The Lost Princess Read online

  I frowned, studying her. She was a bit taller than me, probably five five, slender with long blond hair and baby blue eyes. She was wearing a very short pale-pink dress. I wanted to say, ‘Who the hell is Jill X?’ but I just nodded.

  “You don’t know who she is?” She gasped as if I just committed an offense against God. “She’s like totally famous on Insta!”

  “Of course! Silly me!” I sneered, not able to conceal the sarcasm any longer. “I would have gone with Linus Pauling myself, but you know…” I eyed her sideways.

  “Who? Is he an actor? What movie is he in?” she asked, but I could see she was only remotely interested in my answer as she was setting some multicolored little pillows on her bed.

  “Nobody important,” I replied, opening my suitcase and starting to put my stuff away. He is just the only person to ever win two unshared Nobel prizes… Nothing major compared to being famous on Insta, I added to myself but kept my mouth shut as I didn’t need to make an enemy of the person sharing my room.

  “You know, I’m so going to be a cheerleader here.” She continued like I hadn’t interrupted her. “Yeah and I also want to be a Chi Omega. Did you know Lucy Lui has been a member?” she added like she just revealed to me the exact location of the Holy Grail.

  “No way! You are so lucky!” I snapped with heavy sarcasm as I made the bed. However, I almost immediately wanted to kick myself for opening my mouth. I was managing well to keep it shut during the day, walking around. But this was supposed to be my personal space. A private space that I had to share with Martha Stewart’s twin sister high on methamphetamines!

  “I know!” She beamed, not picking up on my sarcasm. “But if I manage to get in, I will move in with them, so you’ll be alone.”

  “That’s awesome!” I exclaimed, sincerely pleased to get rid of her.

  She frowned; maybe she was not as clueless as I thought after all.

  “I mean that’s awesome for you!” I backtracked. “That will be such a privilege and I’m sure you deserve it. If I can do anything to help…” I offered with a fake bright smile. I’ll do anything to have a space just for myself.

  “You are so super-duper,” she squealed, applauding again.

  Please shoot me now, I thought, looking at her pink side of the room. This room was too small to contain both of our personalities.

  “But why did you decide to come to study here?” I asked, knowing that she was the kind of person who just enjoyed being the center of attention. “Do you have family here or…?” I didn’t quite understand how she had been admitted here. Maybe they were not as selective as I thought they were.

  “Yeah, I do!” she replied cheerfully, sitting on her bed. “How did you know?”

  “Lucky guess,” I asserted nonchalantly.

  “Well, yeah, my brother is here. He’s the captain of the football team and the star of the school!”

  “Ah… I see.” It made sense now. She was the sister of the star athlete and they wanted to keep him happy. It was the only way I could explain her presence here.

  “We need to go to meet the RA in a bit.”

  “Oh, really?” I replied, quickly glancing at the green file I didn’t even get a chance to open yet.

  “Yeah, there is a note on the board just when you get out of the elevator,” she added, facing the mirror and untying her hair to brush it.

  “I hope she is nice,” I mumbled, having finished emptying my suitcase and half my duffel bag. I didn’t bring much with me as all I would have dreamed to take were my books, but it wasn't convenient. Moreover, having gained a full scholarship made my parents very generous with me and since I had no social life, it allowed me to save most of my salary from my part-time job at the local vet. If I really needed something, I could easily buy it.

  “I don’t know about nice, but holly golly, he is hot! Like all the fire of Hell hot, if you know what I mean!” She wiggled her eyebrows while putting on some coral lipstick to match her nail polish and newly added ribbon in her hair.

  I think everybody knows what you mean, I told myself. “He?” I finally caught up. I never thought our RA would be a boy. I would never be able to confide in him; that was impossible.

  “Oh yeah!” she said, marveling and adjusting her bra to give her a bit more cleavage. “He is starting his fourth year in…” She tapped her forefinger on her chin, thinking. “Whatever, who cares!” She chuckled, waving her hand dismissively. “All that matters is that he is so hot he could totally steal the spot of a Calvin Klein model!”

