The Prince's Tutor

The next morning Callie was already out the door before the sun was up. She had fallen behind on her schoolwork thanks to Harry’s new involvement in her life and she needed all the time she could get to make sure she finished.

As she sat in her favorite garden, legs crossed Indian style, she twirled her soft hair around her index finger- a habit she’s had since she was young.

Flipping through her many books, she spent her time reading, writing, and studying- making sure she was ready for her exam in a couple of hours. When the sun finally rose, she put away her flashlight and positioned herself towards the sun, allowing the fresh morning sunlight to hit the pages.

When the students began to arrive, and the garden area didn’t seem as serene, she picked up her belongings and began to make her way towards the school.

She started her walk towards the library but never made it quite that far. She was suddenly grabbed by the hand and spun around to face her capturers.

Marilyn, Ashleigh, and Helen stood facing her, grinning from cheek to cheek.

The three of them were dressed in lavish clothing of Gucci, Prada, and Chanel- Marilyn looked like the star of the three in her gorgeous Gucci indigo ruffled dress and her black platform pumps.

Marilyn approached Callie first, and the other two puppets followed suit.

“There you are! We’ve been looking all over for you! How is it that you vanish so quickly into thin air?” Marilyn whined, grabbing Callie by the hand.

Callie felt herself being dragged away from the library, her heart sinking. She would never finish studying with these Barbie dolls hanging around.

She attempted to pull away, to refuse, but her protests were ignored as she was pulled further and further away from her purpose in this pretentious school.

Once they were outside, Marilyn and the other two had finally let her free. They sat Callie down on a bench, and proceeded to gaze intently at her, eyes narrowed.

“Well? Where have you been?”

Callie looked up at the three and sheepishly smiled, not knowing what to say. She didn’t want to mention Harry’s name because she knew it would lead her to trouble.

“Darling, what are you wearing?” Ashleigh finally spoke, looking appalled at the simple attire Callie had on- shorts and a plain tee along with her loyal Chuck Taylors on her feet.

Marilyn flipped her platinum hair back and rolled her eyes.

“Don’t mind her, that’s what she always wears. She’s trying to make a ‘statement,” she said, making hand air quotes when she said “statement”.

Helen raised an eyebrow at Marilyn’s air quotes, and then turned her attention back to Callie.

“It’s ghastly, whatever statement you’re making. If I didn’t know any better Callie, I’d think you were poor. You really should change your image, you know.”

“And do something with your hair.” Marilyn interjected; she was now trying to make something of Callie hair, which she felt was much too simple and lacked glamour.

Callie stood up and batted away the lingering hands that were attempting to change her appearance.

“Marilyn, give it a rest. You know I could care less about clothing.”

Marilyn rolled her eyes as the two Barbie dolls made a short gasping sound in the background.

There was a small buzzing sound and Helen took out her phone, only to give out a high pitched scream.

“He’s here!”

The other two followed her example and Callie quickly tried to make a run for it, seeing as they were preoccupied.

Did I mention that things rarely work in Callie’s favor?

She was slammed back down on the bench by six remarkably strong hands. She was then given a death glare by Ashleigh, before they continued with the conversation.

“Have you seen him?” Helen asked, intrigued with the new topic.

Callie responded with:

“Who? The new foreign exchange student? Yeah I heard he’s from Italy or”

“No.” Marilyn once again interjected. “Prince Harry.”

All interest lost, Callie’s face dropped. “Oh, him.”

There was a sudden gasp, and Callie looked up to see Marilyn and the two barbies’ faces in astonishment.

“Oh…”
“My…”
“God!” The three chimed in unison.

“He’s walking this way!”

Callie peered behind the three fashion divas to see Harry, who was walking effortlessly, a trail of screaming women behind him.

As he walked passed Cambridge’s finest select few, Callie rolled her eyes at the girls chasing after him.

“Oh my god, I think I just died a little inside! He looked at me, did you see?”

“Please, why would he look at you? He was obviously staring at me.”

“No, no. You’re both wrong. He was watching me. I saw that look of lust in his eye. He was practically giving me a marriage proposal with that gaze!”

Callie reached into her bag and took out her textbook, deciding to study while those three argued.

“He’s so gorgeous, look at the way that Ralph Lauren polo clings to his body.”

“Oh and look at his smile! It’s so genuine and warm and friendly and”

“And his hair! Callie, look at his hair!” Marilyn turned to look at Callie, who was engaged in the book she was reading.

“Callie!” she shouted again, snapping the brunette out of her focus.

Annoyed, Callie looked up. “Yes?”

“You are such a nerd,” Marilyn continued, and snatched the textbook out of her grasp.

“I said, look at his hair.” Marilyn repeated herself, and grabbed Callie by the shoulders, positioning the brunette so she could admire the Prince properly.

“He’s like some sort of ginger headed sex god!” Helen chimed in, on cue.

Callie stood watching the Prince. He was flirting with some airy blonde girl who looked like she had no clue of what was going on.

“No. I’m clearly not seeing what you lot are,” she said, hinting that she was bored of the subject.

“What? You’re mental! Completely mental!” Helen chimed once again, on cue.

“Do you all hear yourselves?” Callie spun around to face the trio, attempting to bash reality into their exorbitant minds.

“Do you?” Marilyn asked, bewildered at Callie’s reaction to her Prince Charming.

