From the moment I called Roslyn my Princess we were inseparable. If she wanted to go for a walk in the garden, I would go with her. If I had to sit through a boring lesson with Madam Bloom, she would sit through it with me. If she wanted to help her mother bake in the kitchen, I would happily sit, watch, sometimes help, but mostly just eat. No matter what we were doing, we did it together
One of my favorite memory with her was when I showed her the stables for the first time. I was eleven, while she was eight. She was so excited I thought she was going to pass out. I was more excited though. After some long talking with my brother, who told me if you like someone you have to kiss them. He also went on to tell me I was a baby for not realizing it sooner and I needed to just man up. He also made it very clear to me that I was a looser for only having one friend, who on top of that was a girl. He obviously did not know Roselyn well or else he would be jealous that she is my friend, not his. Choosing to ignore most of what Xander said, I only focus on the kissing part. I had finally decided today was that day. I was going to kiss my little Rose.
This decision did not come easy to me. All night I had been debating if I should do it. And if I did do it, when would I do it? And if I found when I would do it, where would I do it? All this thinking almost broke my brain. However, what I had the most trouble with was thinking about how to do it. I could not exactly go up to my mom and ask how you are supposed to kiss, that would just be too embarrassing. My father was out, because he would not care enough to let me even ask him. He would just wonder why I am wasting my time and not training. Next, I thought I could go to Xander, but I knew he would just make fun of me again, which would lead to us fighting. And us fighting would lead to me punching him, which would then lead to my mother grounding me. And if I was grounded, then I would not be able to spend the day with Roselyn. And if I was not able to spend the day with her, I wouldn't be able to kiss her. After thinking about every possibility, I realized I would just have to rely on instincts. I figured that since I am awesome at everything, I should be just naturally good at kissing too. How hard could it be?
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It was hard. Very, very hard.
Once we got to the stables and I had shown her all the horses, I thought we would just go sit outside near this sunflower patch and I could kiss her then. But no, she had to pet each and every horse. There were sixty-three of them! On top of that, one of the stable boys son came and asked if he could play with us! He wanted to play with my Roselyn! Roselyn is only my princess. She does not need anymore friends, she has me. The audacity of this kid is insane. Did he not know who I was?
Right when I was about to send him packing, my little Rose decided to all of a sudden speak to strangers. She never talks to people she does not know! Not even Xander, who she has meet on a few occasions. The only people she talks to is her mother, my mother, Mr. Larson, Ms. Judy, and me. However, this loser just had to walk up and ask to play with us to get her to speak with him.
"Sure." She mutters as a blush starts to over take her face. Why is she blushing? She should only blush when I speak to her!
"What are you guys doing? I was just helping my dad with some of the horses when I saw you two. Do your parents work here too?" The excitement in his voice disgusted me. Why is he still talking? We get it, you help your dad clean up horse crap. How very exciting. I look to see if Roselyn is as over this guy as I am, but of course she looking and listening to him. Sometimes she's too nice. I need to remember to teach her to be rude to weirdos like this guy.
"We were just looking at the horses. It's really cool your father works here. My mama works in the kitchen." Hearing Roselyn's sweet voice made me forget about my anger. Looking down at her short frame instantly makes me relax. Her soft hair that's flowing down her back just looks too tempting. I start to play with her hair, which is a common calming mechanism of mine.
"Oh wow! I love food. My names Raymond, what are yours?"
"Roselyn and Xavier." I state before my little Rose can. I would hate for her to introduce me as Prince Xavier. This guy does not need to know anything about me or my little Rose. He is lucky to even know our names.
"Wow Roselyn is a really pretty name." It was hard holding in my puke after hearing his words. Like seriously, who says that! Just the way he is looking at her makes my blood boil. What makes it even worse is when I look down and my little Rose is as red as a tomato. Right as she was about to respond, I interrupted.
"Excuse us." I quickly pulled me and Roselyn around the corner. "What was that?"
"What?" Even though her confused face is adorable, I will not be distracted!
"Why are you talking to that guy? Why are you blushing at everything he says? You never talk to strangers, so why him?"
"I don't know. I guess I just feel bad for him. He is probably really lonely without any friends. What if me and you never met? We would probably be real lonely too." Why does she have to be so sweet?
"He's not lonely, he has his dad to help. We wouldn't want to distract him, would we?" If I have learned anything about my little Rose, it is that she loves her mother very much. Just the thought of disobeying her mother would crush Roselyn. Because of this, she hates if anyone disobeys their parents. I learned that the hard way. I know it was rude of me to take advantage of her innocent mind, but I did not want her making any new friends. She has me, what else could she need?
"He is probably done helping his dad. You don't think he would ask to play with us, even if his dad still wanted his help, do you?" Her big brown eyes stared up at me, as if expecting me to know all the answers in life. Now I had gone too far, but I still need to find a way out of having to hang out with this loser.
