Normal
I’m Macie, a 17 year old princess who wants to be normal. Not a princess that acts all formal, and knows how to use proper table manners, or a girl who knows five languages fluently. I just wish I wasn’t a princess. Well, that’s how I used to think, but you wouldn’t understand that yet. Let’s rewind and start from the beginning.

“Mom, can I please go into the city today? I have all my language classes done, and finished all my other homework!”
“I guess so Macie, but no fooling around, and you have to be home by 9:00.” My mother Theresa said.
“Thank you! I will be leaving now.”
Well first I had to go change into my casual outfits, which was hard for a princess. I finally found some jeans and a less fancy shirt, and I was off. I got into my limo with my driver Joe. Joe had black hair and always wore a leather jacket with sunglasses.
He drove away into the city, called Topia. Topia was huge with lots of big buildings and little shops all around. It had a rustic feeling to it, and that’s what I liked the most about it. There were several people there that day, happy families with children, or cute couples holding hands, wandering the streets. As for me, I was all alone. I love the city, but going there alone all the time isn’t very much fun. Too bad I didn’t have a lot of friends, because I’m stuck in a palace all day.
I decided to get an ice cream cone, which was a huge treat, because I always had gourmet meals, and didn’t get ice cream often. And that’s when I saw him. He was perfect. He had golden blonde hair with bright blue eyes, the best smile, and tan skin. He looked like one of those guys that was easy going and didn’t care about what people thought of him. So I got in line next to him.
I was so nervous to talk, and then I blurted out the first thing that came to my mind, “What’s the best ice cream here?”
He seemed a little startled, but he answered and said sheepishly, “Well I just like the plain vanilla, kind of lame I know, but nothing ever beats it!”
His voice was soft and cute, and I was surprised that we had something in common.
“Oh my gosh! I thought the same thing too! People always get fancy ice cream, but I always get vanilla!”
Then we started talking right after that. I was also surprised at how easy conversation was with him.
Then I realized something! I didn’t even know his name, but before I could ask he said, “By the way, my name is Jon, I almost forgot to ask, what's yours?”
“It’s Macie,” I exclaimed. By that time we were basically finished with our ice cream (we both ordered vanilla!) I don’t think either one of us wanted to say goodbye quite yet, so I asked if he wanted to go for a walk around the city. He said he would love too.
We walked through many, many shops, each of us going back and forth about our lives. I felt really bad though, because I had to lie to him about being a normal girl even though I wasn’t. I said I was an only child, and that I had just been adopted, but didn’t give a reason why. I also said that I live out in the country where my family just moved. It seemed normal enough for me? Jon said he was 17, and he lived in the city with a brother and a sister. He had an okay family and he liked his siblings, but not so much his parents, but he didn’t explain that. He told me he had a lot of money too.
While we were talking he exclaimed, “Hey! if you’re new here then I want to show you something.”
He dragged me along for two blocks while I kept asking where we were going, but he never answered, I couldn’t resist the face though. When we finally got there, he covered my eyes and when he uncovered them, there was this beautiful fountain. I’ve never seen anything like it. It had amazingly blue water, but when it got towards the bottom it started to change colors.
“This is the most amazing thing I have ever seen in my life,” I smiled.
Jon kept looking at me and said, “I knew you would like it. I come here all the time because it’s so peaceful and hardly anyone is here. It’s like its some abandoned place, but I don’t know why,” he murmured.
“Do you want to make a wish?” I asked shyly.
He said yes, and then he took two pennies out of his pocket and gave one to me. When his hand touched mine it sent butterflies in my stomach. Then we turned around, away from the fountain, flipped our heads back and threw the penny in the fountain. As much as I wanted to wish that this moment would last forever, I wished that I could be a normal girl, like I described to Jon. Of course when I opened my eyes though it was the same. The only good part was that Jon was right there next to me. It felt perfect. It was dark out with a half moon, and the only light was the fountain (and the street lights but it sounds better without them.) And then it happened. He grabbed me by my hands pulled me close and kissed me. Let’s just say it was amazing, and since I hardly ever leave my castle it was my first real kiss!
“I’m sorry. I just felt this connection with you, I didn’t mean to come on too strong.” He said
“It’s okay,” I answered with a smile.
Then I suddenly realized it was 8:30! I had to be home by 9.
I said to Jon, “I have to go! This day was great though, I can’t thank you enough.”
“When can I see you again?” Jon questioned.
“How about tomorrow, here? It will be our spot!”
