12| Entering The Princess' Castle

"The movie was absolute waste of time. I don't understand girls who fall for a guy head over heels immediately and are willing to sacrifice everything for him. Girl, do you even know him? What if he is an addict? Or worse, a Donald Trump supporter?" Althea was rambling on and on about the movie they watched last night while sitting at their usual spot.

"It was a romantic comedy. And that's how romance works. You see a person and you realise that you want to spend your whole life with her." Ethan commented and Althea rolled her eyes.

"Maybe in movies. But in real life, you need to do a full background check these days." She said.

"Would you do a full background check on a guy you love?" Ethan raised his eyebrows.

"Of course. How else would I fall for him? I need to make sure he is the best guy out there. Talented, smart, rich, handsome, classy." Althea counted her checklist on fingertips.

"My sister is going to die alone, you guys." Zach sighed.

"Well, if the worst comes, I am always available for her." Ethan winked at Althea and she faked a gag.

"I don't think it will ever come to that." She said and Ethan pouted.

Olive was the first one to notice that Zoey wasn't saying anything and was lost in her own thoughts, with her eyes fixated on the ground.

"Zoey, what do you think?" She said and hearing this, Zoey pulled herself out of her chain of thoughts.

"I... Um... I am a little tired. I will see you guys later." She said and excused herself, making her way towards Literature class. She was still not sure what was worrying her more; the fact that she was grounded for a week or the fact that maybe, just maybe, she really was a spoilt brat.

The classroom was mostly empty, with just the Mr. Ray sitting there and grading something while waiting for all the students to arrive. There were still five minutes before the class starts.

On one of the back seat, Travis was sitting alone, jotting something down on a piece of paper. Bracing myself, she made her way to him and sat down on the seat beside him.

"Hi," she said and he lifted his head to look at me.

"Hi," he said dryly.

"Um... About last night, I'm sorry. I didn't know it was your Mom." Zoey said and Travis' face remained the same.

"So is it okay if it is someone else's mother?" He said and Zoey gulped hard.

"I... Um... I didn't mean that. I.. I just didn't realise I was being rude." She defended herself.

"It's okay, Zoey. You don't have to explain yourself. I understand that for you, it's normal to behave to a servant this way. Just because we are classmates doesn't mean you owe me or my mother anything." He said and with every line, Zoey felt herself falling down and down in his eyes.

"I am not... God, I wish I could tell you I am not like that but the reality is, I am. I let my anger take the best of me sometimes and then I don't realise my words can hurt someone." Zoey's voice was laced with guilt.

Travis was going to say something more but Mr. Ray's voice echoed in the classroom and she realised that the class has already started. "So class, just a little reminder, you have to submit the analysis on chapter 1-4 tomorrow. Are you working on it?" He asked and both Zoey and Travis exchanged a glance. They haven't worked on it yet.

"What are we going to do about it?" She whispered to him.

"We can meet after my shift." He suggested.

"Um.. I can't. I am grounded." She said with a sad face and a smirk appeared on Travis' face.

"The princess is not allowed to leave the castle? Poor you." He mocked and Zoey sighed.

"Easy there with the sarcasm, Anderson. You can meet me in my house tonight." She suggested, pulling her notebook in front of her.

"I'll think about it." He said, keeping his eyes on Mr. Ray.

"If you are done talking Miss. Crawford, am I allowed to teach?" Mr. Ray walked towards them and waved his hand in front of Zoey.

"You can, if you really, really want to." She said with a straight face and the class started laughing at that, much to Mr. Ray's dislike.

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Inside the comfy couch of her lounge, Zoey was sitting with her eyes closed while Rose was applying nail polish on her fingers. She had planned to go for a manicure but it doesn't seem like she would be able to do that for a whole week.

"Rose, am I a mean person?" She said without opening her eyes. She didn't want to look at her facial expressions when she asked this question.

