EXPLODE

ten

Castle life carried on as much as I didn't want it to. The schedule, for the most part, stayed the same. I made a speech, went to a couple more events, and even had to kiss Evan once more.

And overall, I was exhausted.

I had become closer with Liam; he was the only one who sought me out and helped me through the messy life of which I lived in. I would spend my free time with him, and he would tell me with his poetic voice about his life before the castle became the bigger picture.

He'd describe the fast-paced life a regular person in the Third Faction and described most things that I took for granted.

All the things he would tell me would stick in my mind for the rest of the day, blocking out the rest of the world for when I could bare it no longer.

Liam, by now, was the only thing that kept me going in the castle. I was so utterly thankful he was my guard.

Which is why I'm always so distant during my time without him. He made me feel close to whole, like my life wouldn't be completely wasted if I continued living in the castle.

My mind wandered off to him once again. I didn't deserve him.

"Dawn." My etiquette professor scolded. "Pay attention. I don't want to do an entire other lesson on your attention span again."

"Sorry," I mumbled.

"Why don't we end your lesson for today? I've had enough of this," the professor remarked, flicking her wrist to shoo me off.

I shrug my shoulders, heading out the door, making my way to the kitchen to grab something to eat.

Liam greets me on my way outside the door, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise. "Done already?"

"Finally had enough of me," I smile at him. He chuckles, patting my shoulder in a friendly gesture. "Can we get something to eat? I'm starving."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," he remarks. He leads me to the kitchen, where Evan is sitting down at the table, reading something on his tablet.

I've learned to simply acknowledge him by now, neither treat him as an enemy or a friend. I've picked up things about him that helps our relationship: like now, when he wears his glasses, I know not to talk to him unless he talks to me first. It means he's deep in thought.

"Liam. Dawn," he acknowledges us.

"Evan." I respond. I go to the fridge and pull out some Arizona Tea and a yogurt. Liam follows respectively behind me, afraid to talk in front of another member of royalty.

I sit down quietly next to him, munching on my food. He glances up from his tablet, starting at me.

"I assume the Queen told you about the ball coming up?" He questions. My eyebrows furrow, shaking my head. "Oh, well, it's this Saturday night and the theme is Masquerade."

"A masquerade ball? Didn't know we were that cheesy." I remark. He lets out a low chuckle.

"It's more of a private event, so other than a couple dances we have to do together, the Queen says we can invite a formal date. It can't be made public, though," he informs me.

I sip at my tea in thought. Would it be wrong of me to invite Liam as my date? Would he--

"But, I have no one to go with and I was thinking maybe we could together as like friends or something," he says. I almost choke on my tea in surprise, and Liam lays a hand on my shoulder in comfort.

"What about Melody? I know she would love to go with you," I told him.

He runs a hand through his hair, blushing vehemently. "Well, I, um, was hoping to go with you."