"Thanks Sarah." Max said relieved.
"Don't thank me yet. I'm still deciding if I should smash that pie sitting on that table in your face for lying at me." Sarah said as she pointed to a key lime pie sitting on a table against the wall, whipped cream about to drip off the edges.
Max looked at the pie, then back at Sarah. He decided that she was serious about her threat and lead her in the opposite direction of the table and the pies.
-
Max and Sarah walked around together, occasionally being forced to make small talk with others. Max was approached by a little old lady who said, "Og prince Maxwell, darling, you grow up so fast!" "Nanny Yin?!" Max asked incredulously.
"Yes darling! I have missed you so much, child. How long has it been?" Nanny Yin asked.
"12 years. It has been 12 years Nanny Yin." Max answered.
"You know, they only keep me around here because your mother asked. I am far too old to be working now. I just sit in the room all day long, just rotting away! They never let me leave because they say it can hurt my health." Nanny Yin responded."Maxwell, darling. Who is this beautiful young lady?"
"This is Sarah Benson. My best friend." Max explained. Turning to Sarah he said, "Sarah, this is Nanny Yin, the nanny who took care of me while I lived in the palace."
"You lived in the palace?" Sarah asked, confused.
"Yes, until I was 4." Max explained, "Then my mom wanted me to live a normal life so we moved to a quaint little town."
"I wonder how many other secrets you're keeping from me…" Sarah said, both suspicious and teasing.
"You will never know!" Max said. He grabbed Sarah's arm and began to walk towards the crowd, he waved over his shoulder to Nanny Yin and said, "See you soon Nanny Yin! It was nice talking to you!"
"You too dear. We will talk soon…" Nanny Yin said.
Sarah and Max walked through the crowd. After about a half hour of mingling, Sarah left to use the bathroom. On her way there, a boy bumped into Sarah with blonde hair and green eyes. The boy seemed to be running down the halls in search of someone. "Sorry!" He said. "I need your help! Do you know where I can find Sarah?" He asked.
"My name is Sarah. Is it me you're looking for?" She asked politely. She didn't recognize this boy.
"Sarah B?" He said.
"Yes, My name is Sarah Bens-" Sarah began before she was cut off.
"Sarah! Where have you been?! Nearly 2 weeks have gone by since you were at school last and Apollo went missing the same day you did! Is he with you?" The boy said exasperatedly.
Sarah was silent for a moment. She didn't know anyone named Apollo and she certainly had not been missing for 2 weeks. It still hadn't been a week since they had left their town. "What did you say your name was again?" She asked.
He stared at her blankly then understanding flashed over his face. "So I either have the wrong person or they wiped your memory."
"Wiped my memory?! What are you talking about! My name is Sarah Benson, I have left not even a week ago. I have never met you or anybody named Apollo! I'm sorry, I am now 100% sure that you have the wrong person!" Sarah said, becoming a little bit impatient.
"I'm sorry. I have been looking for somebody named Sarah Bensyl. I guess you must have very similar names. Your looks are pretty similar too. Sorry for the trouble ma'am." The boy said as he ran off in the other direction.
Sarah stood in the middle of an empty hallway. Should I report this to the palace guards? He said somebody was missing, they could help. No, this isn't any of my business. I should just stay out of it. Sarah said to herself as she walked back into the ballroom, completely forgetting to go to the bathroom like she had intended to.
Sarah was busy looking for Max when she was bumped into by somebody. "Watch where you're going woman!" The voice said.
Sarah whipped around to see who was talking to her like that and she locked eyes with platinum blonde haired boy with hazel eyes. "Excuse me?! There is no need to be using that rude tone. Plus, you're the one who need's to watch where they're going because you're the one who bumped into me!" Sarah said angrily.
"Do you know who you're talking to, woman?" The boy asked.
"No, and honestly I don't care! Also don't call me woman! Don't you know how rude that is?" Sarah replied.
"You want to talk about being rude? If you weren't so pretty, I would have been beheaded for talking back to me like that." The boy said.
Sarah smiled sinisterly. She knew who this was after that treatment. Prince Logan. She decided to play along for now, "You think I'm pretty? But what does that have to do with not being punished for insulting you?" Sarah asked.
"Well darling" Logan said as he reached out to touch her cheek. "Maybe I will let this incident slide if you would give me a little ki-" Logan stopped talking because something was holding his hand back, making it impossible to move it in any direction.
Sarah leaned into him and spoke softly into his ear, "Women, are NOT objects. This is a lesson you need to learn."
Sarah let go of his wrist and stepped back. She turned around and walked away, not turning around to see if he was still watching her or possibly following. She spotted Max talking to a middle aged couple and walked up to him. The woman said, "Oh! Who is this pretty young lady?"
"Hello ma'am, my name is Sarah Benson." She replied.
"Why hello darling! You were the one who walked into the ballroom with Prince Maxwell, correct?" The woman asked politely.
"Well then, we will leave you two to talk. Thank you for your audience Prince Maxwell." The woman said. Her and the man beside her smiled and bowed or curtsied in Max's direction. Max politely nodded his head at both of them in turn. "Where were you?" Max asked.
"Some stuff came up." Sarah replied simply. Thinking back to her encounter with Prince Logan and the boy who had mistaken her for somebody else.