“Okay Macie, see you then,” he had a grin on his face, but I needed to get back to my palace.
I ran through the now deserted city streets, bumping into an old man, and down a hill where I saw my limo and driver Joe. He said we had to hurry to get back, and I didn’t expect Joe to ever drive that fast. Luckily we made it back to the palace just in time, it was exactly 9:00. I hurriedly went up to my room, hoping my mom wouldn’t come in to talk to me. She did though and asked how the city was. I answered with it was amazing. Then I asked if I could go back the next day. She pursed her lips, and it looked like she wanted to say no, but then she said I could if I had all my homework and lessons finished. With that she walked out and said good night. Phew, I thought when she left, she didn’t suspect anything about me being with a boy. I got ready for bed and went to sleep, still thinking about Jon.
The next morning I woke up and everything was just wrong. My room was no longer a bright pink with a king size bed, and lots of pillows. Instead it was purple with a twin size bed, and it was also really small. I was really startled at first and didn’t know what was happening. I ran downstairs, but it wasn’t the palace I’m usually at. It was a small house without a gourmet chef. The food looked all normal. The walls were painted a pale yellow, and had a flower border near the ceiling. The cabinets looked old and worn, but it had a homey feeling, not like an elegant palace would. The walls also had pictures of landscapes instead of past kings and queens, which frankly was great because those pictures always creeped me out. I ran back upstairs into my closet and I almost screamed. No longer were there clothes fit for a princess, but an average teenager, yes I thought. I wasn’t exactly sure how all this happened, but then it hit me! It was the wishing well from last night! I can’t believe my wish actually came true! I didn’t have time to think about that because then my fake mom and dad came out of their room. There was no longer a tall woman with curly brown hair, and bright blue eyes, but a woman with blond straight hair, and slightly grayish eyes, but she had a kind face, which was reassuring. Then my fake father stepped out but he had red hair and blue eyes. I didn’t understand why I had new parents, but then I remembered I told Jon I was adopted, so I got new parents.
“Honey, you need to get ready for school,” my mom said.
“You will be a new student because we just adopted you, but you will blend in.” Dad said.
I said okay and retreated back to my room where I couldn’t stop smiling. My wish has come true! I thought. Then I got into the shower, but was surprised to see that I didn’t have a luxurious shower! I guess normal people don’t have those. Actually, the bathroom wasn’t horrible, once you got past not having a jet tub, or a full length mirror, but thats alright. I got used to the shower pretty fast, and then it was time to pick out an outfit. After ten minutes I decided on a pair of skinny jeans, with a pink blouse and lace Toms for shoes. The breakfast was not horrible, but I kind of did miss having that gourmet chef, but I needed to get used to being normal.
I realized I had to ride on the bus which was probably one of the worst things of the day. I got on and I realized some kids did not know about hygiene. It smelt disgusting and gross, and I hated every minute of it. I wished Joe was here to drive me to school.
When I got to the school I was surprised at how big it was. It had three stories! Since I didn’t know what to do, I decided it would be best to go to the office. I asked a girl in the hall who looked nice if she could show me the way, she said yes which was relieving. We finally got there and the girl, who’s name I learned was Claire, left.
I walked up to the lady and she said, “Oh, you must be Macie, our new student.”
“That’s me.” I answered tentatively, “I don’t really know anywhere I have to go though.”
“I’m Mrs.Sky, by the way, and no need to worry, we have someone to show you around for the day, his name is...”
“My name is Jon.”
I spun around quickly and there he was, the guy that made all this come true, who made me normal. He had golden blonde hair with blue eyes.
“Macie?” he asked incredulously.
“Oh you know each other well thats good. Jon will be with you the whole day so get going,” Mrs.Sky remarked.
With that I got my scheduled classes, and we left.
After a moment of silence I blurted out, “I’m so happy I actually know someone here, especially you.”
“Me too!” he said with a smile. After that we immediately started talking about all the classes we had and where they were. The best part was I had every class with him, and that’s why he was showing me around.
When we got to our first class, which was math with Mr.Storlie, I was a little nervous. I didn’t know how to be normal at all. Mr.Storlie seemed really nice, but math was my worst subject at home. Well it turned out I didn’t need to worry at all, because since I was home schooled I got through way more things during the year than anyone else at school. I was one of the smartest kids. We were learning algebra two in class, and I already learned that when I was 15 so it went by fast. Jon asked how I had gotten so smart, and I told him that before I moved here I was home schooled, which wasn’t even a lie. Everything I told him the night before wasn’t a lie anymore, which was great.
