Starlet

41. Stood Up

The week flies by. I am so busy again. Collin brings me a flower on Tuesday while I'm dancing. I don't see him on Wednesday or Thursday though. Friday, I go to the house and start getting ready at 3. I've got my hair done and dress on by 4:30 when Mario shows up for Lindsay. He smiles at me, but it's sad. I know then he's not coming.

Lindsay smiles as she walks out. "See you there."

I nod and fight back a few tears. Maybe I didn't get his look right. I finish getting ready and sit on the swing at 5 after 5.

At 5:15 I get a mind link from Thora. He's there with Ava. I tell her to have fun anyway. I'll be fine. I'll go to practice.

I go in and go to bed. That was enough for today.

The next morning, Lindsay sits on the porch with me. "So what are we doing today? It's Saturday. There is a big party tonight."

I shake my head. I need some alone time.

"I don't mean to interrupt. I forgot I had your bracelet in my pocket last night, Lindsay. I wanted to return it."

"Thank you sir. I forgot about it too."

"I'm sorry he stood you up like that. I should have said something."

"It wasn't your job to tell me he changed his mind. Don't be sorry for anything. You didn't do anything wrong."

Lindsay kisses him. "Thank you again. You can go now."

"Can I take you out again sometime?"

"I'll think about it. Actually, I want to go mini-golfing. Will you take me to that next weekend?"

"Yea, that would be fun."

"I'll do that. But don't bring that jackass. I will kick his ass."

He stares at her. "I wouldn't mind seeing that again." I laugh with them. "I'm playing. I won't invite him. Is Saturday at 2 ok. Or would you rather do Sunday?"

"Saturday at 2 works. I'll see you then." She smiles, and he walks down the path.

Dipak and Marcus come out of the house. I don't know what they're doing.

"Asshole alert." Lindsay tries to go over the rail and Dipak blocks her.

Collin sees everyone on the porch. He turns around and goes the other way.

"AND DO NOT COME BACK HERE ASSHOLE."

Now Marcus has hold of her. "Sit down. He left."

She sits. "I don't like him."

Dipak nods. "Yea, but you can't touch him anymore. I let you beat him up once, but that's enough. He is still a child. You can't beat up kids."

"I'm a kid in this disguise."

Dipak looks down the path. "Yea I don't get how that works really."

Lindsay stands up. "I'm going on a picnic with Ana. I'll be back after lunch."

"Have fun."

She smiles and makes a door. Then walks through.

Dipak nods. "I'm going to walk around."

I see the prince the girls like to fight over coming down the path. "Prince."

Dipak nods. "You spotted him from far enough away."

"I don't like princes."

The prince spots Dipak and comes up to us. He's got a couple of advisors with him. "King De La Nuit. I checked in at the castle. I want to look at the vacations, but I'm roaming for 20 minutes before it opens."

"It's not a problem."

Then he looks at me. "So did you get stood up last night? I'm invested in the teenage drama now and need to know the ending."

"I did get stood up. I had my dress made and jewelry and everything. Then I didn't hear from him for a couple of days, and he went with another girl. Never said a word to me."

"I'm sorry. I know that sucks. I've had a couple girls say they'll meet me somewhere and then not show up. How hard is it to say 'never mind'?"

Marcus nods. "Disrespectful assholes."

"Thora beat the hell out of him though. Broke his nose and everything."

"That doesn't surprise me any. She's really feisty."

Dipak scratches his head. "How long have you 2 known each other?"

Romeo looks at him. "We met 3 weeks ago today. At that ball. Then we saw each other at the Couvier ball as well. That's when I got included in the teenage drama. I got all the details of that asshole. So is the girl he went with the same girl you caught him with?"

"Yea."

"No matter what she says, she knew about you. She would have heard about you that first time."

"I guess she said she didn't. I never talked to her. I have no reason to. They can go be happy. I'm done with him."

"Some girls like splitting people up. They like the drama from it. Sounds like that might have been what she did."

"Well, it worked. I guess I should thank her. Got rid of him for me."

"Not really, because here he comes again."

"Will you please talk to me?"

"No."

"Please. I'm sorry."

"I know."

"But you won't even talk with me?"

"I know you're sorry. You're a sorry excuse for a man. I bought a dress and jewelry. I spent hours getting ready. I was looking forward to last night. I was looking forward to spending time with you. I was looking forward to talking to you then. But none of that was good enough. You decided you want something else. So go have it. I'm not giving you 1 more minute of my time. You've taken enough of it. Leave."

He nods, then turns around and walks away.

I cross my arms and glare at him.

Marcus looks at me with an eyebrow up. "Well, someone's mad."

