly poetry and collects sticks. He doesn't like you. He was just being nice."
"Bu-bu-but…"
"I'm sorry, sweetie, but it's over. Your…a weirdo," she whispered, as if it were a secret. Which it wasn't. Everyone knew and now everyone would remember this dumb poem and how I, Jane, the clutsy girl who couldn't jump over a stupid river had fallen in love with an impossible boy.
I ripped the poem off the wall (though I was sure it was all over the internet by now) and ran all the way home. Mom was still at the high school, so I slumped onto the living room couch and stared at the inky words.
Mirror, mirror, on the wall
Who is the kindest prince of all?
With heart purer than gold
Who helps both the old
And those who are too clumsy for their own good
Who gives gifts of wood of oak
And helps the girl nearly broke
How could I be so lucky to have caught his eye
When every other prince just passes me by
Mirror, mirror, on the wall
Tell him thank you from me to he
For being the first to see something worth a hello
And one more thing
Tell him what I would say if I could stand tall
I like you, Prince Ben
And I wish you would look my way again
They were right. I was a weirdo. And that would be what I would carry with me into high school. Great…