"No, I'm not doing it." Talia said with a straight face, arms folded across her chest.

"C'mon, he's not that bad!" Auriana coaxed as she shoved a picture of a guy of about eighteen or nineteen in her face.

"He's not bad at all. But that's not really the point" Talia replied, with an expression that suggested she'd rather talk about something else.

"Then what is the point?" Iris mused, clearly enjoying the conversation.

"The point is I'm not particularly interested in boys at the moment. I have a Kingdom to save, oracle gems to find, songs to write and a princess to train!" Talia said pointedly to Iris, "so I apologize if I can't afford to suffer any distractions, especially one as ridiculous as this!"

"We're not saying you have to drop everything to go chase boys, we just want you to live a little, and have a little fun. This guy's really cute and life is way to short to pretend you don't have emotions or feelings or… anything!" Iris giggled.

"Ah come on, Talia. He's really cute and he's coming for Nathaniel's thing tonight at the bar".

"smoothie tasting for new flavors," Iris corrected, "And yeah, you should totally meet him. There'll be lots of people and we'll be there too! Trust me, it'll be fine Talia." she smiled.

Talia stared at the photo, still shoved in her face by Auriana, and contemplated. She looked deeply at his piercing green eyes the color of a grassy plane, his messy light brown curls that framed his forehead, at the lightly freckled bridge of his nose, his thin lips, how delicately it curved into a half smile. He really was cute, she thought. But she didn't know how she felt about dating at the moment.

She wasn't always the most sociable of people, that was plain to see. Especially in her interaction with boys. It's not as if she didn't ever feel attracted to guys, after all once upon a time she was in a relationship, but that relationship is currently the reason she didn't want to give this beautiful man a chance.

Kyle. Her first and last Boyfriend. At first he seemed like a really sweet guy; giving her huge bouquets of her favorite flower in her favorite color, taking her on museum dates, bike riding, picnic date. It almost felt like a fever dream, unreal…but as it turned out it was probably unreal the entire time.

Their relationship was picture perfect until the day she walked into Nate's smoothie bar and she saw him inhaling the face of The Blonde Bimbo he had hired to help out with the summer rush. She could remember it like it happened a week ago, though it happened last summer, the hurt still fresh like an open wound.

At first, she was horrified, staring with her mouth agape, but she quickly gathered her equilibrium and realized she had to control herself. She couldn't let silly emotions make her lose her calm, and she most certainly couldn't be weak.

"Kyle." She had said in a frighteningly calm voice.

"Talia! W-what are you doing here?" He said as he detached himself from The Blonde Bimbo, both wearing similar weary expressions as they gaped at Talia.

"I came to get drinks for our picnic this evening…but I never expected to see a show of my ex-boyfriend kissing the waitress." She mused.

"This isn't what it looks-...wait. Ex-boyfriend?" He had asked as realization washed over his features.

"I don't remember stuttering..." She said with an obtuse expression.

"And you," she said to the frightened waitress, a small smile on her lips. "don't look so scared. I actually ought to thank you for showing me what a fool I've been…"

Suddenly she realized she had gained an audience of the customers who had stopped noisly slurping their drinks to see what all the fuss was about.

She turned towards them and clapped her hands once, smiling a small fake smile. "Well ladies and gentlemen, that's our show. Hope you enjoyed it!"

"Talia, please i can explain-" Kyle started, helplessly.

"Explain? Oh I'm sure you could, but I'm not really in a listening mood at the moment…Now carry on, don't let me stop you. I believe You stopped at the part where you were devouring her face." She turned and headed towards the door.

"Talia please-"

"Goodbyeee Kyle." And with that she left Kyle, his bimbo, and the audience who had began cheering her on, behind her and headed out onto the street.

She was proud of herself. Proud that she hadn't yelled, or cried, or crystal colidumed him or his Bimbo into next week, that she had kept her cool and walked out there with her dignity intact. But the further she walked, and pondered on everything that had happened, the more she felt this overwhelming urge to scream, and cry like a child. No, she had told herself, I'm a princess and a popstar and an intellectual, the last thing I'm going to do is cry over kyle. Plus Izira would be very disappointed to see me crying over an earth boy of all things.

