The Feeling of Betrayal

The next day I decide to stay home until I have enough courage to finally go to school. Luckily when I arrive, it is already time for lunch. I walk over and sit down by Laruen and Stephanie at our usual table.

"Hey where did you go last night?"

"I had to go get some air so I went outside for awhile but then I was not feeling well so I just went home."

"Well you will never believe who showed up at Adam's house last night."

'Oh no? I think I have a pretty good idea who showed up last night. The only question is why go bother my friends instead of just leaving after I did.'

"Who was it?"

"It was Alexander, he said he wanted to talk to me."

'Wait, Alexander stayed to talk to Lauren? Why would he do that? What could he possibly want to talk to her about?'

"What did he say?"

"Well…"

Before she can finish her sentence, Alexander unexpectedly appears and sits down on the other side of her.

"Hey you," he says looking at her.

"Hey yourself."

A small gasp escapes me as I watch Alexander lean toward Lauren to kiss her lips.

'What in the world is going on?!?!?'

He peers at me over Lauren's shoulder and smiles.

"Okay, I am beyond confused," I admit.

"Well like I said before, Alexander wanted to talk to me last night. He apologized for how he played my feelings off earlier and asked me out when he came over last night."

She looks at him with a passionate look and a smile on her face.

"Wait, and you said yes," I exclaim, not thinking about it.

Alex smiles, "is that a problem?"

I shake my head and try to turn my feelings off. I cannot let Alexander know that this bothers me in any way.

"No, not at all. Look I have to go, I will see you later Lauren."

I grab my things giving Alexander a dirty look as I get up and walk away.

'Why would he ask Lauren out if we are supposed to get married? Is this supposed to be some kind of payback for turning him down or does this mean he has finally given up on us? I guess I should be glad that I do not have to marry him anymore, but there is still this horrible feeling I have inside myself that I do not recognize.'

Instead of staying for the rest of the school day, I decide to just go back home. By the time I have finally gotten home, it is completely storming outside.

'I find it funny that the weather has changed to match my mood right now.'

The lightning lights up the night sky as the thunder booms outside. I sit on my bed trying to calm my breathing and not be so scared. For some weird reason, I have always been scared of thunderstorms, but I do not understand why. I try to read a book or listen to music but nothing is working at all to take my mind off of Lauren and Alexander.

The thought of them dating and kissing one another brings pain to my stomach as well as my heart.

'Why is this bothering me so much? I do not want to be with him, so why do I care about him dating my friend? Or am I just lying to myself about everything? Do I actually care? All this worrying is making me very tired.'

I walk up to the attic and through the door to my other home. Exhaustion hits me as I lay down on my bed and go straight to sleep.

* * * *

The sun shines from the balcony onto my face to wake me up. I gently get up and walk out to look around outside. The flowers look prettier than ever as they glisten in the sunlight.

"Excuse me Miss Dragomir."

I turn around to see Charles is standing in my bedroom doorway.

"Hello Charles. Can I help you?"

"Your parents would like to speak with you."

"Oh, did they say what it is about?"

He just smiles at me before walking out of the room and making his way down the hallway. Of course this must have something to do with Alexander. I follow him down the hall to another set of stairs that lead up to a hidden door to a room. Charles opens the door and motions for me to go inside. I spot my parents sitting on a futon couch by the far wall. They both get up to wrap my arms in theirs and lead me out onto their balcony.

"We wanted to let you know that the wedding has been cancelled. You will not be the next queen of Andalucia. After us, there will be no one to rule."

"What do you mean by no one to rule? What is so important about me getting married? I can still be a queen without a king."

"To be queen, you must marry and bond to one another to fulfill the prophecy.You can never break the bond. It is what has been done for centuries."

I look from my mother to my father.

"You were not able to catch his attention and now your friend has instead of you. Is that what you wanted to happen?"

"I do not know what I want anymore," I admit out loud.

"You need to figure it out right away and grow up. You are not a child anymore Celeste."

"Yes mother," I say before bowing my head to my parents and walking out of their bedroom.

Walking back to my bedroom, I realize I am not lying to myself anymore.

'I have no idea what I want. Do I want to stay here and admit that I am actually a princess and follow through with the whole marriage thing? Do I want to be with Alexander or have I just been lying to myself all this time? What do I want?'

Alexander's name keeps coming to my mind. No matter how hard I try to push it to the back of my mind, it will not go away. I lay down in my comfortable bed, dreaming of what would happen if I just give in to my fantasies and quit denying them.