Why Can't I? He's Just A Stupid Prince: Prolauge

“Do you like your food?” Tristan asked as he took a sip of his drink.

“Yes! It is the best manicotti that I have ever had! I cannot believe that you found a place that serves food from heaven!” I said as I took another bite.

He laughed, “I’m glad you like it,” he said as he finished his food. “Okay, one more. What is your best memory of Antria?”

“Ooh, that’s a good one! I would have to say when my brother took me to a fair type thing that they held here once. We had spent two weeks here, and I was tired of being cooped up. He took me there to relieve some stress. It was a blast,” I smiled as I thought of the memory. “What about your favorite memory?”

“Well, I’ve lived here all my life; there are a lot of memories to go through. I’ll have to think about that one. Are you ready to go?” he asked as he saw that I was done eating.

“Sure,” I said taking one more sip of my Dr. Pepper and standing up. Tristan paid, and we left.

When we walked out there was a light rain falling on the ground. “Yay! It’s raining!” I said as I looked up.

“Yeah, let’s go before it gets worse and we can’t make it home!” He grabbed my wrist and started to run to the car.

When we got in, Tristan started the car and I turned on the heat. It was a little chilly outside!

On the car ride home, we just talked about Italian food and argued over which plate was the best. By the time we got to the castle, it was pouring down rain. This was typical of Antria, sunny one minute, and the next there was a storm.

We ran inside, but still managed to get soaked. We were cracking up as we walked in. We made our way up to our rooms, and I realized the deal that we had.

“Tristan, since I did so well at lunch, can I please have my bag back, please?!?” I practically begged.

Tristan opened his door. “Wait just a second and I’ll get it.” He dropped his jacket and went to his closet. He came out with my green bag. “Here you go. And thanks for going to lunch with me.”

“No problem, it was a great lunch!” I said greedily taking my bag.

“Wait, I forgot to show you around!”

“Oh yeah, but I need to get changed. Give me five minutes and I’ll be ready!” I said walking out.
“Okay, I’ll change too, and then I’ll come and get you.”

“Great.” I walked out and into my room. I changed into another pair of jeans, and a black T-shirt. I brushed my hair and fixed it a little, then redid my make-up that had started to run from the rain. I was plugging my iPod in when there was a knock at my door. “Come in!” I yelled from my bedside.

“Ready for the tour?” Tristan asked.

“Yes, I am!”

We walked down a couple hallways with Tristan pointing out libraries, studies, bathrooms, spare bedrooms, and various other rooms. Then we walked down the stairs and he showed me where the main kitchen, formal dining room, front parlor, and sitting rooms were. Then he led me back up the stairs, through a hallway, and down a set of steps that I over looked until we started walking towards them.

“This area is just for us during the engagement. It has a kitchen, a dining room, a game room, and access to the inside pool.”

He showed me where everything was. I was a little surprised that there a wing that was just for me and Tristan, but I guess they just expected that the Prince and I wanted our privacy.

When the ‘tour’ was over we went back to our rooms. I settled on the couch and watched some TV.

It was really weird. I finally got to talk to Tristan. I’ve talked to him before, but that was Prince Tristan. It was different today. He actually seemed like a normal guy, not a prince. I enjoyed it, but I didn’t think that it would last. It was probably just a rare thing that he actually acted like a person. I would most likely be spending more time with the Prince.

When my stomach growled I looked at my phone. *7:47* I decided that it was time to go eat dinner. I grabbed my phone and iPod and walked towards the ‘secret staircase’. I walked into the kitchen and was relieved when I didn’t see Tristan there. Even though we had a great day together, I still wasn’t exactly fond of the idea of marrying him. The time alone I had really made me realize how stupid I was acting earlier around Tristan. I decided to get along with him, but not too much, he would think that I liked him! I don’t of course!

‘You just keep telling yourself that.’

‘Not you again!’

‘You know you like him just a little bit.’

‘Why would I like him?’

‘Because he likes you for who you are. And he is fun to be around, and that gorgeous accent of his.’

‘I won’t deny that he is fun to be around, or that his accent makes me melt, but he doesn’t like me for who I am. He said it himself; he picked me because of what my father told him!’

