Once upon a time...
It was summer, the hottest season of the year. One day was particularly hot, so I went to the lake with a group of friends. The lake was a popular place among the citizens in the land far far away. We didn't have a beach, so it was the best place to cool down when it got hot. It was common to see people you knew at the lake, but he was the last person I thought I'd see, since it had been years since our last encounter. Standing not even thirty feet away from me, was Cedric. (review chapter one)
Before I had transferred schools, I made sure to make Cedric pay for breaking my heart. I would tell all the teachers when he'd be messing around in class. Once, I even got him kicked out of the class. Proudest moment of my life, I'd have to say. I spread rumors and was as cruel to him as you can possibly be to a human.
Due to the way I had treated him, it caught me extremely off guard when he came up and hugged me. He was still the same Cedric I knew, but a much manlier version. I could feel his muscle in his hug, he had grown a little bit taller, wore his hair a little shorter, and his teeth had straightened out a little bit. But his eyes and laugh were still the same. His charisma and charm still radiated off him.
I ended up spending the whole time at the lake with Cedric. It was like we had never stopped being friends. He teased me and splashed me and would dunk me under the water. We chatted and caught up on everything exciting in our lives from the last couple years. When it was time to leave, Cedric asked me to go to his cottage with him. My friends didn't mind, so I did.
When we arrived at the familiar home, he wanted to go on a ride with him. He helped me mount his horse and then hopped on and we rode off. Where we were going, I was not really sure. I didn't mind, however. It just felt good to hold Cedric again and be with him. The horse followed a pathway through the woods. We reached a clearing at the end, towards the edge of a cliff, and that's where Cedric brought the horse to a stop.
He hopped off the horse and then helped me slide off. We found a rock big enough for the both of us and sat down, watching the sun setting. A fairy fluttered by. A songbird sang in the tree nearby. Everything was so perfect. Cedric turned to me. I looked at him and smiled. He brushed the hair away from my face and then pulled my head towards him. His forehead rested on mine and the butterflies began to go crazy in my stomach. Then he kissed me. This first kiss was WAAAAAAY better from our first, first kiss. He had much improved. Thank goodness.
"Why'd you do that?" I whispered. "It felt right," Cedric responded. I looked at him, knowing what he meant, but surprised that he felt the same. "But you hated me. After everything I did..." I said, but he cut me off and kissed me again. "Brailee, there's just something about you. Maybe it's the first love thing," he said. "What do you mean?" I asked. "Brails, you never forget your first love. You're first love, it never dies."
Apparently it doesn't, because we began dating again after that. My family was overjoyed to see their "adopted son" again. He spent time at my castle every day. Everything was the same as it was two years ago. My almost prince charming had returned. Maybe, just maybe this time our story would end happily ever after.
We began to make new memories, just as good as they were before. We'd be silly and goofy. We'd go to banquets and shows. We'd stare at the stars and talk like we used to. He knew every thought I had and everything I had gone through in our time apart. Once he even took me exploring to a cave! The climb up the mountain was intense and I complained the entire way up. Every ten minutes, I'd make him take a break. We'd snack on treats the cooks made us. He'd tease me for being such a wimp and I told him I'd have him punished for torturing me. Then we'd laugh and kiss and he'd scoop me up and make me start walking again. I was exhausted by the time we got to the cave, but like Cedric had promised, it was worth it. It was always worth it when I was with him. Every moment was perfect.
One day, after school, I walked up to my chamber. On the chamber door was a letter. I opened it. The letter read, "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish you might, be my princess at the ball tonight." I pushed the door open. Stars were cut and strung and were hanging from the ceiling and plastered all over my walls. And standing in the middle of my chambers was Cedric, holding a bouqet of flowers. "Once upon a time, Princess Brailee, we talked about all the balls we would attend in the future. I'd like to attend the first of many, together, tonight," he said. I smiled and wrapped my arms around him and kissed him. "You're awfully lucky I don't have a date already tonight. I'm in pretty high demand you know," I teased. "Being the fairest in all the land, I do not doubt that," he said and kissed me.
