The days passed 'completely' fine 'especially' after the meeting with him. Janet always tried to stayed close to me just for my safety. He rubbed shoulders with almost everyone!

Just in a fraction of days, almost everyone were in his friend-circle. Susie who was known as the quiet girl, even she too laughed openly in his presence. Lola couldn't hear a word against him. And Diana too fought for him!

In these few days he had turned every single friend of mine against me. What black magic was that guy in possession of? Was he hypnotizing people around him, like the pied piper? Even Diana didn't try to understand me nowadays.

The only person who stayed by my side was Janet. With all the possible outbreaks of arguments and fights, we didn't talk much about him with them.

He also somehow managed to became the pet of Mrs. Veronica. To the hell with that old lady! She never listened what I had to tell her! The teacher and her pet discussed within themselves and left me with no other option but to be his partner again. What was wrong with this guy? He doesn't want to see my face and he forced me to be his class partner? Very ironic. Must be bipolar. I couldn't forget the verbal argument or perhaps a fight between Liam and Rome as Mrs. Veronica instructed me to sit with Rome again.

"oh! So sorry man, I had taken your partner without your permission. I should have asked you first," Liam smiled apologetically!

"it's fine as long as you didn't do it intentionally..." Rome replied back genuinely.

"of course not! I would never do anything like that to you man! You are my man! It was just a mistake and nothing intentional!" Liam rambled freaked out!

They shook their hands and laughed out laugh before going to their next class!

I couldn't believe it! So much for a good friend Liam! Thank you so much!

I was even more furious when Liam referred to me as Rome's property! I was no one's property, especially not Rome's. I belonged to myself!

 But I never had much of a proper conversation with him (you know who...) though he tried to talk to me. I had been skipping the rehearsals, actually I never attended any. And I wasn't needed too since I was the prince I had to enact from the second half of the drama and they were practicing the first half. I didn't even care to read the entire script, I just read the first page felt it tedious and left the remaining as it is. To be honest, procrastinating.

After many days of whatever practice they had done, Mrs. Veronica asked me to join the rehearsals as I was needed and they were going to start the second half.

That was when I couldn't help but worry.

Oh god! Why hadn't I read the script before?

I started going through my part during the lunch break, sitting with my girls. In fact, I was memorizing each and every word, which I was never good at! I wasn't good at memorizing.

The girls minded their own business for sometime after which they noticed me with my nose dug into the script and started with their interrogation.

"What's that?" Diana asked.

"drama script," I replied without looking at her.

"Mrs. Veronica's drama?" Susie asked.

And I nodded in answer.

"what's your role?" Diana asked.

"prince?" That came out more like a question than I expected it to.

"you gotta be kidding me!" they laughed.

"prince and Z? From when did you turn into a boy, Z? When was the gender exchange operation and why the hell didn't you say anything about it to us?" Diana really went too far in this joke!

"stop it guys, let her get ready for her role." Thank god, Janet hushed them quiet.

At last, Lola asked after few minutes, "ok, few last questions, who is the sleeping beauty?"

 I was clueless to the answer for that question as I didn't know who the hell sleeping beauty was!

 "I don't know!" I simply replied.

"does the drama have a kiss?" Susie asked with a giggle.

I turned the pages to see if it did and to my shock it did!

Seeing my shocked face they immediately understood and made hooting noises and catcalls, all those "whoa..."s and "yeah!"s.

I had never kissed anyone before! And now they expected me to do it? To a stranger, in fact? I was going to withdraw my name from this drama, right now. Let them choose any another prince.

"I'm not doing this, especially in the drama!" I expressed my feelings loudly.

"Girl, at least check who got the role of 'beauty'! then don't regret for giving up the part!" Diana exclaimed.

"I'm not interested anyway," I replied and got up to meet with Mrs. Veronica but at that same moment the bell went, leaving us no other option but to rush us all back to our classrooms. Miss Nora was taking social science but my mind was moving around Mrs. Veronica's words 'students, I want you both to enact in the school drama which is on the talents day! And I don't want to hear 'no', no matter which role I appoint you for.'

"Miss Marshalls," I heard Miss Nora trying to get my attention. I looked up at her coming back to present. She raised her eyebrows, indicating me to answer her question which I had missed.

"Sor-sorry! I was lost in some thought," I honestly replied.

Her face fell a bit but she still said, "please don't do that again." Then she called another student's name who answered her question.

My life hadn't been such a mess like this before. And the credit went to none other than Rome and his ever changing behavior with me, which was filling me with many doubts about him.

............

Mrs. Veronica refused to talk anything regarding the drama during other time, she would ask to meet her after school during rehearsals the only time when she would listen to me. And Rome's new kind, friendly and fun behavior and those impossible things that he did was tempting me towards him. How did no one else notice what I had noticed? Only Janet believed me though she hadn't seen that by herself.

He was damn mysterious, his history was unknown and his behavior was so unpredictable. And everyone stood up for him! Supported him! Believed him!

