The Starsley Stories: Tiaras and Crowns

The moment I walked into the dining room I knew something was off, my mother, the queen, who sat next to my father, had a very bright smile as she saw me walk in. I knew that smile, it meant trouble.

I walked to my seat and quietly sat down, soon noticing that everyone was watching my every move. I cleared my throat "Is everything okay?" I asked suspiciously.

My mother's smile just grew wider. "Of course," she said. "We just have some exciting news for you."

"Oh, what is it?"

"Well, as you know, now that you are 18, you will have to move to Starsley after you marry prince Kyle in November," she smiled. Right, Kyle Edwards. Prince and heir to the Starsley throne, or as I like to refer myself to him, a complete douchebag. Not only does he take every chance to flirt with every girl that crosses his path, but he is also arrogant, cocky and overall annoying. But the marriage is something that was planned since I was conceived, in order to strengthen the alliance with the Florence Borders, my kingdom, so I had no way out of it.

"Well, I just received a letter from the King," she continued, "and Kyle is going to live here in the palace until the wedding." I didn't notice I had dropped my fork until I felt the room go silent.

"He is going to what?" Was all I could as I tried not to scream in anger. How could this be happening? I was not supposed to see him until a week before the wedding. It's not like we haven't met, I see him every couple of months, but that was more than enough. Now he's going to walk around my castle for 3 months? I'm so going to kill my mother.

"Live here until the wedding," she said slowly, giving me a gaze of warning that clearly said watch it. "Both his parents and us think it's a great idea in order for you two to get to know each other better."

I scoffed, "That's the issue? Then problem solved. I already know all there is to know about him." Sebastian, my brother, looked at me from across the table and gently shook his head. He knew exactly where I was going, and I ignored him. "He is 19 years old, is interested in politics, girls, polo, oh and he most definitely is a complete and utter arrogant douche bag."

"Chloe!" My mother huffed. "You are a princess, behave yourself, how are you planning on becoming queen of Starsley while talking like that? He is coming and that's the end of it."

I sighed as my father reached for my hand. "Darling, I know he may not be your favorite person, but please, do it for us," he pleaded.

"Fine," I groaned. "But you guys better make up for it," I said as my dad leaned down to kiss my head

"Thanks," he whispered, and I could feel his smile against my head.

Things are most definitely going to get interesting in the castle.

After I finished breakfast, I headed to my room. Mia already waiting for me, sitting in my bed.

"Hey cutie," she smiled as she ran up to hug me. Mia and I have been best friends for as long as I can remember, she is literally my other half. Although we may be completely different, we manage to make quite the pair.

"Hey," I sighed as I dropped myself dramatically on the bed.

"What's wrong?" She tilted her head as she sat next to me.

"Mom gave me some excellent news today," I propped myself into my elbows. "It appears that, none other than Kyle Edwards is going to be living in the castle until the wedding."

There were a few seconds of silence, Mia's jaw fell wide open. "What?"

"I know, it's awful. I mean, how could they do this to me? I know I had to live with him at some point, but I really did think I would have at least 3 more months of freedom." I looked over to my best friend but she didn't seem sad or angry, she was smiling. "What?"

"Are you kidding? This is amazing news!" She smiled widely.

I rolled my eyes. "How can that be amazing news? We despise him."

"No, you despise him," she corrected. "Come on, it's going to be fun. You can show him around, get to know each other, fall in love," she mumbled the last part.

"I am not falling in love, and if I were to fall in love, it wouldn't be with him," I stated as I sat up.

"Well, on the bright side, you now have a partner for the Summer Ball," she shrugged. "It's still 22 days away, but now, you don't have to worry about that."

"I already told you, I don't need a partner to go to the Ball with."

"Then at least you have someone to make out with," she grinned as she wiggled her eyebrows.

"Mia!" I protested as I threw her a pillow. She grabbed it and laughed. "Let's just change the subject, okay?" I really didn't feel like talking about Kyle, or the Ball, or anything that had to do with him. I was going to try and enjoy the next couple of days at the fullest before it all just breaks apart.

"As you wish, your highness," she teased. "How about that new language you were talking me about the other day? Have you already chosen one?"

My parents had decided that, since I only had a couple of months left in the castle, I should learn another language, in case I ever needed to use it. As if five weren't enough already.

"Yes, Spanish," I replied. I knew I wasn't going to arrive at Starsley being fluent in Spanish, but between that one and Japanese, I thought it might just be the easiest one to learn.

"Ooh, interesante," Mia grinned with her best Spanish accent. "I heard the tutor is quite hot, he arrived just this morning."

"For all we know, he might just be a grey haired 86-year-old man, who falls asleep in the middle of a class," I chuckled. "Like Mr. Robinson."

She laughed, "You are no fun," she pouted, but she knew I was right. Mr. Robinson gave us Italian classes when we were 12. He usually came into the tutoring classroom, played an audio recording, and fell asleep on the chair. After a couple of weeks, he was replaced for very obvious reasons.

I looked at the time and sighed. "Speaking of, I have to go, my class starts in ten minutes." I got up and took my new Spanish textbook, a notebook, and my purple pencil case. "I'll see you later M," I smiled and walked out.