Once upon a time, there was a girl with a crown too heavy for her head and a prince who was ready to steal it all for himself.
“No, give that back!” I scream as Luca runs past me and snatches the crown right off my delicate head.
He laughs out loud and spins around on the grass a few feet away from me, dangling the crown between his index finger and thumb while wearing a disgusting smirk on his face. He blows aside a strand of his brown hair, his dark eyes taunting me. “C’mon then. I dare you to get it back.”
My eye twitches, and my hand curls into a fist. “Give. It. Back,” I say through gritted teeth.
When I approach him, he keeps backing up, making it impossible to retrieve.
“Stop,” I hiss.
“No,” he replies, grinning so broadly I want to take off these pretty new heels I got from Mom and jab them in his face.
Instead, I dig my heels in and sprint toward him, trying to catch him off guard. He twirls the crown around right as I catch up, giggling hard as he sidesteps to avoid me. “Missed,” he muses.
I growl in frustration. “Luca!”
“Jill!” He imitates my voice with a high-pitched tone, and the sound makes my blood boil.
“C’mon, Luca …” My sister, Jasmine, sighs as she follows us around the garden in her pink dress.
“What, Jasmine?” he scoffs.
“It’s not funny!” I jump to snatch the crown from his hand, but he keeps throwing it up and down, out of my reach, backtracking like he enjoys seeing me struggle.
So I stop and put my hands against my side. “Why do you do this? Huh?”
He raises a brow and shrugs. “Because you look stupid.”
My jaw drops, and a gasp escapes my mouth. “I do not!”
“Only queens and princesses wear crowns,” he retorts. “And you’re neither.”
I’m fuming so much it feels like steam might exit from my ears. “I am a queen!”
He waggles a finger. “Queens are only queens if they’re married to a king.” He plops the crown onto his own head. “Maybe I’ll be one now.”
Jasmine begins to giggle, but when I look at her, she slaps her hand in front of her mouth like she’s trying to hide it.
“C’mon then, Jill. You wanted to be a queen,” Luca jests, and he waves his hand and dips into a bow.
I frown. “What? You want me to be your queen?” I snort out loud.
He cocks his head. “A queen isn’t a queen if she isn’t married.”
I revolt at that thought.
Me marrying Luca? No way.
I turn away from him, sticking my nose up into the air. “I would rather marry a slug than you.”
“A slug?” He laughs himself silly to the point of losing the crown.
I continue to ignore him while Jasmine approaches me. “Let’s do something else.”
“No, I want my crown back.” I’m standing my ground. “He can’t bully me.”
Luca slowly approaches us. He’s still holding the crown with a look full of mischief on his face. I don’t trust him, but maybe I’ll be able to steal it away again if he gets close enough.
“I’ll give it back …” he mutters.
I turn and look at him, holding out my hand.
But instead of handing me the crown, he hands me a slug.
I shriek out loud and drop the slug, scraping my hand along my dress to get rid of the slime it left. Luca is laughing so hard he can’t catch his breath.
“That isn’t funny!” I yell, stomping my feet.
“Yeah, it is,” he responds, still laughing while pointing at me. “Your face.”
Now I turn even redder, like a volcano ready to explode.
“Luca, c’mon,” Jasmine says, sighing out loud. “Stop.”
When she tries to snatch the crown from his hand, he quickly jumps back again, still taunting us. He just can’t get enough of teasing us, and I hate it.
“It’s just a crown. Why do you care so much?”
“Why do you?” I retort.
He shrugs. “Who plays dress-up anyway?”
“We like it,” Jasmine responds.
“What’s there to like? Dumb clothes,” he says. “Don’t make you any less ugly.”
My jaw drops. “Ugly!?”
Jasmine sticks out her tongue. “Girls play better than boys anyway.”
“Not,” he quips.
I try to snatch the crown again when he’s distracted by Jasmine, but it isn’t working. He’s much bigger than I am, and it’s making me so angry.
“You won’t get it back,” he says as I jump around him.
“Why not?” I say.
“I think I’ll keep it.” He lowers it and puts it onto his own head again. “See? Looks much better on me than it could ever look on you.”
“Oh, please,” I respond, crossing my arms. “If you wanted to play with us, you could’ve just said so.”
“No way.” He wanders off to pick up a stick from the ground that he uses to whack the long strands of grass. “Annoying you is way more fun.”
With a sigh, I watch him walk off with an essential piece of my outfit. “Why do you always have to be such an ass?”
“Yeah, Luca, why are you such an ass?”
His older brother, Liam, suddenly pokes his head out from the front door. He’s the same age as Jasmine, just a few years older than me, but much more handsome with those flowing dark locks of hair. He watches us with a smile on his face as though he finds it all super funny like Luca.
We’ve been playing in the yard while our parents were busy talking, and for some reason, they wanted Liam to stay inside while we were shooed outside. But now that he’s finally joining us, maybe Luca won’t act like such a stupid kid.
“Hey, Jasmine!” Liam says, smiling broadly, but Jasmine just looks away, completely embarrassed.
