#apparently bobby did this run cuz he said his character had never run in his life

[hazyheel]

Monday Night Raw  3/4/19 Review

We started the night with Roman Reigns coming out to a huge reception, and it still makes me happy to see that everyone is cheering him. He talks about how he needs to take his yard back, and he brings out Seth Rollins. The two talk about how they have inspired each other. Rollins said that he understood Reign’s feeling, losing a title without being pinned. Rollins offered him the Wrestlemania match, but Reigns declined it. Reigns then also said that he wanted to get the Shield back together, but Rollins was apprehensive. Reigns said that life was short, and they didn’t know how much time they had left, so they had to get back together. Rollins agreed, and they called Dean Ambrose out. Dean came out, but before he could say anything, Elias attacked him with a guitar and ran away. Ambrose was then too pissed to really reunite with his brothers, and walked to the past.

Grade: C-. It was a tough pill to swallow when I realized that this promo wasn’t as good as I had hoped. Considering that the Shield only broke up five months ago, and Ambrose’s heel turn totally flopped, I am not nearly as excited for the return of the Shield as I should be. Plus, the dialogue was a bit contrived and corny, so I wasn’t really feeling this. Still, one last ride for the Shield will be fun, and I like that Roman is back, so I will cut it a bit of slack.

Backstage, Charly interviewed Heel Inc. (Drew McIntyre, Baron Corbin and Bobby Lashey) and they said that they want a six man tag against Finn Balor, Brawn Strowman and Kurt Angle.

And that was our next match. There was a cool spot after we came back from a commercial, where Balor dove for a tag, but Corbin reversed it into a Deep Six. Angle got a hot tag, and he delivered a triad of German suplexes to McIntyre. Angle botched a rollthrough on a rollup, but still managed to lock in the ankle lock. After we got back from one of the many commercials during the match, Strowman nailed Corbin with a running powerslam, followed by a Coup de Gras for a near fall, broken up by Rush. In retaliation, Strowman rammed Rush through the barricade, taking him out of the match. Lashley then hit Balor with the spear for the win. After the match, the heels continued their assault on the  face team, particularly Kurt Angle. McIntyre nailed Balor with a claymore, and then a double chokeslam into the steps from the others.

Grade C+. Not a bad match, but a bit boring. It definitely was hurt by the odd amount of commercials during the match. But, the closing sequence was exciting, and now we have a logical setup for a rematch between Bobby Lashley and Finn Balor. That will probably be at Wrestlemania, so hopefully they can work on their match. It has potential, but Lashley has yet to have a standout match since he returned. This could be his big break.

Backstage, Charly interviewed Heavy Machinery about how they rubbed the Ascension the wrong way. After cringy backstage footage of them, Otis said that their words hurt his feelings (funny) and they challenged the Ascension to a match.

Next out was Natalya who took on Ruby Riott (jobber entrance). The match was quick, with Natalya locking in a sharpshooter before rolling up Riott for the win. Immediately following the match, Lacy Evans did a catwalk. Her new nickname is the sassy southern belle. Natalya looked just as confused as we are.

Grade: D. Action was surprisingly good for a short match, but it doesn’t seem to do much other than bury Riott. And Evans is still being misused, so I didn’t care about this segment.

Backstage, Michael Che and Colin Jost showed up. Apparently they are gonna be at Wrestlemania. It is clear that WWE wrote this “comedy” cuz those two are way funnier than the stupid segment that just transpired. Although Colin got some heat for wearing a New York baseball cap.

There was then a promo from Triple H, who talked about how Batista betrayed Ric Flair and himself when he attacked last week. He also kinda broke character, saying that he felt bad for Richard Flehr. He made a joke about how Flair has been married several times while talking about their friendship. Trips then ran down Batista for quitting wrestling and complaining about not getting what he wanted. Triple H then said that he will always be waiting for Batista, and told him to have some balls and confront Triple H about their problems. He then said that when they fight, it won’t be about characters, it’ll be about a man who is pissed.

Grade: B. It was a very good promo. Could’ve been in the A-range, but I really wasn’t a fan of the way he broke the fourth wall. These stories will never feel real, so I don’t like how they are trying to make it that way. I’m not into those types of stories. But this rivalry is heating up, and it is quite entertaining.

After a quick recap of the Ronda Rousey situation from last week, Stephanie told Charly that they were going to listen to Rousey, and that they were lifting the charges on Becky. Steph then booked the match at Fastlane between Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch for the vacant Raw Women’s Championship. But they also said that Lynch had to sign a contract that said she can’t sue the company for any injuries she sustains during that match. I like that they actually let Ronda vacate the title, which is very interesting. I don’t know how the match at Fastlane will go, and I am looking forward to it. After a commercial, we saw Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns talking about what happened earlier in the night, but Ambrose didn’t want anything to do with Reigns.

Then there was a gauntlet match, with Heavy Machinery running the gauntlet. They started against the B-Team, and beat them quickly. Then, they took on the Ascension, whom they beat with a big splash after a bit of a struggle. Then it was Zack Ryder and Kurt Hawkins, and Otis hit a cool pop up power slam, and then a caterpillar for the win.

