“Because I’m as shallow as the rest of you. I’m a Yank, not one of the crème de la crème. Even with my honor roll grades, my eternally perky personality, and my soccer player boyfriend over here, a lot of girls are still bitches to me. I fought hard to be part of the ‘in crowd’, I’m ashamed to say, and I don’t want to jeopardize that.”

They were silent for a moment, pondering what she had said. “Why Sarah,” Wills said, pretending to sound distraught, “If I had any idea of how hard it was for you…”

“Idiot.” She flicked a pea at him. “You both are Neanderthals.”

Justin looked at his girlfriend skeptically. “I thought the reason you weren’t friends with Katie was the fact that she went out with me first. And I know how possessive you can be.”

“Whatever.” She elbowed him in the ribs. “So, you’re interested in Katie, huh? Doesn’t she hate you, too? By the way, I thought your rebound girl would be flashier. Style versus substance.”

He flicked the pea back at her. “Thanks a bunch. I’m glad to hear you think so highly of me.” He sighed, “How can Katie be my rebound girl if I can’t even get close to her?”

“Pretend to be interested in stuff that means a lot to her. Listen even when it bores you to death. And use a lot of ‘I feel’ phrases. She digs that sensitive shit,” Justin advised. He was rewarded with a swift kick to the shin from Sarah. “Ow! She’s killing me!”

“Why do I go out with you?” Sarah wondered. “Just be sincere, Wills. Katie can probably smell BS a mile away. And don’t use that ‘I’m a prince, why wouldn’t you want me?’ slant. That is so obnoxious.”

“What? You mean the average girl doesn’t find that endearing?” Wills laughed. He noticed Katie sitting at a round table in the corner. “Look, there’s Miss Spier. I think I’ll go sweep her off her feet. See ya later.” He stood up with his tray.

“Uh, Wills, I know you’re a little weird,” Sarah began, perplexed, “But why Katie Spier? Didn’t you and Justin call her, ‘The Psycho’ at one time?”

“No reason, really,” He said, shooting Justin a warning glance. He better not tell Sarah. “Adieu.”

Sarah watched him walk off. “Okay, what’s really going on?”

“Hey, don’t look at me,” Justin said. “Like I know how Wills’ mind works.”

“Can I sit here?” Wills asked, standing in front of the empty chair.

Katie looked up from the book she was reading. Great, Wills Windsor was back. Shouldn’t he have given up now? She suppressed a sigh, “I, of all people, should not tell a prince of what he is physically capable of doing and not doing. In the words of my guidance counselor, you can do anything you put your mind to.”

Wills gritted his teeth and rephrased the question. “May I sit here?”

She shrugged, indifferent. “Free country.” She went back to her reading.

He watched her read for a moment, then asked pleasantly, “What are you reading?” She grunted and held her book up for a second. “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. I haven’t read that one yet. How is it?”

“Oh, it’s a great book. At home, the protagonist, Stephen Daedalus is caught in the middle of a political conflict that threatens to destroy his family. He escapes to boarding school, but because he is different, his classmates brutalize him. Over and over they harass him. Over and over they martyr him. They just won’t leave him alone. The only way he can escape the cycle is to leave his motherland entirely. Do you ever feel like that, Wills Windsor? Cornered and harassed? If you do, give me a call. We might have something in common.” She stood up. “It was lovely, Princey, but I have to go. You know, people to meet, hair to wash, the usual.”

He waited a minute and followed her. She stopped at the kitchen door; “Will you stop breathing down my neck?

Wills decided to take the plunge. How much self-respect did he have to lose, anyway? “Katie, I was wondering…Do you want to hang out sometime?” He held his breath, hoping she would be kind.

She gaped at him. “Are you kidding? Did Justin put you up to this? Listen, this is getting stupid. I don’t know what kind of joke you’re trying to pull.”

“No joke.” Just a bet, Wills thought, crossing his fingers behind his back.