  “Oh, I see…” I nodded. In fact, I really didn’t, but I was not ready to ask for more details as I couldn’t open the window completely to jump. I was not even sure that the fall would kill me, and I was certainly not ready to hear her talk much longer.

  “Let’s go.” She walked in front of me like a queen which was more than fine by me. The more eyes were on her, the less I was noticed and the better I felt.

  All the girls were hurrying to stand in the front, all dressed up with the full ‘I’m going to hit on you’ makeup.

  I snorted, putting my hood up and standing behind the guys. It’s going to be funny to see the females dance to get the alpha male attention… So predictable, I thought, reaching for the small sand ball I had in my ventral pocket while leaning against the wall.

  I rolled on my knuckles successively. I loved doing that; it helped me concentrate and it was not like I really needed to see McYummy.

  I just needed to listen to his gibberish before going back to my room. I really started to feel the lack of sleep of those last days taking a serious toll on me.

  “Damn!” My ball fell on the floor. As I crouched down to pick it up, an idiotic guy moved his foot, sending it rolling in the middle of the crowd, almost knocking me over in the process.

  He quickly glanced down to see what he’d touched before looking back up without a word of excuse. That was my superpower; I was invisible to male eyes!

  The ball was a gift from Nick and I really cared about it. He gave it to me to help when I was sometimes getting lost in my own mind. It really helped me refocus when I had to.

  I crawled in the small crowd and saw it just beside a pair of red stilettos. I sighed and reached for it but as was just about to grab it, a large tanned hand reached for it too.

  As our hands touched, I felt an electrical current going from my fingers, up my arm, and down the base of my spine. I removed my hand in a sharp movement like I had been burned. What the hell just happened?

  “I believe this is yours,” said a very deep masculine voice above my head.

  I jerked up, but right in front of my face was only a man’s wide cotton-clad chest. I slowly looked up as the blush crept up, feeling all eyes on me.

  Way to go unnoticed, Fay! Yep, my luck was definitely gone.

  However, my feeling of self-consciousness at being the center of attention vanished when my eyes locked with his. I thought my eyes were unique, but his were just mesmerizing. They were a very light green… Jade, I would say, with a bright-gold color surrounding the iris.

  Beautiful… I thought as I felt the same electrical current going through me as when our hands touched. My hand twitched with the irrepressible desire to reach up and touch his face. That was the first time in my life that I felt something like that and it unsettled me deeply.

  “It’s yours, right?” he asked slowly, bringing me back to reality.

  I broke eye contact and nodded.

  “I…Yes, thank you.”

  “Why don’t you stay in the front?” he added with laughter in his voice. “You can’t see much from the back unless you couldn’t care less about what I’m saying,” he added with a slight reproach in his voice.

  I heard some guys chuckling in the back and some girls beside me marveling at my disgrace, and that was probably the best way to activate my smartass gene. I hated to be embarrassed in public.

  “Oh, please continue. God forbid I’ll miss out on such essential and life-pre
serving information!” I stood straighter, jutting my chin forward. “Please go on. I'm ready to drink your words,” I added with a fake angelic smile.

  He chuckled and winked, his eyes twinkling with mischief. “I wouldn’t want to deprive you.” He took a few steps back to stand in front of a big blackboard, his eyes still on me.

  With the distance, I could now have a good look at him and even if I hated to recognize it, Krysten had been right—that man was beautiful.

  He was tall, probably six three, which was gigantic compared to my petite five three. He had lean yet strong muscles, making his body look agile and gracious, but also robust and powerful. He had a beautiful face, perfectly symmetrical, a well-designed mouth, a straight nose, and a strong square jawline. His slightly wavy charcoal hair and tanned skin were a perfect contrast to his pale eyes, making them almost hypnotic.