Grade: C-. Match was kinda bland, and it didn’t have any purpose, but at least Heavy Machinery are doing something. They aren’t perfect, but they are something.

Once again, we had Colin Jost and Michael Che are talking about their jobs as corespondents backstage. They interacted with EC3, kinda. They just called him weird. And then Titus O’Neil asked Colin to take a picture of him and Che, but totally dissed Jost. Che then was about to party with No Way Jose, but Jost stopped him. Pretty funny actually. They aired a video package of Torrie Wilson, who is being inducted into the hall of fame. And Charly talked to Charlotte Flair backstage about how Becky Lynch may not sign the contract, but Flair said that Lynch will sign, and Flair will win. Another backstage interaction between Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, and Ambrose refuses to rejoin the Shield.

Finally, we went back to the ring, for an Elias concert. He got mega heat for just destroying the Philly crowd. Ambrose then came out for his match. Fairly lackluster match, came to a finish when Elias countered Ambrose’s elbow drop with a knee, and then hit the Drift away for the win. After the match, Rollins and Reigns tried to convince him again, but Ambrose walked away. Heel inc. then showed up, and told them that their reunion has failed. But when the heels attacked Rollins and Reigns, Ambrose protected them and they all put their fists in the middle to reunite.

Grade: B-. Subpar match, with a fun ending segment. The Shield reuniting was actually a lot more exciting than I thought. And I am looking forward to the match that was booked for Fastlane. It will be Lashley, Corbin and McIntyre vs. The Shield at Fastlane. Should be fun, and hopefully that will end the very odd and ongoing feud. They are also acknowledging on air that Ambrose is leaving, with Renee saying that he will move onto greener pastures, while Corey says that he is in the WWE, there are no greener pastures and he has no plans.

Next was a match between Sasha Banks and Tamina, with their tag partners at ringside. Nia Jax interfered, pulling Tamina out of the ring. Bayley tried to even the odds, but was whipped into the barricade. Sasha then took out Nia with a meteora, but ate a superkick getting back in the ring and lost.

Grade D-. Bad match, simple as that.

Jost and Che are backstage, and Jost is terrified of everyone. He comes face to face with Brawn Strowman. Strowman steals his New York hat, and gets a pop. Jost tries to small talk him, before asking if wrestling is real. Strowman then lifts him up the wall by his neck. They cut to commercial, and came back with other people trying to get Braun off of Colin. Kinda funny.

Next was the Raw Tag Team Championship match, pitting The Revival against Ricochet and Aleister Black. The Revival got a jobber entrance, which is a travesty. I haven’t seen their entrance since they won the belts. The match started out at a high speed. It didn’t take long for Bobby Roode and Chad Gable to come down to ringside. Black was able to make an awesome comeback using his knee strikes. Ricochet was in control, but when he threw Dawson out of the ring, Gable and Roode attacked Dawson and caused a DQ. Gable and Roode then confronted Ricochet and Black, but the faces got the better of the exchange.

Grade: C. Very short, but good action. A good use of a non finish, but now the champions seem to be being phased out of their own championship storyline to emphasize how new Ricochet and Black are. A difficult situation to work with, but its their own fault that they are in this situation.

In the main event, Steph came down to the ring, holding the Raw Women’s Championship like it is hers. That was annoying as a smarky fan. Charlotte stirred the pot a bit by encouraging Steph to just give Flair the belt. Lynch and Flair hurled insults at each other, and Lynch signed the papers. Thats when Ronda Rousey showed up, and marched to the ring. Another weird commercial, and Ronda just kinda complained about “losing” her championship. Steph changed the Fastlane match stipulation so that if Lynch wins, she gets added to the Wrestlemania match. Rousey then turned heel, saying that the fans didn’t appreciate her. Rousey basically just said “fuck this” to the whole situation, and attacked both Flair and Lynch. She beat the crap out of Lynch, and injured her arm. Backstage, Steph just put over Rousey.

Grade: B+. I disagree with the stipulation of the match that was booked, I personally thought that it should be a #1 contenders match, and I’d have had it come to a draw. But the rest of this was pretty good. They cleaned up the story a bit, and even turned Rousey heel. I think it was a tad early in the story for that, but it’ll work. So, we will have several entertaining matches in the coming weeks, and this was an intense segment. Definitely the highlight of the night.

Overall Grade: C-

Pros: Triple H promo, Shield Reunion, Rousey Heel Turn,

Cons: weird commercials, Natalya vs. Riott, Banks vs. Tamina, Tag Team championship match.

[a-walk-in-silence]

A Princess By Any Other Name Pt. 2

Pairing(s): OC x Fem!Princess!Reader, Coleman!OC x Fem!Princess!Reader, Duke!Harrison Osterfield x Fem!Princess!Reader, Lord!Tom Holland x Fem!Princess!Reader

Word Count: 6.5k

Summary: You’re just an ordinary girl, or so you thought. When your grandmother shows up and tells you otherwise, your entire world is thrown upside down as you work to find your place in this whole mess.

