No Chance, No Way

A watched pot may not boil, but a watched clock definitely doesn’t go faster. At all. Damn laws of time.

Riiiiiiiing!

I jumped out of my seat as soon as the bell rang and hauled ass over to the front doors. Call me a klutz because I definitely tripped over grass on my way to the bus stop. Once I had paid my bus fare and sat down by the bus doors, I took a deep breath and plugged my earphones into my ears, cranking up the volume so that Mayday Parade was the only thing on my mind.

Close up Camera One,
The hero sings in this scene
The boy that gets the girl gets to go home, where they get married
But stop the tape,
The sunset still looks fake to me
The hero looks like he can't breathe,
The damsel just left everything

As my bus stop approached, I gathered my makeup that was spread out on the bus seat next to me and put it in the front pocket of my backpack. I stood up and leaned against the nearest pole for support, checking my makeup job in the big, round mirror that the driver uses to check on the passengers in the back.

Before I knew it, the bus had pulled up to the stop and a group of friends were waiting for me to move out of the way so they could make their way towards the seats.

"Sorry," I mumbled as I passed them on my way out, embarrassed that I took up the whole freakin' aisle checking myself out in the mirror.

Right as I stepped off the bus, I heard someone behind me on the bus yell, "Hey!"

Turning around I saw a girl my age, if not older, standing at the top of the bus's stairs.

"I like your jacket, where'd you get it from?"

I looked down at my unbuttoned faux-leather jacket. It was supposedly from Urban Outfitters, but I got it at Salvation Army for 10 bucks.

"Uh... a store," I said, nodding, "It's a little bit outside downtown, called-"

The bus doors closed.

I turned around and shrugged, not really caring that she didn't get to hear the sob story of how I buy everything off Goodwill. Instead, I paid attention to the path that I walked: turning the corner, making a left and two rights, going straight for a little bit... all the while, I was listening to my mp3 player.

Superstar
Where you from, hows it going?
I know you
Gotta clue, what you're doing?
You can play brand new to all the other chicks out here
But I know what you are, what you are, baby.

After a while, I began to nod my head to the beat of Britney Spears's music (if you could call it her music.) Then, I began to mutter the lyrics and walk according to the song. I love dancing. I remember in fifth grade, my mom put me in this cotillion class. And I remember that I put up with the bitchy old lady running the whole thing just so I wouldn't get sent home before the dancing portion.

I find old English ballroom dancing extremely romantic. Like in Pride and Prejudice? Yeah, it's beautiful.

"Emilie?"

I turned my head.

Apparently, I had waltzed right into Nick's office. He laughed at the dazed look upon my face.

"What are you listening to?"

I pulled out one of the ears of the headphones, showed him the screen to my Mp3 player, and replied, "Britney Spears."

"How can you dance the Quadrille to... 'Womanizer'?"

I shrugged. He sighed. I sat across from his desk and he sat in his desk chair. We sat in silence, neither one of us knowing what to say to the other. It was sufficiently awkward.

"So you're a dancer too, then?"

"Well, I was in cotillion classes for a while but then I had to drop out."

"Why is that?"

"We couldn't afford it," I said, thinking coldly of how my 'dad' knew I was alive yet refused to acknowledge our existence.

His smile broke.

"Right... well, shall we get started with the business then?"

I let out a breath and nodded.

"King Louis sent me travel information for the 31st of January, I've been told your birthday is February 27th, yes?"

I bit my lip and nodded, trying to listen intently. I couldn't help but notice that today was Wednesday, January 21st.

"The plan is to take you early so we can introduce you to the closest families and friends of Reyland, then we transform you to what the King deems as 'princess' material, then we present you to the families and allies of Reyland again on your 18th birthday," Nick explained.

"So, kind of like a before and after thing, right?"

"I suppose so, yes. To present you on your 18th birthday is symbolic to the fact that you are then legally allowed to take over the throne of Reyland, so to speak," he continued.

I nodded.

"I've asked your mom to come in tomorrow before she goes to work so we could discuss this more closely, but for now, just know you're in good hands," he said as he smiled, got up from his chair, and gestured towards the door.

