“It's too bad no one needed CPR,” Sophie lamented as we walked down a corridor of the hospital. She wore a pristine cream dress with matching heels. I wore a light blue pant suit that made me think of super fancy scrubs. I was fairly sure that had been Sophie's intent when dressing me this morning.“Right... too bad,” I agreed, sarcasm dripping off my voice.“Oh, I didn't mean...” Sophie went a pretty pink. She even blushed prettily. “I meant, it would have been some great press to have you save someone's life.”I smiled and nodded politely. I knew she meant well, but it just showed me the disconnect between our worlds. I would never wish for someone to have an injury, especially one requiring CPR, just so I could get a good photo.It probably made me a terrible celebrity, but a good person.Overall, the day was going well. I had followed all of the rules the royal family sent out and I had even gone above and beyond what they expected. Everyone was happy with me. I was happy with m

Dinner was a quiet and terse affair.Liam pointedly never looked at me. The Queen Mother watched her sons with sad eyes. She attempted small talk twice, but when no one helped her continue the conversations, she quickly stopped.Freddie tried to answer his mother, but Liam shot him such deadly looks that he quickly stopped talking at all.I had nothing to say. What could I possibly have to say?“I'm so sorry I went to a kegger once in college. If I had known those pictures would come back to haunt me, I would have stayed in my dorm room and never left.”It wouldn't have fixed anything.So, we ate our delicious food in the awkward silence of silverware and chewing.“Freddie, I would speak with you,” Liam announced, setting down his knife and fork on the empty plate.“I'm actually rather tired,” Freddie tried to say, but Liam cut him off.“We have things to discuss.” There was no arguing with the King.Freddie nodded, his face pale. He carefully placed his silverware and waited for Liam

I was glad for that stolen night. I didn't care that we'd broken the rules. I'd held onto him, feeling his warmth seep into me and give me strength. Strength to get through this. Strength to know that we loved one another enough to get through this.I didn't get to have five minutes alone with Freddie for the rest of the week.The Duke pulled him into every meeting, every information gathering session, every new change no matter how small, everything. Suddenly, Freddie was integral to everything. He had no spare time. Not even in the evenings when he was supposed to be with me.Freddie ate dinner with the Duke so they could plan their negotiations. Those first few nights where we'd eaten in his rooms felt far away and long ago.The few times he ate meals with his family, he looked tired and worn. The conversations were never personal, especially not with Liam at the table. I'd look across the table and he'd smile, but we'd never get more. He'd kiss my cheek and disappear back to the o

The ball was tomorrow and I was about ready to puke.Tomorrow, all my hard work would pay off. Tomorrow, I would do my Stair Walk and officially be accepted into the Royal Family's inner circle. Tomorrow, I could kiss Freddie on the cheek in public. We could hold hands and go on dates again.I clung to the idea that we could go back to normal, even though normal in this place would still be very strange.I practiced walking down the stairs in my pink heels for two hours straight just after lunch. The surprise benefit was that my butt was in the best shape ever from the constant up and down of the stairs. I hadn't tripped once so far and actually felt semi-confident.Sophie had me wearing a bedsheet as a dress so that I could practice without ruining the actual dress. I didn't blame the florists setting up flowers for staring at me as I went up and down the stairs wrapped in a white topsheet.I felt like an American ghost haunting the Paradisian Palace- out of place and completely ridi

Freddie brought me out to the side of the dance floor. He didn't bring me to the center though, but to a small space off to the side. It almost felt like we were hiding. Freddie was supposed to dance in the center where everyone could see him, but he'd taken me to the side of the dance floor near the edge and against the wall.Like I wasn't good enough to be seen with him. Like I didn't matter enough to take center stage.We'll have more privacy this way, I told myself, trying not to see the worst. Besides, you hate being the center of attention.It felt good to be in Freddie's arms. Soft music drifted around us, changing from a waltz to a foxtrot.Foxtrot was my worst dance, but I didn't want to pull away from Freddie. I didn't want to disappoint him. I'd already disappointed him last night. I didn't want to do it again. I managed thirty seconds of terrible dancing before I stepped on Freddie's foot.He winced, gasping hard enough that the dancers next to us glanced over. The heel of