From Princess to Queen

Awkward Meetings

Ava's POV

It feels like I had been in this car for days, by the time we arrive at the Academy. We stop at the big iron gate, where a guard is stationed. Dad rolls down the window and the guard’s eyes widen with a look of shock on his face. He bows his head, placing his fisted hand over his chest.

 “Your majesty,” the guard says in a panicked voice. “Please come in, I will get the gates opened immediately.”

 “Thank you. Do I need to give you anything?” my dad asks while tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.

Shaking his head, the guard replies “Oh no, sir. Not from you. Someone will be waiting for you at the end of the driveway. Keep following it for half a mile. Once you’re out of the forest, the Academy will come into view.”

 As we give thanks to the guard, Dad does up his window and we head into the thick forest, following a narrow concrete road. Well, this look’s creepy as s**t. Ten minutes later, the first glimpse of the Academy comes into view. A huge, dark, stone tower with an iron clock sat on top of it. Two more towers stand next to the tallest one on either side, a lot wider than the one in the middle. These two had four-pointed cone shapes on top of each corner.

 A large horseshoe staircase emanated from the central, taller building. This place was surrounded by forests and a beautifully kept lawn that students were sitting on.

 “This place is massive,” I say, wonder filling my voice.

 We pull up close to the staircase, where the driveway ends in a semicircle. A middle-aged woman is waiting there. She has chestnut brown hair, a few wisps of silver shining through. She pulls off the tight black pinstriped suit and red stiletto. She is wearing well. We exit the car and I smooth down my oversized jumper.

 The lady sticks her hand out to my dad. “Your majesty, it’s a pleasure to be having the princess attend our Academy.” She says her voice strong and confident.

He shakes her hand and puts on one of his fake smiles. He is still super pissed about me going, but accepts it was what I wanted.

“Yes, well, my daughter has a mind of her own and insisted she attend,” he says in a snarky tone.

 The corner of my lip pulls up in a smug grin.

 “Ah, yes” the lady says as she turns to look at Grace and me, her eyes darting between us, confusion settling on her face.

 Of course, she doesn’t know which one of us is the princess!

Huffing out a breath, I roll my eyes.

Grace must have caught onto the confusion in the woman’s face. She steps forward and introduces herself. “Hello, I’m.”

 She is cut off as the lady bows her head. “Princess, it’s”

 Grace’s mouth pops open. “NO!” She shakes her hands in front of her as a laugh escapes my lips and I quickly try to cover it with a cough.

 “I’m Grace, Ava’s best friend. I, too, am attending.”

The lady straightens her spin, her checks sporting a shade of red. She runs her hands down the front of her suit jacket and nods at Grace. Turning to me, she says, “Princess Ava, it’s lovely to have you here. I have a few things for you an information booklet with your class schedule, a map of the Academy, and your key card. Which will get you into your room.” Her tone is formal as she hands the items over to me.

 “Thank you, um… I didn’t catch your name,” I reply.

Her hand flies to her cheek. “Oh, I’m so sorry. The name is Helen Clifton. I’m the head mistress’s assistant,” she says her voice cracking as if struggling to maintain her confidence.

 Dad comes round from behind the car, two suitcases in hand. We say our goodbyes and shed a few tears, then I watched the car until it is gone from view. Taking a deep, steady breath, I wipe the tears from my face on the sleeves of my jumper. I turn and grab a hold of Grace’s hand while Helen pulls my suitcase.

 “Let’s get you settled in, Princess” she says while walking straight past the stairs to the building.

 “You can call me Ava,” I reply. “And where are we going?” I ask confused and rushing to catch up to her, still holding Grace’s hand.

 “The main building in the middle houses the canteen and head mistress’s office. The buildings on either side of that are where classes are held. we are going round the back, where the residential towers and the training arena are.” She explains.

 Turning the corner, I realise this place is much bigger than what it looked like from the front. A giant stone arena sits right next to the tree line. Across from that, on the other side of the huge green space, sit four beautiful towers.

I turn to Grace, who has the biggest smile. I squeak out a sound of excitement, this is a new chapter of my life, and I can’t wait to start it.

Helen turns to us and hands Grace the same pack she gave me.

 “Grace, you will be staying in the Mage Tower. It’s the second from the end one.” She points to where Grace will be residing.

“Ava, you will be staying in the Elite Tower, which is the one on the end. Your room is on the top floor, the one with all the windows. I will leave you girls to settle in.” She then turns to walk back the way we came.