What the...
Boy, wait til I'm the Queen. Then let's see you kick me out.

**********************
I told Sam that I would catch him up on what the Regent and I had talked about around 4:30, once he got out of lacrosse practice. Unfortunately, the meeting didn’t last as long as I had hoped, so I was waiting in the neighborhood park by myself for a while. I walked over to an available swing and began to push myself softly, taking in my surroundings.

The wind was blowing softly and little kids played in the sandbox and on the play structure. Kids of all ages ran around shrieking with joy and shoving each other around. I smiled– thank God I don’t have kids.

I thought back to the last week. School had been, as usual, uneventful. I aced my semester exam for history and wrote the best English essay I ever have. Sam scored the winning point in the last school Lacrosse game and was slowly helping me familiarize myself with Reyland.

Apparently, we had some of the nicest tennis courts in eastern Europe. Go figure.

"Em?”

I glanced over my shoulder and saw Sam drop his backpack and his lacrosse gear by the empty picnic table upon which my own backpack rested. I nodded hello to my best friend and resumed watching the toddlers chase each other around the playground. They were so carefree and had so much fun… I wish I never had to grow up.

“Why can’t we be kids again?” I asked aloud, wondering what wise ol’ Sam Gamgee would say.

“Because then I’d still be picking on you and calling you mean names."

I laughed. “We’ve come a long way, haven’t we?"

I felt Sam begin to push me as I swung, slowly getting higher.

“You were always you, I was the asshat that needed to mature."

“Hey... you said it, not me."

A silence fell over us. The kids had moved on to the merry-go-round, taking turns pushing the wheel around.

“So I was doing some more research on Reyland before practice,” Sam said, pushing me slower.

“Mhmm?" I mumbled back quietly, lightly closing my eyes. The soothing motion of the swing in motion was lulling me to sleep.

“It turns out that they're the fourth poorest country in the European Union."

My eyes opened. How? Didn't the United States owe them for their gigantic amount of prunes? I took in a breath.

"How much do we make a year?"

"Just over 13-thousand Euros."

"How much would I make, then?"

As I came back on the swing, he held onto the chains, causing me to put my feet down on the ground as a reflex so I didn't fly forward.

"You're doing this for the money, aren't you?" I heard him ask from behind me. Suddenly, I was scared to turn around. The tone of his voice made my heart hurt.

"Turn around."

I shook my head slowly. The kids around us were still playing and laughing gaily; they were so lucky they didn't have a fully developed conscience yet. However, everything seemed so heavy, despite the kids' happiness.

"Damnit Emilie, face me when I'm gonna yell at you!" He semi-laughed, letting go of the swing chains. He still had that tone of voice, though. I'm scared.

Nevertheless, I stood up and turned around, sitting with my knees on the swing and facing Sam.

"You're still not looking at me."

I tilted my head up and looked into his brown eyes.

"If you're doing this for money, fame, whatever- then don't do it at all."

"I'm not doing it for money."

"Yeah Em, you are."

"I'm not," I said, starting to get annoyed. He was partially right, partially wrong. "I'm doing it to get out of this piece-of-shit 'city' we live in."

"To rule a country, Em... you can't just think of your own comfort. That's exactly what you're doing right now."

"Well... I mean, I won't be ruling it for a while..." I said, attempting to defend myself.

"That doesn't matter, Em! You can't just become this crown figure for the money and the fame. You've gotta know what you're doing! You have to think of your country's people as if you were their Jesus Christ."

"Well, how the fuck am I supposed to do that if I have no money?"

He scoffed.

"Are you seriously being this self-centered right now?"

My cheeks grew hot and I turned away. Was I?

He shook his head in disappointment at me and began to walk away in the direction of his home. Defeated, I yelled after him, calling for him to come back. But he just kept walking and the kids kept playing, and I fell off the swing trying to disentangle myself from the seat and chains fast enough to run after him. By the time I stood back up and wiped the wood chips from my pants, he was out of sight.