Preventing a Royal Engagement
A/N: Thanks for the reviews! On with Chapter 10! =D
Chapter 10: Getting an Idea
When Tinka woke up Monday morning, she had a look of pure disdain written all over her face, and that look remained as she exited her bedroom and made her way to the kitchen to make breakfast. It was clear that the blonde was still irritated by what happened on her date with Anton; however, she was thankful that her friends were present, so she did not have to go home with Anton.
While Tinka fried bacon and toasted some bread, the events of the previous night continue to replay in her mind. She could not believe Anton thought finding a few common interests with her would encourage her to marry him. She could not wait to tell her parents about it, and she hoped last night was the last time she would ever have to see Anton again.
Tinka was just checking on the waffles in the waffle iron when Günther walked into the kitchen, still clad in his sparkly pyjamas. He yawned and raised his arms into the air to stretch.
"Good morning, sister twin," Günther said, cheerfully.
"Good morning, dear brother," Tinka replied, cracking a small smile. "Would you like some waffles?"
"That would be fabulous, thank you," Günther said, gratefully. "A side of bacon and eggs would be great as well."
"Coming right up!" Tinka chirped, her mood brightening because of her brother.
"Mama and Papa will be down shortly," Günther told her, reaching for a napkin in a nearby dispenser.
"Fantastic," Tinka muttered through gritted teeth, her mood darkening instantly, and continued with a hint of sarcasm in her voice, "There isn't a better time to tell them about the lousy date with Anton than during breakfast over bacon, eggs, waffles, and toast."
"The date was that horrible?" Günther asked, sounding a bit surprised. He wondered what Anton, the charming prince with good manners, could have possibly done to infuriate Tinka during dinner the previous night.
"Horrible?" Tinka scoffed with a fake laugh. "Günther, if Rocky, Deuce, Dina, and Logan weren't there to take me home last night, I would have likely killed Anton during the limousine ride home!"
"What happened?" Günther questioned, curiously. "What did he do?"
"Yes, Tinkabell," a familiar voice said from the doorway. "What did Prince Anton do?"
Günther and Tinka turned their attention to the kitchen doorway to find their parents standing in it, both clad in matching, leopard-print pyjamas. Having overheard part of their children's conversation as they approached the kitchen for breakfast, both Kashlack and Squizza were really anxious to find out how Tinka's date with Anton went, especially after overhearing Tinka claim it was a disaster.
"Oh, Tinka, Prince Anton did not hurt you, did he?" Squizza asked, as she and Kashlack seated themselves at the kitchen table. She believed Anton would never intend to hurt Tinka, but felt the need to ask, just to be sure.
"No, but thank you for expressing your concern," Tinka replied, sarcastically.
"Darling, you were not hostile towards Prince Anton, were you?" Squizza asked. "Your father and I reminded you many times to be on your best behaviour last night."
"Believe me, for most of the night, I was nothing but tasteful and polite," Tinka explained, catching the toast that launched out of the toaster on plates. "It was during dessert when I had a big shift in mood."
"Was Anton the cause of this shift?" Günther asked.
"Obviously," Tinka answered with a roll of her eyes. "During dinner, he realized he and I both share the love of ballroom dancing and the desire to have families of our own one day. He believed our very few common interests made him a suitable man to be my husband. If I did not object, I bet you he would have proposed right then and there."
"Well, personally, I don't see the problem, Tinka," Kashlack said, sounding a bit confused. "You both have common interests, so why not accept him as your fiancé and future husband?"
"Because I'm not attracted to him," Tinka answered, roughly shoving the plate of toast onto the table. "We may have a few things in common, but things haven't changed. In fact, I'm less attracted to Anton than I was when I first met him and, considering what little attraction there was between him and I back then, that's saying something."
"My dear, need I remind you that you're still seventeen," Squizza said. "You're still young and naïve. You don't know what is best for you, your father and I do."
"But I'm not blind," Tinka told her parents in a firm voice. "I can see with my own two eyes that Anton and I, despite the few common interests, are not a compatible match. He may be attracted to me for reasons I will never understand, but I assure you, the feeling is not mutual."
"Contrary to what you said, your mother and I believe you and Anton are a good match," Kashlack said, ignoring the flabbergasted look on his daughter's face. "That being said, the arranged marriage agreement will remain intact."
"Forgive me, but have you not heard what Tinka just said?" Günther asked his parents in disbelief. "She just said she doesn't believe her and Anton are compatible. As I recall, that means her arranged marriage to him should be voided."
"Well, if you recall correctly, my son," Kashlack began, "Tinka's arranged marriage to Prince Anton would only be voided if it is proven that they aren't a good match. Your sister may think they're not compatible, but your mother and I believe they are; therefore, nothing changes."