 Squeezing my best friends’ hand, I say, “Are you going to be okay babe? You know where to find me if you need anything, right?” My voice is full of nerves. I did not like the thought of not sleeping under the same roof as her.

“It will be fine, babe,” she replied. “Our towers are right next to each other. A little independence will be good for us.

 I place my hand on my chest in an overly dramatic way, acting hurt. “You want to be independent, without me? How dare you? The pain of such betrayal,” I say sarcastically, before letting out a light laugh.

 “Ha, ha. Very funny, Princess,” she says rolling her eyes at me.

 “Oh, no. You didn’t just roll those green eyes at me!” I say while placing my hands to rest on my hips.

She giggles, then gives a big smile like the cat that got the cream. “Get out of here. Go check out your room.”

I give her a big hug, then walk towards the Elite Tower, dragging my suitcase behind me.

It may sound bratty, but I was fairly sure princesses did not have to drag their own suitcases around. Especially when the said suitcase was as heavy as mine.

 Come on Ava stop being a brat you want to fit in. This is a chance at being normal. I step through the doors into what looked like a communal area. Plain, beige walls and dark wood flooring are the first things I notice until I look straight ahead down a hallway. The relief I feel when I see there is an elevator is ridiculous.

 I just hate stairs, with a passion. Speed walking towards the elevator, I ignore the looks I receive from the students around me. They are sitting on sofas, some watching television on a huge flat screen, others reading books.

 Keeping my head down, I reach the elevator and press the number eight-button. I am on the top floor, and that is the highest number it goes to, so it must be right. The doors open and another plain beige wall greeted me. Ugh, this place already seems boring, just by the décor alone.

 I step out, confused as there are six doors on this floor, and Helen never gave me a door number. One of the doors down the hall is open, so I decide to ask for help.

 I stop outside the room and rap the door twice.

 Knock, knock

Even though it is open, I don’t want to walk into a random person’s room.

 From what I can see of it, the person staying here is not very tidy. Dirty clothes lay in a pile next to a washing basket, empty bottle of water are scattered over a wooden desk.

 That is when it hit me.

 This is a man’s room. I am about to turn away when a voice comes from inside the room. “Can I help you?” a breathy, husky voice that sends tingles all over my body asks.

Turning, I am suddenly looking into the face of a f*****g god!

 I instantly forget who I am, and what I am doing. He has beautiful thick, dark, curly hair, short at the back and sides with a thick, loose curl sweeping into his eyes. He pushes it to the side to reveal intense, deep blue eyes. His sharp jaw line is covered in a five o’clock shadow. My eyes automatically make their way down his body to reveal he is shirtless. I suck in a sharp breath. Holy s**t! This man was made to perfection.

 His tanned, muscular chest has a symbol tattooed over his left pectoral. The lines and dips of his abs end in a delicious V, heading towards his low-slung, black shorts. He places his arms on either side of the doorway and I realise how massive they are, like the size of my head.

The sound of a throat clearing snaps me out of whatever spell I was under. My eyes dart back to his and I feel the embarrassment creep up into my cheeks. He gives me a smug grin, revealing his straight white teeth. “You, okay?”

Opening and closing my mouth like a fish out of water, I manage to put some words together.

 “Top floor,” I rush out. He raises a gorgeous dark eyebrow at me. “I mean, I need help getting to the top floor,” I say as calmly as I can, wiping my mouth with my jumper sleeve in case I was drooling.

 Which I most probably was.

“Ah yes, you need to swipe your key card onto the reader in the elevator. It will take you to the top floor.” He replies.

“Thank you” I quickly turn and make my way back to the elevator.

“It’s River, by the way,” the perfect man shouts.

I turn to look at his smug face and say. “Sorry, what?”

 He emits a laugh that sends a shot of pleasure through my body. I clench my thighs and hold my breath as I see he now has a polo shirt in his hands, which he starts pulling over his head as he slowly walks towards me. I feel a bit disappointed now that his body is no longer on view.

“My name,” he says “you never asked for it. Its River”

 Nod, that’s all I can do. Like an i***t.

“And you are?” he drags out the last word.

 “Ava,” I shoot out, shaking my head. I am losing my damn mind around this man.

 He gives me a smile and wish for the gods to just kill me now. He has dimples. “See you around, Ava,” he says slowly. His eyes run the length of my body. 

And boy, that sure does weird things to me.