There are many stories about regular girls meeting a prince. I’m not sure why this has become such a dream for women all over the world. Is it in hopes life was secretly this fairy tale, only given to a select few, which ended happily ever after? Life, royal or not, doesn’t happen like that. And ended sounded so final. No growth, no change.
Trapped.
Being royal or a part of that circle was anything but magical or a fantasy. It was a cage. Gilded, yes, but a cage nonetheless. I watched it from afar all my life, glad to not really be in the middle of it. They seemed arrogant, spoiled, exclusive, and snobby. But they also lived under an extreme microscope, forced by traditions and severe expectations from family and the world. What they wore, who they dated, what they said. Every inch of their lives when they stepped out the doors was no longer theirs. I could understand why so many went a little nuts at boarding school. Alton College was an exclusive private institute; the press was not allowed to enter.
I was only here because my father’s name had a baron title attached to it, the lowest rank on the aristocracy tree. And at this school, it was the equivalent of getting a “thank you for participating” ribbon. By normal standards, I wasn’t regular, but in the world of the elite nobility and the uber-wealthy, I wasn’t even on their social pages under “friend suggestions.”
But only one ran the school, even causing teachers and staff to bend over backward, doing everything they could to please him. Make his life even more pampered.
Theodore Alexander Philip Robert David Livingston, the Prince of bloody Great Victoria.
The arrogant arse, who happened to be strutting by me heading to class, had the longest, most pretentious name ever. Of course, he was sexy as hell. I was pretty sure it was illegal for royals to have ugly children. With the stunning beauty of Queen Catherine and handsome looks of King Alexander, he had little choice, neither did his absolutely stunning sister, Eloise. But still, there must have been a dungeon somewhere that hideous offspring were sent to, locked away for daring to be anything but attractive.
Prince Theo was more than six foot, broad, with styled light brown hair and sparkling green eyes. So good looking it hurt to look directly at him. Polished, fit, but with a mischievous bite to him. He was probably pinned up on most girls’ bedrooms walls all over the world, not counting the coed populace at this school, along with the staff. The boy was in more women’s fantasies on a regular basis than any other sexy male celebrity in the world.
And he knew it.
Even the “uniform” we were given to wear didn’t diminish his cocky sex appeal one bit or that of his close, selective group of friends, while it made the rest of us peons look like the frumpy cast of Harry Potter.
“Spence?” A voice circled my ear. “Earth to Spencer.” A shoulder nudged mine, drawing my attention back to my friend, Wilhelmina. Only her parents and teachers dared called her that. She liked to go by Mina. She was one of the few like me who had little tolerance for the Prince or his group. Her father was an earl. A few steps above mine, but still so low on the totem pole in the estate where he was earl, she was treated like me. Thanks for coming, but really, we couldn’t care less about the tiny manor your family inherited. “Stare any harder at His Majesty,” she rolled her eyes, sarcasm latching on to his title, “and his bodyguards will put your name on the watch list.”
I snorted, shaking my head. “Like I’m even on their level of notice to get on any list.”
“You say that, girl, but every guy here drools when you pass by.”
I shot her a leveled glance, sliding off the top of a picnic table. I could deny it, but since school started, we had more sign-ups for stopping animal testing than all the years before combined. It was like I went from a ghost to an actual human being. They noticed me now.
“I had a guy ask me yesterday if I was a new student.” I hitched my school bag onto my shoulder. “No, arsehole, I’ve been going to school with you since kindergarten.”
“Guys are wankers and totally obtuse. But really, Spence, you can’t totally be surprised. You completely changed