Natalia’s breath seized in her throat and her heart pounded furiously within her chest. Her eyes went wide with fear of everyone finding out her secret. Her fingers were shaking so bad that her girly designed phone fell off and smashed to pieces. Everyone was shocked to see a grown man, practically bowing to a girl young enough to be his daughter!
Damage control Alexis, damage control! The Princess leaned in to give the man a happy hug which further confused the crowd.
“Play along and come with me.” She whispered in a tight voice and turned to her friends with a smile.
“You guys go on ahead and keep my spot. I’ll be back in a minute.” She glanced at Elva before practically dragging the man away from everyone’s view.
“Okay? What the hell just happened??” Damon asked no one in particular and got no answer in return.
Elva was frightened and worried at the same time but she tried her best to hide it. If any of Natalia’s secret came out, then they were screwed!
Queen Fiona would have the ‘trained’ royal assistant beheaded on a platter of gold and offered as a sacrifice to her dead son and his wife for putting their only daughter in danger!! She winced inwardly.
Who in the world was that man?! How did he recognize the princess?? Was he a worker in the palace? Because only the royal workers knew Natalia’s identity. Or was he sent by the queen?? Elva cancelled that thought. The queen would’ve informed her if it was urgent and wouldn’t have risked her granddaughter’s safety. Elva’s nerves was a mess all over the place!
“Elva! Helloo??” Nicky snapped her fingers to get her attention. Elva looked back to see everyone’s eyes on her.
“Huh?”
“Who was that weird freak?” Selena took the liberty to ask again. Elva caught their expressions which were expecting a clear answer.
“I don’t know, okay? I’ve never met him before in my life.” She tried to sound normal but Selena’s gaze was suspicious.
“Really?” She arched a brow and snorted. “And I thought she was your best friend.”
Elva was more worried about Natalia to actually give her a response. But someone else did.
“Leave her alone. Can’t you see she’s as lost as the rest of us.” Ricky snapped. If Elva wasn’t disturbed, she’ld have smirked at Selena’s stunned face. She passed Ricky a grateful smile before looking at the direction Natalia took…
***
( Ten Minutes Later. )
The crowd had reduced to a few students but Natalia wasn’t yet back!
Elva was close to panic and it showed in her face and pace. She kept looking at her direction but saw no one. And the port was almost empty!
“She’s been gone for a long time. I’m gonna go check on her.” Leonardo finally decided and stood up straight.
“I’ll go.” Arian finalized and took a step but Selena pulled him back.
“Woah! What if you’re next to be called up?”
“I’ll cover for you. Just go.” Jeffrey looked at Arian.
“Bu…” She started again.
“I’m here!” A familiar voice breezed and they turned around to see Natalia walking over quickly, the ocean breeze fluttering her hair all over her face.
“I’m here.” She smiled again when she got to them. Elva pulled her into a hug.
“Oh… kay? Why are you all looking like I got eaten by a shark or something?” She looked at them feeling shy by their spellbound gaze.
“You took a long time and we got worried that’s all.” Nicky explained. Natalia wanted to giggle but settled for a grin instead.
“He’s someone who used to work for my father.” She waved her hand casually. “He feels like he’s indebted to me or something because dad helped him countless times in the past.” She shrugged like it was nothing.
“Then why did he call you a princess?” Selena shot and Natalia threw her a pointed look.
“How many fathers skipped calling their baby girls princesses when they were little?”
“Maybe yours did.” Nicky snorted loudly, not caring if she sounded rude! Ricky slightly nudged her and scowled after seeing the withdrawn look on Selena’s face. But Nicky being his firecracker glared double!
How could he defend a slut like her?! Flirting with his best friend behind his back! Nicky didn’t care anymore. She was ready to ruin whatever relationship he had with the two timing conniving bitch!
FINALLY, their names were called and they got on the cruiser. The first one had already left so they were on the second cruiser. They dragged their bags to their rooms. Girls with girls and boys with boys. Each room could take four students.
Arian and his friends ran up somewhere which was different from theirs. Unfortunately, Natalia was separated from Nicky and Elva. The boat trip was gonna take a few hours so the students were ordered to rest or socialize.
