Once upon a time...
"You should go out with him," my friend said. I shook my head, "I dont't know." In my mind I thought the muscular albino looking boy wasn't that attractive to me. "I promise he's a sweetheart! When he dated my best friend, he'd do anything to make her happy," she continued. I stared at him in the distance pondering. I did date a lot of losers and he wasn't all that bad looking. He had almost white hair and white eyebrows, bright blue eyes, tan skin, and muscles that rivaled Hercules. "Fine," I said. "Yay! I'll go tell him to ask you out!" she said and walked towards him, as I walked away.
It took about a month, but eventually Thayer called on me and we went out. We went to watch a showcase of horses. People wore silly costumes and rode the horses around in a pen for show. I loved horses, so I was nervous for the date, but excited to attend at the same time.
Thayer was as sweet as my friend said. His friend and his friend's date came as well. They were all very nice to me. The beginning of the date we had hardly anything to say, but by the end of the date, we were carrying on conversations like we were good friends.
When he walked me up the steps to my castle and asked if he could call on me again, I of course agreed. And so we went out a couple more times and then he disappeared.
Thayer could have been eaten by a dragon for all I knew. He could have been captured by an ogre. He could have gone to Neverland. The possibilities were endless. All I knew was he wasn't calling upon me like he said he would. Luckily for me, I had learned my happily never afters occurred almost without a doubt and was disattached so it didn't bother me much.
And then the fateful day came when he called upon me. About eight months later than he said he would. I almost said no, but my mother and friends all insisted I go. I reluctantly agreed and he picked me up for our group date.
On our group date we went to visit a religious historical sight that had beautiful buildings and amazing architecture and symbolism. We had a good time. When I say we, I mean me and another one of the guys there's dates.
Thayer almost didn't talk to me the whole time. And the little he did say, he spoke about a girl named Dinah, whom he'd recently been dating and had recently stopped dating.
I realized that for this date, he didn't ask because he wanted to take me. I was just the quickest option. At first I was disappointed that his disappearance meant he hadn't been having amazing adventures. I was looking forward to hearing about his battles or his escapades with Peter Pan. Then I became offended that I was not a priority and he didn't really want to be with me on this outing. He wanted to be with someone else.
I didn't give Thayer the time of day after that night. I had been polite and thanked him and let it be. Until one day he came up to me at the place of worship and said, "So my ex and your ex are dating each other." I looked at him confused. "Um, what are you talking about?" I responded. "The girl I told you about, Dinah, is dating Kelton." Not surprising, Kelton got around these days. "Wait, how'd you know I dated Kelton?" I asked. "Dinah told me," he responded. Why was Kelton telling girls he was dating that he dated me? I preferred to pretend I didn't even know of his existence, let alone the regretful fact that I actually dated him.
"Well, maybe they're the perfect match," I said trying to stay positive and not portray my bitterness about Kelton. "Maybe they'll be each other's happily ever afters." I wanted to leave at that moment, but Thayer wasn't done talking. "He doesn't really care about her. He'll just play her," he said bitterly. "You don't know that," I said. "You know him though, he gets around," Thayer responded. I sighed. "Yes, Kelton likes his women but that doesn't mean she's not the one he's been looking for." Thayer looked down, unresponsive.
Then it hit me. Thayer still liked Dinah. And Kelton liked Dinah. And Dinah liked them both. An evil plan brewed in my head. Kelton had messed with numerous guys I dated, it was my turn to mess with him back.
"Thayer, you have feelings for her still don't you?" I asked. He nodded. "Then just get her back. You dated her first, she's liked you longer." He shook his head. "I hurt her," he said. "How?" I asked. "She wanted to committ, but I didn't want to." I laughed. "Then all you have to do is show her you'll committ." He looked at me. "It's not that easy." I smiled. "Thayer, it is that easy. You have the help of a princess. And if any guy were going to win me back, it'd be a lot harder than it would be to win over a peasant. Lucky for you, I am going to tell you the secret that will make you win her over." A look of hope spread acrossed his countenance. "She did say that her heart was with me every time she was out with him." That line was the gold sealing to the execution of my plan. "Then no worries, she'll be yours in no time," I said reassuringly.
And just like I had promised, within a few days, Dinah and Thayer were living happily ever after. And Kelton was absolutely livid, which gave me my own taste of a happily ever after.
Until Kelton decided to take his anger out on me. He showed up at my castle. I was shocked. "What are you doing here?" I said closing the front door and leading him down the steps. He was not welcome here.
"Dinah told me everything you said to Thayer about me," he said spitefully. "Um I didn't say anything to Thayer about you," I responded truthfully. "Don't be fake with me. I know all the lies you said about how I was playing her and didn't like her and was using her," he said. What he said sounded a lot like what Thayer had said to me about his opinion of Kelton. "Look Kelton, I don't care about your love situation ok? I didn't say anything. I like to keep things cool with you. The only thing I said is that you like women, which unless you've decided to like the opposite gender I presume is truth?" I said.
Kelton wasn't buying it. "Look, you seem like a nice girl," he began. That struck me. I dated him over a year from start to stop, and he was speaking as though he didn't know me. "And you seem like someone who I could have been friends with," he continued. Again, my heart strings were tugged. "But I am not cool with someone involved with crowds like Thayer. Especially when that person goes running their mouth like that. So I'm done here." He turned and walked away. He was more drama than Cinderella's step family.
I watched as he walked away and then I climbed into my carriage. I didn't deserve that. I was going to have a word with Thayer.
I reached Thayer's cottage and he was surprised to see me. "What did you tell Dinah that I supposedly said about Kelton?" I said angrily. "Nothing," Thayer responded. "Really? Because I just got a visit from a very angry Kelton who said you told her I said some really rude things about him. I don't believe I did that," I said my voice raising. "You didn't," Thayer said. "Then why did Dinah tell him I did? And that you told her I did?" I retorted. "Brailee I don't know. I'm sorry. Maybe she thought that my opinion of him was based off of something you said," he responded. I was about to explode. "Alright well I thought we were friends, but clearly we aren't for you to throw me under the carriage like that," I continued. "Princess, we are friends. I will talk to Dinah," he responded. "Don't bother. She's too busy talking to Kelton about all the things you said about him."
I turned to walk away but wasn't finished. I spun back around. "It's so messed up that I get used on a date by a guy who is in love with someone else and then get dragged into this big drama because of someone I used to date and could care less for. I pity whichever one of you end up with her. She doesn't care about either of you, she just wants whoever will have her." With that I was done and walked back to the carriage and climbed in.
When I reached the castle I took a walk around the gardens, trying to calm down the flame that had built inside me. After playing with the fairies and listening to the sirens sing, I finally decided I was calm enough to go inside.
A few hours later, a knock came at the door. A servant answered it and then came in to the living room, where my mother and I were sitting talking by the fireplace. "A message for you, Princess Brailee," he said bringing me a letter. I opened the letter. "There you go blabbing again. This is why we'll never be friends. -Kelton" it read. I crumbled it in my hands and threw it in the fireplace, watching as the fire ate it up, first scorching the sides and slowly shriveling the paper until it dissolved into ashes.
I envisioned whatever form of relationship I had with Thayer and Kelton turning into ashes, just as the letter did.
And we lived happily never after.