“Really?” Luca yells at Liam, kicking a rock. “No one asked you to meddle, Liam.”
“What did he do this time?” Liam asks as he walks up to me, ignoring his brother.
“Jasmine and I were just playing dress-up, and then Luca stole my crown,” I respond.
He smiles at me and then waves at Luca. “Give it back to her, Luca.”
I smile at him, tucking my hair behind my ear. “Thank you.”
Liam has always been so nice to me, unlike his younger brother, Luca. I can’t stand that annoying kid. I mean, he is my age, but he acts like he’s older and tougher, and I don’t know why, but I don’t care either.
Luca ignores him, still whacking around that stick like it’s a sword or something.
Liam puts his hands against his face. “Luca!”
Luca throws him an angered look.
“Mom and Dad won’t like this.”
Luca pauses for a moment and then chucks the stick far away. He walks toward us but pauses halfway through the grass … only to snatch the crown off his own head and send it hurtling through the air. The crown lands only a few inches away from my feet.
Luca’s arms span wide. “Happy now?”
Liam signals him with his hand, and I say another, “Thanks,” in his direction.
“Oh, I don’t get a thanks?” Luca scoffs, raising his brow.
I stick out my tongue at him.
“Don’t worry about it,” Liam says, and his hand suddenly lands on my back, applying not one but three pats before he walks up to his brother. “I’ll go play with him.”
I can still feel the gentle touch of his hand seconds later even though he’s probably already forgotten. But I remember. I remember every instant. Every touch. Every smile.
And every amazing moment ruined by Luca De Vos.
Because all I want is his brother.
And all Luca wants is to tease me.
“Jasmine, Jill!”
My mother’s voice makes me turn my head.
She’s standing in the doorway, glaring us down. “What was all that noise about?”
I swallow. It’s not good when my mom looks like that. Like she wants to cut off our heads for ever starting a fight.
“Well, Luca tried to—”
Jasmine elbows me in the side, knocking the wind out of my lungs.
“Luca tried to what?”
“Uh … nothing.” I look away. I don’t want to get on her bad side.
“We were just playing, that’s all,” Jasmine fills in.
“Is that true? Luca?” She looks up at him like she expects him to give an honest answer.
“Yes, ma’am,” he responds as if he’s all nice and stuff, but I see right through that fake act.
I throw him a side-eye, but he ignores me.
I can’t bite my tongue. Not on this one. “Luca was teasing me. He stole my crown and said I couldn’t be a queen until I married him.”
My mother begins to frown. Harshly. “Marry?!”
Jasmine’s lips part. “It was just a game. It didn’t mean any—”
Just our mother’s raised finger is enough to silence her. “Come inside.” She eyes us down. “All of you.”
Oh boy. I can already feel it coming.
Still, I throw Luca a look. His nostrils flare when he looks at me, but I don’t care. He did this.
When we walk in behind her, Luca pushes me forward, and I almost fall into my mother.
“Hey!” I snarl at him.
“What?” He shrugs as we all get inside. “I didn’t do anything. Ask Liam. It was him.”
“Really, Luca?” Liam slaps his brother on the back of the head, who flinches.
“Mom, Luca—” I begin.
The door slams shut behind us, interrupting my train of thought.
She spins on her heels. The menacing look she throws us could bring even a man as powerful as my father to his knees.
“Jill. How many times have I told you not to fight with boys?”
“But I didn’t start—”
“Doesn’t matter who started it,” she quips, folding her arms. “What matters is that you weren’t being nice. And of all the things you could argue about… marriage?”
Her eyes have even Liam and Luca silenced. That’s how much of an impact her anger has on us. Because when my mom is angry, there is hell to pay.
“Anne. I think your son should hear this from your mouth,” she says, directing her attention toward the couple sitting on the couch. Anne and Lex, Liam and Luca’s parents, look at us, and for some reason, I feel like running away.
Anne gets up and walks toward us, folding her arms just like Mom has. And it has the four of us cowering in front of them.
“None of you should be fighting,” Anne says. “Or talking about marriage.”
“But Luca stole—”
“I don’t care what he did, Jill,” my mom interjects. “You will not fight with these boys. Is that understood?”
I lower my eyes, but the need to rebel still slips into my voice as I grind my teeth. “Yes, Mom.”
“We were just playing around,” Luca mutters.
“Luca.” His mother throws him a deadly look.
Liam and Jasmine are smart enough to keep their mouths shut. We only seem to make it worse.
“Playing or not … there will be no talk of marriage, understood?” Anne responds.
“Same for you, young ladies,” my mom adds, throwing Jasmine and me a look.
I frown. Why do they care so much? “Why not?”
“Because the only one who decides who you two will marry …” My father’s voice fills the house, bringing goose bumps to my skin, every one of his steps as loud as his voice as he approaches us. “Is me.”
My lips part, but I have nothing to say. Not because I don’t want to, but because it feels like my voice has been stolen away from me.
I may not be a real princess, but sometimes, I do feel like one.
All locked up in a tower of my parents’ making.
And Luca De Vos is waiting for his chance to come and be the cruel prince who rescues me.
Over my dead body.
