Dawn was so unintentionally insensitive, like she was completely oblivious to people’s feelings. Goodness! Wow. She was starting to sound like Dawn as well. Normally she would’ve said something like “Geez!”. 

She was worried about Dawn rubbing off on her. What if it went wrong somehow? She was starting to despise Dawn’s presence, due to her endless dislike of the Prince John.

And Prince John was so— adorable and kind, accepting, and cute when he got angry, the poor boy who probably had more pressure to bear than Dawn.

Dawn. She had thought Dawn had it bad, being a 16-year-old with the pressure of a small nation on her shoulders and the spiritual world, but seriously, the more she hung out with John, the more it became evident to her. Dawn was just an attention-seeking young teenager who, because of her overpowered intuition and intelligence, was just so much better than them, just a show-off. So pretentious and kind of hilarious! But why couldn’t she stop showing off? Ugh! No! Why did Dawn’s way of speaking rub off on her so much? It was obviously “flex”, the American term, instead of “Showing-off”! Geez!

And John was honestly so cute, and sweet, but… What about Ezra? But then, what about John? They were so cute and sweet and protective, but — She felt a twinge of guilt in her stomach. She was missing so many meetings with Ezra, just to wander the halls and sit by the lake with John.

Why was it so hard? Why? Why couldn’t she just choose one, and have it done and over with? She turned on her iPhone 92, and searched up, “Relationship advice — If you have two crushes.” 

It dinged, and the result was, “Chase the second one. You wouldn’t have fell for the second if you were fully in love with the first.”

“But…” Amber murmured under her breath. She imagined parting with Ezra, and she knew it would tear her heart apart in ways she couldn’t even begin to imagine. She then imagined shutting out John, and her brain just yelled, “No!” As though there was something, some sort of shadow-lock in her mind that prevented her from even thinking about abandoning him. She wanted both, but couldn’t have both at once. If she chose one, she would always long for the other. She picked up a heavy dictionary, and threw it across the dorm room.

“Woah there, little miss Amby!” Cried Felicity.

“Yeah, stop throwing a temper tantrum, little crybaby Amber!” Jeered Leila.

“Umm… You’re so young, and so precious, but you can’t even handle your emotions!” Marlina added.

The three girls had been giving Amber a hard time, but it was getting irritatingly hard. Then, her curiosity got the better of her, and she strained her ears to listen in on what the girls were saying. 

“Oh! Yeah! John is soo cute! I bet he’s in love with me!” That had to be Felicity. 

“Aww…” A pout. Probably Marlina. “I liked him too…”

“But… There’s a rumour going ‘round that a mysterious girl has her hand clasped around his heart. No one knows who she is, but… but the girl in the pictures he draws looks a little like…” Leila was a gossiper, and sadly Amber couldn’t strain enough to hear the name, but the horrified, confused gasp from the remainder of the trio was enough.

“T-That girl!” Felicity wailed. “She stole my boy? She’s got him chasing her, in love? What on earth!”

Marlina chimed in, “I’ll kill her! My bestie has her heart broken because of this! Because of her selfishness and tight grip on such a cute boy!”

Leila murmured softly, and thoughtfully, “However, she has to be an awesome girl to catch his attention, and honestly? I’d be in awe of her if she taught me her methods for a future boy…”

Marlina gasped in shock, “How could you! You-you imbecile!”

Felicity added to the effect by screaming dramatically, asking, “How could you be taking advice from such an idiotic, ignorant, unattractive imbecile!”

Marlina murmured under her breath softly, “You word-stealing little spoiled brat!” But luckily, Felicity didn’t hear her. It seemed Felicity’s “loyal” minions weren’t as loyal as they seemed.

Amber still couldn’t fathom who the girls were talking about. She cleared out to head to lunch, as the bell rung, for her long-awaited break. Marine biology was incredibly tough. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what veterinary science was like.

She was cornered, at lunch by Marlina, Leila, and Eleanor, Felicity’s closest friends. Eleanor should’ve been in their dorm, if it wasn’t for Amber, who had been placed with them due to being closest to their age. 

Marlina got right up close to her, and with the assistance of Eleanor, managed to push her over. It was rather comical, as Amber was a towering five foot seven inches, and Marlina was rather like a midget - Ugh! There she went, using Dawn’s words again! - only five feet tall.

“What was that for?” Amber asked, somewhat angrily as she stood up and brushed herself off. She might have said it too harshly, because Marlina burst into big, sobbing tears. She started attracting the attention of the other students as she bawled, and a teacher walked over.