Warnings: Bullying, teenage angst (a completely necessary warning), one (1) curse word ‘cuz it’s Zendaya, embarrassment (and a scene in a bathroom that is bad for everyone), barely edited

AU: Princess Diaries

A/N: Ayyyy ya girl here with Part 2 of that top secret fic series! Just your daily reminder to enjoy this fic! Also if y’all catch my lil Marvel joke somewhere in this, I’ll love you forever. Okay, go have fun reading! Oh, and if you see Zen Garden or Bongo in place of Zendaya or Bobby (a secret character), it’s completely intentional (I don’t want messages about typos, they’re just insulting one another).

Masterlist | Part 1 | Part 3

Key:

Y/N - Your Name

Y/N/N - Your Nickname

Y/E/C - Your Eye Color

“Dear, I would not lie to you about this,” your grandmother said, still fazed from your previous outburst. “Your necklace bears the Genovian Crest and has been passed down through many great generations. You are a princess if ever there were one.” Her final decree was said, and silence reigned over the small party of servants and body guards that were outside with the two of you.

You shifted awkwardly in your chair, slender fingers gripping at the edge of your seat as your mind continued to run on the fastest speed possible. You wanted to ask more questions, but it seemed as if your grandmother was done arguing over your lineage at the current moment and you didn’t want to make her upset. So instead you silently stewed, your mind creating new thoughts and questions before you could begin to start processing them.

The sound of approaching feet crunching on grass made your head snap around. Standing a mere twenty feet away was a boy with toffee brown curls, tousled lightly in an oddly perfect kind of way. His chocolate brown eyes beckoned you closer, and you seemed to be at a loss for words at the boy standing before you.

A sudden look of disgust crossed his face, and the trance and illusion that had glued your eyes was long gone with his sour face. “What on Earth is that thing?” he questioned, his heavy British accent very apparent in his voice. The rude question coupled with his disgusted voice caused your jaw to drop open in shock at just how blunt he could possibly be. “Oh do close your mouth, we wouldn’t want you to catch flies.”

“Thomas,” she said, a small warning tone edging her voice, ���this is my granddaughter, Y/N. I’m sure your Uncle has mentioned her before.” Although the words she spoke were pleasant, there was an underlying tone of anger and annoyance in the Queen’s voice, and it brought a small smile to your face. Turning to look at her, you saw her gesturing vaguely to the boy who had walked over to join you two, standing off to your side. “This is soon to-be Lord Thomas Stanley Holland. Thomas, this is Y/N Ramona Taylor Rothschild, the crown princess.”

Hesitantly, you lifted a hand out to him, trying to be polite despite his rude introduction. However, he ignored your hand and focused his attention on your grandmother. “Uncle Barnaby has requested that you and Benjamin take over my lessons tomorrow. He says there is a very important meeting with someone from Spain.”

“Yes, of course,” she responded, waving her hand in dismissal as she took the time to take a sip from her cup of tea. “Only if you promise to help me with my lessons with Y/N.”

“What?!” the two of you questioned in unison. Disdain started to build up inside your chest at the thought of having to work with someone so vile and mean for no other purpose than because he wants to be.

“Hold on!” you practically shouted, seeing as how Tom was about to start talking himself.  You wanted to be the first one to have any say, just so that he would be annoyed. Luckily, it worked. “I never agreed to any lessons on anything. I only just found out that I was a princess! You can’t expect me to now want these lessons! I just want to live a normal life! I was happy being invisible! No one saw me and I didn’t have to interact! Plus I have final exams next week! I can’t be a princess!”

“How anyone can be invisible with that hair and those eyebrows, I’ll never know,” Thomas muttered under his breath, but you managed to push his stupid voice and his mean remark to the back of your head.

Your grandmother, however, did not let his remark go unnoticed. She gave him a dirty glare before turning her attention towards yourself. “How about I talk to you and your mother tomorrow about this then, hmm? I’m sure you have a lot to think about.” Glancing down at her watch, she suddenly jumped to her feet. “I am terribly sorry, my dear, but I have a meeting with Greece that I simply must attend to. I’ll have Benjamin show you out. I will stop by early tomorrow morning to discuss things further.”

With that, she left, leaving you alone with Thomas Holland. To make matters worst, he decided to sit opposite of you, casually leaning back in the lawn chair until he was comfortable. He let a few seconds pass by in awkward silence before he decided to open his mouth. “You’re no princess, you know,” he said, taking your half-drank cup of tea from it’s saucer and taking a sip.

“And you’re no lord, either. Yet here you are, taking other peoples things and being a jerk. God, what is your problem?” You stood up at that and turned to walk back to the house. Behind you were accompanying footsteps, though you couldn’t be sure who they belonged to just yet. You didn’t care though. Your mind was focused on grabbing you bag and leaving on your bike.

However, a firm hand grabbed onto your wrist, stopping your forward movement. You turned around, ready to yell at whoever it was until you met the kind eyes of Benjamin. You relaxed slightly, still wary of the fact that the snobbish “soon to-be lord” Thomas could show up at any moment and ruin everything. “Please let go of me,” you whispered, giving your hand a good tug before sighing. “I just want to go home. I’ll get on my bike and leave, but I don’t want to be here anymore.”

