49 The Vulnerability that Love Gives Off

To put it in a few words, Courtney's reaction was simply priceless.

Courtney sat across the living room, listening to music as Winnie gave her a manicure.

James seemed fazed but whispered to Emma, who didn't seem as fazed by what was happening.

"Are those two always like this? Is this what ladies-in-waitings and royals usually do during their free time?" He asked.

Emma winced.

"For the first question, yes. For the second, no. They mostly don't. I would never ever do anything like this to Lily. That would be selfish of me, and I'd feel terribly guilty," Emma admitted.

Before he could say anything, a loud shriek was heard.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? AND SERIOUSLY?! WITH HER OUT OF ALL PEOPLE? THIS IS RIDICULOUS! ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!" She yelled, pushing Winnie away and approaching the two people holding hands.

Emma hid her smirk, while James did all the talking.

"Hello Courtney,"he said, his voice devoid of any emotion.

Courtney was taken aback. But she decided to act as if everything was okay.

"James! Baby, you're here!" She exclaimed, acting as if Emma didn't exist.

Lily watched from a distance, knowing exactly what would happen and deciding to stay away for now.

Emma had a calm poker face, which didn't sit too well with Courtney, but she looked at James, waiting for a reaction.

"I am not yours. And don't you dare call me 'baby'," he said coldly.

Courtney narrowed her eyes, trying to keep her cool even when her rage was unsupressable.

"You're rejecting ME for this loser of a maid's daughter? She's not even fully royal," she spat out rudely.

Had this had come from anyone else, Emma would've been considerably upset, but since it was Courtney who had told her this, she couldn't care less.

James, on the other hand, didn't take her insulting Emma lightly. Well, that'd be an understatement.

If they weren't on campus grounds, he would've killed her for insulting Emma by now.

Emma closed one eye, trying not to imagine how'd James react.

Fortunately, he had managed to keep his cool, probably also because he didn't want to cause any trouble, and also since Emma was right beside him.

"On the contrary, you're the loser, Courtney. I doubt I've ever met anyone as lazy and selfish as you. If you think about it, Emma's the complete opposite. She's selfless, diligent, kind, caring and it's a bonus that she's beautiful too. Unlike you, she doesn't need hundreds of layers of makeup to even look decent, and she doesn't treat her lady-in-waiting as horrid as a slave."

Lily, who was watching nearby, grinned, as she playfully winced.

"You just got roasted by THE Prince of Amaris, Walton. See how you can recover from this now," she muttered under her breath.

Emma had quite a reaction. She knew that James could be shameless and just as confident as he seemed, but he had said this to Courtney Walton, who was another girl who had feelings for him as well. What he had said was harsh, but what he had said was the truth, and Emma couldn't deny that Courtney being put in her place by one of the only people that could actually impact her with their words.

Emma was flustered, and she wasn't able to see Courtney's facial expression as James turned around, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before whispering some words in her ear he opened the door and left.

Once Emma's gaze returned to where Courtney was previously standing, she had disappeared, while Winnie had followed, not being anywhere in sight. Emma assumed they were in their bedroom, where Courtney was probably recovering from James'...verbal roast.

After realizing what James had told her, she ran to her bedroom, where Lily was already waiting for her there, her face prideful, before she blurted out.

"You sure have one protective friend. He completely obliterated Courtney with his words, he rescued from what I'd heard was a bunch of boys that wanted to flirt with us, not to mention…"

Lily pointed at James' suit that was drenched, but perched on Emma's shoulders.

From Emma's reaction, Lily could tell how her best friend was feeling at the moment, but she chose to stay quiet as she watched as Emma scoured her mind for the right words to say.

"I...he was worried I was cold, so…"

She stopped, knowing she only made things worse.

"He was worried? Emma, that's not what guys usually do for friends. That was sweet of him and all, but are you sure you're just friends?" Lily asked innocently, emphasising on the words, 'friends'.

Of course, Emma had also been wondering what she and James were, if they had simply been friends with benefits, if they had been best friends, close friends, or if this was some sort of asexual fling.

Upon looking at Emma's expression, Lily embraced her best friend.

"You have no idea, do you?" She asked.

Still, in a tight embrace, Emma nodded, to her, for some reason, tears were streaming down her cheeks.

"I don't know what we are, Lil," she admitted, her tears still streaming.

"Em, why are you crying?" Lily asked as she slowly patted her best friend's back.

"What if he rejects me?" Emma asked.

Lily was dumbfounded. Never in a million years did she imagine her best friend would ever say something like that. About a boy, no less.

"Why would he reject someone as amazing as you?" Lily asked in return, wondering what else she could say.

Though Emma took that into account, she was a mess. She was usually the rational one, but when it came to love,, that was when she became irrational.

"Em, be rational here. Don't you think you're special to him if he brought you out to cheer you up, and how he literally carried you to your dorm just because other men thought of flirting with you and he overheard about it. Emma, as I said before, normal guys don't do that to girls they just see as friends. If you're worried about what he thinks, then ask him about it," she suggested.

"You're right, but w-what if he…" Emma said, stuttering on her words.

Emma pursed her lips, she had something to say, even though she still was in disbelief from how vulnerable Emma was whenever love was brought up.

"Look, if you do ask, and if he says ANYTHING that could even possibly hurt you, then leave it to me to kill the bastard," she said sweetly.

Emma regained herself, wiping her tears as she tried to seem fine.

As she wiped her tears, a question popped in her head.

"I can't believe I'm crying over a boy, what is wrong with me?" she asked herself.

Lily stifled a smirk.

"That's the effect love can have on anyone in love, honey," she explained.

Emma stared at her best friend, knowing what she said was completely true.

Her mind finally pieced on why she acted this way.

'You're really in love with him, aren't you?' A voice in her head asked.

'Yes, yes, I am,' Emma told herself, getting her emotions straight.

Looks like love really can affect anyone.