Chapter 1
Torrance gathered her books and slid them into her orange knapsack. She fastened her long red locks into a loose ponytail and pulled up her knee socks. Someone bumped into her as she shuffled out of the classroom and the person shot her daggers.
"Ready for your next class?" Joseph asked politely.
"Could you bring me home?" She asked as attitude dripped off her lips.
"Ha...I think your mother would kill me. Now come on, you've got to get to your next class before the bell rings," he chuckled as he pushed her into the next room. Her feet stumbled upon eachother and she tripped over her shoelaces clumsily. She managed to gain her balance before falling completely and slid into a desk next to a girl who's hair was so big it was blocking the front of the room. The day continued like that until finally she emerged out of 9th period.
"Finally! Now I can go home and sleep," she said taking Joseph's hand in hers.
"Hey...I'm the one guarding you, let me step in front," Joseph said holding her behind him. Cameras and lights flashed in her face as she pushed snobby reporters out of her face.
"Princess! How was your first day of school as a senior?" one asked.
"Hell," she whispered as she slid into her limousine and Joseph pulled away.
"It's the first day, and already no one is talking to me," she muttered to Joseph.
"Don't speak so negatively, you'll meet someone," he smiled through the rearview mirror. Torrance plastered a fake smile on her face and flopped down onto the leather seat. A salty tear dripped down her cheek onto the cold leather and she wiped it off angrily.
"We're home," he said opening the door for her. She shoved her way out of the limousine and walked briskly to the front door to her wing of the palace.
"How was school?" Her maid Jeanette asked.
"Don't ask," she sighed throwing her bookbag onto the table.
"Can you rinse me some grapes?" she asked taking out a math binder and starting to scribble down some notes.
"Anything for my princess," Jeanette said rubbing the top of her head.
"Please...don't call me that," she sighed. She stared at her pink star tattoos on her wrists and smiled.
"The only thing I was allowed to keep," she whispered to herself. She convinced her father that her gauged ears were just really big earrings so she got to keep those too. She daydreamed away from her math and thought of the days when she was back in her old school.
*Flashaback*
"Well, I knew this day would come soon," Sydney said clutching Torrance tightly. Tears streamed out of her eyes and she tried to plaster a smile.
"You'll see me on vacations, and it's not like you won't be hearing from me," she mumbled.
"Yeah, but where will I go to talk about my relationships, and punk bands, and well...everything," Sydney cried.
"Oh please, you know that the precious palace bill will be VERY high," Torrance laughed. She gave her friend one last hug as she waved good-bye and stepped onto a small private plane.
*End Flashback*
"Here ya go princess," Jeanette said dropping some grapes in front of her.
"Thank you...but ditch the princess and call me Tor," she said popping one of the red grapes into her mouth.
"Right...Tor," she muttered as she walked out the room. Torrance quickly scribbled her math homework, studied a bit for Global Studies and went upstairs to chat online with her friends back home. After an hour, she heard the crackling of the intercom.
"Darling?" her mother crackled.
"Yes, mum?" she replied.
"Please come to the North wing, I have some excellent news," she said quickly.
"I'll be there in a second," she said as the sound of "good-bye" rang in her ears from AOL. She stepped outside into a limo which brought her to the front of the palace and met her Mom in the dining room. After a brief bit of silence, her mother spoke.
"I know this has been hard for you, the move I mean," her mother sighed.
"To say the least," Torrance muttered.
"So to make you feel better, I got you some concert tickets, and a tea time with them," she smiled. Torrance's head filled with wonder. No Doubt, Blink 182, The Movie Life...
"Nsync," her mother shouted. She shoved the tickets over the table and smiled hoping her daughter would like them. Torrance put on a smile and took them graciously.
"I get to have tea with the guys? COOL!" She said fakely. She thanked her once more and made her way back to her room.
"Great...pop inflated egotistical Nsync...This is going to be hell," she laughed.
"I don't understand why I need bodyguards, I mean more people will recognize me if they are there," Torrance complained as she pulled her hair back into two buns.
"That's a good point..."Joseph pondered.
"I'll keep my cell on, and If I need you, I'll call you. You can be in the limo waiting...OK?" she asked.
"Fine...that sounds safe," he chuckled. Torrance finished up the rest of her makeup and grabbed her homemade purse and slung it over her shoulder. She jumped out of her limo and held her ticket tightly as she entered the gates. She got in safely and sat in her seat, third row back.
"Jeeze, you think the queen could get front row," she mumbled to herself. The girl next to her had on a Nsync tee and Justin's name scribbled on her forehead. Torrance smiled, remembering how she used to do that for her concerts, but shook them away as the lights dimmed. Screams filled the European arena and she stood up along with the others. She wasn't completely against Nsync, she knew they were good performers, she just thought their CD's were bubblegum. Sydney tried to convince her that all the new music had been written by them so it would be ten times better. Torrance chuckled to herself as she started to scream along with the others. She stared at the empty seat next to her and started to wonder why she was alone.
"Right, I didn't make any friends yet," she thought to herself. Finally, the guys came out and ran on the catwalk next to her. She found herself being engulfed in the music and shouting along in wonder.
"Wow, he's gorgeous," she thought to herself as she admired Jc up and down. His blue eyes pierced hers and he smiled knowing who she was. She grinned slightly and admired the rest of the guys. Justin was by far the most sexual out there, Joey looked to be very excited, Lance looked as if he didn't want to be there and Chris looked intriguing.
"He seems like he doesn't belong in Nsync," she thought. Her eyes wandered back to JC where his chest muscles bulged slightly through his white shirt with pink trim.
