ROSES FOR RACHEL: EPISODES 1-10
EPISODE 10
I felt sick to my stomach as I watched him put his hand on the small of her back and whisk her off the stage and out of the ballroom. I know I shouldn’t be upset, he asked if he could take me tonight and I told him no, but I didn’t expect his next choice to be Tessa of all of us. I just assumed he’d pick Greer, or maybe Frankie, but not Tessa.
Once Master Pedro announced that we were free to go I stood by my seat and waited for Greer. She wouldn’t be able to avoid me now unless she planned on staying on the stage all night. I watched each of the other girls slowly stand and come my way. Greer was further back, but it was Regina who stopped in front of me, positioning herself where I couldn’t see Greer anymore.
“Can I help you, Regina?” I snipped at her, leaning to look around her as the rest of the girls caught up.
She and Frankie cut their eyes at me, putting their hands on their hips. “You thought you’d get away with it, didn’t you?” She spat angrily, causing Greer and Lexton to stop walking so they could hear what was going on too.
I furrowed my brows and shook my head. Dealing with her drama was one of the last things I felt like doing at the moment. “What are you talking about?” I demanded.
Regina smiled viciously. “You’re just going to play dumb about it?” She asked. “That’s fine, but you were seen!” She said loudly and the ballroom seemed to get quieter.
I glanced away from her to see that the crowd was still sitting firmly in their seats, eyes glued on the confrontation taking place on stage. “Regina, I don’t kn-.”
Frankie stepped forward and pressed her finger to my lips. “My hand maiden said her friend, who is a guard, saw you coming out of the prince’s bedroom and that you kissed him!”
“What?” I screamed. “We were not kissing! We were only talking!”
Regina and Frankie both crossed their arms across their chests, smiling to each other. “So you admit it then? After Lexton’s date, you went behind all of our backs and spent time with him alone in his bedroom ? You are one sneaky bitch.” Regina said tossing her hair over her shoulder and stomping away. “Always knew you were a snake in the grass.”
Frankie rolled her eyes at me and followed Regina off stage, leaving Greer and Lexton standing in front of me. Lexton had her eyes cast down, but Greer was staring at me wide eyed and red faced. “Is it true?” She asked. “You were in his room with him?” I tried to think of what to say but she didn’t give me enough time. “I can’t believe you, Rachel. I knew we’d have to be against each other here if we wanted to win, but I didn’t realize you were willing to go about it like this. You always made me feel stupid when I wanted to talk about boys, but the first one you’re around you don’t mind sleeping your way to the top?”
My jaw went slack, leaving my mouth hanging open with no words capable of forming. I couldn’t believe Greer, the girl I thought was my best friend, was standing here in front of me and accusing me of sleeping with the prince to get ahead in the competition. There were no words that made sense to say now, so I just turned, my eyes full of tears and ran back to my room. I didn’t give a dmn how many people saw it.
I guess my question from earlier was answered now. We were obviously only friends out of necessity, not actual affection for each other. If she ever truly cared about me, or even knew me at all, she’d never have accused me of such a thing. I couldn’t believe she would think that way about me, but obviously it isn’t just her, but all of the other girls too. I felt worse about Lexton. Now she thinks on the night it was her date that I maliciously went and spent extra time with Calvin right after her.
I refused my dinner when Fern brought it, the very smell making me want to puke, and when she tried to stay and chat with me, I told her I was feeling ill and wished to be alone. I cried into my silk pillow for a long time, until finally my wet sobs turned into dry sniffles. I idly wondered to myself how much it was possible for a person to cry before they actually ran out of tears. The way I saw it, it should be a long time for me since my new found water faucet eyes never seemed to shut off anymore.
There was a knock on my door, so soft I almost thought I’d imagined it out of the pounding in my head, but then the door pushed open slowly, a slice of light scooping in to disrupt the darkness. I recognized his silhouette instantly, and I turned over in my bed, facing away from him. “You shouldn’t be here.” I whispered.
