excerpt

A few minutes later, Lilly had made her way through the garden maze undetected and found the conservatory; upon pushing open the door, she found Eleanor already sitting inside. “Hey, so sorry I’m late! Planning that ball with Isaac and Lyra went a lot later than I thought…” she tried to apologize.

“No need to worry.”

Eleanor seemed a little distracted as she gazed down into the fountain, the exact same wistful expression on her face that Lilly had had herself countless times – which was why she caught on immediately. “Did something happen?” Lilly asked her worriedly. “Be honest, ’cause I can see it on your face.”

“No, everything went well – I mean, aside from the Deltas needing more members to avoid being closed down at the end of the semester and all…”

Wait, what?! “Okay, we’re definitely gonna need to talk about that in a moment…”

“But being you was incredible, Lilly – even more freeing than I could’ve ever dreamed,” Eleanor assured her, looking more like herself again.

Lilly nodded understandingly. “Yeah, I get what you’re saying. Being you made me feel like I could actually make a difference and was a dream come true. True, there may have been a ton of pressure, but getting to live with kings and nobles, seeing Cordonia and Auvernal talk about peace…it felt like for once, I was somewhere were my choices were actually important! Plus, y’know, staying in a palace and living like an actual princess felt like something out of a fairytale…!”

“I’m glad. Still, it’s too bad we already have to go home, though…” Eleanor lamented.

“Yeah…”

The two girls were silent for a moment…and then they glanced up at each-other, smiling as they simultaneously voiced the idea they’d each just had: “What if we didn’t actually switch back tonight?”

Lilly’s smile grew even bigger as she considered the possibility. “We could keep pretending to be each-other until, maybe…”

“The end of the semester?” Eleanor suggested.

“I was really hoping you’d say that!” Lilly beamed, almost jumping up and down with excitement. “You can keep helping Hope and the Deltas some more, and I’ll try to keep Isaac and Lyra in check so Cordonia and Auvernal can put aside their feud!”

“Just try not to be too welcoming – I’m not actually hoping to marry Isaac, remember?” Eleanor reminded her.

“Of course.” Easier said than done, perhaps, given how thrilled part of Lilly was at the thought of seeing Isaac again, although she didn’t say as much to Eleanor.

“Then we’ll figure out how to make this work,” Eleanor declared. “For sorority and country!”

Lilly laughed a little, shaking her head as she started considering the possibilities of actually pulling this off. “We must be crazy for even thinking about doing this,” she remarked. “I mean, the longer we try to switch places, the higher our chances of getting caught!”

“Granted, but you know what? I’m starting to learn that true happiness sometimes involves taking risks, no matter how big they might seem,” Eleanor answered.

Lilly gave the princess a smile. “I’m in as long as you are, then. Just promise you’ll help me keep my grades up, though; I have a big history presentation coming up…”

“I will. And you’ll have to get ready for your very first ball!”

“Oh, yeah, that’s true!” In the midst of the excitement about keeping up the act, Lilly had almost forgotten that that meant she’d be able to attend the Welcome Ball after all. “…Oh my God, that also means that I have to host it this week!”

No pressure or anything…right?