"No, but how about I go ask him just to be sure?" If I can distract her long enough to talk with this Raymond guy alone, then I can warn him to stay away from my Rose. "Why don't you go wait over there by the sunflowers, while I go and talk to him for a second?" Before she could even respond, I was ushering her towards the flowers. I could not help but noticed how cute she looked in her little blue dress that went down to her knees. The middle had a big white bow, that I am sure her mother sowed on, just like she does to many of Roselyn's dresses. My little Rose loves having one on the front of her dress to meddle with if she ever gets too nervous.
"Where is she going?" Raymond all of a sudden asked me. I guess popping out of nowhere and butting into where he doesn't belong in a talent of his.
"Look Raylen-" He tries to correct his name, but I just keep talking. The quicker I get this done, the sooner I can show Roselyn my feelings. "I don't want you hanging around Roselyn anymore. She does not need anymore friends, cause she has me. Now why don't you go back to tending to the horses." I was turning around before he could even respond.
"Why don't we just ask Roselyn if she wants more friends?" Raymond stepped around me and started off to where Roselyn was currently smelling the sunflowers. His nice facade quickly disappearing now that Roselyn is out of hearing range. Now this guy was asking for a fist in his face.
"I said she doesn't need anymore friends!" I pushed him back towards the stables, so we didn't take this argument too close to Roselyn.
"Well its not up to you, is it?" He says while trying to get in my face.
"You better go back to your dad before I break you face." I've never been the best with anger, and while I have never had an episode when I am with my little Rose, I could feel one coming on. When I get too angry, I become a whole new person. I can barley see and all I want to do is fight. I know that I need to calm down, so that I do not scare my little Rose.
"Wow, aren't you a tough guy. I know the kind of person you are. Your rich, never had to work a day in your life. You probably don't even know how to fight." Oh, he was dead wrong. My father has made it his mission to make sure I was a fighting machine. I know how to kill someone with my bare hands in twenty-five different ways. "Lets see what you got pretty boy."
He pushed me back into a brick wall, but his actions just fueled my anger. I swung my fist at his face and socked him right in the nose. He stopped for a second to wipe some blood that was quickly falling from his nose, then let out a maniac-like laugh. I kneed him in the stomach, which made him fall to the ground. This guy was not even worth my time. He was all talk and doesn't even know how to take a few hits. All of a sudden he looks at something over my shoulder and a sly smile vanishes, just as soon as it came.
"I'm sorry. I don't know what I did to upset you, but I am really sorry. Just please stop hurting me." This guy is even forcing some tears out. What in the world is he doing?
"Xavier?"
"I said she doesn't need anymore friends!" I heard Xavier yelling. I looked back at where his voice was coming from, but I couldn't see past the brick wall. I wonder why there is a brick wall by the horse stable?
I smell one more sunflower before I start to make my way towards Xavier. I should have know not to leave him alone for too long. He always gets angry with people if I am not there to calm him down. But that is why we make such good friends! At least that what he thinks. It's hard being best friends with someone you have a huge crush on, but that is all that me and Xavier can ever be. As much as I would love to be his princess forever, I know that one day he will marry a real princess. Just the thought makes me sick. However, I will take all the time that I can with him. I would never risk our friendship over some silly crush. If he ever found out I like him, he would realize I was too naive to be his friend.
As I make my way over to the other side of the brick wall, I cannot help but think about Xavier. It is one of my favorite things to think about. He is always so kind and sweet, just like a big teddy bear. I could just imagine his reaction if I called him a big teddy bear to his face. He would make his famous frown face and then puff out his chest. He hates it when I 'undermine his manliness' as he calls it. I am so lucky to have met him. Just by going to the garden on my sixth birthday, which has become a yearly tradition between me and Xavier, I have gained two of the most important people in my life, of course after my mama. My life would not be the same without Xavier and Queen Amber. Queen Amber always makes sure me and mama have enough food and she always protects me from Madam Bloom.
Right as I am about to round the corner to see what Xavier was yelling about, I hear some grunts and then someone laughing like a dying hyena. What is going on? I peak around the corner and see Xavier knee Raymond in the stomach. I take slow steps closer to them. There has to be a reasonable explanation. All of a sudden Raymond's eyes connect to mine, but quickly looks away.
"I'm sorry. I don't know what I did to upset you, but I am really sorry. Just please stop hurting me." What Raymond said seemed to anger Xavier even more. I just don't understand what Raymond could have done to make Xavier so mad. He has always been quick to anger, but I have never seen him like this before.
"Xavier?" All I had to do was speak and Xavier back instantly relaxed. However, it was soon tensed again as he slowly turned around to face me.
"Roselyn," my name left his mouth as a sort of whisper, as if he did not believe that I was really here. "Why aren't you by the sunflowers? I told you to wait for me."
I knew by the sound of his voice he wasn't upset with me, just surprised. "I heard yelling and I got worried about you. What is going on?"
Before Xavier could respond, Raymond pushed himself up with some help from the brick wall. He leaned against it and took in a deep breath, as if it hurt to breath. When he tried to speak, all that came out was a croak. He quickly wipes his face with his hands to clear his tears, and gave me an apologetic smile.