I heard the door click shut quietly. “I know.” He whispered back.
“Then why are you?”
“I don’t know.” He said and I felt his weight sit on my bed behind me. “I just wanted to check on you.”
I squeezed my eyes tightly. “I guess that means I made big news again.”
“They showed that something happened between you and the other girls, but they can only speculate what it was you fought over.” He said gently. “What happened?” When I ignored his question I felt his body shift on the bed and then his cold hand was on my shoulder, pulling me to roll over and face him. I turned toward him, but I pulled the blanket up to cover my face, only leaving my eyes out. “What happened?” He asked again patiently. The room was still dark, but there was just enough light coming from the washroom for me to be able to see his face, the shadows making his smooth expression seem clouded.
“Some guard told Frankie’s handmaiden that he saw me leaving your room last night and the girls pretty much accused me of having sex with you so that I could win.” I said quickly, before I chickened out and didn’t tell him at all.
The way his face changed made me wish I hadn’t said anything. This was the first time I’d ever been even a little afraid of him. Even in the darkness I could see his eyes darken to black as midnight and his perfect lips pulled back into a snarl. “I’ll have that guard’s head! The handmaiden’s too! Who is she?” He demanded angrily.
I sat upright in bed, pulling my blanket up to cover my body since I was already dressed in my nightgown. “No!” I said urgently. “Please don’t do that.”
“Rachel!” He said my name like it was painful, lowering the volume of his voice as he addressed me. “I can’t just let them get away with that! The guards and servants have no right to speak of private matters and they will pay for their stupidity!”
“Calvin, please!” I begged. “I don’t want someone to die because of me.”
“I have no choice.” His voice was flat, decided.
“But, you do! You can just pretend I never told you! Please, Calvin. Promise me?” I begged, reaching out to hold his strong arm in my weak hands. “I wouldn’t have told you if I thought you’d do something bad to them. Please, I don’t want to be the reason anyone gets hurt. If you want to have a talk with them, cool, fine, do it, but please don’t hurt anyone on my account. I couldn’t live with that.”
His eyes lightened slightly. “Rachel…”
“Promise me!” I said again, my voice high in panic.
“Fine!” He relented, still sounding pissed and I dropped my hands from him in relief. “Fine!” He repeated, then looked away from me, staring at the wall instead.
I looked down to where his hand was resting on my bed and I tentatively reached over to lay my fingers on top of it. He flinched at first, but then he relaxed, turning his face back to mine. I was relieved to see he looked like his normal self again.
“Thank you.” I whispered. He smiled lightly to me, then looked down at our hands. He moved slightly so that my hand was beneath his hand he laced his fingers into mine, watching our hands together like it was a new amazing thing he’d never seen before. I had to admit, it felt nice.
“I do have one condition, of course.” He smiled, looking more and more like himself by the second.
I tilted my head back and rolled my eyes. “Of course you do.” I laughed. “What is it?” I asked reluctantly.
“Well, seeing as the girls already think you’re some kind of harlot, will you please let me pick you for tomorrow night’s date?” His eyes were hopeful. “I don’t think I can handle another night like tonight.”
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“Does that mean you didn’t enjoy your date then?”
He narrowed his eyes. “There you go prying about my dates again that you claim not to care about.” He chuckled.
“Shut up.” I smiled, blushing in the dark that I’d just told a prince to shut up, but he just smiled on.
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“You’re avoiding my question.” He said.
“So are you.” I countered.
He brushed his cool fingers against my cheek and my breath hitched. “Please, Rachel?” He asked sweetly and I wondered if he was fully aware of the effect he had on me and was using it to his advantage or if he was oblivious to the fact that I might would say yes to anything he asked me if he continued to do it like that.
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I chewed on my lip for a minute, but then I decided he was right. The girl’s already hate me. “Why not.” I told him with a smile.
“That’s the spirit.” He chuckled.
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ROSES FOR RACHEL: EPISODES 1-10
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TO BE CONTINUED
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