Page 60 of A Wise Prince

Me: Please call me back when you can. I just want to know that you’re OK.

“Hey,” my sister says as she walks up behind me.

“Hey,” I reply. I stick my phone in my pocket and turn to look at her. I admit it’s good to see her. When you go through the public scrutiny we have as teenagers, it forces a tight bond.

“You seem distracted,” she points out the obvious.

“Just a lot going on,” I say as I look at her. She looks good, happy even. Her hair’s a little longer than the last time I saw her. She looks a little older, more mature.

“So, how’s school?” I ask.

“Good. Busy. You know,” she says in such a typical college student way that it causes me to laugh.

“You gonna intern this summer?” I prod.

She nods. “Yeah, I mean, it’s sort of expected.” She has a point.

“How’s the social scene?”

She shrugs. “Nothing crazy.” She bites her lip, and I know there’s more to that story.

I raise an eyebrow and she giggles. Damn, it feels good to hear her so light-hearted. We may be super different, but I do love her.

“OK, so I did just meet this one guy, Will,” she says.

“Oh? Do tell?”

She rolls her eyes. “He’s over here visiting family. He goes to Princeton, and he’ll graduate in May.”

“What’s his last name?”

“James.”

“That’s cool. What does he study?”

“International relations.”

“Do you have a photo?” I ask.

She shakes her head. I find this odd because I feel like everyone takes photos of each other all the time, but maybe if they just met…my mind wanders to Auggie and I realize I don’t have a photo of him either.

“Kate?” My sister’s voice brings me out of my thoughts.

“Huh?”

“What about you?”

“Me?” I ask.

“Yeah, are you seeing anyone? Mom said you are spending time with a prince,” she asks, looking around like it’s some sort of state secret.

“I wouldn’t call it dating, but yeah, we’ve hung out a few times,” I admit.

Ash grins. “How fucking cool would it be if you married a prince? That’s like some real-life Cinderella shit!”

I give her a “really” look. “It’s not like we are destitute. Shit, we lived in the White House for Christ’s sake.”

She laughs. “Fine, but still, it would be so lit!”

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