“I don’t know what you heard, but my father is not an oil tycoon. He doesn’t have a title, I doubt he’s even related to as much as a baronet. I don’t sleep around. So why is there this sudden interest in me?”

She had a point there, and unfortunately, Wills hadn’t thought that far ahead. He fumbled, trying to answer as truthfully as possible, “I’ve always seen you around-” This was the truth. He had noticed Katie before. “And I thought you looked… interesting.” Interesting? That was a stretch. Interesting in that Jack the Ripper kind of way. “You didn’t deserve to be treated that way by Justin. So what do you say? Want to do something later this week?”

Katie still looked unconvinced. “I don’t know. I have to wash dishes now.” She entered the kitchen.

Damn! I lost her, Wills said to himself.

A second later, Katie poked her head out of the door. “There’s another art exhibit next week. I’ll be there.”

It wasn’t the most gracious invitation, but Wills couldn’t afford to be picky. “So will I.”

* * *

A knock on his door interrupted Harry Windsor’s train of thought. The slope intercept formula was what? “Come in,” He called.

Wills entered. “Hi, bro. Am I interrupting anything?”

Harry shook his head, shoving away his homework. “Not at all. I take it you want to talk.” At Wills’ surprise look, he added, “I heard that Caitlin dumped you.”

Wills groaned, but it wasn’t totally unexpected. Numerous girls had approached while he was visiting St. Mary’s, showing their sympathy, and offering to be his date to the prom. “You heard. So has everyone else. I think I had half a dozen girls come up to me and volunteer to be my girlfriend.”

“Only six? I would have thought an even dozen. So she dumped you, big deal. I always knew she was a flake. So did you. Why do you want to have a big old brotherly heart to heart?”

Wills pulled up a chair. He already made the conscious decision not to tell Harry about the bet. The less people who knew, the better. Besides, he didn’t think Harry would have approved. “There’s a new girl, Katie Spier-”

“Ooh-la-la,” Harry trilled. “Caitlin dumped you less than twenty four hours ago. Isn’t that moving a little too fast, even for you?”

He ignored this. “I want to take her to prom.”

“So ask her.” Harry didn’t see what the big deal was. Wills was the dumpee; he could hook up with ten girls from now to prom, and nobody would consider him a scumbag. Was he worried about a negative reaction from Justin? “Do you think Justin would have a problem with it?”

Wills shook his head. “It’s not that simple. I want to get to know her first, and she isn’t the easiest person to approach. In fact, she was downright hostile to me.”

Harry grinned. “I like her already.”

“Jeez, thanks. I didn’t know our sibling rivalry had reached Cain and Abel proportions.”

“Now, don’t misunderstand me.” Harry said. “I just find it refreshing that there is one girl on this planet who isn’t falling to her knees to please you.”

Wills raised an eyebrow, “Slightly jealous there, little brother?”

“Hey, I have my own legion of devoted followers. But you have to admit it, having girls swoon over you constantly is boring.”

“Not all girls faint in my presence,” Wills defended. “There are plenty of girls who treat me like a normal person.”

“Who?” Harry asked skeptically. “Besides Katie.”

“There’s…there’s…” Wills thought hard. “Sarah Speedman.”

“Yeah, Sarah’s a cool cat, but she is only one out what? A thousand girls? So, did you ever make plans with Katie?”

“I’m going to meet her at the art show next week.”

“You’re not talking about the one at St. Mary’s are you?” Wills nodded.

“Uh oh,” Harry commented, handing his brother a red flyer. “For this art show, you actually have to submit a piece of work. She really doesn’t want you to show up.” It was a well-known fact that Wills was intensely private when it came to his artwork. He had never displayed it, ever.

“Damn. I’m screwed,” Wills moaned.

“Stop complaining. The way I see it, you have two options. Give up on the girl, or go through your portfolio and choose something,” Harry said sensibly.

* * *

Katie studied Wills’ pen and ink drawing of a sailboat. “It’s good,” she admitted grudgingly.

