21

Upon returning to the school, Margot immediately went over to the VK boys' room to vent to Carlos about the puppies.

"Oh my god, Carlos, you would love this place. It's a dog lover's heaven, I was literally covered in puppies." Margot ranted, her cheeks flushed with happiness.

"I have literally never seen you this happy, ever." Jay commented, both boys looking at her strangely.

"Ok, if you'd been there, you'd understand." Margot replied, a content smile on her face. "I'm going back there tomorrow, Oliver's gonna give me a map and show me where to borrow a bike from the school."

"Since when do you know how to bike?" Carlos wondered, tilting his head to the side.

"Well, there was sometimes a broken down one that someone would keep in the alley near my house, so I taught myself on that. It was pretty rusty, but it made for a good getaway from my mom."

Both boys nodded. "Makes sense."

After ranting about the dogs some more, and making sure to listen to the boys talk about tourney practice and their own lives, Margot headed back to her own room to count down until she could visit the puppy again. Apparently, it hadn't taken long for her heart to be stolen by the tiny creature.

It seemed Margot couldn't get enough of even talking about it, as by the time lunch came around, she had gone on long rants to Mal, Evie, Jane, and even Belle about the outing the previous day.

At lunch, Oliver showed her the school bike rack and gave her a map, outlining how to get to the rescue shelter. Margot wasted no time in biking there, taking about 15 minutes, and was soon sitting in that same chair, nursing that puppy that already seemed slightly heavier than the day before.

Meanwhile, Oliver went to go talk to his best friend.

"I definitely see why you like her now, man." Oliver commented.

"So, you approve of her now?" Ben asked amusedly, though his interest was peaked.

"Man, you should've seen how she was with the dogs. I think you would've fainted."

"I would not!" Ben argued, grinning.

"Oh yeah? How many times have you stared at that picture I sent you?" Oliver countered, knowing he'd won when Ben's face flushed.

"I... Yeah, I can't deny that, but she looks so beautiful in that photo, it's not like I can help it."

"Uhh, she'd look more beautiful in person. And yes, you can help it. Just, man up and talk to her. Audrey isn't gonna murder her or anything, at this point the worst of it has to be over." Oliver rebutted, rolling his eyes. "Seriously, if you're gonna be king, you can't be such a coward."

"Jeez, don't sugar coat it, will you?" Ben muttered.

"No, I won't sugar coat it. You chose me to be your advisor, and I'm not gonna give you bad advice just cuz it's what you wanna hear."

"Yeah, I know, that's why I chose you."

"Exactly. So, today, when we go to the library, you're coming. I'm not even gonna make you talk to her, but you gotta stop avoiding her like the plague, cuz you'll lose her that way."

Ben sighed. "Fine. I know you're right."

Sure enough, when Margot entered the limo later that day, she found Ben sitting among the other students somewhat awkwardly.

Before she could change her mind, the limo was already moving, and both teens avoided eye contact with each other.

Even once they arrived at the public library, where they would be tutoring middle-school kids, Margot didn't speak a word to Ben, nor him to her. She instead focused on the young girl she'd been paired with, since she was good at English and that's the subject the girl needed help in.

"It's nice to meet you, Eugenia." Something about the brown-haired, green-eyed girl looked familiar, but Margot couldn't quite place it.

"Just Jenny, please. My parents are awful for giving me such a pretentious name, especially since Roze has such a normal name!" The girl complained, and suddenly it clicked in Margot's head.

"Wait, Roze, as in Rapunzel's daughter? You're her sister?"

"Yep! And don't worry, I totally don't hold what your mom did against you, my sister says you're really nice." Jenny announced, grinning.

"Good to know." Margot felt a soft smile spread across her face at the spunky little girl. "Now, I hear you wanted help with English?"

"Yeah, it's so wishy-washy! Like, at least math has one answer, english has too many and then you have to prove it with made-up arguments!" Jenny complained, rolling her green eyes.

"I'm sure I can figure out how to make it seem a little better. Do you wanna start with analyzing a text first, and then we can go from there?"

"I guess so." Jenny mumbled, though she didn't look too excited.

By the end of the hour, though, she was much more invested and had begun actively pointing out themes and literary devices in the poems they'd been going through together.

On the other side of the room, Ben was having less luck with his student, a young girl whom he was supposed to be teaching math but kept getting distracted by Margot.

"Aww that's so cute! You totally have crush on her, Prince Ben!" The girl squealed.

Ben hushed her immediately. "No, I don't. Let's get back to geometry. And, just call me Ben, please."

"Dude, there's ten minutes left, we're not getting any work done."

Ben glanced back over at Margot, who was smiling gently at her young student, the sunlight from the window making her black curls glow golden. "No, we can get some work done."

The girl snorted. "Sure."

They didn't end up getting much done in the last ten minutes after all, and after a stern look from Oliver, Ben finally steeled the courage to say hi to Margot.

"Hey, Margot. You, uh, you seem to be a good tutor." Ben winced at his own awkwardness, while Margot felt a slow, amused smile spread on her face.

"Thanks. I'm used to being the one tutored, so it was a nice change of pace." Margot replied, trying to shove down her own awkwardness.

"Oliver said you had a great time yesterday too, with the dogs." Ben added, before frowning. "Wait, that sounds kinda stalkerish, I mean, Oliver's my roommate, so it's not-"

Ben was cut off by Margot's gentle laugh. "Yes, I did. Roger and Anita even let me name the puppy I've been helping out with."

"Really? What'd you name him?" Ben asked, finally relaxing a bit.

"Estel." Margot replied with a small blush coating her cheeks.

It took a moment, but soon realization hit the prince. "As in Aragorn?"

"Yeah. I thought a name meaning hope belonging to such a strong character would be fitting." Margot grinned.

Ben's expression matched hers. "So, I take it you've liked the books then?"

Margot nodded eagerly. "Yeah, I've just finished, and I'm reading the Appendices now. It's been wonderful, and I even cried a bit while reading Return of the King."

"Really? Which part?" Ben's grin had softened into a fond smile that had Margot's heart skipping a beat.

"When Sam wakes up after destroying the ring, and seeing Gandalf and Frodo laughing together. It... I can't describe it, but I found it so beautiful, and so fitting that it was from Sam's perspective rather than Frodo's." Margot explained, her own smile lost in the clouds as she thought back to the scene.

"Yeah, I really liked that part too, but one of my favourite parts was the Battle of the Pelennor Fields."

"Oh, when Aragorn finally returns to Gondor and begins to take his place as king. I can see why you like that part, since you can probably relate to doing your duty as rightful king without yet being crowned." Margot pondered.

"Yeah..." The way Ben was gazing at her made her look away, the softness in his eyes too much for her poor heart.

"Ok, nerds! Wrap it up!" Oliver announced, wrapping an arm around each of their shoulders. "You can continue your geek talk in the car, which is about to leave without us."

"As if you would." Ben rebutted, laughing at his friend, but his eyes returned to the gentle-hearted girl who was smiling at seemingly nothing with her eyes shining like diamonds. One day... He told himself. One day.