"No, Miss. Zoey." She replied briefly and continued applying the nude shade on her long nails.

"Does your son hate me?" She asked and Rose's hands stopped for a moment. She had no idea why Zoey was interested in finding out what Travis thought about her.

"No, he doesn't. He just... He can appear rude sometimes but he is really a sweetheart." She said.

Zoey nodded in response and then after a brief moment, opened her eyes and started again. "Rose, don't mind what I say in anger."

"I don't." Rose said and Zoey passed her a brief smile. She couldn't understand why she didn't see the resemblance before. Rose had brown silky hair like Travis and her high cheekbones and jawline resembled him a lot.

Suddenly, Sam barged inside the lounge and plopped beside them, a huge chicken sandwich in his hands. "That's quite a big sandwich, fatso." She commented.

"Look at you, chopstick arms." He said and stuck his tongue out at her.

Soon, both brother and sister got busy in their childish arguments while Rose kept watching them with a smile on her face because there weren't a lot of times when the Crawfords behaved like a family.

Before they could launch at each other, Zoey's phone vibrated and she checked the message from Travis, saying he was here. "Ok Rose. I am going to study in my room with Travis. Did he tell you we are partners in Literature?"

"Yes, Miss. Zoey. He did." She nodded, a little baffled on hearing about Travis' arrival.

"Don't embarrass me." She said to Sam and made her way to the door where she found him standing awkwardly.

"Hey, come on in." She said and led him through the hall towards the stairs.

Before they could walk up the stairs, Sam came running towards them and Zoey glared at him to stop if he was here to embarrass her.

"Is he your new boyfriend, Zoey?" He said with an evil smirk that only Zoey could see.

"No Sam. He is not my boyfriend." She chewed every word while Travis kept standing there, awkwardly rubbing his neck.

"Is he your special friend like Frankie was?" He asked and Zoey's eyes widened like saucers. Frankie was her friend with benefits that she met in a club few weeks earlier.

"No." She said and glared into his eyes, silently telling him to leave them alone if he loves his life.

"Oh, are you going to kiss my sister?" He then asked Travis whose face flushed immediately. "If yes then close the door before if Daddy catches you, you would leave the house with a black eye like Scott did."

"Sam!" She said and ran behind him to teach him a lesson but he was faster than her. Soon, he ran out of the house into the lawn and Zoey kept shouting at top of her lungs.

Letting out few deep exhales, she made her way back to the stairs where Travis was standing. She asked him to follow her into her room and once they entered inside, she locked the door so that Sam can't get inside.

"Don't mind him. He is an idiot." She said and sat down on her bed.

"He said what he saw. After all, he is a kid." Travis said and looked around himself.

This was the first time he was inside her room and it was enough proof of how different their lives were. Her room was bigger than their lounge, kitchen and drawing room combined. The whole room was decorated in blue and white combination. In one corner of the room, there was a large bookshelf containing many books and he could just dream of having one like this in his room. The bed was enough for four people to sleep and the floor was covered with a carpet that looked more expensive than his entire belongings. She definitely lived the life of a princess and he felt like the frog at that moment.

"Come, sit." She invited him to the bed. Feeling out of place, he sat in front of her, careful not to damage anything.

"Sit comfortably, Anderson. I won't bite." She winked at him.

"I'd rather not take a risk." He replied lowly.

"Believe me, life is better if you take some risks." She said with a smirk.

"Better to play safe than taking a risk and ending up grounded." He replied smoothly and she huffed.

"Whatever, Mr. Goody-two-shoe." She said and crossed her legs. She was wearing denim shorts while her smooth leg were out on display. Sitting this close to her where he could practically smell her, it felt weird. He had wished for a moment like this many times in the past three years and it always felt so unreal. He never thought one day, he would actually be sitting inside Zoey's bedroom just few inches away from her.

"We have to study, remember?" She shook her hand in front of him, breaking his chain of thoughts.

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