#32 Show them, Princess

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It's been two weeks since my first date with with Stefan and it has been a blast. After that day, I and Stefan went on two more dates. In one, we set up a tent at the beach and spent the night there. And in the other, we had a candlelight dinner. Both of them were better than the previous one. I and Ethan have been facetiming every single day. I even had a talk with my mom. She was happy for me. I had been spending most of my time with Stefan. So to compensate for that,  I and the girls also had a sleepover.

At school, all the glares in my direction have reduced. Plus, everyone is so engrossed in the Winter Formal preparation that they don't have time to think about my and Stefan's relationship. Even Sarah has left me alone (which was very surprising).

Today is special. Every year, ten days before Christmas, we have a Pre-Chirstmas mini party. Normally, it would only be me, Lena, Claire, Abby, Shirley, Tessa and Kevin and Ethan being the only boys. It would be held at my house as my dad was normally out of town and Mom used to crash at the Klarks.

But this year, neither Kevin, nor Ethan would be joining us. Since Tessa and Kevin broke up, I haven't heard or seen Kevin. It's like he vanished. Ethan is busy with college. Plus he is in London. He can't travel four thousand miles for a small party. And I wouldn't ask him too. This year, we are having Stefan, Ryan and Melvin joining us. Ash is obviously going to be there. And we are hosting it at the Klarks as my mom sold our house and Selena's parents are in Australia to visit my mom.

Life has been very good. But that is what is bugging me. It is too good to be true. It feels like the calm before the storm. The Blacks and the Knights have not made any move. They must have given up or they are planning something big. And my gut is telling me that it is the latter. Or I might just be worrying for no reason. I really hope it is that.

"A little to the left." I was snapped out of my thoughts by Tessa's voice. The whole school was busy with the winter formal preparations and I, Abby and Lena were in the School gym helping them to decorate it as we had a free period. Currently, I am standing on a ladder, trying to hang the Winter Formal Banner in the right place, with the help of Abby. "No. A little to the right." Tessa instructed. "Tessa, decide one thing. My hand is paining." Abby, who was holding the other side of the banner, whined.

"Stop complaining. Learn from Nessa. She is not complaining." Tessa shouted. "Actually, I go with Abby with this one. Decide one thing." I shrugged. "Ha!" Abby said as she started jumping on her ladder. "Abby stop dancing. You'll fa-" Even before I could finish, her ladder went out of balance and she started falling down, pulling the banner and me with her. I heard Abby scream as I closed my eyes and waited for the impact. But rather than hitting on a hard surface, I felt someone catch me.

The sound of the ladders falling echoed in the hall as I opened my eyes to see who had caught me. To my disappointment, it was Anthony. "Falling for me now, are you Sweetheart?" He smirked as I quickly stood up and stepped away from him. "What do you want?"   "Well, Sweetheart, that is a bit rude, don't you think?" Anthony smugly said.

"How are you even in the school? Don't you have a college to attend to?" I rolled my eyes. "Sweetheart-" "Stop calling me that. You lost the right to call me that when you cheated on me." I glared at him. I looked towards Abby who had now stood up and was arguing with Tessa. "Still holding grudges, are you Sweetheart?" Anthony smirked. I kept shooting daggers towards him.

"Well, now that you have asked, I do want something from you." Anthony said. "Well, you are not getting anything from me." I glared at him and started walking towards Abby and Tessa but I was pulled back by his strong, muscular arm around my waist. "I know about you and the Elites, you know? You have quite a big secret hidden, don't you?" Anthony whispered in my ear.

I tensed up. Anthony felt it too as he left me. "What do you want?" I asked. "Well, now we are talking." "What do you want?" I anxiously said as I felt a sudden need to get out of there. "Well, you are going to the Winter Formal with me." Anthony smirked.

"What? No!" I glare at him. "Well, it would be pretty sad if Stefan somehow understood about the Elites and broke up with you. Or if poor Ethan got hurt?" Anthony threatened. "Don't you dare touch Ethan. And keep your mouth shut." I warned. "For that, you are going to the Winter Formal with me."

Now, I could do nothing but to agree with this stupid person. "Okay." "That's the Sweetheart I know." Anthony smirked. I glared at him and made my way towards Abby and Tessa.