Günther met eye contact with Tinka and they both sighed simultaneously. Both of them knew their parents were right about the condition they agreed to before Tinka agreed to a date with Anton. The condition did not indicate a specific person or people the compatible match had to be proven to.
"You can't be serious!" Tinka cried, furiously. She could not believe her parents disregarded her opinion about Anton as unimportant. It was obvious they never took her seriously about getting out of the arranged marriage in the first place and treated her like a child. She had never felt so angry at her parents in her entire life; her anger towards Anton could barely compare.
"We are absolutely serious," Squizza said, firmly. "Tinka, you have a week to end your romantic relationship with Ty. At the end of the week, we will have dinner with the royal family, during which Anton will propose to you, and we expect you to accept it."
Tinka frowned and folded her arms in front of her. "And what if I don't?"
"If you refuse his marriage proposal, you will dishonour your mother and me, and bring shame to the Hessenheffer family," Kashlack told her, sternly, "and for that, you will be disowned."
Tinka did not say a word in response, but the look of pure horror on her face said it all. She was horrified that her parents, her supposedly loving parents, just threatened to disown her if she did not break up with Ty and marry Anton. If her parents loved her and wanted the best for her, like they said they did, they sure had a terrible way of showing it.
Günther watched his sister close her eyes and turn around to replace the bacon sizzling on the frying pan with some eggs. He was just as shocked as she was by their parents' demands, and silently wished there was something he could do to help her.
"The choice is yours, Tinkabell," Kashlack said, simply. "You have a week."
Tinka did not reply; instead, she continued frying eggs in silent. Once she filled another plate with as many fried eggs as possible, she removed the cooked waffles from the waffle iron and tossed them onto a fourth plate. She refused to say anything to her parents because what she wanted to say to them contained some rather vulgar vocabulary that would make the sailors from the old country blush.
While Kashlack and Squizza chatted calmly with each other as though they did not just threaten to disown their daughter, Günther mouthed soothing words to Tinka in an attempt to reassure her that they everything would be okay. His heart broke when he noticed the glum look on Tinka's face when she slid the plates of food onto the table.
After checking that all of the cooking appliances were shut off, Tinka reached for her backpack on a nearby chair and strapped it to her back.
"Thank you for breakfast, dear sister," Günther said, giving Tinka a small smile.
"You're most welcome, twin brother," Tinka replied, monotonously. She swiped a piece of toast off its plate and said, "I'm going to school."
Kashlack and Squizza wished to say goodbye to their daughter and thank her for making breakfast, but knew she was in no mood to reply to them. As they loaded their plates with some of Tinka's excellent cooking, they figured she would eventually see how foolish she had been behaving and would soon agree to their demands.
"You're kidding me!" Ty cried, appalled.
Tinka shook her head sadly as she poked her Caesar salad with a fork. She did not see Ty all morning, so it was not until lunch when she got the chance to tell not only him, but also CeCe, Deuce, and Dina, about the heated conversation she had with her parents that morning and, needless to say, none of them were pleased.
"How can that be?" CeCe questioned, sounding puzzled. "Your parents said you didn't have to marry Anton if you two weren't a good match."
"Yes, but they only agreed to that condition of the deal because I didn't specifically state that I, and I only, had to prove Anton and I aren't compatible. It's my fault, I should have more specific."
"Don't blame yourself, Tinka," Dina said, gently. "From what you've told us about your parents, even if you were more specific while making the condition, they would have found another way to trap you."
"I just can't believe my parents would do this," Tinka said, burying her face in her manicured hands. "They want the best for me, but don't let me have any say in the matter."
"What are you going to do?" CeCe asked, fearing the worst.
"What else can she do?" Ty said, sadly. He looked to Tinka and told her, "Tinka, you have to marry Anton."
"What?" Tinka cried, horrified that Ty would suggest such a thing.
"Believe me, baby, I love you with everything in me," Ty said, taking one of her hands in his, "but I'll not let you get disowned by your parents. I'm not worth that."
"Ty, don't say that!" Tinka cried, desperately.
"Tinka, your parents approve of Anton; he has the resources to take care of you for the rest of your life," Ty explained. "He can give you everything you want: food, clothes, all the betwinklers you can buy – "
"But he can't give me you," Tinka said, looking Ty directly in the eyes. "He may be able to give me everything else, but not you. He can't give me you or the freedom to make my own decisions. Why would I marry someone like that?"
Ty's ego instantly inflated when Tinka stated all of the things he was able to give her that Anton could never do with all of the money in his possession, and that made the rapper smile slightly. "Tinka – "
"Ty, if my parents disown me, I'll still have you," Tinka reminded him, lovingly. "Trust me, there isn't another man in this world more worthy of me than you."
