15 Someone's Eating Vinegar

Pearl, who had been reading books the whole time, finally decided to come out and see what the other two girls were doing. She found Ava engrossed on her cellphone playing games while Akira was in her room singing loudly with her ears covered by headphones.

She sat next to Ava on the sofa, "You like playing games, huh? Can you teach me how we could play together?" She said while peeking into Ava's cellphone. She saw that Ava was chatting with someone instead of playing games.

Ava was startled and swiftly hid her phone under her butt. She wasn't ready to tell her cousin about big brother yet. She was afraid that Pearl might tattle on her to their parents.

"Why did you hide your phone? Are you hiding something? Hmmm, let me see what it is?" Pearl tried to reach Ava's phone under her. But Ava was quick to grab it and run to her room. Once inside, she quickly locked the door, so Pearl could not follow her.

Pearl thought it was funny. She wasn't serious about checking Ava's cellphone, and she was only being playful. Once Ava was gone, she got up and decided to go to Akira's room.

Akira was singing and dancing to the music when Pearl walked in. Her voice was good, and her moves were excellent. It reminded Pearl of the famous girl idol group she's been following.

Since Akira has headphones on, she couldn't hear that someone had come into her room. So she continued having fun without a care in the world.

Pearl tapped Akira's shoulder to get her attention. Akira was startled, and her hands flew and hit Pearl smack on her head.

"OUCH!!!" Exclaimed Pearl while she was massaging her head.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" The startled Akira said while her eyes were wide as a saucer.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know that someone came in and when you tapped me..." She didn't get to finish what she's going to say. They heard a knock on the door.

Chupsy was informing them that they needed to get ready because dinner would be served in thirty minutes.

===

Fifteen minutes later, the three girls were ready. Ava was wearing a simple short sleeve summer dress with flowers printing and sandals. Akira was in a white top and blue jeans and tennis shoes, still with her headphones hung over her shoulders. Pearl was wearing a pink top and a jumpsuit over and brand-name flip-flops. All three girls were gorgeous in their own ways.

As the girls happily chat on the way to the dining hall, they run across Prince Edmund and his assistant, who planned to escort them.

Prince Edmund stopped in his tracks when he saw the three beautiful young ladies. He was left speechless. Never in his entire life has he been acquainted with such beauties. Not one, but three; He couldn't pick and choose between all three of them; now, he had a dilemma.

Akira was the first to see Prince Edmund, and her bubbly personality kicked in. She waved at him as they approached while greeting him at the same time.

"Hello, there! Your highness!" Shouted Akira while showing her pearly white teeth.

Ava and Pearl looked straight ahead and also saw who was coming their way and greeted him as well as they reached where he stood still.

"Your highness, how are you?" Greeted Ava looking him straight in his eyes. His heart fluttered a little seeing Ava looking at him straight up.

"I-I'm fine! Thank you for asking." He responded shyly while fidgeting a little.

Pearl only smiled at him as a greeting and didn't say a word. Instead, she hooked her arms to both Ava and Akira as if she was afraid.

Prince Edmund saw this and felt a little disappointed. He kind of thought Pearl is a shy girl, but he never thought that she would be afraid of him. So to make her feel at ease, he turned to her and gave her his undivided attention.

"Miss Grant, how do you like the Royal Academy so far?"

"Huh? Are you speaking to me?" Her eyes were now wide open and looking straight at Prince Edmund, who had the sweetest smile plastered on his lips.

"Yes! Of course, I'm speaking to you. Who else here has the last name, Grant?" He bantered and started laughing out loud.

Ava and Akira looked at Pearl first before they too began laughing. Not as loud as Prince Edmund was laughing but silently.

"Oh, I'm sorry! You're right. I'm the only one here with that last name. My bad!" She then bowed her head and started kicking an imaginary stone.

"If you ladies are on the way to the dining room, do you mind if I escort you there?" Prince Edmund decided to change the subject.

All three girls nodded, and soon they were on the way to the dining hall, chatting happily and enjoying their conversation. But, unknown to them, Crystal felt as if she was eating vinegar as she watched them enjoy each other's company.

She was on the way to Prince Edmund's quarter to ask him to accompany her to the dining hall. Unfortunately, she did not know that he had left early to meet with the three girls. She was not a happy camper, and she was up to no good from the look on her face.

Crystal hid as they passed by, and once they were further away, she then followed them without letting them know. A plan was forming in her head. But, first, she would have to make sure that the three girls would have the worst time in the Royal Academy, so they would go back home where they came from, away from Prince Edmund.

===

All the students and faculty members were already seated in their prospective seats when they arrived. A faculty member greeted them and ushered them to their assigned seats.

Unfortunately, the girls were sitting separately from the boys. This made Prince Edmund not happy with the arrangement.

He didn't mind it before since he was not interested in any of the girls in the whole academy. However, it was now a whole other story, now that there were three girls whose hearts he was set to conquer.