Chapter Ten
"Where have you been?" her brother asked when he heard the front door open.
"I was at Buckingham Palace," Sarah said.
"Yeah, that's what Jace told me. But seriously, where were you?" Lance said.
Why wouldn't anyone believe her? "Ugh!" Sarah screamed in his face and headed for the downstairs bathroom.
"You know he's been calling for the last half hour. Something about a dance?"
"The school dance. I'm going tonight." She got her toothbrush and spread a good dose of toothpaste on it.
"My little sis is going to a dance?" Lance whistled. "With a date?"
"Surprisingly, yes," Sarah snapped. She worked up the foam in her mouth
"Hmmm. So who is he?" Lance asked. "Anyone I know?"
Sarah had to refrain herself from speaking Wills' name. She spat into the sink. "You'll see when he gets here." She looked at her lips in the mirror. A few minutes ago it had been skin to skin with a frog's. Ewww! She cleaned her mouth three more times. For reassurance brushing her tongue, gargling mouthwash and using dental floss. She then went upstairs to change.

Sarah searched her closet. It was mostly comprised of jeans and shirts a and her high school uniform. But there in the back was a dress reserved for a special occasion. And what better occasion than a date with a prince? The neckline was a little more daring than she liked but she was in an adventurous mood when she bought it.
She put it on. She turned this way and that in front of the mirror enjoying the way the skirt swirled around her legs. She combed her hair. She tried to fashion it into a French twist. or a braid, or even a pony tail. She finally decided on leaving it loose. She went to her dresser and with an inexperienced hand applied make-up. Sarah struggled with the blush, lipstick, and eye shadow. She cursed as she almost poked her eye out with the eye-pencil. She was applying mascara when the phone rang.
"I'll get it!" she called down to Lance. She picked up the phone next to her. "Hello?"
"Hi, Sarah?"
"Harry!"
"Yeah, it's about Wills..."
"He's still a frog," Sarah guessed.
"No, actually he's in full human form right now," Harry informed.
Sarah's eyes drifted to the Wills poster hanging over her bed. He looked that handsome again? She smiled a little. Then her smile went down. "He's not coming," was her second guess why Harry called. Darn men! Once they got what they want from you they just leave you in the dirt.
"No, he's coming. He just might be a little late. He's sparring with Papa right now. Papa's happy that he wasn't kidnapped but he's angry that Wills didn't inform anyone of his whereabouts etc."
Sarah sighed. "Is that all? He's just going to be late?"
"I just thought you'd want to know. And guess what. Amber goes to school with you so I'll be taking her."
Sarah tried to play matchmaker. "What do you think about her."
"She's all right," Harry didn't give anything away. "Well, bye."
Sarah hung up the phone. She went back to her dresser. The clock said it was another hour before the dance started. She began to imagine people's reaction when she entered the hall with Wills. She'd be standing next to him. And he'll be in his tuxedo. He'll be taking her arm. All eyes would be on them. The dance floor would clear. A slow love song would be playing just for them. And she'd be floating in his arms. He'd laugh in embarrassment at the attention he was attracting. And he'd shyly apologize for it. She would tell him she didn't mind a bit. And he'd smile. And he was going to kiss her. She knew it. She didn't know how she knew it. she just knew it. She'd close her eyes to savor the moment. Then a voice was heard.
"A frog! She's about to kiss a frog!" Jace was saying
Sarah opened her eyes. There stood Wills. A frog again. But only this time he was a six foot two frog. "Wills," she exclaimed.
"Ribbit! Ribbit!" Wills was saying.
All the girls in the room shrieked "Ewwwww!"
Wills was hopping after her. "Kiss me! kiss me!"
"Ahhh!" Sarah woke up screaming. She checked the clock. The hour had passed. The stars had already taken thier place in the sky. Sarah looked at her reflection in the mirror and wiped the drool which had formed on her cheek.
Downstairs, the doorbell rang.

