I don't know who Dex thought he was, but he was not going to keep me from seeing his beau- ahem, I meant, his awesome cousin. Yeah, that's definitely what I meant.

The second day I tried to get to her, it was around eight in the morning. I knocked on the door and a giant Dex answered.

"Woah, Dex. You've gotten tall since yesterday." Tall Dex just laughed and shook his head.

"Dex! Your friend is here!" The strawberry blonde teen came running to the door.

"Keefe. What are you doing here?" Tall Dex's eyes widened as he dropped into a bow.

"I think you know why." I smirked. "Does Sophie still need rest, or can I actually talk to her today?"

"I don't know, Keefe. Maybe the fact that she slept the whole day yesterday can give you a clue." He huffed and crossed his arms.

"Actually, not the whole day." An all too familiar voice said from behind me.

"Who's that?" Dex asked, also shocked by her sudden appearance. I groaned and turned around to face my bodyguard.

"Ro, what are you doing here?" She was standing there in her six foot glory, hair in their signature choppy pigtails and hands on her hips, her nails the same hot pink as her hair.

"Think you could get rid of me that easily, Funkyhair? Your parents would have my head if I let you roam the kingdom by yourself." She walked up and attempted to ruffle my hair.

"NOT THE HAIR!" I screeched- I mean, shouted like a manly man.

"So, the crowned prince has got a babysitter?" Dex laughed from his doorway.

"Bodyguard." I grumbled. "She's a bodyguard. And Romhilda," she growled at me, "what did you mean by not the whole day?"

"Oh you know," she started filing her nails with a nail file that came out of nowhere, "called her while you were in the shower. She seemed to think I was you and you actually have a super feminine voice—which I wish were true, by the way—and told her to tell her scrawny guard dog off so you could go see her."

"You know I told you not to go on my phone!" I shouted as Dex whispered "scrawny?" behind me. I could've sworn I watched a tear fall down his face.

"I know, but you wanted to see her so bad, it was pathetic. You were practically on your knees begging him to let you in." I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever. You know what? We're leaving. But I'll be back Dex. I'll be back..." I whispered menacingly as I walked back to my car with Ro in tow.

"Sophie?" I asked, shocked to see her name on the caller ID.

"Hey Keefe. Wait, your voice is back to normal!" I laughed at the pure shock in her voice.

"Yeah." I decided to agree, remembering Ro telling me how she didn't believe it wasn't me. "What's up? How have you been?"

"Y'know, pretty good. My head hurts but I'm pretty sure that's normal. Anyways, I was just calling to tell you that Dex refuses to let you in, but I have a plan. Have you been going to the house on the corner, or the one to the right of it?"

"The one on the corner, why?" I could practically hear her smirk as she explained.

"That's Dex's house. Mine's the one on the right of it. If you go to the back of the house, you'll see a window on the second floor on the right side of the wall. That's the window to my room. Dex is practically monitoring me at all waking hours, so if you come around his bedtime, eight o'clock, he'll be fast asleep and won't bother you. But you can't go to the front door because my dad will quite literally murder you if you ask to see me."

"Okay..." I quickly grabbed a notepad and wrote everything down. "Got it. I'll see you tonight?"

"See you tonight." She replied before hanging up.

I smiled to myself. I don't know what it was about that girl, but ever since meeting her I've been obsessed with getting to know her. And planning our epic prank on Dex was one of the best times I've ever had. I just can't wait until I get to set it up with her.

As soon as I got to the back of Sophie's house, I realized I had a problem. I didn't bring a ladder. I didn't want to go all the way back to the castle and ask for a ladder, that would be suspicious. I noticed a tree nearby and decided that was my best bet.

Being the prince, I had never been allowed to climb trees. My parents wanted me to be the face of perfection and royalty. So when I attempted to climb the tree, I fell several times before getting to the top. I awkwardly shimmed to the end of the branch and knocked on Sophie's window. Not even two seconds later it was opened and she was helping me in.

"Hey." She greeted me after I got through the window, sitting down on her bed. I sat down next to her.

"Hey, how's your head?" I meant to play it off teasingly, but concern still seeped into my voice.

"Oh, you know, I went insane... yesterday? A few days ago? I don't know, I've been asleep since then." When I looked at her with questioning eyes, she elaborated. "Everything I thought about I said out loud. Thankfully I didn't give away our amazing prank, but that was seriously crazy. The doctor said concussions cause delusions, but he's never seen it like that."

"Always knew you were crazy." I mumbled.

"What?" She asked, her head snapping up.

"Nothing, don't worry about it. I just said I'm glad you're okay." She nodded her head, believing my lie. We sat in silence for a while before Sophie spoke up.

"So, how do you get your voice to change like that?" She looked genuinely curious.

"Uh, I don't? My bodyguard, Ro, took my phone while I was showering and called you."

"Sure." She drew out the word with obvious sarcasm.

The night continued on like that, the two of us talking and laughing in hushed voices. Eventually we both fell asleep, me at the foot of her bed like a dog. Fortunately, Sophie had set an alarm for early in the morning so I could get out and back to the palace before anyone noticed. Unfortunately, she set it for four in the morning, which was way too early for me.

"Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty." Sophie whispered with a sleepy voice as I rubbed my eyes groggily. "It's time for you to leave."

"No. I want to stay." I muttered, still too drowsy to fully comprehend what I was saying.

"Well you can't. Grady would beat you to a pulp, and if that doesn't finish you off, then Dex would probably make Iggy do it."

"What's an Iggy?" Sophie let out a low whistle and a furry little rat came scampering out of her closet, adorned with a blue flapper dress and tons of makeup.

"Iggy," she scolded, "I told you that your flapper dress is only for special occasions. I don't want you to spill your sodas on it." Just then the rat pulled out a bottle of Coca Cola and chugged. Sophie shook her head.

"Come on Iggy, let's go get you changed. Today's western day anyways, I even bought you the flannel and boots that you wanted me to." She picked Iggy up and brought him to the closet, coming out a few minutes later with him in a full western outfit.

"Wow, very... stylish." I commented.

"I know, he's one of the best stylists of his generation. Anyways, we've gotten off topic. You've got to go, Grady has a major fondness of baseball bats. And axes. And bows and arrows. Oh, and regular guns, can't forget those. So, you should go."

I frowned but stood up and walked over to the window. Sophie joined me.

"Thanks for coming and hanging with me." She wrapped her arms around me. I was shocked at first, I had never been hugged before except on occasion by friends, my grandpa, or a distant family member, but even those were a rarity. I hugged her back, enjoying the warm feeling it gave me.

"Anytime. I have one question though, before I leave. Is your last name Ruewen or Foster? My parents called you guys the Ruewens but Dex said your last name was Foster." She smiled sadly.

"My parents died when I was young. Grady and Edaline adopted me. So they're the Ruewens, I'm Foster, technically."

I smirked. "Foster. I like it." She stared at me with a curious face.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," I paused for dramatic effect, "that it suits you, Foster." She gave me the teenage girl death glare.

"You're gonna call me from now on, aren't you?"

"You bet. See ya later, Foster!" I saluted her while jumping out the window, forgetting my only way down was the tree.

"Ow." I muttered after hitting the ground. Fosters concerned face peeked out the window.

"Are you okay?"

"Just peachy!" I shouted then dashed away.

It took a tiny bit longer, but I felt bad so I wanted to give you guys two chapters. And this one's a bit longer, too. Hope you've enjoyed them, and I'm so sorry for the long wait! I'll hopefully be back to updating regularly. Thanks again for all of your support with this story, you guys are the best! Love you all, bye!

Avery, out —>

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