"Lady Rebekah breakfast will be served soon and your mother wishes for you to be at the dining table in the next fifteen minutes." My personal maid, Linda informs me.
"Thank you, Linda. Please inform mother that I will be down shortly." I said while setting my school uniform on the king sized mattress. She nodded and just when she was about to exit the room I stopped her.
"One more thing, Linda." I started. "Yes, lady Rebekah? Do you need my assistance with something, my lady?" She asked. I shook my head no before answering.
"Quite the opposite actually. You could say that I'm finding it rather odd that you're using formalities today Linda. Did your wide vocabulary of words escape you today?" I grinned. Linda has been my personal maid, as the nobles would say, for as long as I can remember. But I never considered her as such. She has and always will be my best friend.
She's the same age as me, 17 years old, and she attends Kingsley High as well. My parents help with getting her the necessary stationery and clothing needed for school just as my family has always done for the younger servants of the household.
Her shoulders sagged in defeat as she dropped the facade and glaring invisible daggers at me. "Why must you ruin my acting Rebekah? You know I have to be perfect for when we have to attend the Royal ball tomorrow evening. I have to be as formal as possible." She whined. I ignored her whining as turned to the neatly placed uniform on my bed.
"You needn't worry about that, we wouldn't have to do anything but look pretty and sophisticated before the Royal family while Prince Marcus announces his engagement to Scarlet," I said while slipping into the waist-high black and red plaided skirt that ended mid-thigh. I proceeded to put on the white button-up shirt and fixed the matching black and red plaided tie around my neck. When I was finished I turned to her with my right hand on my hip and a small smirk.
"You know, you should probably head to the dining room and inform my mother that I'll be there in ten minutes. You know how impatient she is." I teased. As if released from a trance Linda snapped out of her pouting state and ran out the room like it was on fire. I chuckled as I watched her grand exit.
Some things never change...
Shaking my head with a small smile I turned to large mirror in-front of me. I picked up my black brush and began to comb my long strawberry blonde hair into a ponytail leaving my bangs and a few strands of hair out to frame my heart-shaped face. I shrugged on my grey blazer with the Royal Family's crest onto my shoulders as I slipped on the long pair of grey socks. I checked my appearance once more before deciding to head downstairs to have breakfast with my family.
Just when I was about to leave my room I saw the time on the clock beside my door on the wall. It read 8:15 am which meant I only had 35 minutes to arrive at school before the first bell. I grabbed my backpack and got into my heeled pumps. I quickly made my way to the dining table where my father sat at the head of the table while my mother and elder sisters sat on opposite ends.
"Rebekah, darling we were just about to start discussing the arrangements for the ball tomorrow. Take a sit and have your breakfast before heading to classes." Said my mother, Rosalie.
"I'm sorry mother but I must be on my way. I'm already late and I must leave I'm already late for my first class. Can we discuss the ball when I get back?" I asked while grabbing an apple and leaving before my mother could object. After all, wealthy families could make the impossible seem so much more possible.
Linda and I entered the car waiting to take us to Kingsley High. The drive was quiet and peaceful for once.
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Kingsley High was built decades ago in the year 1970 by the royal family for the citizens of the kingdom of Awa. The citizens have always praised the Royal Family for their generous contributions to sustaining the Country's only educational facility. As long as the kingdom had it's ruler's the people would continue to live in peace and harmony within the confines of the newly built walls surrounding the kingdom. At least that's what we were taught during our history class. I was never one for the old ways, after all, the world was getting more modern. Why continue living in the past?
We no longer needed to use carriages when we have cars to take us to our destinations within a few minutes. We didn't need those suffocatingly tight ball gowns when we could wear dresses, without all the wires on the inside, that softly clung to our bodies and still looked elegant. Even if Awa used modern technology there were some traditions that remained.
Of course, not everyone in this kingdom has the same ways of thinking as I do. Everyone followed the boring traditions of going to out-dated balls, finding the perfect partner to be wed before the age of twenty-two and putting the value of one's status before the welfare of the suffering citizens in the less populated parts of Awa.
I have never had the free will to speak my opinions to those around me. I've kept the thoughts of touring the world and visiting new places and helping others all to myself. Because my mother would have a horse if she knew how much I disliked the life of the Northwest family. My older sisters on the other hand always seemed unsatisfied with what they had even when it was the best of the best.
From a very young age, I have been taught that my life was here. That I, like my older sisters, have to remain in Awa to carry on the Northwest Family name and bloodline. I must be wed to a respectable man of noble blood and have his children. Crazy, I know but such is the law in Awa.
I was brought out of my thoughts when Linda's gossiping got a bit interesting. Yes, I had completely zoned out while she talking about things that didn't interest me.
"Rebekah, did you hear that Prince Marcus's younger brother will be attending Kingsley High. All the girls around campus are going crazy over the news." She said with a frown while I found that piece of information odd. Since the high-school was only for the teens of the noble families and those who could afford to buy the necessities required to attend classes. From the moment we could talk we're home-schooled until our teen years. Since we only have a high school.
"What do you mean Prince Arthur is going to attend Kingsley High? You know the Royal family never and I mean never came to this Highschool. They're always tutored by the best teacher's in Awa."
"Well, I heard from Lora who heard from Vanessa that Prince Arthur wants a change of scenery so he asked the King and Queen to allow him to finish the senior year here. Apparently, they didn't like the idea but soon changed their mind when they thought it would be a good opportunity to get him to interact with the citizens and act more like Prince Marcus." She explains. Great! Now the prince was going to be here and he would ruin the one place I could be myself and not be a replica of my older sisters.
I've met Prince Arthur many times before. Surprisingly, our families are close and we've been friends. Some even think that we will get married because of how close we use to be but I highly doubt that. But the one person in the Royal family I never had much interaction with was Prince Marcus since he was always with my eldest sister, Scarlet. So our paths never crossed that often.
"Just what I needed. Arthur isn't going to change and we all know that. If he comes here he'll be troublesome like he always does when we visit. Why couldn't they keep him in the castle." I whined. Linda just chuckled and that's when I noticed the halls were empty. We decided to find the other's and instantly we were greeted by the shouts and screams of countless girls as we exited the building. That's when I realized he was starting high-school today. I looked at the front of the crowd to see Prince Arthur making his way up the stairs. That's when he did the one thing I thought he wouldn't do.
"Rebekah!" He called me.