---------- FLASHBACK ---------

Lizzy left to join her friends in their lunch break. Though being in 10th meant that during her IGCSE exams she did not have to go to school every day, and she had no classes to attend, she usually stayed anyway; it was good time for revision, and she could always help her friends in their work, if in nothing else, by showing moral support.

"Hey! You've missed the great show! Some girl kidnapped the Prince, and now there is an expedition out there, mainly organized by Carla, trying to find him… I've even heard people are trying to collect money for the ransom!!" told a friend of hers excitedly. It was really funny how things got exaggerated… However, she didn't feel inclined to tell them the real truth just yet; it was never a happy day when you become the enemy of your entire school. And in a girls' school, when the matter of hatred concerns boys, it's a life or death thing.

"Wonder who the girl is? She must be from our promotion, everyone else had classes at the time…" the debate continued.

"Not everyone else, it was just after the bell rang!" countered Lizzy, trying to push their suspicion into another direction. However, she seemed to have achieved exactly the opposite reaction from Charlotte, who now with a curious stare noted:

"I saw that girl's hair to be suspiciously clear… I'm sure it was definitely a light color… And curly. I am positive she had exquisite curls falling on her back." Lizzy threw her a deathly stare… she knew her friends could sometimes miss details, but such clear evidence was indeed too much even for them to misinterpret. Charlotte's description matched perfectly Lizzy's hair, which was not very common to find in Peru. "By the way, Lizzy, where have you been? You were away for quite a while…" more dubtle you couldn't have been, could you? Lizzy thought sarcastically.

"Liz, tell me it wasn't you!" cried one of her friends, Maria José. She was tall, with long, straight black her and beautiful eyes. She came from a pure Peruvian family, and was one of the few non-international students in the school. She also happened to be a great monarchy lover…

"Well, I couldn't leave the poor guy alone at the hands of a San Silvestre stampede! I know I can be cruel, but that's just inhumane. Anyways, you will all see him going around with Charlie's dad, I dropped him off at the office." Lizzy answered, quite indifferently.

"Awwww, Lizzy is in love!!!" mimicked Melanie, an Australian friend.

"What?! Come on, it's Liz you are talking about! She doesn't have eyes for anyone besides Al Gore, and even that is not because of his looks, or his dangling bits!"

"Mary Jo, there is no reason to be so crude." reproached Liz.

"Yeah! Have come compassion for Elizabeth, I would hate it too if people would hear I'm a lesbo!" everyone burst out laughing; they all new that supposition was completely erroneous, so joking with it, even in a all girls' school, was not a big defamation. However, in this particular case, it turned out to be more embarrassing than just a laugh with some friends.

"Khm, I hate to intrude on such an… intimate occasion between friends, however Mr. Lucas has kindly requested that I should find someone closer to my age to do the honors of guiding me through this school… I thought perhaps I could repay the kindness shown to me… Miss Elizabeth, would you be so kind?" the Prince was clearly uncomfortable with the situation… But then again, who can blame him?

I am going to kill Katherine for saying that! What must the Prince think of me now?! And honestly, what does he think of himself… "do the honors" of guiding him!!! I swear, I would feel a lot more honored if I could only be royally left alone! It was a weak point of Elizabeth, but whenever her pride was hurt, she turned defensive… and blamed everyone else for everything.

"Yes, of course, just give me a second to organize my things…" Lizzy mumbled, and mouthed an 'I'm gonna kill you' to Kats. "All right, ready to go…" and with that, the two left her friends, the uncomfortable pause and the inconvenient situation behind. It was a few minutes before either of them was brave enough to talk, but this time Lizzy felt it washer turn to break the silence… and with it, the ice.

"So… why didn't Mr. Lucas volunteer to show you around? I bet he knows a lot more than I do about the school…"

"Well… the truth is, he did plan on doing the job himself, however… I hinted it might be more useful for me to hear the opinions of people who come here every day and experience the activities around the school, rather than learning the facts on constructions and so on."Well, it does seem logical, I suppose, but something is fishy here… Why choose me then? I was mean to him, I kidnapped him, I pushed him into a black room with me… goodness, he must think I'm a psychopath of some sorts, harassing him at every occasion!!! Shoot, what am I going to do now?!

"So… why did you ask me? I mean, it's not like I don't feel honored or anything" right, just lie a bit more, make the entire situation worse! Would you please, for once in your life, think before you say something?! "but, this type of thing is usually what the Head Girl is for…"

"I was, at first, advised to contact her…" answered the Prince, rather nervous and struggling with what he wanted to say, and what he was allowed to say. In the end, he decided on saying the truth. He stopped, making Liz stop besides him, and looked straight into her eyes "Thing is, Miss Elizabeth-"

"please, call me Lizzy"

"All right… Thing is, Lizzy… that I wanted to have the opportunity of learning more about you, personally… Of understanding better aspects in your life that are school-related, of course…" all right, I know, but being the Prince of GB doesn't mean you have he courage to say what you feel all the time! And anyways, he did try.

"Oh… ok then…" Lizzy was baffled. At the beginning of his answer, she was sure he was about to declare something sweet and nice and complimenting… But, what did he mean with the second part? Was he really only interested in her academically? Why do you care so much about what he thinks of you? He's an arrogant ass, remember?! Then again, she still had that tiny problem with her appearing to be a psychopath… And that must be cleared out immediately

"So… you don't think I'm a psychopath or something?" Lizzy asked. Couldn't be more subtle, could you? Nowwhat's he going to think of you?! For a few moments, there was silence as the Prince stared down at her in shock. Those were the most nerve-wrecking, uncomfortable, longest moments of her life… or so she thought…

AN: MILLION thanks to Milli1302, Lucy65, Elizabeth-nightwatchman, Arwengirl, Laura, Jenn M., SjDarcy, ficticious character and Twinker for the lovely reviews! I hope you like this one, I know it may be a bit short...