Once upon a time... I met this insanely cute boy. His name was Maddox. He was tan, blonde haired, blue eyed, and had the most adorable smile in the world. The only thing he was lacking was height, but he made up for it in personality.
One day, my friend told me she had a brother in law she wanted to set me up with. I didn't really want to be set up, but she said she really thought we would hit it off. Reluctantly I agreed. When she finally pointed out who it was, I was overjoyed that I had agreed. Her brother in law happened to be Maddox.
A date was set up and I anxiously awaited the day we were going to go out. I stayed in my chambers waiting, until a servant came and told me he was there. Excitedly, I stood to go greet him. I tried to keep calm when I saw him standing at the door holding a dozen roses. "These are for you," Maddox said handing them to me. No guy had ever brought me roses on the first date before. "Thank you," I said taking them from him and handing them to a servant to put in a vase.
I followed him out to his carriage and we headed on our way to a banquet for dinner. On our way, he pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. I raised an eyebrow as he handed it to me. I began to read it aloud, "Rules of the first date: 1. No awkward silences. 2. If there is an awkward silence, one person may ask the other any question they'd like and that person is obligated to answer." I began to laugh. "You have rules for the first date? You go on that many?" He grinned. "No, but I figured if it was written in print then my date would be obligated to follow the rules." I shook my head. "I sure hope there won't be a reason to use rule number two," I said. He nodded in agreement.
After the banquet he planned on taking me to the show, however we got there quite a bit early. "Lets play a game," he said. "What game?" I asked. Maddox took a piece of paper and began to rip it and roll the pieces into little balls. "What are you doing?" I whispered embarrassed by his actions. "It's alright princess," he said continuing to roll paper. "Alright the game goes as follows. You throw these little paper balls into that bucket over there. If you make it, you ask me anything you want to know and I have to answer. If I make it, the same rules apply but for you answering." I laughed. "Maddox, I'm a princess, you'll be far better at this than I." He smiled and threw the paper. He smiled at me when it went in and asked his question. I learned about his past relationships, what he wanted out of life, what he likes in girls, his favorite memories, etc. We played this game until the show started.
After the date he bid me goodnight. I wasn't sure if I'd see him again, but I had a good time so it didn't matter. A week went by and then I heard from him. It was longer than it took most guys to ask me out a second time, but I didn't think anything of it.
Date number two consisted of him attending a meeting with me, ice cream, and a walk. We were outside watching the stars and talking. He told me about a trip he was leaving for in two days to a land far far away. He also informed me of his grandmother passing. We talked for a while before he looked at his pocket watch. When he saw the time, he informed me that it was 11:11. "Make a wish," he said. I looked at the watch. "It's 11:12, I'm too late," I said making a pouty face. "I can fix that," he said and turned the hands on the watch back to 11:11. I laughed and closed my eyes. I opened them. "What'd you wish for?" I asked him. "I can't tell you or it won't come true. I rolled my eyes. "I'm a princess. I have fairy godmothers. I can make your wish come true." He leaned in close to me and smiled. "I sure hope so," he whispered and kissed me. It was a good sweet kiss. When he pulled away, he smiled. "I guess you can make wishes come true."
He bid me goodnight and told me he would talk to me in a couple weeks when he returned from his journey. The kiss was a good memory to leave on, but kind of an irritating one too. He kissed me and left the land, who does that? I decided to just not think about him until he talked to me when he returned. About five days letter, I received a letter from him. "Princess Brailee, this land far far away is incredible. I love everything about it. However, no matter what I see or do, I can't stop thinking about you. I just wanted to send you a letter so you knew you were on my mind even though I'm not there. Sincerely, Maddox."
When he returned, we went out to more shows and more banquets. We had lazy nights of just hanging out or sitting by the fireplace. He had more creative rules for different activities we did. I had him meet my family, who sadly weren't as impressed with him as I was.
A few months later, he decided it was time for me to meet his family. I got as dolled up as I could. I put on my best dress and did my hair as pretty as I could. Meeting a guy's family was a huge deal for me and I was as nervous as a knight about to go head to a head with a dragon would be.
Maddox picked me up and our night began. His family was strange. They practically interrogated me, as if they didn't already know anything about the princess of their land. Then they kept asking me to sing for them as if I was some kind of show horse there for their entertainment. By the time I'd met all 7 of his siblings I was exhausted from keeping up a happy face. Thankfully after that he just wanted to cuddle me at his house, which was awkward considering it was just he, I, and his parents in the room as his sister played piano in another room.
It wasn't the worst meet the parents moment I'd had so I wasn't super concerned about not hearing from him, especially since we'd been dating for a while. When he dropped me off I thanked him for a lovely evening. He kissed me good night and was on his way.
That week I contacted Maddox, because my friend's cousin somehow was really good friends with him. I was excited to tell him about the connection. He didn't seem to think it was as special as I did, however, and kind of blew me off. After that, I told myself I would not be calling upon him first. And for some reason it seemed he told himself he would not call upon me either.
And we almost lived happily never after...until six months later when I received a letter. I turned it over, stunned at who the sender was. I opened the letter and began to read it. "Dear Princess Brailee, I owe you an explanation. I shouldn't have just stopped talking to you. The truth is, I knew from our first date that you weren't the one for me. You were so amazing that I couldn't stop myself from dating you, but I finally realized it needed to end. I wish you the best and just wanted to explain what happened. Sincerely, Maddox."
I was livid. I crumpled it in my hands as my eyes filled with tears. Six months ago, this letter would have been nice. How disrespectful of him to send it now. I was extremely upset that he knew from the first date that I wasn't what he wanted, yet he lead me on anyways. Lead me on so far that I even met his family. Anger swelled inside me. I chucked the letter in the fireplace, straightened my dress and held my head up high. I was a princess. I deserved better than that anyways. No more tears would be wasted on low lives such as Maddox.
And we lived happily never after...