It wasn’t effusive, but Wills guessed that with the amount of time she stared at it and her normally hostile demeanor, it was pretty strong praise. “Thank you.”

“But who’s the model?” She was talking about the teenage girl who was situated in the very far left-hand corner of the picture. “She looks a little familiar. Something about the eyes.”

He shrugged, “It was just something I came up with to fill that corner. Nobody posed for me. In fact, ” he said to keep the conversation going, “No one has ever posed for me.”

“That’s a shame. Drawing the human form is integral to the expansion of artistic abilities.”

He looked Katie up and down quickly. “Would you like to pose for me?” he noticed her surprised look. “Well, you’re tall and you have a nice figure.”

“Wow, I have a nice figure,” Katie mocked, hostile again. “I bet that really killed you to say that. Thanks, but no thanks.” She walked off.

Strike three! I’m out, Wills thought. He needed some advice, and fast.

Katie watched Wills walk out of the auditorium. Although she didn’t understand his sudden fascination with her, she felt saddened to see him go. He was an actual artist, not one of those guys who pretended to know something about Monet to impress her. Part of her hoped he would come back again, but her head told her firmly that she had driven him off too many times.

* * *

“You’re going about it all wrong,” Harry said, after Wills had told him about the art show. “You need to change you plan of attack.”

“I can’t believe I’m coming to my little brother for advice about love.” Wills threw up his hands. “It’s supposed to be the other way around.”

“Hey, I am well skilled in the art of love.”

“Yeah right. You probably think monogamy is a type of wood,” Wills shot back.

“Do you want my advice or not?” Harry wearily asked. Wills nodded.

“Good. Now shut up! Taking on her interests didn’t work. Second strategy: befriending her friends. Be really nice to them, and they’ll sing your praises to her. If you’re lucky, they’ll even arrange it for you two can hang out together.”

“But Katie doesn’t have any friends! She is unfriendly, argumentative…

“Then you have to talk to someone who she’ll listen to.”

* * *

Katie dropped the heated ball bearing into the beaker of water.

“Temperature is forty one degrees Celsius,” she said.
Sarah recorded it on the data table. “So, how was your weekend?” she asked casually. “How was the turnout at the art show? As much as you hoped?”

“It was fine,” Katie answered neutrally, never taking her eyes off the thermometer. “You know, the usual people came.”

“Anything else? Nothing interesting happened?” Sarah asked finally. Katie shook her head. Sarah sighed to herself; it didn’t look like Katie was in a talking mood. Well, she tried, but Wills would still be disappointed when she would tell him later.

“Thirty seven degrees,” Katie said, and Sarah dutifully recorded. “William’s been talking to you, hasn’t he?”

Sarah was caught off balance, what a rapid change of subject! “Huh? Oh. Yes.”

“He was talking about me, wasn’t he?” Katie noticed her guilty look. “I thought so. I figured something was up when you asked me about the art show. We never talk about anything outside of school.”

“I guess I wasn’t that subtle, was I?” Sarah laughed. “Yes, he did mention you. He also mentioned that you brushed him off. Why?”

Katie removed the ball bearing with tongs. “He is really strange. Why is he suddenly interested in me? How did I become so fascinating?”

“I don’t know, Wills is a weirdo. But his heart is always in the right place,” Sarah assured her.

“But why does he want to be friends with me, his best friend’s ex? He was never that friendly when Justin and I did go out together.” Katie then remembered whom she was talking to. “Sorry.”

“No worries.” Time to close the deal. “Why don’t you give him a chance? Aren’t you a little curious why Wills Windsor wants to be your friend? Well? Should I arrange a get together or what?”

Katie was deep in thought. Her face softened slightly, “I guess it wouldn’t hurt. Not too much, anyway.” She wrote something on the edge of her paper, and handed it to Sarah.

“What is this?” Sarah asked, even though she knew full well what it was.

“It’s my number. Give it to Wills next time you see him.”

* * *

Katie sighed in relief as she pulled up in the driveway of a modest townhouse in the middle class neighborhood Sarah’s grandfather lived in. She parked her bike on the grass and rang the doorbell.

