Once upon a time...
I'd seen him before. He was so funny and charismatic and sweet that I wasn't the only person who took note of him. Everyone who knew him adored him. Not because he was good looking, but because he had one of the best personalities of anyone I'd ever met.
Alden had dark hair, brown eyes, he was only a few inches taller than I, and had crooked teeth. Sometimes he wore glasses, sometimes he didn't. He had this dark grey and black jacket that he had on almost every time I'd seen him.
I'd always taken note of him, but never really pursued anything. One day he caught me looking at him and approached me. He asked if I'd be interested in going on a date. I agreed and he picked me up later that week for a banquet that the shop he worked for was having.
We accompanied his best friend and his best friends beautiful date. It was a bit awkward at first, but he was absolutely hilarious so the mood lightened up quickly. He made funny jokes and even sang for me. I was quite impressed with his vocal skills. I always wanted a prince charming who was musically inclined. I pictured we'd begin to dance and they'd sing "I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream." Then animals would dance with us we'd be merry and live happily ever after. This situation with Alden wasn't remotely close to what I envisioned, but he could sing, so it was close enough.
After the banquet he asked if we could go out again. I accepted and we went to another far away land to look at decorations and amazing architectural buildings they had lit up. It was very chilly and a couple times he put his arms around me to warm me up. It gave me butterflies.
While we were admiring some of the work inside one of the buildings, a worker saw us and got angry. "We closed twenty minutes ago! You shouldn't be here," they screeched at us. "I'm so sorry, we didn't know," Alden said politely. I was baffled by the worker's rudeness as they hurried us out of the building. When we got outside Alden and I looked at each other and burst out laughing.
When he took me home that night, he came inside and met my family. The servants were struggling to put together a contraption for my little sister. Without hesitating, Alden jumped right in and assisted them. He put it together in less time than they'd spent trying to figure it out. He was so kind and selfless. I couldn't help but admire him.
We went out again to another banquet and afterwards he had to pick up a few things for an activity going on the following morning. Some friends of his were going to be playing a game outside that involved getting a ball from one end of a field to the other without losing a cloth that you would tuck into your pockets. I thought the game sounded insane. After we picked up what he needed, I went to his cottage and helped him tear cloth for each person that would be playing. The whole time I was there, we laughed and told each other stories about our life.
While we were talking, I asked him, "Alden what's the meanest thing you've ever done to someone?" He stopped and thought for a minute. "I don't know if I should tell you, Brailee." My heart skipped a beat. He had a secret. Oh no. "Tell me," I said, pushing him for details. "Well, my brother was dating a girl. And I found out that she had dated his friend as well. She didn't tell my brother. So I told him." He paused, a guilty expression written all over his face.
When he didn't continue, I asked, "Wait, that's the meanest thing you've ever done??" He nodded his head. He continued, "I shouldn't have told my brother. It wasn't my business. It was her business to tell him. They ended up fighting a ton. It was so sad and all my fault." He began to shake his head. I couldn't help it, I laughed. "Wow Alden, if protecting your brother from a girl who was lying is the meanest thing you have done, then I'll say you're a pretty good person." In my head I was thinking that there was no way we would work out. I was a princess, but I wasn't all about rainbows and butterflies. I'd done some mean things to people before and unlike his story, they weren't done for a good reason.
This boy, Alden, had the heart of a prince charming. He had the loudest laugh I'd ever heard and in public it embarrassed me. He also would talk in a strange girly voice when he got nervous or felt awkward. And he sometimes didn't know how to be serious. But he had a heart of gold. I looked up to him and admired him. He was exactly the kind of guy every girl, whether a princess or not, should want in a guy. For some reason however, despite these thoughts, I still didn't want to kiss him.
The next morning I, princess Brailee, did the unexpected. I accompanied Alden to the bizarre sporting event that we had been preparing for. Besides croquet, I never participated in sports. I was not athletic whatsoever. However, for some reason he made me want to go. It had snowed and we were playing in snow that went to my knees. I could hardly run in the snow and I fell, both forwards and backwards, a few times. I didn't score any points for my team, but Alden was thrilled that I was there. The happiness displayed on his countenance was worth the embarrassment for me.
We became best friends after that. We would go on walks together. He would come over to my house and hang out. We would go to dinners. He attended my royal banquet as my date. We would go to the gazebo together. I'd sit with him at the place of worship. Almost every day I saw him. Almost every day we'd speak. But only once did anything physical happen between us. Only once did we cuddle, because I fell asleep on his shoulder. Never did we kiss.
Alden proved to me again that his kindness was unmatchable. My carriage was broken and rather than hiring someone to come fix it, Alden volunteered. We took it to his little cottage, where for the next three hours Alden and I talked and sat in the cold while he worked. His father would come out occasionally and see how it was going and to talk to me. He brought me blankets and hot drinks. After chatting and joking around for a bit, Alden's father said he liked me and said I was a funny lady. This made me smile and caused Alden to wink at me. I liked Alden's family, except for his evil sister in law.
When the clock showed that the time was close to midnight, Alden finally finished. He had done a better job than anyone we would have hired. The carriage was as good as new. He told my father not to pay him, but he did anyways of course. Alden kept saying it was too much, but we insisted he take it and finally he did if I agreed to let him take me to dinner.
The night we went to dinner would change our entire relationship. After we ate, I had him take me home. I wasn't feeling bubbly, and Alden knew nothing but happiness and sunshine. I didn't want to bring him down and I made it a point to only let my personality be seen when I was acting the way a princess should. In this situation, I was acting far more like Grumpy the dwarf than Snow White.
My mother had a chat with me earlier that day about how I felt about Alden. She told me she could tell he liked me and if I didn't feel the same then I needed to tell him.
For some reason, (I blame my grumpy mood) I decided this was the best time to tell him. "Alden there's something I need to tell you," I began. "Yes?" he asked. "I don't think right now is the best time for me to have a relationship. I adore you and I want to keep being best friends. I'm just really busy with duties. I don't have the time for a relationship," I said. He nodded and said, "I understand." I felt relief that he wasn't mad. "So we're still friends? Nothing will change?" I asked hoping for reassurance. "Of course Brailee," he said and smiled. I breathed a sigh of relief and I climbed out of the carriage not realizing what the consequences of my actions would be
Alden did not speak to me after that. He stopped returning my letters. And within two weeks had a girlfriend. Me and my friend bet that they wouldn't last a month. Three months later I was proven wrong when I saw him at the place of worship and he informed me that he had bought a ring and was going to propose.
My heart dropped into my stomach. I thought they would break up and then things would go back to normal. I hadn't wanted to lose Alden. And now the damage was going to be permanent. I had always known I cared a lot about this boy, but I didn't realize how much until that moment. I made him promise to send me an invitation. He promised. I told him how excited I was for him, although it was a lie.
That night I cried myself to sleep. I didn't understand why exactly. I was the one who told him I didn't want a relationship. He hadn't done anything wrong. Other guys had broken my heart and not given it a second thought. The roles were now reversed. I broke his, and yet I was still the one in tears.
Two months later, my invitation still had not come. It didn't take a genius to help me understand that I had purposefully not been invited. I decided not to be spiteful and I sent Alden a letter just days before his wedding. "Dear Alden, I just wanted to congratulate you, yet again, on your engagement. Good luck at your wedding! You're fiancee is one lucky girl! I wish you two the best. Sincerely, Princess Brailee," it read.
I don't know what I was expecting to come from it, but I never got a response. In fact, he never acknowledged my existence after the day he told me he was getting married.
And we lived happily never after.