What was the spell had he cast on everyone? These were the thought that constantly flowed in my mind as I made my way toward the auditorium where they were practicing the drama.

The rehearsals were already going on and Mrs. Veronica was busy watching them perform. I didn't even know who was what. So dismissing every bit of curiosity, I went up directly to Mrs. Veronica and tried explaining her my problem, "Mrs. Veronica, I want to-" she cut me off in the middle, "hush... I'm busy right now, child!" then she started shouting at the actors, "hey! Don't do it like that. You bend a bit more when you come in. The fairy! Where is he? Go call him."

She sure was quite busy. I tried again to talk to her, "Ma'am, I want to say something very important to you!"

"Not now child! Come afterwards," she said that and again started shouting, "The prince! Where is the prince?"

The prince was me! It was my turn! "H-here, Mrs. Veronica!" I said as I stumbled and took the script out.

"Come on child! Hurry up!" she pressurized me.

 I rushed to the centre of the stage and read my first line, "What is this place? Why is there a thick forest in the middle of the grassland?"

Fiona who enacted as my minister read her line, "Your highness, let's get out of here as quickly as possible. They say this is the cursed place."

 "Cut it! Cut it!" Mrs. Veronica shouted.

"You are people and not the robots who just read their lines. Drama means enactment! Feelings! Joy! Sorrows! Emotions! But all I see here is the reciting! You girls can do better than this!"

The way she reprimanded scared the hell out of me! So I tried to really enactment this time and curse my fate! She was so happy that she said, "no matter what happens, you are the prince of my drama!"

Damn fish! I screwed it!

I got a shock. I got the opposite of what I had come here for! I tried telling her that, "but ma'am-" and as usual she cut me off in the middle again, "no ands or buts. Continue."

She was so stubborn! I hated her for that. I kept enacting till the last part where the kiss came into the scene. Believe me, until then even I didn't know who the Sleeping Beauty was! When I saw him the ground under my feet slipped away. I froze in my place. 'Why was it always me?' I started cursing my luck.

"Go on child, continue!" Mrs. Veronica encouraged me. But how could I proceed? Rome was lying there in the middle of the stage on the bed with his eyes closed.

"But Mrs. Veronica-" she again cut me off in the middle, "I don't want to hear anything else, Elizabeth. Continue with your role!"

There was a hint of anger in her voice, I didn't want to face anyone's wrath so I slowly paced forward. Trying to remember how to breathe. I felt it very hard to swallow. But I didn't stop. What other choice did I have?

Slowly sitting on the edge of the bed beside him, I shivered at my thoughts though it wasn't cold. I looked up at Mrs. Veronica once more and watched her nod encouragingly. I tried calming myself down and slowly looked down at him.

He still had his eyes closed, that made him look like an angel's statue. So graceful, so handsome! I didn't even realize that I was already leaning towards him. He was so beautiful that I was losing my control over my senses and rationality! Subconsciously I gently placed my lips against his just like a prince kissing a princess, getting even more mesmerized by his cologne.

Suddenly his eyes flew open and flinched away from me. That took me by surprised. Was that how the princess should be waking up? The anger reappeared in those dark eyes of his and simultaneously his face hardened.

Didn't he know about the kiss in the script? He was glaring at me as if I had killed his lover! He immediately got up pushing me away. I fell on my butts on the stage and flushed a deep shade of red due to embarrassment but no one paid me any attention. He stamped his way down the stage, fury visible in his movements. He was getting down the stage but fell and held his hand. His expression looked pained, "my hand! My hand!" he shouted.

Everyone rushed to him. But I stayed rooted in my place. Honestly? I couldn't move. Someone said that he had broken his arm and immediately needed to be aided.

So, there they went taking him to the infirmary. But why did he behave like that?

Mrs. Veronica walked up to me and shook her head disappointedly, "Child, when I meant you to kiss, it was on cheek! And not on lips! No one is so interested to see two minors smooching live on the stage without any chemistry between them. I think now we will have to search a new beauty." She sighed at the last sentence.

Her words left me with guilt flowing through my veins. I had to apologize to Rome for the unexpected kiss.

I went after him to the infirmary. Sid was along with him inside the room. Rome had his arm plastered and was sitting on the cot glaring at the ceiling. His face had veins popped up in anger.

I hesitatingly walked up to him, feeling scared to start any conversations him.

"I-I...didn't know that ...I shouldn't have done that. I...I'm really sorry...if I've offended-" he didn't let me complete my sentence and angrily, I mean lividly glared at me.

"Don't try to talk to me again," he threw that at me acidically before violently walking away from the room after throwing an empty tray that laid on the side stand in the air. I flinched at the sharpness of the metallic noise of tray hitting the floor when he did that. It indeed was a loud thud.

I had again accomplished in doing something that made him annoyed with me. Oh I hated this! I hated how my life had become a rollercoaster!

I hurried to my car and drove back to my house as fast as manage, at the brink of tears. His coldness broke my heart becoming the reason for my to spend the rest of my day reprimanding myself in my room.