That night we attended the ball. The weather was terrible. It was raining and windy and my hair was ruined, but I had the best date in all the land and not a care in the world. We danced until our feet hurt and we laughed until we had chiseled stomach muscles.
Unfortunately, the ball brought back the memory of the fall ball years ago, where Cedric had chosen another maiden over me. And my insecurities set in.
Cedric could tell, the way he always could tell. A few days after the ball, I told my ladies in waiting that I was going on a walk, but told no one where to. Cedric found me though, standing on the bridge over the river in the woods. My favorite place to think. I was tossing pebbles into the water. No one else was around so his voice startled me.
"Brailee, are you ok?" he asked. I jumped and turned to see him standing there with the wind ruffling his hair a little. "I'm fine," I responded and turned my attention back to throwing pebbles. "Don't lie to me," he said. I sighed, not wanting to say what I was thinking, but proceeded to anyways. "You hurt me. Unimaginably hurt me two years ago," I said, still not looking at him. "How could you do that to me?" He walked over to me and wrapped his arms around me. "Brailee, I had no idea. I'm so sorry," he said. I started to cry and muttered, "I don't trust you this time. Our relationship feels the same as before, but it's not." He still held me tight. "Brails, I'll never hurt you again. I'll do whatever it takes to prove that to you," he said wiping my tears. "Can we go back to the castle now? Everyone's worried about you." I agreed, he took my hand, and we walked back to the castle.
Cedric tried to prove his love for me, but slowly began to fade out of my life. He was still as sweet as ever, but I saw him less and less. Every time I asked him about it, he said he was just spending a lot of time with his buddy Godric and not to worry. He promised not to hurt me again so I chose to believe him and not worry.
We made plans to attend the sword fighting match together one evening. Cedric said he'd meet me there, so I attended with my best friend Shar. When we got there, Cedric was no where to be seen. We found Godric pretty quickly though. He's one of the tallest men in the land, so it wasn't hard. Shar and I walked over to him. He stood, bowed to me, and greeted Shar. He then took his seat, and we took a seat beside him. "Where's Cedric at? I thought he was going to be here," I said. Godric's attention was on the sword fight, but he responded, "Probably with Amita. He's always with Amita. I never see him anymore."
Amita. The girl he had chosen over me before. The girl I had been so insecure about. This whole time he'd been seeing her, not Godric. So much for my prince charming. No way would my prince charming hurt me like this. Especially not after a second chance. Anger fueled inside of me, and I could hardly sit still throughout the rest of the match. I had to control my emotions. It would be unprincess-like to make a scene about it. I knew Shar could see through the fake smile and calmness I was presenting to everyone else, but she also knew it was better not to say anything. And she knew, that for his safety, Cedric better not show up.
After the match, we socialized with friends and citizens. When most of the people had gone home, we decided it would be best to go as well. We said goodbye to Godric and started to head out, when I saw Cedric. He was in an embrace with a girl I knew to be Amita's cousin. Shar saw him too and grabbed my arm. "Brailee do not say anything to him. Ignore him and lets go."
I couldn't. He had played me for a fool twice. And I was far too angry to just leave now. I started to walk towards him. "Brailee, what are you doing?" Shar said, following close behind. I was on fire at this point. There was no turning back. Cedric was still in a conversation with Amita's cousin when I reached him. He saw me approach though and turned. Cedric could always read me like a book, and it took only a split second for him to realize I knew about Amita. He opened his mouth to say something, but didn't get a chance.
I raised my hand and slapped him. People stared, but I didn't care. I knew it was unprincess-like and I would be lectured later, but he deserved it. No words were exchanged. Everything that needed to be said, was said loud and clear with that one slap. I turned, straightened my posture and my dress, and marched out of the arena with what was left of my dignity.
And we lived happily never after.
