The Actress and the Prince

•Chapter 27•

"You need to get a new cook," I furled my nose at the unidentified meat on my plate. "I cannot even classify this."

Damien gagged and nodded,"It smells like death." He pushed his plate away, trying not to look at it.

Oliver looked up, his mouth full, "What?"

Damien and I stared at him. He shrugged and continued eating. Mother's expression told me the same. She wanted a new cook, too.

"How about we just eat American food?" Damien asked. "I mean, I could always go for a nice hot pizza."

Mother rolled her eyes,"American food is worse."

Damien glanced at me. I stifled a laugh as my mother raised her eyebrows. I looked down at my hands to realize I had been involuntarily drumming my fingers on my knees.

"May I be excused?" I asked, already pushing out my chair. Mother nodded, gesturing for Oliver and Damien to go with me.

"Wait," Jess inturrupted. "So, you guys were all buddy buddy and then somehow you weren't because of Terrence?"

"Be patient, my young Padowan," I replied in a Yoda voice. "Just let me finish, okay?"

"Right," she placed her head in the palms of her hands. "Continue."

"Do you really think your mom is gonna get rid of what's-his-face?" Oliver asked from his spot on the floor. "I thought she had a thing for the guy."

"No," I rolled my eyes and looked back at my computer. "Then again, if she does get a new cook, maybe we'll actually be able to identify what's on our plate."

"Yeah," Damien plopped on my bed. "I'm really hoping for someone who can make some badass pizza."

"Anyway," Oliver changed the subject. "That ball thing is tomorrow. And I really don't want to go."

Damien shrugged,"I dunno. I mean, Sarah seems to think it's pretty cool."

I wiggled my eyebrows at Damien. His cheeks reddened. He threw a pillow at my face, but I caught it.

"Ugh, my mother is making me go with some random chick who has no good taste in music," Oliver groaned.

"My mom isn't making me go with anyone," I shut down my computer. "She believes in the whole 'true love' thing, or whatever."

"Wait," Jess interrupted again. "Sorry, but, are we talking about the same queen here?"

I nodded,"She used to be nice."

"Oh," Jess mumbled. "Okay, then, go on."

"Ugh, lucky," Oliver complained. "My mom is the worst."

"Hey, remember that my mom can be pretty bad sometimes," I reminded Oliver. "Come to think of it, she's been in a pretty cranky mood all week."

"You know what," I laughed. "I'll just fast forward to the next day when we all first met Terrence."

Jess nodded.

"Him?" Oliver stared at the young teenager standing next to my mother. "He's the new cook?"

Mother nodded.

"But he's...younger than us," I glanced at Oliver.

Damien barged in, Sarah beside him, as always. He stood next to Oliver, ten looked at Terrence.

"Who's the dude?" Damien furrowed his eyebrows. I watched as Sarah made eye contact with Terrence. A little red flag went up in my mind. I knew this wasn't going to end well.

"Is it really that surprising?" Terrence whined. "I'm the new chef, get it?"

I was surprised that mother didn't find him rude. Damien threw his hands up in surrender.

"Chill, dude, whatever," Damien took Sarah's hand. "C'mon." She hesitated, her eyes lingering on Terrence for just a second before she walked away with Damien.

"I think I get it now..." Jess bit her lip. Despite the serious atmosphere, I found it sexy. "Terrence stole Sarah from Damien?"

"The thing is, Sarah had stopped loving Damien before she met Terrence," I looked at my feet. "It's just that none of us had the heart to tell him. So we let it go on, until finally at the ball..."

"I don't like him," Damien glared at Terrence across the room. "He's shady."

"I like him fine," Oliver shrugged. "He makes good food."

"Yeah, Damien, I think you're overreacting," I added.

Damien rolled his eyes, "Whatever guys. But don't come crying to me when you realize he's a dick."

Sarah glanced away awkwardly. She was the one acting shady. And Oliver and I both knew why. She liked Terrence.

"I'm going to go and get some food," Sarah said to Damien.

"Oh, okay," Damien stood up from his chair. "I'll go with-"

"No," she interrupted a little too suddenly. "Um, no, I'm fine."

Damien nodded, and she walked towards the food table. Where Terrence was coincidentally standing. Damien watched as he talked to her. Laughed with her. Flirted with her.

He watched how his one true love was flirting back.

Damien scoffed to himself, looking from the flirting to his hands. "Wow," he laughed, his eyes brimming with tears. "Fucking wow."

"Damien..." Oliver reached out to help him. Damien flinched away and stood up.

"Don't fucking touch me!" he screamed, all eyes turning to him. He looked around at the horrified faces; Sarah's and his parents'. "What?" He shouted through tears, his voice wobbling and cracking. "Yeah, I'm cursing. So fucking what? What if I don't want to be a damn royal? Being royal is a pain in the ass, and I'm fucking done with it!"

His mother started to cry. His father just shook his head.

"I'm done with love," he looked at Sarah. "I'm done with fucking dicks." He glared at Terrence. He blinked hard, tears rolling down his face and dripping onto his shoes. He looked at Oliver and I, hurt showing in his eyes. He knew that we had known. "And I'm done with fake friends."

"After that he stormed out," I sighed. "Later that night he was removed from his position as royalty. Now he works in the garden. He lives here because his parents completely disowned him."

"Oh, my God," Jess shook her head in disbelief. "He had a reason to be an asshole."

"Yeah," I nodded. "He really loved Sarah."

"What ever happened to her?"

"She got sick of Terrence quickly, moved to Brazil and was never heard from again."

"Damn," Jess replied. "I am happy I wasn't born into royalty."

***

So that happened.

Now you know why Damien is an asshole.

An attractive asshole, though.

So yeah.

What do you guys ship?

Jogan or Jamien?

To be honest, I ship both.

*shrugs*