“I was asked to see you home,” he replied curtly before releasing your wrist.

“No, you were asked to see me to the door. I have my bike, I can make it home myself, really. I’ll be fine.” Before he could react or say anything to try and stop you, you dashed into the living room, swooping your bag up in one fell-swoop and escaped out the front door. A few shouts from the people at the desk followed you, but you ignored them, grabbing your bike and rushing towards the great black gates that were starting to open as you approached.

Once through those giant gates confining you to the building, you hoped on your bike and took off, pedaling as fast as you could. Your hair was whipped around by the wind created by your fast pace and sharp turns as you hurried to return to your brightly colored house. Several cars swerved to avoid you, their horns blaring throughout the San Francisco Streets, accompanied by the shouts of the angry drivers of those cars.

Your tires screeched as you suddenly slammed on the brakes of your bike, coming to a stop right outside of your house. Anger started to bubble under your skin as you thought about how everything in your life felt as though it had been yanked from your hands without any warning. No one bothered to tell you this major bombshell was flying towards you, ready to explode and obliterate you without a seconds warning. No one bothered to even mention that maybe, just maybe, you were more than just an average girl in the suburbs. That you were a freaking princess.

Clambering off of your bike, you stormed into your house, letting you bike drop to the floor as you slammed the door behind yourself. Your mother, who was currently sitting on a stool in front of a canvas, suddenly jumped up, giving you a weird look. “Y/N? Are you-”

“Why didn’t you tell me?!” you shouted, tossing you bag onto the closest couch. “Why didn’t you tell me that my father was a prince and that I’m a princess? Why did you keep this a secret? Shouldn’t I have been given the chance to know this for myself?” Your mother visibly flinched at the tone of your voice, but you weren’t about to stop. “Why was I the only one not informed about this? Why?”

“I’m sorry,” your mother mumbled, and you took a moment to study her face. A deep frown was settled on her face, her brows furrowed together. Her eyes were filled to the brim with tears as her bottom lip ever so slightly jutted out in a pout as the corners of her mouth turned down. “All three of us agreed to tell you when you were 18, but your father’s passing sped up the process. I’m sorry...”

You wanted to feel sorry, you truly did, but you couldn’t help but still feel betrayed by everything that had happened in the past few hours. So, instead, you turned on your heels, pulling your bike up until it was upright, and heading for the door.

“Y/N, where are you going?” your mother called after you as you forcibly opened the door.

“I’m going to the auto shop to check on my baby,” you called back, malice dripping in your voice. Once more, you slammed the door closed and took off down the streets, navigating through the many blocks until you happened upon the shop where Zendaya’s brother, Bobby Coleman, worked. It was because of him that your car was getting any attention at all. It was because of Bobby that the amount of money that it would cost to repair your car would be less than anywhere else.

You pedaled as hard as you could, your mind swarming with intrusive thoughts of anger. You huffed as, pushing yourself harder and harder to try and push those thoughts from your mind. Your grip on the handlebars tightened as you centered your thoughts on the exercise you were putting your body through.

Up ahead, you caught sight of the auto repair shop just a few blocks ahead. Leaning forward, your feet sped up their pedaling until you came cruising to a stop in front of the open garage where, inside, the loud sound of a drums and a screeching guitar filled the air. You jumped off your bike and pushed it into the garage.

Bobby was at the keyboard, his skilled hands moving as m&m’s bounced up in the air as he pressed on the keys to the melody of the music. His curly dark brown hair bounced with every bob of his head, hiding his dark brown eyes momentarily. His white button-up hugged his skinny frame, accenting what little he did have. A few kids were loitering around, listening to the band as they performed. A few of Bobby’s fellow seniors were playing with him, his best friend, Marcus, was currently bobbing his head as he slammed his drumsticks into the drums.

You propped your bike up against the wall, offering Bobby a friendly smile as he saw you. An awkward smile settled on his face as he tossed an m&m into his mouth quickly before returning to playing the keyboard. You shook your head before moving to the office where the owner, Ronnie Lark, was currently sitting at his desk, filling out paperwork.

“Hey,” you said, closing the glass door behind you. Instantly, the office was drowned in silence, the sound of the band washed into the background. “I figured I would stop by and see how my baby is doing.”

Ronnie chuckled, looking up from his paperwork. “Once they’re done playing, I’ll get Bobby and we’ll talk about your car,” he responded. Tilting his head to the side, you followed his gaze to see him staring out the window behind you. “It looks like they’re about done with their rehearsal. Come on.” Standing up, he came over and placed a hand on your back, leading you back into the main part of the garage.

The kids who were listening to the band cheered as the song came to an end. Bobby wasted no time as he jogged over to where the two of you were standing, a wide grin on his chocolate-colored skin tone. “Hey, Y/N, you’re here.” His hand timidly shook as he glanced down at his feet. “So uh, you here to see the Mustang?”

“Yeah, just wanting to see how much money I’m gonna need to pay when she’s finished.” Satisfied with your answer, Bobby lead the way to where your baby blue ‘74 Ford Mustang was resting, the hood of the car propped up while one of the workers was currently working on adjusting something to do with the motor.