  The weirdest part of all was not that I was irrevocably attracted to him. Because let’s face it, any straight woman would melt for that guy.

  But as cliché as it was, it felt like I knew him… like I had met him before. It was impossible though; I would have remembered someone looking like him, but as improbable as it sounded, I felt in the pit of my stomach.

  I rolled my eyes. I just couldn’t go to him with a ‘Hey, have we met before?’ It was one of the cheesiest pickup lines in the history of the world. That was not what I was going for.

  What was even stranger was that he glanced at me too from time to time and I could have sworn there was recognition in his eyes too.

  I sighed. Here we go. The lack of sleep finally got to you and you are starting to go insane, I thought sadly. Well, I guess I will even end up BFFs with Krysten with a Y. Nah! I could never be that crazy! I chuckled, getting some wary glances from the girl beside me.

  At the end of the speech, I started to walk back to my room when I felt a strong hand on my shoulder. I didn’t need to turn around to know who it was; the electrical current said it all before I turned around.

  “I thought I would politely reintroduce myself, since I’m pretty sure you didn’t listen to a word I said before the ball incident,” he chastised me, but the small smile playing on his face softened the words.

  I just stared at him in defiance which seemed to amuse him even more.

  “Well, my name is Tamlin, Tamlin Woods, and I’m your RA.” He reached for my hand, shaking it.

  “Tamlin? That is so unusual.”

  He laughed. “Say that to my parents.” I was amusing him. “I’m in room 401 if you need anything and I’m here for you. All of you, I mean,” he added nicely.

  I frowned at his rapid correction. “I knew what you meant.” Was he scared I was going to have the wrong idea? Don’t worry, pretty boy, I know we’re not playing in the same league.

  “Well, it was nice meeting you, Fay.” He was still smiling and showing his perfect set of white teeth.

  “How do you know my name?”

  He seemed taken aback by my question for a second. “It’s my job to know everything.” He gestured to someone behind me. “I’ll see you around.”

  “See you around…” I whispered as he passed me to join a group of boys.

  Chapter 3

  I realized, albeit quite surprisingly, in the first couple of weeks since I arrived that I would make it here, and even, God forbid, enjoy it! Well, this would probably not happen on the social scene but certainly academically.

  My classes were fascinating, and the program was challenging—exactly what I was looking for—and all the professors I met were so passionate about their fields; it was just refreshing… perfect.

  I was now frowning at my phone, looking at the city map of the local bus company.

  That was something else that was peculiar about me… one of many. I was very special with directions. You could put me in the middle of the forest with just a compass and a topographic map and I would find my way like no one else, but in cities… That was a completely different story. I got lost way more time than I cared to admit.

  I sighed, looking at the email Nick sent me for the store address.

  “You seem lost.” I startled and turned around briskly at the deep voice coming from behind me.

  I looked up and blushed, seeing the wide grin on Tamlin’s face. The saddest part was I had known it was him after the word ‘you.’ Yep, after only two weeks I knew exactly what his voice sounded like.

  “Aren’t we all?” I asked, trying to hide my discomfort by humor.

  He shrugged, burying his hands in the pockets of his mid-wash jeans. “Maybe…” He really seemed to consider that, looking to a random point behind me.

  I cleared my throat to bring him back to reality. He looked back down. “I’m actually trying to get there.” I showed him the ‘on sale’ image on my screen.

  He gently took it from my hands. “You want to buy a new computer?”

  “Well, I don’t have one here and I really need a laptop so…” I shrugged. “I called my brother last night and he browsed the net for me.” I smiled. “Nick said it’s a pretty good deal.”

  “Yeah, it’s not bad.” He concentrated on the ad. “Do you want me to come with?” he asked unexpectedly.

  “Sorry. What? Can you repeat that?” I probably sounded mentally challenged. Lord, why couldn’t I shut my mouth?