**********

"This looks perfect." Lena cheered. We had just finished setting up the backyard  chairs and the screen for the movie night. Every year, during the pre-christmas party, we had a fixed schedule. After everyone arrives, we would first decorate a Christmas Tree. Then come in the backyard and watch movies. Then we would play a game of beer pong and the winner would get to place the star on top of the Christmas tree. Then we would dance for sometime and then some would go home while the others would stay for a sleepover.

"It does look good." I smirked. After the Anthony incident, I needed to get my mind off things. So I offered to help Lena to set up the party. "Hey girls! Wow!" I heard familiar voices as I turned to see Stefan, Ryan and Melvin accompanied by Abby. Abby came towards us and hugged us. "This looks really great." Abby smiled.

"Why was I never invited for this?" Melvin asked Abby. "Because you, my dear brother, were busy with these a*sholes." Abby answered pointing at Stefan and Ryan. "Hey! Don't call them that." I said as I walked towards Stefan and kissed him. "Hey Princess!" He smiled.

I returned his smile. "Okay lovebirds. The tree is not going to decorate itself." I heard Tessa's voice. "Yeah! Come on. I can't wait to place that star." Abby smirked. Abby is normally the one who used to win beer pong. So she would get to place the star. "I don't think so. You have competition this year." Ryan said, pointing to himself and the boys.

***********

"Not there. Place it below the red ball." Tessa complained. When it comes to organizing or decorating something, Tessa always wants everything to be perfect. "Tessa, we don't need a repeat of the morning." Abby whined. I tensed up at the mention of today's morning. How was I going to tell Stefan that I can't go to the winter formal with him? "Hey, you okay?" Stefan asked.

"Yeah." I sighed. Stefan glanced at me one more time and then nodded. "Okay people. It looks good. Stop. We don't want to over-decorate it." Tessa announced. Selena rolled her eyes and hung three  more balls on the tree. "There is nothing known as over-decorate." She shrugged. "Movie time!" Ash cheered as we all went out side and took our places while Selena started the projector.

"Which movie are we watching?" Melvin excitedly asked. All of us girls looked at each other and smirked. "Frozen!" We all shouted. Our shouts were followed by Melvin's groans. "What?" I glared at him. "That's for kids." He whined.

Claire got up and pulled Melvin up from his collar. "You take those words back. Watching Frozen is a tradition. No one breaks that." She dead-panned. "Okay. Okay. I take the words back. Let's watch Frozen. Hooray!" Melvin nervously cheered as Claire let him go and took her place. "I thought Claire was the silent one." Stefan whispered in my ear.

"Don't judge a book by its cover." I chuckled. The screen lit up as Selena went and took her place beside Ryan. I snuggle closer to Stefan and rest my head on his chest, while tracing the tattoo on his shoulder.

"Why did you select this tattoo?" I asked. He looked surprised by my question but smiled and answered, "As you know, we were all drunk when we got this tattoo. We felt like we were the Kings of the world. The Lion symbolized the King. So I chose it. The compass symbolizes that wherever we are in the world, our friendship will always keep us together." I nodded. He kissed my temple and smiled as young Anna came up on the screen.

***********

"This shot is going to decide if you live or die." Tessa dramatically said. Currently, we were on our last game of beer pong- the finals. It was I and Abby versus Stefan and Ryan. Abby can be scary when she really wants to win something. And this was one of those things. All the girls knew that. So they forced me to be her partner. I have no problem with winning anyway. The scored was tied up. I wasn't drinking so I gave all my glasses to Selena who was more than happy to drink.

"Get ready to loose, Princess." Stefan smirked. "You wish." I smirked as Abby aimed and threw the ball which landed directly into the cup in front of Stefan. "Yeah! You are dead boys." Abby cheered as she hugged me. "Where is my star?" Abby ordered. "Here you go." Tessa said as she gave the star to Abby who ran towards the tree. Technically, I also won and there should be a match between me and Abby. But I am not a fan of drinking games so I just let it be. That is one more reason why Abby likes to be my partner.

"Lets dance!" Tessa cheered. "Hey. How about some karaoke?" Ash suddenly asked. I furrowed my eyebrows and looked at him. Why does he want karaoke? "Yeah. That would be nice. And I even have this." Lena said as she showed everyone a microphone. "Awesome babe!" Ryan chuckled. "Lets do this people!" Claire chuckled as everyone sat down.