Natalia walked into the room meant for her and three other girls who seemed familiar with each other. She dropped her bag on her bed and brought out her broken phone. She switched the sims and memory card to a spare phone she’d brought along and trashed the old one. Natalia wore a huge sweater because she suddenly felt cold. The noise from her zipper caught the other girls’ attention who finally noticed her and said hi. She smiled back, a little tired.
“I almost fell into the ocean when he walked past me! Omg! his eyes were so dreamy I nearly tripped!!” One of them squeaked and the two giggled.
“They say his father owns the two cruisers taking us there! Is it true??” The second one gushed.
“Yeah, that’s what I heard too. Some students from their school said it.” The third one said and Natalia’s eyes popped seeing what she was wearing! Her red bra was visible under the black net top she wore and her bum was peeking out under the shorts!
“The kids from that school are filthy rich! So I’m not shocked.” The first one shrugged and painted her nails.
“Even if it’s a night, I want the blondie to spend it with me… no, no, all over me!” She squealed and they giggled again.
Natalia sarcastically rolled her eyes. Let Nicky hear of it?!
“I heard that the French hottie is gay?” She brushed her hair. “Too bad, he’ld have been my first choice.” She pouted disappointedly.
“Who? Arian??” Natalia didn’t know when it jumped out of her mouth! She clamped them shut when they looked her way.
“Arian?… OMG! Don’t tell me he’s Sir Argent’s son?!” The third one screamed. Natalia blinked her lashes and cautiously nodded.
They gagged and flew over to her in a heartbeat!
“But I heard he doesn’t talk to people, especially girls!”
“Does it mean I have a shot with him?!!”
“Wait! How do you even know?!” They breathed uniformly.
“I school there. Yes, Arian hardly relates with people and…. I don’t think he’s up for girls.” She lowered her eyes and her heart gave her a thumbs up!
They squeaked out their lungs again! Suddenly, one of them started massaging her head. The other one rubbed her feet while the last one fed her a pack of gummy bears in exchange for stories about the top three hotties of Beverly Hills Academy!
Sighs.
Who knew that Arian De’ Argent would someday come in handy??
Life…
***
Nicky Winterfield was bored out of her mind and hungry staying alone in her room. Her crazy roomies were outside, part of the crazy fun happening so she grudgingly decided to crash by.
Nicky stood on the upper deck, watching them below. Some were lounging around, sitting and talking or taking pictures, others were dancing wildly to loud music while the rest were bottom line snacking. They were having fun.
The B. R. A. T. S sat at a corner in their elements, looking bitchy as usual and receiving tonnes of attention. Nicky rolled her eyes seeing how puffed up Bianca looked and wished she’ld just burst!
“Hey.” Someone called behind her. Nicky turned to see Becky smiling at her. The strawberry blonde remembered that time in class when Becky came over to say hi but was downright ignored.
Nicky didn’t hate her. She just hated Jeffrey’s feelings for her. And seeing Becky pop up everywhere like a bad penny reminded her of the misery she was trying so hard to forget. Nicky knew she was being slightly unthoughtful but her heart was hurting more than her conscience. So she contemplated doing the ‘don’t make her your friend!’ trick again.
“Hi.” She muttered dryly and returned her gaze to the crowd. But the brunette went over and stood by her side.
“I’m sorry.” She suddenly whispered. Nicky whipped her eyes to her.
“I’m sorry for making you misunderstand. It’s so obvious your coldness towards me is because of your feelings for Jeffrey. Jeffrey is a friend that I adore so much. Nicky, I wanna be your friend too and I don’t want you to dislike me because of it.”
Nicky looked away seeing the sincerity in her countenance. “It ain’t about you not liking him.” She whispered dejectedly under her breath.
“But anyway, I’m sorry too for being rude.”
Becky breathed out in relief and chuckled. “So… we good?”
“Yeah.” She chuckled back and they stared at the crowd in a comfortable silence. Jeffrey was with Ricky and a…. couple?…. of girls talking and laughing. He looked so cute from that angle!
Nicky sighed helplessly, losing control of her foolish heart.
“For what it’s worth, tell him how you feel. You might be surprised to know he feels the same way.” She winked at her before leaving.
Nicky rolled her eyes and chuckled at her naughtiness after sounding all serious. She stared back at the merry teens and her eyes caught with Jeffrey’s. A glow brightened up his cute ocean blue eyes as he smiled up at her.
This time, Nicky didn’t fake it. Her helpless heart couldn’t. So she beamed back brightly…
Chapter 59