The rest of the day was okay, but I let the princess in me slip a few times. It was so hard to act normal when all my life I had grown up as everyone doing stuff for me. I almost asked Jon to carry my books for me, because they were so heavy but nobody else had others carrying theirs so figured that wouldn’t be a good idea. In Spanish class I was the only one that could speak it fluently, but I thought that everyone knew how to speak other languages fluently. The lunch was disgusting with soggy sandwiches, and clumps of mashed potatoes. The chicken was gray instead of a nice white, and everything looked under or over done. No, thank you. I made a note to self to make sure to bring my own lunch tomorrow. The best part about the day was that Jon and I were together. Not once did we run out of conversation either. We talked about the stupidest things ever, but with Jon it was just normal.
At the end of the day, Jon asked if I wanted to go to our special place, sadly I said I should probably go home and talk to my parents, but he said that was fine. So we said our goodbyes, and that we would call each other to see when a good time was to go to the fountain. I was so overjoyed I couldn’t stop smiling. My joy didn’t even go away when I had to get on the gross bus. Except all the kids smelled bad, and spit spit balls everywhere. I finally got off the bus 20 horrible minutes later. My parents greeted me with a hug and asked how my first day of real school was. I told them it was good because I had a boy named Jon show me around the whole day. When I talked about him I blushed, but if they did suspect anything, they didn’t say anything, which was totally cool.
At dinner the food was great, even though it wasn’t gourmet at all. We had pizza, which I had never had before, and it was probably one of the most amazing food I have ever had. After dinner I asked if I could go into the city to meet up with Jon, and they said it would be fine as long as I was home by 8:30.
When I got into the city, I went straight to the fountain, and Jon was there waiting patiently. I had called him before to tell him I could come. I immediately ran into him and gave him a huge hug. It just felt right. Neither of us stopped smiling. We started walking around, and we talked a lot. He asked if I wanted to go out and get something to eat, and I replied with a yes. We went to a quaint restaurant that wasn’t too fancy, but not fast food either. It was called Red Robin. When we got seated we started talking about our families. I finally came around and told him why I got adopted, and the reason just kind of popped into my head. I told him it was because my parents got into a car crash and they both died. He told me why he didn’t like his parents that much. He said his dad was one of those workaholics that hardly ever talked.
“Sometimes I really really wish I just had someone to talk to, it’s like he never is there for me, and my siblings.”
I replied, “It’s okay, you always have me.”
“My mom doesn’t even care about me. I feel like I need a good family to impress you though, but I felt I needed to be honest with you.” Jon said.
“You don’t,” I protested, “I will accept anything about you.”
“Thank you. Now that you said you will accept me can I tell you something that is really embarrassing,” Jon said
“I will accept you no matter what,” I remarked with a wink.
“Well, when I was little my siblings used to dress me up as a princess, because I was always the youngest, so they took advantage of me,” he laughed
I doubled over in laughter as soon as he told me about it.
“Alright, now that I shared a secret with you, you have to share yours, something really embarrassing.”
“Okay, umm... well I really love to eat anchovies. They are delicious.”
We both started laughing hard again and we just couldn’t help it.
“Are you kidding me?! Those are so disgusting!” Jon cried.
“Okay little miss princess!” I teased.
Our talking and laughing just came naturally and I loved it. After dinner was over we went back to the fountain and I asked if he wanted to make another wish.
“ I don’t need too, I have all I need; you.”
I smiled bashfully, and didn’t make a wish because I realized I didn’t need to either. When I looked at the time it was almost 8:10. I said I needed to leave. I gave Jon a hug and left, still going over how much of an amazing night I had.
When I got home my mom questioned, “So did you have a good time?”
“It was amazing.”
“Well I think someone has developed a crush, huh?” Mom said
I just smiled, said goodnight and walked up the stairs to my bedroom. I started to get ready for bed, and checked to see if I had homework; good thing I didn’t, because I was so tired, I just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep. I have to say, one thing about being normal is that the beds are horrible. I missed my soft cushion with several pillows.
