Freddie's POV

Weeks have passed since Carly and Sam visited he store. I remember that on that day, I was passing a very important message to Carly and Sam was left out. She wasn't allowed to know about it. I know that it seems unfair to her but I was ordered by royal decree not to reveal the secret to her.

I was supposed to open the store in town to help my pal Gibby in his search for his 'mysterious girl from the ball'. I knew that she was Carly, but I didn't know where she lived. So, I decided to open the store in hopes that she may pass by one day and we would be able to find her.

On that day, I told Carly about everything. My background, Gibby's background and my motives; I wasn't supposed to let Sam in on the information, no matter how much I wanted to.

But one day, Sam came to visit the store, but she came alone.

"Hey Freddie," Sam greeted, she looked really happy. "How's business?"

"As usual," I replied. "You look happy today, what's up?"

"Well," she started. "I think I'm in love…"

I had the shock of my life. She's in love? How could that be? It's not that she's not attractive, but why would anyone catch her attention?

"Who is that guy?" I asked in an angry tone. Seeing that she's puzzled and confused about my behavior, I had to come up with another approach immediately. "I mean, who's the unlucky guy?"

She got angry, "What do you mean by that? Do you mean to say that I am not fit to fall in love? And to think that I once thought you were my best friend!"

"No, no, no," I tried to correct my sentence. "I'm sorry; I'm just not myself lately."

She sighed after hearing that and apologized too. I've never seen her so 'out of character' before, I guess she's really changed after meeting that boy she likes.

"Anyway," she started again. "I came to ask you for advice."

"Advice? What do you need advice for?" I became confused. "You're doing well, you have a great sister…"

"Stepsister," she corrected me again.

"Alright, stepsister… And you are now in love!" I continued. "What more do you need in your life?"

"Well, for one, I need your advice with boys," she said. "I'm currently dating this guy named Pete and I really want to do something nice for him as a surprise for his birthday next week."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait…" I tried to piece my memory together. "Your boyfriend's name is Pete?"

"Yes, and what's with the wait? Five times?" she asked.

My mind drifted off to what happened five years ago, where I was living in the palace, far away from here. You see, I may be a prince, but I'm not the rightful prince of this land. Prince Gibson, or Gibby, is.

When I was young, Pete and I met on the streets. He was a street rat then. He saved my life when I was about to get run over by a horse, so father and mother granted him whatever he wanted. From then on, we were very good friends. But one day, he took everything away from me. At the age of ten, he took away my father's throne. At the age of eleven, he took away our family fortune. At the age of thirteen, he took away my friends and at the age of fifteen, he took away my mother.

The only reason why I was able to survive was Gibby. He made me prince along with him. When we first met, I thought he was weird. But after we spent some time together, I just realized that he's a very good friend, someone who will always stay by your side and help you no matter what. Soon after, his parents passed away due to an accident. My father was made king by Gibby and we continued running the kingdom as it is right now.

"Freddie?" Sam called. "Freddie, you alright?"

"Oh," I snapped back into reality. "Yeah, I'm fine. Where were we?"

"We were talking about Pete," she replied.

"Oh yes," I remembered. "When is his birthday, again?"

She looked puzzled, "It's next Wednesday. Why are you so interested in him all of a sudden? Do you know him?"

"Longer than I've known you," I replied. "We've known each other since we were eight years old."

"Well, that's great!" she was very excited. "You can help me with my mission then!"

"What?" I was shocked. Oh well, since she doesn't know about what Pete has done to me in the past, I'll just leave it this way. I don't want to hurt her by letting her know that the one that she's hot over heels for is some sinister guy who almost ruined my life.

Since I had promised her about helping her, we got started with clothes. My store had many beautiful clothes and those were coincidentally of her size. We picked a dress, some jewelry and we were almost ready to go.

"You need some lessons," I stated. We were having lunch after the busy day.

"Lessons?" she asked, still gnawing on those ribs. "Ah… This is good ribs…"

I stared at her, wondering if I should give her my honest opinion. "Apparently, you don't really leave a very good impression on others when you're eating like that."

"Well, as long as Pete thinks I'm okay, I'm good to go," she ignored my comments. "I'm going on fine anyway."

"But you talk while you're still gnawing on ribs!" I yelled. "That's just really bad manners, and it really gives people a very bad impression of you."

She sighed, "Okay, fine. But you'll have to give me a crash course. I have to return home early today to prepare for Pete's birthday surprise."

Sigh, she just had to say that. Doesn't she know how I feel about her? I guess she'll never find out unless if I confess, eh? But guess what, I'm not saying anything till the time is right…