“Well,” Ronnie said, slapping the roof of the car as he came to lean against the side of the car, “currently we’re just about wrapped up with all of the repairs. Everything in total was around $1,000 but you’ve already invested $300. So that leaves $700.” He gave you a toothy grin before looking towards the hood. “Hey Davey, you about done there?”

The man jumped, clearly not expecting the voice. “U-Uh, just about another hour of work a-and... it’ll be done,” he mumbled awkwardly before returning to his work.

You let a smile take over your face as you smoothed a hand along the top of your car... your baby.  $700 was a big order, though, and it almost made your smile disappear. “$700...” You couldn’t possibly come up with any ideas of how to come up with that money, especially not before your birthday in 3 weeks.

“Ya know,” Bobby said, pulling you from your thoughts, “I can make it to where the work I did doesn’t account for the total. It’d drop the price by about $100.”

“Bobby! No!” you quickly shouted, causing everyone around you to stare at you in shock. You quickly retracted under their gazes, staring down at your hands. “I-I can’t ask you to use your pay to try and help me. You need that money for college next year.”

“Ya but... I want to.” He gave you big puppy dog eyes, so hopeful that you would take up his offer to try and help.

Shaking your head, you place a friendly hand on his shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze. “Thank you. It’s a very sweet offer. Really, it is. But I can’t ask that of you. I’ll find this money myself, okay?”

He sighed in defeat before nodding. “Yeah, okay,” he mumbled, staring down at his feet. “Whatever you say.”

You turned your attention to Ronnie, who was currently giving Bobby a weird look. Something was nagging at the back of your head, telling you that you knew exactly what that look meant, but you didn’t want to deal with it at the moment. “So,” you finally said, turning Ronnie’s attention back towards yourself, “I’ll probably have to break it up into a couple checks but I should have that payment done by the end of this month.” Just in time for you sixteenth birthday.

“I know you will, which is why I’m gonna let you take it home with you when you bring me that first check.” He gave you a knowing wink before leaning against the drivers-side car door. “Just make sure to not wreck it. Don’t wanna have to up that price anymore than it already has been, do you hear me?”

“Y-Yes! Yes, of course! I’ll be extra careful while driving.” Ronnie chuckled at your enthusiasm as you practically tripped over yourself to shake his hand and pull him into a hug. “I swear I’ll be the most cautious driver out there.”

With that, they shooed you out of the garage. All your previously pent up anger was gone as your thoughts focused solely on the car that, providing you got a check to him soon, would be yours before you could even bat an eyelash. Your bike home was so much more relaxing as your mind filled with images of you driving around San Francisco, the hood down on your Mustang as the wind whipped your hair around.

In the back of your mind, you knew you would be upset with your mother the moment you entered the house. However, you let yourself enjoy your bike ride, taking your time as you filled your head with happy thoughts about your baby. Anything to do with being a princess was long forgotten as you leisurely made your way through the streets of San Francisco.

That was the life you wanted.

----

The sound of talking distracted you while you got ready for school the next day. You were standing in front of your mirror, part of your daily ritual, when you heard the front door open and close downstairs. The sound of people talking filled the otherwise quiet air, and you couldn’t help but groan at the thought of dealing with the people downstairs. You were certain that you were aware of who was downstairs with your mother.

Your grandmother.

Sighing, you grabbed your book bag and you phone, throwing a look over to La Chatte Mari, curled up on the corner of your bed, her chest slowly rising and failing with each breath. “I gotta go, kitty,” you murmured, kneeling beside her and brushing a hand along her head. Instantly, her head popped up and followed your hand, begging for more attention. You smiled sadly, running a finger under her chin and scratching gently. She purred, and the sound was a great relief from the muffled voices coming from downstairs.

“Y/N! Please come down here! You’re going to be late for school!” your mother called. Sighing, you stood up, throwing one final look at yourself in the mirror.

“Well, this is as good as it’s ever gonna get,” you mumbled before dragging your feet across the floor as you approached the fireman’s pole located in the back of your room. You gave your cat one last sad look before sliding down the pole.

In front of you was your mother, sitting opposite of your grandmother at the kitchen table. You shook your head before grabbing the trash bag sitting on the edge of the table. “I’m going to school,” you muttered coldly, turning away from the two of them. “Unless you have some new thing to tell me, like how La Chatte Mari is a princess in Wakanda or something like that.”

Your grandmother sighed, her eyes close momentarily as she gathered her thoughts together. Once they reopened, she offered you a smile. “My dear, I have a proposition. There’s a state dinner at the end of this week, and a press conference a week later where we shall announce you as Crown Princess of Genovia. I would like to ask that you attend some classes so that we may work on so that, at the very least, you will be ready for the press conference.”

“What?” you practically shouted, turning your hostility towards your mother now. “I don’t want to be a princess! I’ve told you this! I don’t want these stupid classes!”

“Y/N, relax!” your mother practically shouted, silencing your semi-temper tantrum. “You would just do these classes until the press conference, where you can choose to take the role of princess or not. Okay?” She gave both of you a hard stare, the dark circles under her eyes evident in the fluorescent lights of the kitchen.