"You don't think I have a right to be mad? He made a promise and he broke it. And all that I said was the truth. I had the dress designed to match his suit on Monday. Then I had the jewelry made. It cost me almost 500g. Then I did spend hours getting ready. Doing my make-up and hair like that takes a long time. And it's not like I have servants here to help me. And I was looking forward to going and seeing him. He was always fun and we got along well. Not to mention, I've never been to a dance like that. I wanted to go. I am busy constantly and don't get to go out like that. Then, after all that, I sit on the porch waiting only to get notified he's there with someone else. The asshole couldn't even say he changed his mind. He had to leave me here all alone and dressed up, just waiting?" I shake my head. "I am mad."

The prince nods. "I am so glad I'm not a teenager anymore."

Marcus nods and sits back.

I go to the restaurant for lunch. When I get back, Tre is sitting there.

"So they sent you in?"

He smiles and nods. Then he puts the paper down. "Did you eat lunch yet?"

"Yea. I went over there. Did you eat?"

"Yes. So what happened?"

"Collin took another girl to the dance. He never told me, so I was sitting here dressed up and waiting for him."

"Ok, I got that part right."

"He left me to spend hours getting ready in a custom-made dress, then look like a fool sitting on my porch."

"You have every right to be mad. I'm sorry he did that to you."

"I should have blew him off and went to Egypt. At least this weekend wouldn't have been a total waste. We could have wine right now."

Collin walks onto the porch. He's about to cry.

Tre looks at him. "Who are you?"

"Collin."

"Why in the world would you intentionally hurt a girl who actually likes you and wants to spend some time with you?"

"I'm stupid."

I walk by him and into the house. "Nobody is disagreeing with you here."

Tre nods. "She's mad. Go on." I shut the door on them. I can still hear through the window.

"I didn't think I had any real chance with her again. She agreed to go with me as a friend. But that's not what I wanted. Then this other girl. She started coming onto me. I thought she liked me. I thought I might have a shot at being her boyfriend. So I went with her."

"Well, I'll give you a life lesson. Whores are everywhere. They'll do anything they can to get your attention. Promise you whatever you want to hear. They always want something though. s*x. Position. Title. It doesn't matter. That's what they want. They don't want you really. They think you'll look good on their arm for a month. Nice accessory. Fun toy to play with for a night. They don't care about you. If you find a girl that actually sees you and likes having conversations about the stupidest things with you. Hold onto that. Let me guess though, you're popular in school. Lots of girls want to date you. So 1 of them hits on you enough to get you to notice her. Suddenly she's the popular girl in school too? All the girls are jealous?" I can't see what he says. "That's all she wanted. She got that, so she's done. And probably ruined your reputation in the process. And your relationship with someone who did care."

"Do you think she'll ever talk to me again?"

"I have no idea. Would you? Right now she's mad as hell. She feels stupid and hurt. Stupid because she gave you another chance. She probably feels embarrassed that she spent all that time trying to look nice, and it didn't mean anything to you. You left her to sit by herself and cry. I don't know if she'll talk to you again. But you need to back off. She has to calm down. You're not going to get anywhere trying to talk to her when she's this mad."

"Hi Advisor Tre." I can tell a girl says it.

"Hello... Can I help you?"

"Do you want to go have a drink?"

"No."

I try not to laugh. He sounds so bored. She giggles. "Let me know if you change your mind."

"I forgot where I was... But it doesn't matter. That girl. Could have ruined everything between me and the princess. Nadine would have found out eventually... somehow. It's on you to say no when you have someone. You can't blame a w***e for being a w***e. You can only control how you react to them."

"I understand."

"Did Mario know you asked 2 girls to the dance?"

"Yea, he gave me a bunch of s**t for it. I tried to explain, but he kept saying how much of w***e Ava was. I didn't realize that."

"Yea, they'll sneak up on you. You'll learn to recognize them more as you get older. But I think you got a big lesson in it." There's a pause for a bit.

Then I hear Dipak. "Who let all the whores out today?"

"I have no f*****g idea. Had 1 come up right here, not even 15 minutes ago. Maybe we should check on Ann. Something is going on."

"No need. She's coming up the path. Do not acknowledge her, Collin. Don't even look at her."

"Yes sir."

"She's coming right for us. I wonder what the hell she wants."

"IS JACK HERE?"

"No."

"BRING HIM NOW."

"What is going on, Ann?"

"BRING HIM."

"Have someone go get Jack and bring him here. Now what is going on, Ann?"

"I don't know." She is crying. "They won't leave me alone."

"Who won't leave you alone?"

"Everyone."

Jack walks by me and out the front door. "We'll figure it out. Try to relax."

"Summon Edwin and escort this boy home. He may be under the effect of whatever the hell this is. Keep him under guard until we sort it out."

I guess I don't need to visit my house today. I pay for this. It's not even fair they use it. I'll find my own place to rent. I have my own money.