I skipped home, humming a tune that sounded gibberish. Henry's kiss at the bus stop had me behaving like a crazy woman. My heart has been beating faster ever since. The kiss might not mean much to him but to me, it does. It still hurt he didn't kiss my lips.
I noticed a shiny black limo parked in front of the house with huge guys in black standing around. Huh? What's going on? Did Dad borrow money from some rich tycoon again?
I decided in giving him a piece of my mind tonight. I can't stand this anymore. Loan sharks are always coming to our house for their money. As I've always done for the past twelve years each time this sort of thing happens, I walked to the back of our neighbor's house and climbed the locked gate of her backyard, then climbed over the low wall to our house.
Sweating, I tip toed to my room and locked the door. I dump my bag on the bed and press my ear against the wall hoping to hear some of the conversation.
"Thomas, are you alright?" An unfamiliar male voice asked.
"I am fine," My dad replied with a groan.
"You still look pale," The man said.
"I can't believe what you are saying. I thought all this wish thing was over when the last king passed away," I hear Mom softly say.
"The Dowager wants us all involved in the promise of Fredrick The Fifth to fulfil his wish for his and your family," The man said.
What the hell?
"I can't," Dad said.
"It's your father's wish, Tom," Mom said.
"I can't give my daughter away."
Give me away?
"The crown prince and your daughter are to wed."
What?!
It took me a second before I realized I yelled the word. I heard footsteps rush to my room. The door handle turn multiple times in attempt to open.
"Anna, open the door."
I opened the door slowly and see my parents and the stranger. He was a tall lean man in a black suit and had a white cloth on his hooked arm.
"Are you giving me away?" I asked, my voice incredibly low.
"Of course not," My father said.
"But I heard him say I was gonna get married," I looked at the man in black, "I'm only seventeen, I can't."
"And you won't," My dad said while my mother shook her head.
"Getting married to a prince is a big deal, Anna," My mother said.
"Whose side are you on?" Dad asked her. To the man he begged, "give us a few days. Please."
"The queen thought you might say that and the Royals have given three days."
"Couldn't they do the selection process or something?"
"They could, if not for the promise."
"Some promises are meant to be broken."
"And some to be kept." The man quietly said and left.
Just like that, the arrival of that man caused a bridge and uncertainty in the house. The home that is usually louder than the annual parade became as silent as the community Chapel graveyard.