Not wanting to continue this problem any further, you shoulders slumped forward in resignation. “Fine,” you grumbled, your grip tightening on the plastic trash bag. “Can I go to school?”

“Yes, about that,” your grandmother said, and you couldn’t help but roll your eyes, “I have a driver who will be seeing you to school and to the mansion right after. Just so you know, your... socks and shoes... are not proper attire. I’ll have tights and heels delivered to the mansion in your size so that you may change after school. The driver is Benjamin, the man you met yesterday.”

You groaned, for the hundredth time since this whole fiasco started. “Fine, whatever. He can drive me. But I demand to be dropped off and picked up a block away from school. If anyone sees me in a limo, I’ll be bullied for the next twenty years.”

“As long as Benjamin is okay with this, I see no problems with your request.” Your eyes rolled, and you were sure that both your mother and grandmother had momentarily only seen the whites of your eyes with how far back into your head your eyes seemed to roll. “Well then, you should be off to school, Little Miss. You have a big day ahead, what with your studying for final exams and your first... princess class, as you put it.”

“Whatever. I’m off, bye.” You didn’t wait for them as you stormed out of the brightly colored front door, easily tossing the white bag into the tie-dyed trash can. In front of the house was two jet black limousines where Benjamin, the man from yesterday, was casually leaning against the passenger side door. He was clad in a black leather jacket, black turtleneck, and black slacks. Perched on the edge of his nose was a pair of black shades, barely concealing his had brown eyes as your next door neighbor, Mr. Alkaseltzer, starred at the limos in pure shock as he somehow managed to stutter out questions.

“S-So, are you a spy or sumthin’?” he drawled, trying to reach a hand out to touch Benjamin.

With lightning fast reflexes, Benjamin grabbed Mr. Alkaseltzer’s hand, stopping his hand from moving any closer. “I’m not a spy,” he muttered, his voice cold. His eyes starred down the writer as he scurried away, mumbling something along the lines of, “only a spy would say sumthin’ like that.”

The sounds of heels walking behind you announced that your grandmother had followed you out the door. “Ah, Benjamin, there you are,” she smiled warmly, crossing in front of you to greet him. “Y/N has requested that you drop her off a block from the school, and I see no reason to disagree with her request.”

A smirk tugged at the man’s lips as he removed his sunglasses and placed them in his pocket. He glanced over to you, studying you for a moment before shrugging. “If it’s what she wants then I will gladly oblige. Is there anything else I can do for you?” His question was directed towards yourself, and his need to suddenly encourage you to talk made you want to trip over your feet.

“U-Uh, could we pick up my friend, Z? She lives about two blocks from here, and it’s on the way to the school. Besides, I’m sure she’s probably waiting for me to bike and I don’t want her to bike alone to school.”

“Sounds fine to me. Princess.” His choice of words, calling you princess, made you want to turn right around and go back into your house. You wanted to curl up in a tight ball and basically die on the spot. However, Benjamin seemed to pick up on your unease as he quickly corrected himself. “Apologies. Miss Y/N. If you’d please get inside of the limo. I do believe I will need some help to getting to your friends. These San Francisco roads are still new to me.”

You couldn’t help but smile at his genuine kindness despite the fact that you were clearly acting like a brat to both your grandmother and mother. “I think I can navigate you safely through the streets.”

Pleased with your answer, he opened the back door to the limo, holding it open for you. Your feet shuffled along the cement as you scurried into the backseat of the limo. Your grandmother gave you a smile and, for once, you felt like you could genuinely return it. There was something about Benjamin that just made you want to smile and be sweet. Maybe it was calming presence that seemed to outweigh the scariness of person.

Once you were settled, Benjamin moved around into the front of the limo. “Just so you know,” he said as he buckled up, “you can call me Ben.”

“What about Benny?” you asked, a small giggle escaping your lips at the nickname. In the back of your mind, you tried to imagine associating the man in front of you with the name Benny and it was such a silly idea.

“Haha, no.” His voice deadpanned at the no, giving you a small stern look through the rear view mirror before smiling. “Ben will do. How do we get to your friends house?”

“It’s just down the street. You just go straight. You’ll find a white house with a black iron gate that a girl will most likely be leaning against.” You pulled your phone out of your bag and pulled up a picture of Z, her curly hair up in it’s usual bun. “This is what she looks like.”

He chuckled momentarily, taking in the picture. Once he had it memorized, he handed the phone back to your. “Your directions are very precise, you know. White house, black fence. Very descriptive.”

A smile tugged at the corner of your mouth as the limo started to move. “You’ll know the house. It’s a pristine white. Probably being power washed as we’re speaking. Mr. Coleman prides himself on a clean house.”

He hummed in response. Music filled the silence, a song you had never heard before. You assumed it was a song well known in Genovia and let the gentle melody drift the air as the car pulled up to the Coleman’s house. Sure enough, Z was lounging against the fence, watching in confusion as the limo came to a stop in front of her.

Before Ben could jump out and run around to open your door, you jumped out, surprising the shocked Z with a tight hug.

