Dad chuckled and nodded, making my grin widen. It was not hard to notice that I was a papa’s girl. And with me being the only child, he doted on me. I was his little Fuzzybottom—not that my bottom was fuzzy, but just because—well, he was my hero.
“One of the best things about the house is that it has great views all around the rooms. But you’ll receive the one with the best view, we promise. We should be settled by tomorrow. Hopefully, the day after, you and I could go shopping!” Mom said as she turned to look at me. Not excited at all, I somehow managed to produce a fake smile and plaster it across my face.
Nobody messed with Mom when it came to shopping. Nobody!
Once her attention was elsewhere, I turned around to see how far off our moving truck was behind us. Before turning around, I brought out a book from my backpack and plugged my earbuds into my iPod before playing “Davy Jones Music Box and the Rainy Mood.” Somehow, the rumbles of thunder together with the soft tunes created a more reading mood for me. Shoving the iPod inside my pants pocket, I flipped through the pages of my newest read, Indiscretions, slumped back into a more comfortable position and began journeying once again into a different time and a whole different world—this time, into the world of Lord Lockwood.
***
“Thi, we are here!”
I mumbled a few incoherent words before turning in my bed. Need sleep.
“Thi, wake up!” Dad’s voice urged before I was shaken on the shoulder and lightly tapped on my face. What the heck?
“Alright, alright!” I grumbled as I sat up on my bed and peeped my eye open.
I gasped. My face becoming warmer by the second as I finally realized that I was in our SUV and a couple of people were staring at me, smiling like a bunch of weirdos. My folks included.
My cheeks burned as my eyes rested on a blond-haired guy smirking at me, an axe in his hand as he rested it on his shoulder.
What was he? A huntsman? I rolled my eyes in my mind as I pushed any budding crush away. I was more of a Beauty and the Beast girl, anyway.
Finally managing to look away, I smiled at the rest of the folks smiling at me, two slightly elder couples.
“Oh, she’s so beautiful!” The red-headed one gushed as I shoved my iPod and book into my backpack and got out of the SUV.
“Thanks,” I mumbled back, knowing full well that the blond was still staring and smirking at me.
“Hello, dear. Welcome to Peidmond! I’m Jane, and this here is my son, Alex, and my husband, Hugh. We live just there beside your house. That one there is Mary and her husband, Grant. They have a son too, Matthew. He is good friends with Alex here,” Jane told me excitedly, and I smiled back, brightly mirroring her excitement.
“It’s nice to meet you all. I am really excited to be here,” I replied back happily as I extended my hand towards each one of them, shaking their hands softly but waving awkwardly at the smirking blond, Alex.
That boy seemed as beautiful as he seemed arrogant. But then, arrogance trumped beauty any day.
My new home stood tall and proud—red bricks and a posh-looking French door. It seemed to have at least three floors, including the small attic on the third floor. Even the front yard seemed beautifully cultivated. I waited for Jane and Mary to start talking to Mom and Hugh and Grant to start helping my dad and the movers place all our stuff into the house before picking up one of my smaller book boxes. I made a run for it.
Making a dash into the house as quickly as I could, I stopped only to grab Dad and drag him away, begging him to show me my room.
He grinned excitedly and exchanged a knowing look with both Hugh and Grant who led me upstairs until we came to a stop on the very end of the hallway. He unlocked the room and opened the doors, motioning me to walk in.
I walked in and froze.
There, in front of me was the most amazing view of a castle perched on a mountain, surrounded by pine trees and fog. Beyond it, I could see water, maybe a lake. Maybe a sea…It was actually hard to say through the fog.
I turned around, already readying myself to leap on Dad but frowned when I noticed that I was now alone in my room. The blond Alex was standing in the doorway with the usual smirk on his face and his axe missing.
I frowned. The urge of just smacking his smirk away seemed quite strong now, and it would be easy too.
“That is the Castle Dovelore, owned by His Grace, Alexander Whitlock. ‘His Grace’ because some say his grandfather was a duke, and that has now been passed over to him. He is also very rich if the castle isn’t proof enough. But not by heritage, most of it is self-made and all. We are supposed to visit that castle this year, you know. Mr. Whitlock is providing one lucky student with a full-time scholarship to any university he or she wishes to attend and another lucky student a chance to stay in his castle for the breaks with the full usage of his library and a full tour around the castle if he or she wanted to, that is,” Blond spoke, but his gaze did not once shift from the castle, which although looked quite brooding,