She hadn't planned to tell auriana and iris. She had planned to simply not say anything and if they would ask about kyle, tell them he moved away or something. Yeah, they didn't need to know anyways. But as she walked through the magical barrier and unlocked the front door with her keys, she immediately stood face to distressed faces with the blonde and redhead.

"Oh honey," Auriana had said, distress laced in her voice. "Are you okay?"

"We heard about what happened in the bar today. Someone told Nate, and Nate called and told us" iris said "we're sorry."

Thanks a lot, Nate. Talia internally rolled her eyes.

Why are you sorry?? She wanted to ask, It's fine! Kyle is a loser and he never deserved me anyways. Let's have a picnic of our own with the stuff I'd planned to use to picnic with him, and we can make a little bonfire and burn half his stuff and give him the other half…Because I'm nice like that. She would say, and they would laugh.

But as soon as she opened her mouth to say these things, she burst into tears.

Something of a small "awww" escaped from the voltan and Ephedian as they enveloped her in the warmth of their embrace.

They led her towards the sofa and sat her down. Iris went into her room to get a blanket and Auriana, into the kitchen to get some chocolate chip cookies and a chilled glass of milk. They wrapped the blanket around themselves, dropped the milk and cookies on a table before them, and before talia knew it she was engrossed in a full-on crying session.

"I just don't know what i did wrong!" Talia sobbed, her chest heaving as she bit into a cookie drenched in milk. She was already crying, why not go full-on hysterical? "Was I…boring? Was it all the museum dates? I always thought he liked the art! i must have bored him into the arms of that bimbo".

"Hey, don't do that…don't blame yourself, okay? You were an amazing girlfriend! anyone would be very fortunate to go out with you. Kyle is a loser, he had one of the best people he'll probably ever have in his life and lost her because his eyes wondered too far. I mean how many guys can say they've dated a princess, a popstar, a genius and an absolute badass all in one? The answer? not a lot. So trust me, its his loss, not yours."

Ariana nodded enthusiastically as she bit into one of the cookies "yeah Taliamhfm, you're literally...mphpnm…perfect."

Talia couldn't help but smile at the sight and sound of Ariana speaking with her mouth full.

She laughed suddenly, "If Izira saw me crying like this she'd be so disappointed.".

"Honestly, if I were Izira and saw you crying like this, I'd be very disappointed too. You're way too good for Kyle." Iris joked.

"Yeah!" Auriana shrieked, spitting out cookie crumbs.

They had all laughed, hugged and spent the rest of that day snuggled in the blanket, shit-talking kyle, and eating cookies.

But since that day, Auriana and Iris had made it their personal mission to get Talia a boyfriend. They were constantly showing her pictures of guys, introducing her to them and coaxing her into going on dates. She knew they were coming from a good place, but she just didn't think she was ready to put her heart out there yet. She didn't think she was ready to trust guys again.

"Talia!" Auriana laughed "what do you say?"

Talia blinked, snapping out of her reverie and back to reality "huh?"

Iris and auriana exchanged knowing glances, "Are you okay? …" Iris asked, "Is this this about kyle?" Auriana asked, tentatively.

Talia frowned deeply taking offense at their speculation. She didn't want them thinking she was weak or she was still sad about kyle, even if it was true.

"No, it's not about kyle! you know what…" Talia said as she glanced again at the picture in aurianas hand, "I'll do it! I'll meet with this guy…what's his name again?" Auriana replied, "Theo". She continued, "This guy, Theo...but on the condition that if I don't like him, you'll stop making me go on these dates, and believe me when I say I'm fine!"

Iris pondered for a moment before she replied. "…okay, you have yourself a deal!"

The brunette, blonde and redhead extended their arms for a three way handshake.

"Trust me, you'll love him!" auriana said with a wink and giggle as they detached their hands.

"I'm regretting this already..." Talia said with a resigned sigh.

...

"Are you ready Talia?" Ariana yelled from the living room downstairs.

"Yeah just give me a sec!" Talia yelled back from her room.

She sighed and whispered to herself "this is pretty casual, right? Just two people meeting up at a smoothie bar to chill and talk…yeah, just a casual look for a casual meeting."

