Once upon a time...
A storm was brewing and everyone in the school was sent to the corridors for our protection. We had to sit against the walls, with our hands over our heads. I was quite frightened and the boy next to me could tell. "It'll be ok, you're a princess. If the storm hits, you'll be the one they'll protect. Don't worry." I smiled at him. "I'm Brailee," I said and held out my hand. "Avery," he responded and shook it.
The storm raged outside, and for the next hour, we all sat huddled against the wall. Finally, the soldiers that patrolled the corridors gave us the ok to return to class. We all stood up, and that's when I got my first look at Avery. He was very tall. He had blonde hair and big blue eyes. He was pretty average looking. Had he not said anything to me during the storm, I'm not sure I ever would have noticed him. I told him it was a pleasure to meet him and I'd see him around. He smiled, a sweet, shy, innocent smile.
A few days later, I saw Avery at lunch. I walked over to him and asked if I could join him. He made room for me at his table and we began to chat. He told me about his family and his pet dog. He told me how he competed in chess. We had nearly nothing in common, but he was so sweet I wanted to spend more time with him.
Avery invited me to go out with him, his friend, and his friend's girlfriend to see a show. I agreed and went with them. The show was awful, but they were great company. When we were on our way home, the two boys decided they needed to use the loo. There was no loo anywhere near. I could not believe their dreadful manners when they had the coachman stop the carriage to let them out to use the loo in the wildnerness. The girl and I decided we'd teach them a lesson and asked the coachman to start driving off. We planned on returning to get the boys, after we made them wait it out a bit. What we didn't plan on, was the boys seeing us leaving them and Avery running in front of the horses. And nearly getting trampled.
The carriage came to a bumpy stop, and I immediately jumped out and ran to where Avery lay on the floor. "Oh no! Are you ok!?" I squeeked. Avery began to laugh. "I'm fine." I breathed a sigh of relief and helped him up. "You scared me to death! Why would you run in front of a moving carriage!? Have you lost your mind!?" I lectured. "Princess, I thought the coachman was kidnapping you. It was my duty to protect you," he responded. I looked at him, trying to read him. I wasn't sure if he was joking or if he was being serious. Avery, a knight in shining armor? He started laughing. "I'm just kidding, but you know it's kind of bad manners to ditch your date in the middle of nowhere, especially after they escorted you to a show," Avery said, still giggling. I nudged his arm teasingly and said, "What can I say!? It's part of my charm." I then gave him my trademark smile and climbed in the carriage.
I spent a lot of time with Avery after that date. We would eat lunch together. He would escort me to classes. He would stroll in the gardens with me. He became my best friend and we would laugh and tease each other all the time.
One particular day, Avery had a chess match at the school and I went to support him. After the match ended, we headed outside. The air had an eery feel to it. There was no one in sight. I was confused since my carriage should have been there. I felt a breath on the back of my neck. Avery was by my side and felt it too. He turned to see who, or what was behind us. He grabbed my hand and started running. It caught me off guard. "Avery, why are we running?" I asked. "Princess, do not turn around. Ignore it," he said. I'm not very good at being told what to do, and I turned my head. A dragon. They were rare and few. People hardly saw them in real life, and when they told stories about them, it was commonly believed to be a lie.
I, Brailee, now fully believe everyone's dragon story. It was frightening and traumatizing. I began to run faster. We ran around the corner of the school. We dodged the flames the dragon blew at us. We ran going no where in particular hoping to escape the dragon, but it followed.
Hope came when I saw a stampede of horses in the distance, and knew the knights were on their way. We just had to make it to them. My adrenaline kicked in and I ran faster, but not fast enough. I felt intense heat and could smell something burning. The dragon had spit fire and it caught my hair. "Avery, my hair!" I cried. He pulled his sleeves over his hands and covered my ignited hair, putting out the flame. Then he grabbed my hand and we continued running. I could feel the ground rumbling, and I knew we were going to make it.
Horses started racing by, and I soon felt an arm reach down and scoop me up onto a horse. It was my father, the king. He turned his horse in the opposite direction of the dragon and we headed back to my castle. Another knight followed close behind us, with Avery riding on the back of their horse.
From that moment on, me and Avery shared something special. He was no longer just my best friend. He rescued me from the dragon. He protected me. A knight in shining armor.
Our great relationship was not enough for me to endure another year at that school, however. There were too many terrifying memories, and I transferred to yet another school to study. I made new friends at my new school and Avery became extremely jealous and needy.
He began threatening to take his life, saying he was not good enough for me and didn't want to live. Numerous times, I took on the role of knight in shining armor and saved him from jumping out of windows and jumping off bridges and cliffs. It began to be too much of an effort to even be his friend. And slowly our relationship began to die.
Avery knew it, and he was convinced that the dying of our relationship was due to me being in love with someone else. He threatened the life of the boy he was so convinced I was in love with and then threatened to take his own life. I came to Avery's rescue one last time, to find him kneeling on the floor of his chambers, his arm bloody, creating a pool of blood on the floor under him.
I couldn't take it any longer. This was no Romeo and Juliet love story. Let the dragons eat me. Let me brave or die in a storm alone. Avery had gone too far. And I was not going down with him. I stepped backwards, disgusted at the scene in front of me. I ran out of the room, and as soon as I got to my castle, I told my father and mother. They sent a letter to Avery forbidding him from ever coming near me again and that if he did, he would face severe consequences.
And we lived happily never after.