Sarah answered, “Hey, glad you’re here. Everyone else is in the living room.”

“Everyone?” Katie questioned nervously. Maybe this was a bad idea, she hated to be in a crowd of strangers.

Sarah took her coat and led her to the living room. Wills and Justin (ick) were lounging on the couch, and two younger kids were playing a video game. They stopped playing. “Katie,” Sarah introduced. “This is Harry Windsor, Wills’ brother. And this is Carrie McRoberts, who you might recognize, since she goes to St. Mary’s as well.”

“Hi,” Katie said, shaking hands. She got the distinct impression that Harry was appraising her. “Who are the men in black?” She indicated the two bodyguards sitting in the back.

“Those are the bodyguards,” Harry told her matter of factly. Now that he had seen Katie for himself, he could go back to his video game. He neither approved nor disapproved of her, he would wisely hold off judgement for a few hours.

When Katie had entered the foyer, Justin almost had a heart attack. “What is she doing here?” He hissed.

Wills gave him a big, smug smile. “I asked Sarah to invite her over, she came…what’s the big deal?”

“I never said that you could enlist outside help! And you could’ve forewarned me.”

“You never said anything against it, either,” he pointed out. “Hi, Katie. Want something to drink? Soda? Water? Juice?”

“Water is fine.” Katie sat on the ottoman.

“Get me a Coke, mate, okay?” Justin said, not looking up from the television. He was afraid of what Katie might do if he even attempted to make eye contact.

“Yeah, go ahead, Wills.” Sarah rolled her eyes. “Offer everything in my refrigerator to our guests.”

Justin pointed out, “Well, he is going to be king. All of England will be his one day. Might as well start with your refrigerator.”

Sarah coughed loudly, “Figurehead. (cough) No real power. (cough)”

Wills smiled charmingly at her. “Thanks. Harry, Carrie, want something?”

As soon as Wills left the room, Katie whispered to Sarah, “This isn’t a triple date, is it?”

Sarah opened her mouth to answer, but Justin overheard and said, “Are you kidding? No way. Do you really think this is the way Sarah and I spend our time together?” He pointed to Harry and Carrie. “Babysitting?”

“Screw you,” Harry and Carrie chorused simultaneously, not taking their eyes off the screen.

“See?” Justin pulled Sarah in his lap and whispered something in her ear.

She pushed him away. “Pervert.”

“Prude,” he grumbled good-naturedly.

Katie laughed uncomfortably; she thought she was going to die of embarrassment. How was she supposed to react when her ex-boyfriend was whispering dirty suggestions into the ears of his current one? She was actually glad to see Wills emerge from the kitchen with a tray of glasses. What? She was glad to see him? What was she thinking?

“Here you go.” Wills handed her a glass of ice water, flashing her his debonair smile.

“Thanks,” she croaked, thankfully taking a sip.

He sat down in the armchair near her. “So, do you like video games?”

“Oh, yes. I just love games that help perpetuate senseless acts of violence in children.” Katie mentally kicked herself for that comment.

Boy, was she a hard nut to crack, Wills thought. “There are plenty of nonviolent, educational video games.”

“Nonviolent video games? Isn’t that an oxymoron? I dare you to name one nonviolent video game.”

Um. Street Fighter? Mortal Kombat? Night Trap? Wills saw her chest (yes, her chest!) move up in down in what he guessed (correctly) was silent laughter. Finally, he thought of one. “Oregon Trail!”

Katie looked defeated. Then Sarah said, “Oregon Trail is a computer game. And how would a limey like you know about it?”

“And Oregon Trail is violent,” Justin pointed out. “You can go on a senseless, bloody killing orgy of buffaloes. You can wipe out an entire species within a six month period.”

Wills leaned over and smacked Justin on the back of the head. “Only you can pervert a good, educational game like Oregon Trail.”

Justin grinned, “Just doing what I know best.”

PART THREE