Read Online Princess in Waiting by Meg Cabot - Free Book Online Page A

and all-round prodigy, even though supposedly she is dating a boy from
    Trinity, but you
    never know, that could be a ruse to lull me into a false sense of security about Michael and put my guard
    down, thinking he
    is safe from Judith's fruit-fly-cloning clutches . . .
    'Mia,' my mom said, looking at me all concerned. 'Are you all right?'
    I tried to smile, but I couldn't. How, I wondered, could Tina and I have overlooked this very serious flaw
    in our plan? Even now, Michael could be on the phone to Judith, or some other equally intellectual girl,
    talking about quasars or photons or whatever it is smart people talk about.
    'Mom,' I said, standing up. 'You have to go. I have to call him.'
    I was glad the panic that was clutching my throat wasn't audible in my voice.
    'Oh, Mia,' my mom said, looking pleased. 'I really think you should. Charlotte Bronte is, of course, a
    brilliant author, but
    you've got to remember, she wrote Jane Eyre back in the 1840s, and things were a little different then.'
    'Mom,' I said. Lilly and Michael's parents, the Drs. Moscovitz, have this totally hard and fast rule about
    calling after eleven
    on schoolnights. It is verboten. And guess what, it was practically eleven. And my mom was still standing
    there, keeping
    me from having the privacy I would need if I were going to make this all-important call.
    'Oh,' she said, smiling. Even though she is pregnant, my mom is still somewhat of a babe, with all this long
    black hair that
    curls just right. Clearly I had inherited my dad's hair, which I've actually never seen, since he's always
    been bald since
    I've known him.
    DNA is so unfair.
    Anyway, FINALLY she left - pregnant women move SO slowly, I swear you would think evolution
    would have made
    them quicker so they could get away from predators or whatever, but I guess not - and I lunged for the
    phone, my heart pounding because at last, AT LAST, I was going to get to talk to Michael, and my mom
    had even said that it was all right,
    that my calling him wouldn't count as chasing since he'd called me first. . .
    . . . and just as I was about to pick up the receiver, the phone rang. My heart actually did this flippy thing
    inside my chest,
    like it does every time I see Michael. It was Michael calling, I just knew it. I picked up after the second
    ring -even though
    I didn't want him dumping me for some more attentive girl, I didn't want him to think I was sitting by the
    phone waiting for
    him to call, either - and said, in my most sophisticated tone, 'Hello?'
    Grandmere's cigarette-ravaged voice filled my ear. Amelia?' she rasped. 'Why do you sound like that?
    Are you coming
    down with something?'
    'Grandmere.' I couldn't believe it. It was ten fifty-nine! I had exactly one minute left to call Michael
    without running the risk
    of the wrath of his parents. 'I can't talk now. I have to make another call.'
    'Pfiiit!' Grandmere made her traditional noise of disapproval. And who would you be calling at this hour,
    as if I didn't know?'
    'Grandmere.' Ten fifty-nine and a half. 'It's OK. He called me first. I am returning his call. It is the polite
    thing to do.'
    'It's too late for you to be calling that boy,' Grandmere said.
    Eleven o'clock. I had missed my opportunity. Thanks to Grandmere.
    'You'll see him at school tomorrow, anyway,' she went on. 'Now, let me speak to your mother.'
    'My mother?' I was shocked by this. Grandmere never talks to my mom, if she can help it. They haven't
    gotten along since
    my mom refused to marry my dad after she got pregnant with me, on account of her not wanting her child
    to be subjected
    to the vicissitudes of a progenitive aristocracy, ,
    'Yes, your mother,' Grandmere said. 'Surely you've heard of her.'
    So I went out and passed the phone to my mom, who was sitting in the living room with Mr. Gianini,
    watching Absolutely Fabulous. I didn't tell her who was on the phone, because if I had, my mom would
    have told me to tell Grandmere that she was in the shower, and