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           My little heart skipped a beat.

            I turned around quickly, only to find a cute little umber-haired girl who seemed to be smiling toothlessly at me. I hesitated a smile back. From behind, I could see a woman, perhaps in her early forties, making her way towards the girl and I. Her hair glimmered from the few strains of her gray hair, and her face had slightly obvious wrinkles round the corner of her eyes and lips. She smiled softly and waved at me with her left hand, whilst holding a dull red handbag in her other hand. Do I know these people?

            “You must be Princess Amanda!” The little girl suddenly brought forth. My gaze returned to hers as I nodded slowly, not daring to speak up. “My name is Holly. I’m your really really really really distant cousin, or so that’s what Nana told me.” Her pronunciation was slurry due to her missing front teeth. It was somewhat amusing, and I couldn’t help but giggle a little.

            The said Nana arrived not a minute later and greeted me. “Why look at you, all grown up Princess. The last time I saw you was when the castle was holding a baby shower! Oh how long has that been?” I smiled sheepishly, realizing just how distant these relatives of mine actually were. The fact they did not live in the same continent as I did proved that we were really far apart in the family tree. No matter, I was happy to know they are welcoming to this new environment where I will be living in for God knows how many years.

            “Shall we go, Amanda? It must have been such a tiring flight. Thirteen hours in the plane must have gotten that bottom of yours asleep!” Nana suggested while flashing me a kind smile. She helped me with the small luggage I had brought along and led Holly and myself out of the airport.

            Nana brought us to parking lot where she loaded my luggage into the boot of her big black car. Who cares about what kind of car? Back in Andorra, we travelled by horses and carriages and our cars were so vintage and old and roofless. Here, the cars are so shiny and big they looked as if they would engulf the whole of me when I enter them.

            All the way back to Nana and Holly’s house, Holly talked a lot about what is was like waiting for my arrival. It was evident she was really excited. We were both the same age, so that meant we could relate to a lot of things. I couldn’t help but think what was going on back in Andorra. While meeting Holly and Nana was exciting, I felt a little uncomfortable being so far away outside the castle suddenly. I remember the furthest I have ever gone out before was to go to the grape vineyards which was at the very end of the castle grounds. Technically, that was not even outside the castle. Imagine myself right then, finally being able to be outside the castle, about hundreds of miles away, all alone.

            “Do you want some Pop Tarts?”

            My attention on the moving bright green trees broke as I whipped my head towards Holly’s direction. My eyebrows rose in question at the name of the snack. Was it even a snack? Holly was holding out a blue box towards me. I took out one of what she called Pop Tarts and nibbled on it. Holly was nodding her head, waiting for me to signal her I liked it. I smiled a little, even though the taste was new to me.

            “It’s good, isn’t it! That’s the s’mores flavor. There’s also another box somewhere that is the strawberry flavor. Those are my favorite ones.” Holly smiled at me, flashing me her toothless grin once more. Her smile was contagious, and I felt being more comfortable around this brunette girl named Holly.

            I may not be at the castle, and perhaps being outside of there is a bit terrifying for an eleven-year-old like me. But I know I have to step out of it; my comfort zone. I might lose my basic formal ways to fit in the casual lives with Holly and Nana. But then again, those losses are perhaps the little steps to adulthood. Life gets more complicated. But it’s also filled with promise and possibility of opening my heart to new beginnings.

            Holly kept talking to me and I felt like my cheeks hurt from smiling so much. Honestly, I have never felt at ease. There aren’t many rules here. Kids are kids. And what I realized most throughout the car-ride whilst Holly was conversing with me was the fact that I may have never wanted to be a princess; I just wanted to be a good friend. Also, hopefully, I might get a good friend in return too. And Holly might as well be her.

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