“I see. Are you bullying your fellow classmates, Amber? You know we don’t do that in this high-class institution.” The teacher said reproachfully, glaring at Amber. Marlina kept crying her eyes out, but a cruel smirk was on the petite girl’s lips.

Marlina mouthed at Amber, “That’s Felicity’s revenge, you cruel brat!”

Amber had no clue what Marlina was going on about. Felicity needed revenge? On her, Amber? For what?

The teacher then crossed her arms, and asked all four of them sternly, “What is going on here?”

There was instant clamouring, all the girls and the others nearby trying to tell their stories or what they saw. But Amber beat them to the chase. Quick as a flash, she explained everything that happened in a matter of seconds, making it the only thing the teacher heard before she was swept away by the roar of passersby who wanted a say to help solve an issue in their prestigious university, which might get them a special mention, if not assist their way to graduating with honours. 

Amber sidled away, and got as far away as possible. She thought she was safe, until a scary, possibly drunk Felicity cornered her and got right up in her face. “Listen up here, Amby! I’m going to make you pay. You stole John away from me, I had almost gotten him to love me! You gosh darn stupid idiot!”

And suddenly, a hand was placed on Amber’s shoulder. “Felicity…” A warning voice growled. Amber looked up, to see John standing protectively close to her, practically snarling at Felicity. “Felicity… Didn’t you know I would’ve never chosen you? Didn’t you know I was always in love with this girl?” He gestured to Amber. Amber’s breath caught in her throat. It was so perfect, so absolutely perfect, but still, it felt wrong. What about Ezra? 

‘So what about him?’ A voice she recognised as her own chimed in her head. ‘You don’t need him. You don’t want him! You only want John!’

At that point, after a dramatic silence, John whispered, “Don’t you know, Felicity, that I was only using you as a tactic to get her to be jealous, and to… to… lo-ove me?”

Suddenly, Amber couldn’t breathe. He was a picture-perfect guy, but perfect in heart and soul too. Perfect in every little detail. She didn’t deserve him. How could she deserve him? She knew the thought was running through Felicity’s brain, alongside her’s. But he loved her. Not Felicity. Not Dawn. Not even Eleanor, the beautiful blonde perfect girl. If she wasn’t worthy of his love, well, she would make herself be. 

And on that note, John leaned in and kissed her. It was unlike any kiss she’d had before. It was passionate, raw, perfect, pure, unmistakable. She knew that she was going to be the luckiest person on earth whenever she experienced it. 

She told Dawn, who didn’t take it well at all. Dawn screamed, “What about Ezra? What about your supposed true love? What about your ‘High school Sweetheart’ as you called him?”

Amber blinked. Dawn must’ve been entirely confused. She didn’t have a high school sweetheart. She thought hard. Ezra. Ezra! She remembe—. She blinked. What was the girl standing in front of hers name? Why was she yelling at Amber? So absurd!

She drew herself up and told the strange girl chillily, “I have no clue what a girl like you would be talking to me for. I am eighteen, and John is my true love. Now get away from me you little midget, run away now!”

The girl cocked her head, then, on the verge of tears, ran off. As she said, absolutely absurd.

Later on, she met up with John, and they went out into the lake during nighttime. He surprised her with a bouquet of black flowers, a little surprising in her opinion, and led her out to a little rowing boat. They rowed for a little bit, and he produced another surprise, a couple of sandwiches and a beautiful onyx and opal necklace. He wound the chain around her neck, his fingers brushing her neck, his other hand grazing her arm.

Pulling her close, he nuzzled her neck , clasping her right hand firmly in his left. He whispered softly in her ear, “I will always love you. I will never, ever stop. I promise.”

His lips grazed her ear, and suddenly he looked at her face, truly looked at it. Slowly his gaze travelled down her features, and focused on one thing. Her lips. Her breath caught in her throat. They lunged for each other, kissing passionately, arms and lips locked together, never leaving. 

Eventually, the stopped, both catching their breath. A strand of Amber’s hair came untucked from her elegant bun, and her dress was a little crinkled. John’s normally slick smooth hair was rumpled slightly, his normally immaculate suit messy. Amber lay on him, catching her breath, and they both laughed. They did many things that night, had a lot of fun together.

That night, she dreamed of what he said as he dropped her off, “What about this, baby? How about you come over to my kingdom for winter break? I guarantee you will be like a princess, and I know you are much prettier than any, and I mean any, of the girls there.”

She contemplated it throughout the next day, and thought she had an answer.