Royalty or Not

Chapter 2: The secret is out

"We're royalty." Jared told me nervously. I noticed everyone was staring at me now as I began to freak out.

Mrs. Koast looks at me apologetically. "We weren't able to tell you, but we did want to tell you eventually. I told the boys that they weren't aloud to tell you, but we know you so well, and you're here all the time, so we trust you and had been planning on telling you, but we weren't sure how. But I guess now is as good a time as ever." She tells me as if it'll make everything better.

"Wow. I never knew. I can't believe this." I said, lost in thought.

"Well, mom. Since she knows now, do you think maybe she can come to that ball?" He asked his mom before turning to me." Would you want to go to a ball with me?" He asked nervously. "As a friend, of course." He quickly said hoping he had a better chance of me saying yes. Then he turns to his mom, pleading. I turned to look at Nick and noticed his head down, he looks a little sad and lost in thought. He noticed me staring and immediately put on a smile.

"I think it'd be a great idea! She's got the manners for it already! Nobody would even know she's not a princess." Nick said, looking to his mom.

"Hm, I guess it's fine." She said, looking concerned.

We end up going upstairs to work on schoolwork and then play video games. The twins are acting like everything is normal, like nothing just happened, nothing has changed. I don't understand how they can act like this. I just sat there lost in thought, not even able to pay attention to my schoolwork. I'm so confused and conflicted right now. The royals never go to a regular high school, so why are they pretending to be regular people and going to high school? And why do they live in this house, instead of the palace? That makes no sense, and then they invited me to the ball in the castle. Regular people never get invited to those kinds of things. Nick said he'd teach me everything I needed to know, but I'm just not sure if it's a good idea for me to go. I just have a bad feeling about it.

It turns out the twins are the princes of the kingdom of Aronda. There are quite a few kingdoms out there. Some of them you can't access without a magic key because they are hidden. Some kingdoms are higher up than others. The kingdom of Aronda is pretty high up there on the chart, so I can understand why they never told me. I still don't understand why they live in this house instead of their castle and go to a regular high school instead of the Royal Academy.

Nicks POV

I noticed Ash was lost in thought. This must be a lot for her to take in. I can't believe Jared invited her as his date, knowing I've had a crush on her for years. Apparently, so has he, even though we don't act like it with her. I don't want to ruin my friendship with her, but I can't help how I feel. But, the only reason she agreed to go with him is because he said 'only as friends'. She wouldn't actually date him, at least I hope not.

I sat there, staring at Ash, not even paying attention to my work, but yet again, I don't think she is either.

Ash's POV

The next day

Nick is teaching me everything I need to know for the ball, and he's surprised about how well I'm doing for only training for a few hours. "Wow! This is why my mom always says that you have the manners of a princess!" He laughs.

"Yeah. Haha." I laughed nervously.

"You're nervous?" He questioned. "I never see you nervous, but, yet again, you did just find out we're royalty, which is a huge thing." He says sadly. "I never wanted to keep it from you, ya know?"

I feel bad. They trusted me with this big secret, yet I'm still keeping my secrets from them. "Yeah, it was some big news."

"But, there's something else, isn't there?" He looked at me concerned. Of course, he noticed. He knows me way too well.

"What? No! it's just a lot to take in, is all!" I exclaimed, hoping he'd believe me and drop it.

"You don't have to lie to me. You've been acting off lately, and I know you way too well for you to be able to lie to me." He looked at me questioningly. He's right. I have been hiding something. I just looked down at the floor, not being able to look him in the eyes. Nick crouches down next to me, putting his hand on my back. "What's wrong?" He seems so concerned, but I can't bring myself to say anything. "It's okay if you don't want to tell me, but just know, I am here for you. Okay? I will always be here for you, and I'm here if you ever decide you want to talk." He tells me, but I can tell he's a little bit hurt.

"Thanks, Nick. You really are amazing." I say, as I hugged him. I kind of wish I was going with Nick instead.

We continued the lessons, which I passed with flying colors, and then head down for dinner.

His parents weren't there for dinner, which is very unusual for them. Lately, I feel like his mother has been avoiding us, especially me, and I don't understand why. I also noticed that Jared had been quiet throughout dinner, which is very unlike him, as he is usually very loud and can be kinda annoying.