She stared herself down in the mirror, eyeing her plain blue tank top, her white tailored shorts, her strapped sandals that matched the color of her shirt, her loose hair curling lightly at the tips, bangs falling slightly into her eyes; her lips stained with her favorite liner and gloss combination, and sighed contentedly. If this doesn't say 'casual', I don't know what does. She didn't need this guy getting any ideas. It was just a casual little get-together-datish thing at Nate's was all. Plus it was the middle of summer and she had to combat the heat somehow.

She turned away from the mirror, picked up her purse and checked to make sure she had her wallet, her taser, – she couldn't use magic in public, but she found a very enjoyable substitute for it – and her lipgloss (dry lips are a big pet peeve of hers), were all with her. With one last glance at her mirror, she left her bedroom and started down the stairs.

She had barely reach the bottom of the stairs before she heard Auriana squeal, a huge grin on her face, "wow, you look great Talia!".

"I second that!" iris said with a sincere smile on her face.

The blonde and redhead were equally as beautiful and casual. Iris wore a white short sundress spotted with little flowers, her shiny blonde hair a low ponytail, with little romantic ringlets framing her angelic face, her amazonian-style sandals a pretty rose color, while auriana was in an orange crop top and a pair of overall shorts, her red hair held up in a messy bun, tendrils framing her beautiful face, and her favorite orange sandals with the shimmery straps comfy-looking on her feet.

"Thank you," Talia said returning their smiles with an enthusiastic smile of her own. "you both look beautiful! But I've never seen those overalls before auriana, are they new?...hold on! are those mine-"

"Well, would you look at the time!" auriana interrupted, a slight pink tint on her cheeks as she checked her bare hand "we better get going we don't wanna be late!"

She mumbled all sorts of unintelligible nonsense as she ran towards the front door, burst it open, ran past the barrier and into the street.

Iris and Talia shared confused expressions, then burst out laughing, as they walked out the front door trying to catch up with auriana at the rate she was going.

...

They were already two hours into their date, but from the moment she layed eyes on him she wanted to turn around and leave. He had seemed nice for the most part when he had smiled at her, pulled up her seat and complimented her sandals. But as the date went on, she realized she didn't even want to be his friend, more or less his girlfriend.

For one, he was wearing a leather jacket. In the middle of summer! If that didn't already scream fuckboy she didnt know what did. And also, it was very pretentious, wearing leather in the summer. And one thing she couldn't stand were fake people.

She couldn't run away. She'd already tried…twice. The first time she had planned to go to the bathroom to "powder her nose", climb out the window and run away, but iris had known she'd try something, so she'd left the table where she was laughing with Nathaniel, stood by the door as Talia approached and said, "not so fast! You still two hours left as per our agreement." and she groaned as she had walked back to her seat. If the ignoramus had noticed she had left, he made no indication.

The second time, she had tried to bolt though the front door, but auriana was quicker as she jumped out of her seat where she was chatting animatedly with Doug and bolted to the door, blocking Talia as she said with a triumphant smile, "don't.even.think about it." Talia had frowned, rolling her eyes as she found her way back to her seat.

She really had tried to get to know him, ignoring his leather jacket and dark blue denim jeans, to see what iris and auriana found charming enough to insist heavily that she had to go out with him, to see the person beyond the front.

But after about thirty minutes of speaking to him, she realized that there was no person, just front. Though she could see how iris and auriana – heck, anyone! – could find him charming. For one he was beautiful, of that she had no doubt, especially now that she was seeing him in person. secondly he had really nice manners; he had pulled up her chair for her and complimented her sandals, which she found really sweet, and he was also really nice to the waiter when he had come to take their order, – him ordering the new plum smoothie, her ordering the new grapefruit surprise (the surprise was the added hazelnut that was surprisingly delicious) – and she saw that as another green flag. But pretense and fronts can only take you so far before your true personality begins to shine through.

She had asked what he did and he told her he was a male model, which was evident in itself. She had asked about his hobbies and he said motorcycling, taking pictures and going to the gym which were all pretty normal responses. This isn't as bad as I thought it would be, she had thought to herself, it's actually going quite well. But the deeper they talked, the more she regretted that thought.

For one, he kept tapping away at his phone and taking pictures. And it wasnt as though she had a problem with people taking pictures or using their phones or anything lame like that, but she found it incredibly rude that he had been doing so even though he was with someone, and on a date for that matter.

