26 What Doesn’t Usually Happen on the First Day of School

"Ah, never mind then," James said as eyed Emma's hand.

It was now or never.

He laced his fingers into hers.

Emma, whose attention had swiftly changed from her lap to his hand, was dumbfounded.

"I...what...what are you doing?" She asked, not at all uncomfortable.

"Emma, I…" He trailed off, his words stuck in his throat.

A voice in his head whispered, 'Abort! Abort! Change the subject! Change it to ANYTHING else!'

He shook his head.

"Emma, I'm so sorry about Lily," he said, the words he wanted to say still stuck in his throat.

Emma showed him a sad smile.

"She didn't deserve any of this," she said, her voice so soft that it was barely a whisper.

James tilted his head.

There goes her emotions. She was back to her sad self. If only there was something that would temporarily help her with it.

She had seemed so happy, up until Lily was brought up.

Him being the oblivious but incredibly thoughtful person he was, got up from his chair.

Emma tilted her head.

He kneeled down, his eyes the same level as hers.

"Listen. Emma, this isn't your fault. I might have known Lily for less than a day, but I don't think she'd want you to be dejected about her, don't you think?" He asked innocently.

The roles had now been swapped. The pessimist had turned to the optimist, and vice versa.

"Thanks, James," she said as she stared into those charming grey eyes of his.

It was a few seconds later that she leaned in, not realizing what she was doing.

Once she regained her senses, she froze.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know what I was doing, I-

She was cut off when James kissed her passionately, his lips capturing hers in a fervent kiss. Emma's eyelids closed slowly as she lost herself in ecstasy. You'd think a prince who had no experience kissing anyone would be a bad kisser, but this was simply not the case.

The two royals pulled away, gasping for air, though still silently wanting more. They stared at each other lovingly, the wine they had previously drunk getting to them, their breaths entangled, and their bodies closer than ever.

"Emma. You, you drive me crazy," James said huskily, his voice dripping with ardour and lust.

The poor girl had never been in this kind of scenario, and no book she read prepared her for this moment.

She was flushed. Her heart and head telling her to do two completely different things.

'IT'S THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL YOU IDIOT! DON'T GO KISSING YOUR CLASSMATES! IT'S A MAJOR BREACH OF THE RULES! THIS DISTRACTION WILL ONLY DISRUPT YOU FROM BEING THE TOP STUDENT!' One voice yelled inside her head, showing its particular dislike.

'The heart wants what it wants. You can't stop it,' another voice said.

"I-I…" Emma stuttered, not being able to say anything.

She wanted to say how she liked him, she wanted to tell him about the butterflies in her stomach whenever he was around. She wanted to thank him for sticking up for both her and Lily and for helping her get through this all.

To think that her very first impression of him was a cocky troublemaker, was quite laughable.

James chuckled.

"You're so cute when you stutter," James blurted out.

Emma broke out in a fit of laughter.

"Do you always talk to girls like this? Are you always this explicit?" She asked jokingly.

James shrugged.

"As of now, it's just you," he admitted, realizing that this was the first time he had treated any person like this.

Something about Emma made her different. Maybe it was her personality or the fact that she was a magnificent alluring woman with an angelic aura that increased his enthusiasm willingly. It was a long time ago he had realized he was falling for her, and boy, was he falling for her fast.

As the two wine and dined, James couldn't stop looking at her, at the light tinge of pink that lightly covered her cheeks, her perfectly sculptured face, her ocean blue eyes, and her blonde wavy hair that perfectly framed her face.

"Uh, James? You there?" Emma asked, snapping her fingers in front of his face to grab his attention.

He regained his senses, right before he mumbled, "Yes?"

"Don't you think we should go now? It's almost past curfew," she reminded, being a stickler for the rules.

Ah, yes. The ZALE curfew. A rule Dean Fleur had enforced on students when previous ZALE students used to sneak around campus grounds at around nightfall. The rule stated that students were not allowed to be anywhere else but their dorms by midnight.

If any student was caught anywhere else without the permission and approval of a school staff member, they'd be suspended, no questions asked. This rule was simple but strict.

Seeing as ZALE had strict security, and an even strict matron that was tasked to watch the dorm's perimeters for any lurking students, the two had to quickly make it back to their dorm, if they didn't want to get into any more trouble. If the two were caught together, they'd be breaking a plethora of ZALE rules, and if word spread, it would be deemed scandalous.

James' eyes widened. It was quarter to midnight. They had fifteen minutes, give or take, to rush to each of their dorms and make it right before the clock struck midnight.

"Right, let's continue this tomorrow," he said as he got up, helping Emma get up as well.

As soon as they left the restaurant, both Emma and James stood outside in the cold.

"James, thanks again for helping me," Emma said gratefully, smiling warmly at the prince.

"Yeah, you're welcome," James replied, slightly concerned about making it back in time.

The two went their separate ways, Emma to her dorm, and James to his, trying their best not to be spotted by the matron, who would be lurking around the perimeters of the dorm rooms.

Unbeknownst to Emma, that something, or someone in particular, was waiting for her in her dormitory, and boy, was she in for a surprise.