Chapter Eleven.
Sarah jumped the stairs three steps at a time till she reached the door. "I got it!' she told Lance when both thier hands touched the knob at the same time.
Lance obliged her.
Sarah hurriedly checked herself for any flaws. Hair was okay... Dress wasn't wrinkled... the drool was gone... Sarah took a deep breath. She was ready. She opened the door. "Wills!" she greeted.
But it wasn't Will sat the door.
"Jace," Sarah corrected flatly. But he was in a tux. He looked almost human.
He looked at her and tugged at his shirt collar. "So... the prince hasn't arrived?"
"He's coming," Sarah said stubbornly.
"Then where is he?" Jace asked.
Was Jace wearing cologne? Jace was wearing cologne! She wondered what cologne Wills would be wearing. "You combed your hair." was all she said.
Jace shrugged.
Wills a frog, her in a dress, Jace with combed hair? This certainly was a strange day. "Excuse me," she slammed the door in his face.
"Jace's your date?" Lance asked as she went into the living room.
"No, Jace's not my date," Sarah said sourly, as she started dialing the phone. "Hello?"
"Sarah." Harry answered.
"Charles won't let you go out." Sarah guessed.
"No," Harry replied in a dead give away that something was wrong.
"Spill it!" Sarah commanded.
"Well, Wills saw Amber and then accused her of being the witch that changed him into a frog. Amber denied it. Wills insisted. Amber confessed. Wills said something which I do not care to repeat and.... He's a frog again!"
Sarah gripped the receiver. "You're joking." she hoped.
"I wish I were."
"Harry, let me ask you something." Sarah held her breath. "Is your brother the biggest idiot in the world? I mean, doesn't he know better than to tick a girl off? And believe me. This girl is getting ticked off."
Harry continued. "Amber kissed him so...he's going to change back. But it will take another hour. We'll just meet you there?"
"Fine," Sarah sighed, seeing she had no choice.
"He's coming Sarah. As a frog or as a man, he's coming," Harry promised.
"Well, for my sake I hope he's coming as a man!" She hung up the phone. She met Jace at the door . "Wills' going to meet me at the dance." She told him, putting on her coat.
"Sure he is," Jace drawled.
"Are you going to drive me or do I have to kill you first?" Sarah gave him the option.
"It depends on how your going to kill me." Jace answered. "Death by a thousand kisses is very appealing..."
"In your dreams!" Sarah snapped getting into his car.
"Ah! The same way Wills kisses you."

"So I heard you were bringing the princes tonight," someone said to Sarah as she sat down on the bleachers of the gym turned disco.
"Yeah," Sarah said.
"Well, where are they?" a couple nearby demanded.
"They'll be here," Sarah told them what she told hundreds of other boys and girls who asked her the same question. But she'd been saying it over and over again for the last hour. She, herself, was wondering if they were going to show up.
As another hour passed people were giggling behind thier hands and pointing in her direction.
Sarah ran to the girl's bathroom and cried.
A knock was heard. Jason stepped in.
"Jason!" Sarah yelled, forgetting her misery for a moment. "This is a girl's room!"
Luckily, other than her there was no other girl in the room.
"Look, I'm sorry. But you shouldn't make promises you can't keep," Jace advised.
"Wills told me he was going to come." Sarah hit her fist repeatedly on the sink. "He said he would." She turned to Jace. "Who am I kidding? Who am I? I have no great power in the universe that I can make princes do what I ask them to. They had probably something more important to do. Like watch a royal video or something."
"You really asked them to come?" Jace asked.
"I did."
"Then I believe you," Jace told her. He grinned. "But I don't believe that frog you were carrying around today was Wills."
Sarah saw what he was trying to do. He was trying to make her angry at him so she wouldn't be sad. this made her smile. "Jace, he was William."
"Not," Jace smiled.
Sarah went out of the room. "He was!"
"Not."
She laughed. Then stopped. When she saw the crowded room she knew what she had to do. She tried to summon up courage as she was about to tell everyone the princes weren't coming.
When they went out into the room everyone was suddenly quiet. A clearing had been made from the entrance of the gym to the back. No one made a sound. A spotlight was placed on the doorway. The princes had arrived.

Chapter Twelve
Wills was in front. his eyes swept the crowd and when he found Sarah he smiled. Amber and Harry were behind him. And they were looking at each other fondly. The royal bodyguards are somewhere in this picture.
"Jace, this is Prince William." Sarah introduced. She enjoyed watching the color drain from Jace's face.
Jace found his voice. He stuck out his hand. "Good evening, Your Highness."
"Good evening," Wills said just as impersonally. He squeezed Jace's hand harder than need be.
But Jace squeezed just as hard and then some. He whispered menacingly in the prince's ear. "Be kind to her."
"Of course," the prince replied.
"What was that about?" Sarah asked, when Jace left.
"Nothing," Wills said. "C'mon, lets dance."