And once he had started talking about how big his house was, how much he made in a week, how many girls were in his DM's, how many girls wanted to sleep with him, his venture into crypto and how successful it was going, how many flashy cars he owned etcetera etcetera, she knew she wanted absolutely nothing to do with him. The worst part is she could barely get a word in. Each time she'd try to talk about herself he'd instantly steer the conversation back to himself. For instance, she had started to bring up the band when he said "yeah, I know, you're in that band, uhh, lolipop or something…you know, I have a friend who's in a band, maybe you've heard of him, he's opened for a lot of famous celebrities and he played at my birthday last year…" and started yapping off about himself.

She felt like she had been set up. Every time he would take a break from his endless droning to tap away on his phone, she would turn to iris or auriana to mouth a 'help me' and they would only smile, give her a thumbs up and mouth back a 'you're doing great!' or 'its fiiiiine!!'.

Not to mention the weirdest part of this whole affair. There was a guy a table away who had been staring at her all evening. He had been staring at the princesses as soon as they walked in, his seat a table away from where her disaster of a "date" would play out. And as soon as Theo had pulled up her seat and she had sat down, she could feel the intensity of his lingering stare on every inch of her, even when she wasn't looking. For the most part she was ignoring him, but every once in a while she'd catch his stare and hold it. There was something so familiar about him. It wasn't the dishwater blonde of his messy hair or the unfamiliar curve of his lips. No, it wasn't any of that. It was his eyes. There was something so familiar about them. His eyes were a deep sea of jade, and they were alight with mischief and trouble, almost daring her to come and see what layed behind them.

At one point she found herself getting up to walk over to him and see what really layed behind those eyes, but just as quickly, she stopped herself. What are you doing? she had asked herself, this is probably just a normal guy who doesn't know that staring intensely at people you don't know is very weird. Just ignore him.

And she did for the rest of the time she was there, trying to focus on "listening" to Theo. For the most part she had just taken to ignoring him. She would slurp her smoothies noisily when he would start talking, and in that brief space of time when she would run out and wait for the waiter to bring a new one, she was would just smile and nod enthusiastically.

But after four grapefruit surprises, three icy apples and multiple nods, she wasn't sure how much more her neck or bladder could take. She hadn't really been listening to him explain how many well known designers and brands had wanted to work with him, until he stopped abruptly, reached into a hidden pocket of his leather jacket, and brought out a mini cask.

"What are you doing?" she asked brows furrowing as she watched him unscrew the cask.

"These drinks are so tastelss, I felt like it needed a little something…if you know what I mean." He wiggled his brows as he poured a little of the clear liquid into his dragonfruit pop (a dragon fruit smoothy that had faint hints of bubblegum).

Talia felt a small flash of anger. Nate's smoothies were amazing! I mean, how does one infuse dragon fruit and bubblegum and make it taste delicious? She was about to tell him as much before a boy of about fourteen or fifteen came up to their table.

"Hey man, got any more of the good stuff?" The boy whispered to Theo, an arrogant smile on his lips. "My friends and I are getting tired of drinking this slop."

"Sure, just don't let Nate see you alright-"

"You've been giving them alcohol? This kid and his friends look barely thirteen!" Talia almost yelled, her rage barely contained. She could understand it if he was drinking, he was nineteen and a model, and this was France, but giving drinks to little boys was what she was not prepared to let slide.

A few heads had turned their direction at her outburst, including the green-eyed stranger who had been staring her down all night, but right now she didn't care about that.

"Keep your voice down!" Theo whispered harshly, frowning at her for bringing unwanted attention their way.

"Not that its any of your business, but I'm fourteen and I know what I'm doing." the boy replied, every word out of his mouth dripping with insolence.

"Do you? What does a fourteen year old boy know about alcohol?!" Talia nearly laughed. The whole situation was so incredibly stupid, it was hilarious.

She looked from Theo to the boy and back again. The boy stared blankly at her, but Theo scowled deeply, and ran a shaky hand through his hair.

"You must be fun at parties, mom! lighten up, its just a little whiskey…" Theo said as he handed the cask to the boy who chuckled lightly. "you know, when your friends told me about you and thought we should meet and get to know each other, I thought you were cute and it would be fun, but after spending three miserable hours with you, I would say otherwise. You're so boring and stiff and cold. At least thats what the regulars who were here the day your boyfriend dumped you told me when I asked."

