บท 13: Flirting and Pickup Lines

<<Francine>>

"Open sesame!" The voice exclaimed as the owner of the voice presented herself in front of us. I was not being too judgemental, but she looked the exact opposite of how Charlie was. For once, I may have thought that she was too cheerful and girly.

Once she walked in, her gaze fell on me and Charlie at the same time. Her eyes widened in shock as her gaze shifted from Charlie to me and back to Charlie simultaneously. Charlie froze on the spot and I could visibly see the gears in her brain turning.

"Nic, relax. Take it easy. I can explain it." She cautiously stepped towards the girl, I now knew as Nic.

"RELAX?! Charlie, why on earth are there the two of you? Did you clone yourself or do you have a long-lost twin sister who was abandoned and grew up in a rather lavish lifestyle-" She giggled before continuing, "If the latter is true, I wish you were the abandoned one."

Why would she think something like a long-lost sister?

And cloning?

Charlie shook her head in disbelief. "Nicole, why do you have to be like this?"

"Be like what?" She turned to face us and by us, I meant Samuel and me. "And why are they dressed as some sort of royalty? Are they going to a fancy dress competition? Because if they are - the male stranger looks super hot."

Charlie and I face-palmed ourselves in unison.

Samuel grinned. "Why thank you, m'lady."

Nicole swooned and then whispered something in Charlie's ear to which her eyes widened.

"No, Nicole. Absolutely not."

"Please? Please?" Nicole pouted.

"Nope." She dismissed.

"Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"Nic, they're here for a reason. They need my help." Charlie explained.

"With what?" Nicole asked, without missing a beat.

Charlie sighed and then the three of us shared a look as if she were asking for permission. Samuel and I nodded approvingly.

"You might wanna sit down for this."

---

"So, that's everything." Charlie ended.

Throughout the entire explanation, none of us had spoken a word. It was only Charlie's words that were audible. Nicole nodded in understanding, unable to form any proper words.

After a couple of seconds, she uttered her first word. "Wow."

"Pretty unbelievable, ain't it?" Charlie smirked.

"So, lemme get this straight, princess here wants to live her own life before taking over the throne, and to be able to do that she needs to swap places with you. Did I get 'em right?"

"Yes. You got everything right." Samuel answered.

"Did I ever tell you that other than the fact that you're really hot, you're a genius too? I mean, you figured out where Charlie lived just through a necklace! I mean, wow."

"Nicole!" Charlie smacked her arm.

"Chill, Charlie. I understand her emotion." He turned towards her and flashed his million-dollar smile. "I appreciate the fact that you pay extra attention to behavior, miss. Are you naturally this observant?"

This whole back and forth flirting was something my brother was used to. Back at the palace, when father threw parties to celebrate any occasion- many princesses used to attend it.

Just for Samuel Maxwell.

The charmer.

Father used to say, he had a magnetic effect on people.

Nicole giggled. "Nope. You seemed like a pretty interesting subject."

"What the hell is going on?! Nicole, behave." Charlie scolded Nicole and then turned towards Samuel. "Sam, stop it. I'm not helping you and your sister if you keep flirting with my best friend like that and stop with the pick-up lines! God!"

Samuel raised his hands in a surrendering fashion, "Whoa, whoa. I'll stop. Please do not be harsh with her."

"And him too." Nicole flashed Sam a sweet smile which he reciprocated.

Samuel smirked. "Besides, you have yet to see the usage of pickup lines."

He winked at Nicole.

Charlie rubbed her temples, dealing with the forming headache. She sighed.

"You two are impossible."

---

"What do you guys wanna have? I'm cooking!" Nicole sang as she walked into the living room with a spoon in her hand.

I shook my head. "Do not bother, Nicole. We were just leaving."

I stood up from my seat and walked towards the door, waiting for Samuel to quickly follow. After a couple of minutes of just standing like a fool, I turned on my heel to see Samuel was still on the couch.

"Brother?"

He turned to face me, giving his best puppy dog eyes.

I sighed.

"Fine."

I walked to where I was formerly seated. Samuel pumped his fist in the air. After we three gave away our orders for tonight's dinner, Charlie started tutoring me on how to speak like a native. She spoke certain words, sentences, and phrases that were different from what we - my bad - I was used to.

Samuel, on the other hand, was already adopted and familiar with most of the phrases that she taught us.

"So, this was everything. Let's review. What do you mean by 'break a leg'?"

"Other than the fact that it actually has nothing to do with an actual leg-breaking?"

She nodded.

"Well, good luck."

She smiled, before continuing.

"Hang in there?"

"Do not give up."

"Don't. Don't give up." She corrected it.

"Don't," I repeated. The contraction seemed foreign to me. It had to, as we never used a contraction.

"A perfect storm?"

"The worst possible situation."

"Okay, let's go through contractions. Going to?"

"Gonna."

"Let me?"

"Lemme."

"Give me?"

"Gimme."

She grinned. "I'm a good teacher, aren't I??"

"Fishing for compliments, Charlie?" I smirked.

"Is it working?" She smirked back.

"Try harder, princess," Samuel commented.

She shook her head.

"'I am not gonna do something just for the fun of it.' Shorten it."

"I ain't gonna do somethin' just for the fun of it. Also, you already contracted 'going to' by saying 'gonna'."

She closed the book and stood up, extending her arm. I shook it.

"Congratulations, Your Highness, you're officially Charlie Robinson."

"That's it?" Samuel raised his eyebrows. "What about the behavior?"

Charlie smirked. "Just do what you would never do if you were still a princess. Break a couple of rules, be bold, be a badass, and just be the complete opposite of yourself."

"You have to follow the last one, Charlie." I reminded her.

She winked. "Oh, do not worry, Your Highness. I have got it covered."