"You know?" Sarah said as she danced in his arms. "For some reason when I look at you I still think of you as this size," she held up her right hand. Her index finger and thumb forming into a C.
"Ribbit!" Wills grinned.
"Thanks for coming tonight." Sarah said. Her eyes caught the figure of Jace tending to the snack table. He was sipping his drink. Why was he looking at her in that way?
"I'm glad I came too," Wills expressed. His gaze followed hers. From across the room Jace scowled at him. "But am I the one you want to be with?"
"What are you talking about? Who wouldn't want to be with you?" Sarah laughed, forcing herself to concentrate on the prince.
"I'm saying... Maybe you want to be with someone else..."Wills let his voice trail.
"Jason?"
"Maybe...I think he likes you." he observed. "And I think you like him back."
Sarah stopped dancing. It was utter nonsense.
"He threatened me. Now if I told my guards some legal actions would be taken. You don't do that for just anyone."
Jace like her? "What would he like about me?" Sarah asked.
"Well, speaking from personal experience... You're one hell of a kisser." Wills kissed her on the cheek. He looked at Jace and then back at Sarah. "I could be wrong... but then again I could be right." he left her.

Sarah looked at Jason and thought about what Wills had said. Jace? this was a guy she fought with for the heck of fighting. Just as she had vowed to love William forever and ever she had vowed to hate Jason forever and ever. the possibility that he was in love with her was as foreign as the French language. And the possibility that she was in love with him? She walked to him. "So you wanna dance?" Sarah asked Jace.
"Um, I don't dance." Jace told her.
"Really?" Sarah sat beside him. "Then why did you come?"
Jace's eyes ran over her approvingly. He gave her a slow smile. "I wanted to see you in a dress."
Sarah couldn't believe it but she felt herself blushing.
"Have I ever told you, you look cute when you're embarrassed?" Jace told her.
"Jace!"
At this Jace looked at his cup of punch. "Man, what do they put into this stuff? It's making me say things I don't mean!" He got up and left.
Sarah watched him go out the door.
Her eyes went to Wills who was effortlessly charming her girl classmates.
Her eyes returned to the now empty doorways.
Back to the side of the room where Wills was.
Jace .
William.
Jace.
William.
Sarah got up and ran out the door. When she stood at the peak of the hill she saw him. "Turn around, Smyth!" she ordered.
"Oh, go in there with your Prince!" Jace snapped. "Has he proposed yet? Or is Mr. Hot-Shot too good for you?"
"Stop talking nasty about William!" Sarah defended.
"I'll say anything about him I please," Jace yelled back. "I'm sure he's picking up girls' phone numbers by the dozen already. That guy is such a player."
"He is not!" Sarah said. Forget love! She still hated this guy. How could Jace say all these mean things to someone he didn't even know? "Why do you hate him so much!"
"Because I'm in love with you!"
The words shocked Sarah like a splash of cold water to the face.
"The reason why I hated Wills so much is because he never even looked at you and already he stole your heart." he continued," and I've known you all my life and tried to get you to notice me and... I've been a big failure."
Sarah couldn't say anything.
Jace walked back to her. "Tell me one thing, Sarah. If I were a prince. Would you fall in love with me?"
Sarah didn't know what to say.
Nor did she have time to say anything because Jace kissed her.
Thoughts of princes and Wills were immediately erased from her mind.

"Don't look," Harry told his brother.
"I kinda wonder when I'm gonna have a girl," Wills said turning away, going back to the party.
"You're disappointed?"
"Of course I'm disappointed." a smile played on his lips. Wills gestured to Jace. "Lucky stiff. She sure can kiss."
"So this time the prince doesn't ride off into his castle far far away with the girl of his dreams? " Amber teased.
Wills just shrugged. "Why should only princes get happy endings"

"I forgot my coat," Sarah said when they were outside and the night was over.
"I'll go get it," Jace offered heading back for the gym.
Sarah stood alone with the princes.
"Where's Amber?" she asked Harry.
"She had to wash her hands."
Wills smiled at Sarah. "I hope Jace won't get jealous but..." he kissed Sarah on the lips. "Thanks for today. I'll never forget it."
"I'll make sure you don't," Sarah returned. " Because I'm going to go to Buckingham and St. James everyday and remind you about it!" she joked.
Amber stormed out of the gym. "Men! I hate them! Except for you Harry."
Sarah was afraid to ask.
"This jerk spilled punch on my dress. He was in a hurry to get his girlfriends coat. Some people can be so inconsiderate!"
"What did you do?" Harry asked.
"What did you think I did?"
"Okay, Sarah." Jace's voice was heard. "I believe you. That frog today was William."
All eyes turned to the front door of the gym.
A frog hopped out.