"Man there is something about a guy in pink," she chuckled. The girl next to her smiled and whispered.
"You mean even a princess could get off on a bloke like that?" she chuckled. Torrance laughed and turned to see a different girl than before. She had a light blue New Found Glory tee shirt on with dark denim jeans and her hair was plaited. It was blue. Her hair was electric blue and this was the first person she had seen all night that slightly resembled her.
"Call me Tor," Torrance smiled as the lights went out.
After the show she had talked to the mysterious punk girl for about 5 minutes before she realized that Joseph was probably having a fit. She hopped from her seat and called Joseph quickly, to let him know that she was all right.
"What is your name?" she asked sweetly.
"James," she replied.
"That's my MIDDLE name!" Torrance shouted excitedly.
"Well, then, we're soul mates already. I think you go to my school right? Senior?" James asked.
"Yep...I'll be the one no one is talking to, so just come sit by me at lunch, maybe you could come over or something," Torrance mumbled.
"Here's my number...if you ever want to talk," James replied giving her a small slip of paper.
"Cool! Now I've gotta go meet those blokes for tea...see ya," she laughed. She pushed her way through the crowd and made her way to her limo.
"How was the concert?" Joseph asked.
"Just lovely...and I met a very cool girl too!" She smiled. She stared at the small slip of paper in her hand.
"Finally, someone to talk to," She whispered.
Torrance brushed her hair out and it flipped out at the ends. She smiled at herself in the mirror, admitting she had a good time and slipped on a new Jean skirt. She had a small yellow tank on that showed her midriff along with her belly ring and put her Jean jacket on over her shoulders. She grinned uncontrollably as she hopped down the stairs. She twirled against the cool marble floor and floated to the table where the five boys were sitting patiently.
"Hello," Torrance said graciously. The five guys stood and bowed then replied with a hello.
"Don't bow, it makes me feel older than you or something," she chuckled shyly as she brushed some strands of red behind her ear.
"You guys must be tired," she said starting up the conversation as she sat down at the table.
"We always go out after we have the concert, but then we're tired in the morning," Joey laughed. Torrance smiled and sipped her tea. After a polite conversation and tea and tarts they made their way to the outside porch. She sat patiently on a porch swing and JC scooted next to her. Her heart jumped a beat again and she tried to compose herself.
"So, how's your senior year?" he asked draping his arm around her shoulder.
"It's terrible. I hate school," she sighed.
"Well, atleast you can make new friends," he said trying to cheer her up.
"Quite the contrary, no one wants to be involved with me at all. They aren't like Americans who are attention hungry, they don't want to be seen with me at all," she said dryly.
"Hey, us Americans are attention hungry for a reason," he laughed.
"Don't worry, I grew up in America. I grew up attention hungry as well, but now that I have it, I don't want it," she whispered.
"I hated it for a while too. But I'm used to it now, you'll get used to it too," he said brushing the strands off her face again. She smiled and draped her arms around his neck.
"Thank you, I needed to hear that," she said. He took her hand in his and kissed it gently.
"I can't believe you don't have guys crawling all over you," he said pulling her closer again.
"Oh please...you don't have to say that," she chuckled. Her mouth went dry and she wondered why he was saying this to her. It was so different from most guys. They were all awkward, and dry. JC was so open and warm, he made her feel so special about herself.
"I mean it," he said brushing his thumb across her lips. Her breath caught in her throat and she let it out softly.
"Hey JC, stop hogging her!" Chris yelled from the yard. Joey tackled him to the ground and Torrance laughed at their energy. Jc sighed loudly and looked back at her. His blue eyes were glowing and were wider than ever.
"Hey Torrance, we're gonna be here for a while, we should get together again," he said taking her hand again.
"That would be nice, tea again I suppose," she said turning her head away. JC tipped her head to him with his finger and kissed her nose gently.
"Tea it is," he smiled. Torrance shivered with lust and got up from her seat.
"I....I'm gonna go see the other guys," she managed to blurt out. She brushed her fingers through her hair and walked over to where Justin and Lance were sitting patiently. She sat down uncomfortably and pulled her knees to her chest.
"Now come on, tell us what's wrong," Lance said slinging his arm over her shoulder.
"Nothing...nothing at all," she smiled. Her grin widened and she sat up to go talk to Chris and Joey.
"So girl, JC got your heart already?" Joey asked slapping her back.
"Oh please, I wouldn't take it that far," she chuckled. Joey and Chris lied her down on the grass and looked up at the skky.
"Is this hard for you?" Chris asked patiently.
"The move you mean?" she asked.
"Yeah...it's hard from going to nobody to somebody," Joey sighed.
"Well, I knew it would come someday. My father told me that I was a princess, but until I was ready, I didn't have to come here. But when he died, my mother was naturally the next person to have custody so I was moved here, and I was crowned a princess. It's hard though. I know i'm British, because I was born here and I lived here until I was about 6 years old when my parents split and I moved back to New York with my dad. So England isn't that much of a change, but princess's don't usually have guaged ears and star tattoes on their wrists either," she explained.
"Well, that is what makes you the very coolest princess," Chris said taking her hand.
"Thanks, I didn't think I could get so close to five guys in one night, but i guess I was wrong," she chuckled. A light snow started to fall, and they all piled inside. The six of them had some hot chocolate and looked outside to see a blur of white. The snow was falling so hard and fast, they couldn't even see outside.
"Looks like we're staying here tonight," Jc snickered.
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Chapter 2
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