Talia stood up abruptly. She had just as much as she could stomach from this Numbskull. Who did he think he was talking to? She was the princess of Xeris and she didn't have to take anything he was saying. She could use a crystal to blast him into next week. But she couldn't do that, not here anyways and not for a reason like this.

All eyes were on their table, including iris, auriana and the strange starer's, due to the abrupt way she stood and how her amber eyes were shooting daggers into his muted green ones. Suddenly she began laughing, a deep, throaty cackle, that hunched her over as she slapped her thighs.

The room was dead silent as she stood upright and used a finger to wipe away a tear when she finally stopped laughing, everyone staring at her like she was crazy.

"First off," she started, "Nathaniel's smoothies are art, fucking art! How many people do you know can mix grapefruit and hazelnut or dragon fruit and bubblegum and not make it taste like shit? You should be honored to be one of the people he invited to for a taste test. And if he really wanted alcohol in here, don't you think he would have made this place a night club? Its a smoothie bar for crying out loud!"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nate smile. "Secondly, I would rather be "stiff" and "boring" and "cold" than vane, and fake and a complete asswipe! Even after all that talking, I don't know one thing about you! You're so pretentious and all you care about is your face and being cared about…You're a beautiful loser who believes the world revolves around him, and if that's what it means to be "fun", then I think I'll stick to being boring!"

She was on a roll. Her audience collectively held their breaths. The mysterious stranger a table away chuckled. Theo looked like he had something to say, but the look in talia's eyes told him it was best not to interrupt her.

"And finally," Talia began, turning to address not just Theo, but the entire bar, "Since most of you have nothing better to do than discuss me and my love life for a whole year…let me help put some things into perspective for your next gossip session! Kyle did not "dump" me. I walked in here last summer, and saw my ex-boyfriend with his tongue down the throat of some bar girl and I dumped him, on the spot. That's it. That's what happened. None of you are entitled to any information about me or my life, but if you're going to talk about me at least do it RIGHT!"

She walked over to the boy, still standing near Theo, now paralyzed with fear and stretched out her hand wordlessly. He immediately put the cask in her hand and scurried off back to his friends, whispering.

She walked back towards Theo, unscrewed the cask and dumped it's contents over his head "and you're absolutely correct, I'm not fun at parties."

He was yelling about how expensive his jacket is and how hard it would be to replace it as she picked up her purse, heading towards the door.

"Wait!" Iris yelled racing towards her friend "are you okay? That was intense…"

Auriana who was already close to the door, walked towards her and held unto her arms saying, "we're so sorry Talia, we didn't know he was such an asshole!"

"Its okay," she replied glancing towards him as he yelled at nate about his jacket and its cost, though he was barely listening. "he seems charming doesn't he?"

"Are you sure you're fine? We can leave you know..." Said Iris.

"Yeah!" auriana agreed.

"No, no…you guys stay, have fun! You still have an hour more. Don't worry about me, I just need a little space to clear my head, I'll be fine." Talia said

The Voltan and Ephedian shared worried glances.

"I'm fine! Trust me. I'm fine, okay?" Talia insisted, laughing exasperatedly.

"If you're sure…" said auriana.

"Believe me, I am. Go mingle, have fun!"

She had opened the door, about to leave, before remembering something. She turned, a kind smile on her face, "Oh, and Nate? Thanks for inviting me, the smoothies were delicious as always!"

"Of course!" Nate smiled, and she knew a moments satisfaction before glacing by Theo, sulking about his leather jacket, and noting that the green eyed stranger that had watched her all night had vanished. She frowned. He was just a weird guy who came for drinks.

She left the bar, walked a few feet towards the building next to it, leaned against it and sighed deeply, letting the events of today really sink in.

She felt hot tears sting her eyes, but she wiped at them as quick as they had appeared. Absolutely not! Its unacceptable, Crying over an asshat like him! And I'm not doing it. She thought stubbornly still wiping at her eyes.

"That was quite the show princess…"

She froze, her hand suspended in the air.

...

...

I finally uploaded my first story! AHHHHHH! well technically first chapter, but details, details. Sorry about the lack of Talisto in this first chapter, but as they say enemies to lovers isn't about the destination, its about the journey...do with this information what you will!

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oh and btw, if you wear leather jackets in the summer seek help lol