I didn"t think I could have heard him right. I went, "Of course I meant it."
He shook his head. "Then why did you freak out like that today at the Carnival?"
I stammered, "Well, because . . . because . . . I thought . . . I thought you were making fun of me."
"Never," he said.
And that"s when he did it.
No fuss. No asking my permission. No hesitation whatsoever. He just leaned down and kissed me, right on the lips.
And I found out, right then, that Tina was right: It isn"t gross if you"re in love with the guy.
In fact, it"s the nicest thing in the whole world.
And do you know what the best part is?
I mean, aside from Michael being in love with me, and having kept it a secret almost as long as I have, if not longer?
And Lilly knowing all along but not saying anything up until a few days ago because she found it an interesting social experiment to see how long it would take us to figure it out on our own (a long time, it turned out)?
And the fact that Michael"s going to Columbia next year, which is only a few subway stops away, so I"ll still be able to see him as much as I want?
Oh, and Lana walking by while we were kissing, and going, in this disgusted voice, "Oh, G.o.d, get a room, would you please?"
And slow dancing with him all night long, until Lilly finally came up and said, "Come on you guys, it"s snowing so hard, if we don"t leave now, we"ll never get home"?
And kissing good night outside the stoop to my loft, with the snow falling all around us (and grumpy Lars complaining he was getting cold)?
No, the best part is that we moved right into Frenching without any trouble at all. Tina was right-it just seemed perfectly natural.
And now the royal Genovian flight attendant says we have to put away our tray tables for takeoff, so I"ll have to quit writing in a minute.
Dad says if I don"t stop talking about Michael, he"s going to go sit up front with the pilot for the flight.
Grandmere says she can"t get over the change in me. She says I seem taller. And you know, maybe I am. She thinks it"s because I"m wearing another one of Sebastiano"s original creations, designed just for me, just like the dress that was supposed to make Michael see me as more than just his little sister"s best friend . . . except that it turned out he did anyway. But I know that"s not it.
And it isn"t love, either. Well, not entirely.
I"ll tell you what it is: self-actualization.
Well, that and the fact that it turns out I"m really a princess, after all. I must be, because guess what?
I"m living happily ever after.
Acknowledgments.
Many thanks to Beth Ader, Jennifer Brown, Barbara Cabot, Sarah Davies, Laura Langlie, Abby McAden, and David Walton.
About the Author.
Meg Cabot has lived in Indiana, California, and France, and has worked as an a.s.sistant dorm manager at a large urban university, an ill.u.s.trator, and a writer of historical romance novels (under a different name). She is still waiting for her real parents, the king and queen, to come and restore her to her rightful throne. She currently resides in New York City with her husband and a one-eyed cat named Henrietta.
Visit Meg"s website at: www.megcabot.com.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.
Books by Meg Cabot.
THE PRINCESS DIARIES.
THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME II:.
PRINCESS IN THE SPOTLIGHT.
THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME III:.
PRINCESS IN LOVE.
end.