CeCe and Dina smiled sweetly at the loving words Tinka had spoken to Ty, while Deuce, although happy for the couple, gagged a bit from the overloaded display of affection.
"I'm not going to marry Anton," Tinka said to Ty, firmly. "I'm staying with you, but only if you want to stay with me."
"Always," Ty promised, pulling Tinka into a tight hug.
Tinka smiled into Ty's shoulder as she lovingly returned the embrace.
"Um, not to kill the mood or anything," Dina began, causing the couple to pull back from each other, "but you two still need a way to prove to Tinka's parents that you two are serious about staying together.
"Dina's got a point," Deuce agreed. "Tinka's parents may not even follow through on their threat to disown her. Tinka saying she wants to stay with Ty might not be enough for her parents to stop trying to marry her to Anton."
"Well, Anton can't marry her if she's unavailable," CeCe pointed out.
"And how exactly do we make me unavailable?" Tinka asked, raising an eyebrow. "Hopefully, killing me isn't an option."
"I got it!" Ty exclaimed, snapping his fingers. The idea hit him like a ton of bricks. Sure, there were a lot of details that needed to be worked out, but he hoped they would work in his and Tinka's favour.
"What is it?" Tinka asked, anxiously. "What do you have in mind?"
"It just might work," Ty said, ignoring Tinka's question, "but I have to run it by Rocky first."
Before Tinka or anyone else at the table could reply, Ty bolted out of his seat and dashed across the cafeteria, pushing students that were in his way aside. A lot of them watched with bewildered looks on their faces as the rapper flew out the cafeteria doors and into the hallway.
"I wonder what his idea is," Dina said, her eyes still on the doors.
Tinka shrugged and resumed eating her lunch. As she shoved a few pieces of romaine lettuce in her mouth, she silently prayed to her ancestors that whatever plan Ty had in mind would be a success.
The library of John Hughes High school was relatively empty, except for a few honour society students, who were working diligently on various assignments or studying. All of them were closely from the front desk by Ms. Burke, the librarian, that is, when she was not drawing more rings on her fingers with markers.
The doors to the library opened and Ty rushed inside. He stopped momentarily to catch his breath, before he began his search for Rocky. He knew that she only skipped lunch with her friends when she had something important to do for school.
After a quick search between bookshelves, Ty found Rocky in the computer lab. She seemed to be multitasking successfully; she had a half-eaten egg salad sandwich in one hand and the mouse of the computer in front of her in the other.
"Hey, Rocky," Ty whispered, appearing next to her.
"Ty?" Rocky said, looking up at her brother in surprise. He rarely came to the library, so she figured it must be important for him to find her there. "What's up?"
"I need to talk to you," Ty told her, urgently.
"Okay, but make it fast," Rocky answered. Although she was willing to listen to what Ty had to say, she had research to finish for her world history project on the ancient Incan civilization. "I have work to do."
"Tinka's parents still want her to marry Anton," Ty explained to her. "They think he's a good match for her because they have common interests."
"Not that many," Rocky pointed out, "just ballroom dancing and devotion to family."
"It doesn't matter, they still think she's compatible with him," Ty told her. "They even threatened to disown her if she doesn't break up with me sometime this week and accept Anton's marriage proposal this weekend."
"No way!" Rocky cried in horror. She knew Tinka parents would good people, but never thought they would be so careless as to force Tinka to marry someone she did not love. "What is she going to do?"
"She loves me, Rocky," Ty said, smiling at the statement he just made. "She doesn't care if she gets disowned as long as I'm willing to be with her."
"And you are, aren't you?" Rocky asked, cracking a smile of her own.
"For the rest of my life," Ty answered without hesitation, "but Tinka and I still need to prove to her parents that we are serious about each other, and get Tinka out of her arranged marriage with Anton."
"I'm guessing that's where I come in," Rocky said with a smirk.
"Yeah, pretty much," Ty said with a laugh. "I have a plan that might work, but I need your help and support."
"Anything for my brother and the girl he loves, who's also a good friend of mine," Rocky answered, happily. "Tell me what you need me to do."
"Open a new tab," Ty instructed, gesturing to the open Internet browser on Rocky's computer. "I need you to help me find out the age of consent to marry in the state of Illinois."
"What?" Rocky questioned in confusion, "but I thought you don't want Anton to marry Tinka."
"I don't," Ty said, turning Rocky to face the computer screen, "I want to marry her."
Chapter 10 Up! Questions? Comments? Should I continue?
Please Review! Reviews are greatly appreciated! =D
~TeenQueen661