“All three of you are so focused on his looks, have you even thought about personality?” Callie said.

“Ugh, boring. Who cares about that?” Ashleigh began.

“I don’t care if we don’t speak a word to each other, as long as I’m married to him,” Marilyn said.

“Exactly. All I need is his money and the title of princess, and I’m satisfied.” Helen finished.

Callie sighed, giving up on her pep talk. The more time she spent at this school, the more she felt like she was completely alone.

~~***~~

Sometime in the afternoon, when Callie had finished her exams, she decided to check a couple of books from the library, a place where she could indulge in all sorts of topics, and never become bored.

She looked around the library, remembering the last time she was there and the argument she had with Prince Harry. She had not seen him in a couple of days; he had made it clear to stay away from her and she didn’t like him all that much either. He was loud, and rude, and completely ignorant.

Shrugging off unpleasant memories, she continued her walk through the library.

She browsed around in various sections, allowing her curiosity to roam past the shelves, and finally settled herself in what she called home, the historic art area.

After deciding on which she wanted, she checked out and left the library, excited with her findings. As she was flipping through the top book of her stack, she lost her footing.

She felt herself slowly give way to the ground underneath her, and just when she almost hit the ground, boom. She collided into something, no someone.

Her stack of books went flying, mixing themselves with the other person’s belongings.

She automatically went on an “I’m sorry” roll, before realizing who it was. Glancing up, she saw the red headed devil himself, smirking mischievously at her in return.

“Oh, it’s you,” she said, her voice falling flat. She bent down, attempting to pick up her scattered books.

“You seemed so cute and innocent for a moment, is that how you reel people in?” he asked, helping her pick up the remaining books.

“No, I don’t ‘reel’ anyone in. What do you want anyway?” she asked, becoming exasperated.

“I’ve been looking for you for days, where have you been?” he asked, his voice oddly pleasant.

Callie raised an eyebrow at him skeptically, confused at his new methods.

“Why are you so worried about my whereabouts? Last time I checked you didn’t want me anywhere near you. Remember, the whole ‘stay out of my life’ charade?” she replied, grabbing her books out of his hands.

“Yeah well, I’ve reconsidered a few things,” he stated, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

He stumbled on his words a bit, the redness returning to his face in a ghostly manor.

“I’ve decided to do the lessons, if that’s what my old man wants. I want him off my case for a bit,” he stated, running his hand through his gorgeous ginger hair.

“Is that so? And is my life so insignificant that I can just change it to fit your needs?” Callie said, becoming more annoyed with his presence.

“Yeah, well…” he began, but stopped shortly when he saw her expression.

“I mean, no, that’s not what I meant,” he tried again.

“Goodbye, Harry,” she said, turning her back to the Prince once again.

She didn’t get very far though; instead she was grabbed by the shoulder and turned to face him.

“Why do you keep doing that?” he asked, all the attempted kindness had left his voice now.

Callie now too became frustrated with his tone. Who could understand someone like him?

“Doing what?” she said, shrugging off his hand from her shoulder.

“Running away from me every time I try to talk to you.”

“Well maybe if you tried to be a tad bit more charming in our conversations, I wouldn’t have to.”

The tension between the two was rising; Harry could feel another fight coming on.

“You’re unbelievable, you know that? I came to find you so I could apologize and-”

“And this is your apology to me?” Callie asked, bewildered at his actions. He honestly thought he was doing her a favor.

Harry looked away for a moment, regaining his breath and calming his temper. Callie took the time as well to further herself from his form.

She noticed the looks they were getting from other students. They were all watching their little argument, curiosity seeping from their doe-eyed faces.

Harry cleared his throat and stepped back a little as well, finally becoming aware at the world around the two of them.

After a couple of seconds, he returned his gaze to her and tried again.

“Look, Callie…its Callie, isn’t it?” he said, worrying he might have offended her again.

The brunette nodded slowly, feeling slight discomfort from the growing stares.

“I know you got mad last time because of something I said or whatever. And I want to do your lessons- er thing. So there, I’m sorry,” he said rather awkwardly, not able to meet her gaze.

“Apology not accepted,” she muttered, her face lacking emotion.

“What? Why the hell not?” he began, anger seeping into his gorgeous face.

“Because that’s not an apology. You don’t even know what you’re apologizing for.”

“So? You’re the one who wants to hear it-” he began, and then stopped himself again.

Callie stood there, growing more impatient with his temper. She never met a person who became angry while apologizing for his own wrongdoings. Boy, did he need help.

“Okay, okay,” he began, racking his brain for a different method.

“I know I haven’t been the friendliest to you recently, and I’m truly an arse for that. I don’t want you to hold anything against me, but I realize that it may be too late. What I said last time, about the money thing, just please forget I said that. I was wrong and I’m sorry. Can you find a way to forgive me?” he said. “Please?”

Callie peered at him for a moment, disbelief crossing her elegant features. It was like he was a completely different person. The man that stood in front of her now had lost all composure and confidence. For the first time since meeting him, the words coming from his mouth were not rude or ignorant, but genuine.

“I forgive you,” she said, smiling at this new transformed figure.

He returned her smile, grinning devilishly. All traces of the kind, genuine Prince Harry vanished.

“You missed me, didn’t you?” he said teasingly.

Callie rolled her eyes, losing all hope.

Maybe for some people, change is simply impossible.