“Woah!” she shouted in surprise before wrapping her arms around you. “Holy crap, Y/N/N, what’s this?”

“It’s a limo, courtesy of my grandmother for the time being,” you responded, not really wanting to spread the whole princess thing around just yet.

“Y/N!” Ben shouted as he came jogging around. “Y/N, I’m supposed to open the door for you, you know.” He shook his head before holding out a hand to your friend who was clearly shocked. “Benjamin Martinelli. I’ll be seeing the two of you two and from school while the two of you are still in attendance for the next two weeks.”

Zendaya’s mouth dropped open in shock as she took his hand. She looked around for a moment, as if in disbelief. Maybe she was looking for cameras, or maybe she wanted to see if other people were equally as shocked to see a limo. Finally, she returned her focus to Ben. “Wow, yeah, that sounds so cool. I-”

“Zen Garden! Is that a limo?” shouted Bobby, leaning out of the second story window of their house. “Is that Y/N?”

A groan came from Z as she shook her head, turning to look at her brother. “Why should it matter to you, Bongo? You left school a week ago. This is our new ride to school.”

Bobby disappeared from the window and, a minute later, he went slamming out of the front door, a button-up shirt hanging loosely around his shoulders. His hands worked on buckling his black dress pants, and his dress shoes were tied up together, hanging loosely around his shoulders. “I actually promised I would help one of the teachers at school, Zen Garden. Is it cool if I catch a ride?”

“Bongo-” Z started but you interrupted her.

“If you promise not to be your usual annoying self and don’t antagonize Z, then I don’t see a reason. I mean, we’re all going to the same place, right?” You gave Zendaya an apologetic look as the pure look of hostility that seemed to spark in her dark eyes as you welcomed her brother to join the two of you in the car.

Sighing, your best friend slid into the car, and you followed suit. The last person to get into the car was Bobby, and he purposefully tried to lean as close to the door when it was closed. You figured he probably wanted to get out as soon as possible to avoid his sister’s wraith and didn’t bother to ask questions. Instead, you turned your attention to Z, who was silently giving dirty glares to her brother.

“Hey,” you mumbled, grabbing her hand, “I figured it would be easier. I’m sorry. If you don’t want me to let him ride with us after today, I won’t.” You made sure your voice was quiet enough that Bobby, who was now listening to music via earbuds, wouldn’t hear.

“It’s whatever,” she muttered in defeat, leaning back into the seat. “I know why you did it, I do. I guess I just wanted to get to talk to you in the limo and now he’s here so I can’t...”

You gave her a comforting smile, squeezing her hand tightly as the limo purred to life and took off down the streets of San Francisco. Ben skillfully weaved through traffic and arrived at the school.

As the three of you got out of the car, Bobby now thankfully fully dressed, you turned to look at Z. “You ready for hell?”

“As ready as always.”

----

“Y/N, dear, you simply must straighten your shoulders,” your grandmother chided as he walked up behind you. She placed a hand on each shoulder and gently eased them back. However, due to years of horrible posture, you couldn’t help but flinch and instantly curl your shoulders back in on themselves. Your grandmother sighed and once more moved them back. “Really dear, if you can’t balance a stack of books on your head, you will be ridiculed in the media.”

“I’m not used to this,” you whined, stomping your foot on the ground. The awkwardly new angle of your new heels made the stomp hurt even more than normal. You cringed but resisted the urge to curl up in a ball. You forced your shoulders to remain as your grandmother had put them.

Every nerve in your body was on edge, although you were sure it had to do with the fact that Thomas was sitting casually in one of the elegant chairs located in the room. His hair was just as you remembered, and the cruel smirk was poorly hidden on his face as he watched you with amusement glistening in his dark chocolate eyes. “Maybe we could surgically fix her posture,” he teased.

You shot him a dirty look but following your grandmother’s directions on how to walk in a straight line. You did your best to copy her posture and the even footsteps that she made, but the heels, no matter how short they were, made it extremely difficult to do anything other than fall.

“Hmm, maybe she needs new feet, too. And eyebrows, and hair. We could do away with the whole thing if it would be easier.” Tom’s voice set your teeth on edge, and you now felt even more compelled to get this walk right in spite.

“Shut up, Tommy,” you shot back, glaring at him. At your nickname, his eyes started to burn with hostility as he suddenly stood up, walking closer to where you were currently.

The look in his eyes and the threatening way he stalked towards you caused you to stumble back until you were pressed against the wall, his arms encasing you and preventing you from moving. He studied you carefully, his stare calculated yet filled with so much aggression. “Don’t. Call. Me. Tommy,” he hissed before pushing away from you.

You glanced around the room to look at everyone’s reactions. Elenora’s jaw was dropped in pure shock at the boy’s behavior. Ben looked ready to murder the kid right on the spot for both being a jerk and for scaring you like he did. Your grandmother definitely looked the most annoyed of the three, and you couldn’t figure out at who. You wanted to believe it was at Tommy but you couldn’t help but think that she was annoyed at you for something he did.

“If the two of you are done acting like children, I’d very much like to continue.” Just as you had guessed, she was very annoyed. Luckily, it was at the both of you, so you at least knew that Tommy was feeling some kind of remorse for making the Queen of Genovia annoyed. After a few moments of silence passed, she continued on with your lesson.