"I am so sorry you had to see that Rose. A lady should never witness such horrible actions." Xavier interrupted with a scoff. Raymond gave Xavier a glare and then continued. "We just had a misunderstanding of sorts. I just feel bad because I do not know what I did to upset him." My heart broke for Raymond. I know how hard it is to understand Xavier sometimes, but it still doesn't make sense why Xavier would hurt him. While my Xavier might be a bit hot-headed, he would never do something like this for no reason. "How about you and me give Xavier some time to cool off? We could go back into the stables or something."
I could till that Xavier did not like that idea very much. "I don't need to cool off I am perfectly fine. My little Rose here is all the comfort I need. Why don't you go get yourself cleaned up and just leave us alone." Without waiting for a response Xavier quickly took my hand and pulled us towards the sunflowers. Once we were far enough away from Raymond, he started to speak again. "I do not want you talking to that guy for any reason, okay?"
"Xavier, what is going on? What did he do to make you so upset? You haven't fought with someone for so long. Raymond was bleeding everywhere! Oh my goodness, we just left him! We need to get him to his dad or someone who can help him. But what if he tells on you?"
"Don't say his name." I gave him a questioning look, which he just ignored. "He is fine! We were just having a conversation, which got a little heated. You don't have to worry about it, okay? I am fine now and as long as we don't have to interact with him ever again, I will stay calm. Let's just forget about all of this and carry-on with the fun day I had planned."
"Are you sure your okay?" As much as I wasn't ready to let this all go, I know Xavier will only tell me what happened when he is ready to. Pushing him will only make him more upset. However, I want to make sure he is not too hurt either. His once clean white shirt is now dirty and wrinkled. There is even a spot of blood on the sleeve; although, I am pretty sure it is Raymond's.
"I'm okay. I am just sorry that I ruined our day." I could see the guilt in his eyes and quickly changed the conversation.
"Our day wan't ruined! We still have the whole afternoon, and you still need to show me around the sunflower patch." He responded with a smile that made my stomach fill up with thousands of butterflies.
We started walking down the lines of sunflowers. He would make up names for all the sunflowers and tell me their stories. When it was just me and Xavier, he was always different. He didn't have to worry about what his father or Kingdom would think, and could just be his goofy self. He once told me that I was the only person he could relax around, not even his mother got to really know the real him. I was so happy that he chose me to be the person he could trust. I know I can trust him with my life, although I don't know if I could trust him with my feelings for him. When we were younger, we would always tell each that we love each other. We still do, but now it feels different for me. I may be young, but I know that I love Xavier in a not-so-friendly way. I love him in a I-want-to-marry-you-and-live-forever-with-you sort of way.
"Little Rose?" Xavier brings me out of my thoughts. "You okay? You kind of zoned out for a bit there."
"Oh, sorry. I'm fine. Just thinking about mama." I lied. When he didn't reply and just stared at me, I knew he could see through my lie.
"What is really bothering you? Your noses is twitching like a bunny, so I know your lying." I could tell he wasn't angry with me for lying, just concerned.
"It was nothing really. I was just thinking about you." My answer was rewarded one of Xavier's sly smiles.
"Really? What about me? How handsome I am, how smart I am, or was it how I am the best person you have ever met?" I couldn't hold in my giggles. What really made me laugh was how close he was to guessing what really was going through my head, but he would never know that.
"Do you think we will be friends forever?" At my question Xavier just stared at me. His eyes held a dazed look, as if he was imagine our future at this very moment. A rare soft smile grazed his face. And then he mumbled some words that sounded like "I hope we can be more." I assume I heard him wrong though by what he said next.
"Oh course! I could never find a better princess than you." My heart swelled at his words. Whenever he said things like that my heart filled with hope. Hope that he could really someday love me the way I love him.
"Since were on the topic of our friendship, I have to tell you something." Xavier started as he sat down in the dirt and patted the spot next to him for me to sit. "Well more like show you something. I wo- Xander didn't tell me it would be this hard." He kept stuttering and muttering to himself.
"What would be this hard?" My question seemed to wake him out of his trance, almost as if he forgot I was still listening.
"Little Rose, I am going to do something and I don't want you to freak out, okay?" All I could do was nod. How was a person not supposed to freak out, when all you tell them to do is not freak out. "Okay, well um, I am going to show you now."
Xavier looked into my eyes, as if asking for something. He must have found an answer because he started leaning in. Is what I think is happening, happening? Is Xavier, my best friend, going to kiss me? Soon his lips were right in front of mine and our eyes met. His stormy grey eyes connected to my melted brown eyes. And then it happened! Our lips met and my heart soared. I couldn't believe this was happening. Thank goodness it had already gotten dark, so Xavier wouldn't be able to notice how red my face was. It may have only lasted a second or two, but it was one of the best moments of my life.
"Wow." Xavier whispered as we pulled apart.
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End of Chapter 4!!!
Word Count: 3638
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