**********

"It was the best song ever." Lena finished her One Direction song. "That was horrible." We all chuckled. "Next up will be.....Tessa!" Selena said as she walked over to her and handed her the microphone. Tessa looked surprised. She nervously bit her lip as she took the microphone from her hand. She slowly stood up and started walking in the front. But she suddenly turned around and sat back down. "I can't do this."

"Hey. Its just a song." Abby tried to cheer her up. "Its not the song. Its Kevin. He asked me to go with him for the the Winter Formal as friends. I agreed at that time. But now when I think of it, I can't do it." Tessa sighed. "Hey! It's okay. You don't need to go with him." Selena said. "But that's the problem. I want to go." Tessa shrugged.

"You know what? Give me that microphone. I am going to sing a song for you." I smirked as I took the microphone from her hand. "Cupcake, we don't want our ears to bleed." Ash warned. But before I could say anything, Stefan interjected. "You have never heard her sing? Show them Princess." He smirked. You see Tessa was a huge Disney fan. And her favorite movie is High School Musical. And I knew exactly which song to sing. I nodded at Stefan and started the tune on Lena's mobile.

Don't need a king

I got my crown

Don't need a hero to lift me off the ground

I built this heart

It's beating loud

Won't let no bad blood ever bring us down

Keep flying higher

Fight like a fighter

What if I'm everything that I will ever need?

A queen messiah

A strong survivor

Even the worst days won't get the best of me

'Cause I was born to be brave

I know who I am inside

And I won't apologize

Made my mistakes

And they gave me wings to fly

To my castle in the sky

The smile on Tessa's face was all I needed to continue singing. While her face wore a smile, the other's mouths were wide open. I smirked and I was about to continue singing but I thought something else. I walked up to to Tessa and held the microphone in front of her. She nodded and started singing along with me...

I used to feel

Like I was lost

It's like my phone's navigation was turned off

But it's the road

I stumbled on

That led me right to the place where I belong

Keep flying higher

Fight like a fighter

Yeah, I am everything that I was meant to be

A blazing fire

That's getting brighter

Don't need nobody here that don't believe in me

'Cause I was born to be brave

I know who I am inside

And I won't apologize

Made my mistakes

And they gave me wings to fly

To my castle in the sky

By now, all the girls had started singing and dancing. We were having the time of our lives. I am glad Ash suggested this karaoke. Seeing us girls enjoying, the boys joined in...

Let my hair down and let it go

No more running, I run this show

Way up here, yeah, the view is gold

Born to be brave

Now I'm standing miles high

Like castles in the sky

Bosses and queens, stand up on your throne

Know who you are, this is your kingdom

Legends at heart, individuals

Go make your mark, be original

'Cause I was born to be brave

I know who I am inside

And I won't apologize

Made my mistakes

And they gave me wings to fly

To my castle in the sky

Let my hair down and let it go

No more running, I run the show

Way up here, yeah, the view is gold

'Cause I was born to be brave

Now I'm standing miles high

Like castles in the sky

Like castles in the sky

The song ended and we all started laughing. The mood of the party was back to the top. "Where did you f*cking learn to sing like that?" Selena asked. "I had no idea you could sing like that." Ash chuckled. "I did." I turned around to see Ethan standing there.

"Ethan!" I ran towards him and engulfed him into a hug. "What are you doing here?" I asked. "I missed you." He chuckled. "Aww. I missed you too." I smiled. I caught him scanning around the house. "Shirley is not here. She went out with her college friends because you were not coming." I smirked. "Thanks for informing me sis." He said but I could see a blush forming. "Where's lover boy?" He asked. "Don't call him that." I playfully glared at him as I scanned around the room for Stefan. But he wasn't there.

"Where's Stefan?" I asked Lena. "He and Ryan are outside." She informed. I nodded and made my way outside. As I neared, I heard both of them talking. "Dude, she is your girlfriend. Of course she will say yes." Ryan told Stefan. They were talking about me. I stepped out and asked, "Yes for what?" "I am going to go." Ryan smirked as he walked back into the house. "Yes for what?" I repeated my question.

"To go to the Winter Formal with me." He answered.

Oh no.

A/N:

Hey Guys!

I hope you liked this chapter!

I did and early update...Hooray!!!

Why do you think Anthony asked Nessa to go to the Winter Formal with him? Tell me in the comments...

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