Once you were able to walk with one book balanced on your head, everyone was clearly becoming hungry. You never meant for your lessons to last so long, but walking was hard. Plus every comment that came out of Tommy’s mouth resulted in a small argument that stopped anything from happening for the next minute. You even threw around his favorite nickname a few times, and it resulted in similar situations from earlier. The only difference was that you held your ground, meeting his fiery eyes with defiant ones.

“Your Highness, the cook has just alerted me that dinner is done and the table is set for four,” Elenora announced as she walked in, her phone in her hand as she read the text that the cook has sent to her. “Should I tell the servers to get ready before we settle in?”

“Yes, thank you,” you grandmother said, throwing a thankful glance to Elenora who quickly left to give out orders. She glanced at both yourself and Thomas and motioned to follow. “Go on, go to the table so that you can eat. I’ll go grab your Uncle, Thomas, and I’ll be back soon.”

And so the two of you were left alone in the large dining room, throwing glares in each others directions. You were instructed to sit at one end of the table by Elenora who stated that, “Your grandmother will sit at the head and she instructed that you sit exactly opposite of her.” This left for Tommy to sit to your left.

Neither one of you spoke until both your grandmother and his uncle, a man with graying hair that framed his balding head and a big midsection that almost bulged out of his suit. In your grandmother’s hands was a scarf. You gave her a confused look until she walked up behind you and used it to tie your shoulders back to the chair. “Um?! What are you doing?” you practically shouted, using your hands to claw at the tight fabric.

“A proper princess never slouches to eat her food,” was her only response as she calmly walked to the other side of the table and gracefully took her seat. You awkwardly patted at the table, trying desperately to grab a fork. You mentally cursed at yourself for not having the chair pushed in fully as it made your job of reaching for you silverware ten times harder than it should have been.

A snicker came from Tommy which earned him an angry glare from both yourself and your grandmother. His uncle only shook his head, a smirk settled on his lips. You wanted to question why he was smirking, but instead were now focused on the food placed in front of you.

“For your soup,” your grandmother commanded from the head of the table, “you’ll want to use the spoon the furthest on the right. You work your way in with your silverware, so the spoon, knife, and fork closest to the plate will be the last that are used.” You nodded your head and were, thankfully, pushed a little bit closer by one of the servants that had just served food. You grabbed the proper spoon and used it to consume the mildly warm soup.

Dinner progressed about as well as you would have guessed. Your grandmother would constantly command you on what to do, correcting the errors you seemed to make without realizing so. By the time the last course was served, you were ready to bolt. Thomas and his constant snickering were starting to get to you, so much so that you even stopped calling him Tommy. Your grandmother’s disapproving looks at the smallest of things made you want to hide, but the stupid scarf made it impossible to do anything.

The moment the scarf was untied, you quickly jumped to your feet. “Please say I can go home,” you almost begged your grandmother. Your feet were killing you from wearing heels for the first time, and everything felt so freaking restricted. You wanted to bolt home yourself and change into the comfiest clothes that you owned.

Frankly, you just wanted to shrink away.

“Yes, of course. I’ll have Benjamin drive you home. I would change back into your shoes, you look as though you’re about to faint on your feet.” You gave her thankful look as you quickly grabbed your bag and ran to the closest bathroom. You flinched as you kicked of the heels. You peeled away the pantyhose that were starting to stick to your skin due to sweat and sat down on the toilet seat to rub your raw ankles that were free from both the heels and the uncomfortable pantyhose.

The door to the bathroom suddenly opened and you screamed as Thomas walked in. Clearly he wasn’t aware of the fact that you were in there until you screamed because his shocked eyes were suddenly looking at you, wide and filled with terror as he took you in. You quickly dropped your legs and crossed them, your face burning from embarrassment. “Get out!”

You didn’t have to tell him twice as the door suddenly slammed shut, followed by a shout of, “Lock the door next time!”

“Knock next time!” you retorted, voice dripping with malice. Shaking your head, you quickly pulled out your shoes and socks, pulling them on as fast as you could.

When you stood up, it felt weird to suddenly be on solid ground. However, it wasn’t an unpleasant weird. You shoved the heels and stockings into your bag before rushing out of the bathroom. Right outside was Ben, who was giving you a weird look.

“What was that shout?” he inquired, leaning against the wall as he examined you. You were currently walking a bit weirdly, still not used to being back on solid ground after having strutted around in heels for the past four or so hours.

“Nothing!” you shouted before pausing to gather your thoughts. “Sorry. It was nothing. Can I go home?”

Ben nodded, but the question was still there, hanging in the air. You sighed and started to leave, but a voice stopped you in your tracks. “Oh, so you’re done with the bathroom and trying to blind people now, are you?” Thomas asked snidely.

Once more, your face started to burn as you pushed past Ben and headed out the door. You hurried out to the waiting limo, bundling yourself into the corner of the backseat of the limo. Ben slid into the front seat, throwing you a look in the rear view mirror.

“So, it was nothing, huh?”

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