  He gave me my phone back. “To the shop… Do you want me to come with you?” He rubbed his neck as if he was self-conscious, but it didn’t make any sense. “I will need some ink for my printer very soon so…” He chuckled. “And I would really feel guilty to know that you are somewhere lost in town when I had the power to save you,” he added, eyeing me from the side.

  “Oh, God forbid I’ll disturb your peace of mind,” I teased him back and was surprised to feel so at ease with someone I didn’t know. Hell, I almost felt like I’ve known him my whole life.

  “Too late for that,” he said, then sighed.

  “What?” I asked, turning toward him.

  He shook his head, looking down at me with a small smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Plus, if I come with you, I’ll be able to show you the tricks and where to stop and everything like that.” He winked. “Things that took me months to figure out will be in your knowledge in minutes,” he added in a conspiratorial tone.

  “Diabolical…” I joked, rubbing at my chin like an evil mastermind. I didn't miss his abrupt change of subject but maybe it was best to ignore it as I had to admit I didn’t mind his company.

  Tamlin started to show me around as we were riding to the shopping center, pointing to streets where I could find this and that, and what buses I should take to go there. I shamefully had to admit that I didn’t hear half of it. I was mesmerized by him. By how his hands moved in front of us, how strong and powerful they were, and I couldn’t help but wonder if they were soft or calloused or—

  “Here we are,” he exclaimed, standing up.

  I jumped from my seat, making him laugh as he probably realized I was only halfway there, but he was nice enough not to comment on that.

  As soon as we walked in the computer section, we started to look around.

  “So, you absolutely want a laptop?” he asked, looking at the characteristic of a desktop computer. “Because this one is cheaper and has the same characteristics as the one you want.”

  “Actually, it’s more that I need a laptop,” I said, smiling up at him or at least trying to. “You know to move around… get out of the room.”

  “Oh, I see.” He grimaced. “The roomie?”

  I nodded.

  “Yeah, I’ve noticed she is quite an excited one.” He shook his head. “Well, let’s go over there then.” He pointed to the shelf with the laptops.

  “My brother said this laptop is a fantastic deal for what I need.” I pointed to the one on the bottom shelf.

  “You’re close to your brother?” he asked, seemingly genuinely curious.

  “Brothers.” I corrected. “Twins. And yes, as cheesy as it sounds,
they’re my favorite people in the whole world!”

  “That’s lovely,” he replied with longing in his voice.

  “Do- Do you have siblings?”

  He shook his head. “No, I had a person I cared for very deeply, but… it was many years ago.”

  I was about to ask more questions when he turned to the side, gesturing to an employee of the store to come forward.

  Ah, it didn’t take a genius to understand the subject was closed.

  “Can I help you?” he asked amicably, looking at us.

  “We’re just looking at the laptops,” I replied, still taken aback by the abrupt close of the conversation.

  “Well, I can advise you. What are the functions you are looking for?” he asked, turning to Tamlin.

  It was always the same, and it was something that aggravated me to the extreme. Every time I went to a shop in any electronic section with a man, the sales assistant would automatically talk to him like I was just a mere woman and couldn’t comprehend the complexity of central systems and megabits with my tiny female brain.

  The more the guy talked, the more I was getting upset. I was pretty sure my anger was radiating from me.

  Tamlin glanced down at my tight fists and wrapped one of his powerful arms around my shoulders. “You better stop talking to me. I don’t know anything about computers.” I knew he was lying since I figured he knew a lot from the little talk we just had. “She is the expert here,” he added, gently nudging me.

  I was so surprised by the gestures and the twists and turns my stomach was experiencing at being so close to him that I just stared at him for a second, unsure of what to say or do.

  He grinned, nudging me gently again. “The floor is yours, Fay. Make it shine.”

  “I want this one.” I showed him the one from the sale.

  “Yeah, but—”

  “That one,” I repeated stubbornly, making Tamlin laugh.

  “I think you heard the lady,” Tamlin added calmly. “She wants that one.”