‘That’s only because ya’ll don’t know how to tell the truth! He likes you for who you are, not because of what your father said and you really do like him!’

‘Stop talking to me!’

‘Fine, I’ll be back though.’

After finishing that frustrating conversation with myself, I found myself in the kitchen. I looked through the cabinet and the fridge and found everything to make a sandwich. I put my headphones in my ears, turned my iPod on, and started cooking.

The first song that came on was ‘Straightjacket Feeling’ by The All-American Rejects. I sang and danced along to it as I made my sandwich. When I finished making it, I put everything up as the song continued. I ate as a string of some of my other favorite songs came on. After the sandwich, I looked through the cabinets for more food. I found a bag of Cooler Ranch Doritos chips. I ate some of those before putting them up. I was full. I walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs, still singing and dancing to my iPod. I turned the corner to the hall that led to my room when I ran into something and fell to the ground, landing on my back.

“Whoa! Sorry!” Tristan said as he helped to get me off the ground.

I took my headphones out. “I’m so sorry! It was my fault!” I said as I stood upright.

“What were you doing?” Tristan asked me.

“I was d... going to my room. I just ate,” I said hurriedly.

“Okay, I was just going to eat myself.”

“Well, have fun!” I said as I walked around him.

I walked into my room and took a shower. I wasn’t very tired so I turned on the TV. I ended up just leaving it on a channel that had Atrian soap operas. I watched a couple, and then decided to read. I climbed into bed and read. I fell asleep while reading.

The next day I woke up early. It was only 7:03 when I got out of bed and looked at my clock. My neck was hurting because of the strange position that I fell asleep in last night since I had been reading. I decided to take a bath.

I rarely ever take baths, so I decided to go all out. I made it a bubble bath. I got it all ready by plugging my iPod into my portable speakers and putting it on shuffle. It was very relaxing. I lay there for a while just listening to the music before I decided that I didn’t want to fall asleep in there, so I finished up and got out. I left my iPod on, put a towel around me and walked out.

I went to my closet to get clothes when the door opened, but I didn’t hear it because my music was still going. I walked out of my closet holding onto my clothes and towel at the same time to find Tristan. His back was turned to me because he was walking to my bed, where it looked like I was asleep when I gasped. He heard me and turned around, expecting me to be fully clothed, but met with the awkward surprise that I was only wearing a towel. I was frozen to the spot. Both our eyes were wide.

“I’m so sorry Isabella, I was just coming to wake you up!” he said still looking at me.

“Get out!” I shouted a little surprised that he hadn’t made a move to the door before.

“Oh yeah,” he said as he looked away and hurried to the door. He muttered one last “sorry” and closed the door.

I was still shocked that he hadn’t knocked. I ran into the bathroom and shut and locked the door. I looked down and saw that my towel was barely covering up anything. I screamed inwardly. I hurried and got dressed and walked out of the bathroom, half expecting to see Tristan there waiting for me. He wasn’t there luckily. I brushed and blow dried my hair. I finished getting ready and headed down into ‘our’ kitchen. I made myself a cup of coffee and a bowl of Cheerios. I walked into the dining room and saw Tristan sitting there reading a paper. I didn’t say anything as I walked in and sat down. Tristan broke the silence after a few minutes.

“Isabella?” he asked.

“Huh?” I said through a mouthful of cereal.

“I’m very sorry about earlier. I didn’t expect that you were awake, and I certainly didn’t expect that you were, um, not dressed completely,” he apologized.

“It’s okay, I guess, but Tristan, never come in my room without knocking! It is an invasion of my privacy, and I really like my privacy!” I explained.

“Don’t worry, never again.”

“Good,” I said as I finished eating.

For the rest of the day I just stayed in my room pretty much. Even though I was a long way away from home, I felt more relaxed than I had since I had arrived. I left my room to check out the library and pool, and also for lunch and dinner. I only saw Tristan at dinner. He was making fish, so I joined him. We didn’t talk much, but that didn’t bother me. I was so excited about seeing Chris the next day, I didn’t care if we talked or not.

I fell asleep that night easily.