The next morning I got up at 6:00 thank you very much. When I was a princess I would have slept till at least 8. I was still so tired and I decided to wear sweatpants, which I had never worn before, and a baggy sweatshirt. This was awesome. Never once in my life had I been able to wear sweatpants as a princess. It was just not formal at all. When I got to school I went to math class, and I surprisingly didn’t even get lost. None of the girls here were very accepting, I learned, and a lot of them kept looking at me weird. At least Jon was in all my classes otherwise I would have been all alone. During my second hour class, English, Mrs.Cook my teacher said that we were going to have to do a group project for the unit we were doing. We had to make a poster about a book we were assigned and both had to do our share. I was a little nervous because I didn’t know who was going to be my partner, and I didn’t want to do all of the work. I figured it would be a good way to make a new friend though, or an enemy... I got paired up with a girl named Abby. She had dirty blonde hair, had the fanciest clothes ever, and applied her makeup just right. She had her nails and toes done, and she walked like she owned the place. Now I’ve seen the movies where there is a popular girl and they think they run the whole school. Well I didn’t think those were real... until now. When Abby heard she was being paired up with me, she immediately gave me a dirty look. She didn’t even know me, and it seemed like she hated me. I decided to get up and say hi to her because when I was a princess, that was the polite thing to do.
When I said hi she glared up at me and spat, “Look Macie I don’t like you, a lot of other girls don’t either. You walked in here like you owned the place, taking away Jon from everyone else. I’ve seen the way he looks at you, well I’m here to tell you that he likes me, not you.” And then she walked away. I didn’t even know what to say to her after she said all of that.
Part of me didn’t want to believe her, but the other part wanted to know if it was true. The rest of the day was a blur, while I tried to figure out if it was true. Meanwhile I tried to avoid Jon as much as possible, and tried to not to make eye contact. I didn’t want to talk to him, but he sure wanted to talk to me, and then he found me.
“Is there something wrong? It seems like you’ve been avoiding me all day.
I just shrugged, but he didn’t take that as an answerer.
Then I whispered, “You probably should go sit next to your girlfriend, Abby, I heard how much you liked her.” I walked away after that trying to tell myself not to cry, and I didn’t. I was still a princess in my mind and princesses don’t cry over boys. Even as a little girl I was taught not to cry over something. I went home on the bus that day, trying to forget about Jon, but I couldn’t. I kept thinking about his shocked face when I told him that. Was he shocked about me finding out, or shocked because he knew it wasn’t true? Either way, he didn’t even follow after me. My mom and dad asked if I was alright at dinner, but just replied I’m tired, and went up to my bedroom. Jon tried to call and text me, but I didn’t answer. I did homework trying to forget about everything that day. But I had to do my English homework which reminded me Abby. Unfortunately, we had to read Moby Dick, and it was not good. I finished reading my chapters and wrote down a summary in a journal. Then I went to bed, not bothering to say good night.
The next day wasn’t any better. Well I guess the girls stopped giving me dirty looks, but I couldn’t forget about Jon. Abby seemed cheerful though, because Jon probably went back to her, which me made me not want to talk to him at all and got me mad.
Abby walked up to me during English and stated, “Thanks for doing that for me Macie, I saw you at lunch yesterday and it really means a lot,” She said with a sarcastic grin too. It made me very upset, because she knew I was sad about it. I just looked away trying hard not to cry though. All of a sudden I realized I didn’t want to be normal anymore. I wanted things back to the way it used to be. but how? That was my question for the whole day. How to be a princess again. Maybe if I went to talk to my real parents they would recognize me as their real daughter. I doubt it though.
When i got home my normal mom had apples and peanut butter sitting out on the table.
“Thanks mom!” I smiled, but I had to force the smile out and I could tell she knew it was fake.
“Are you okay honey? You seemed down yesterday. Did something happen with that boy?” mom asked.
“Well he just liked another girl, but it’s fine,” I explained.
“Okay, if you ever need anything you can talk to me.” She said
“Thanks,” I said in barely a whisper. It did make me feel a little better after that, knowing I could talk to her, but I knew I couldn’t explain everything to her, especially about me being a princess. I needed to get started on my homework though, and I hated it. As princess I was NEVER EVER given homework. In fact the only homework I got was how to be formal. As a little girl I had to walk with a book on my head. Apparently I slouched too much, and my real mom said that would never call for. So to fix it I walked around the palace with a book on my head. It wasn’t my best memories of the palace, or my mom and dad, but I realized how much I missed them. I missed my mother's constant nagging at me, because she wanted me to be the best princess, and I missed my dad’s soft tone when he talked to me when something was wrong. I didn’t have people to talk to anymore. Jon was definitely out of the picture sadly, and it seemed as though Abby got everyone in the school to hate me. It was terrible. Why did I ever make that stupid wish? I don’t want to be normal anymore! This math homework was not helping my mood at all. Why did we have to learn about derivatives? None of it made any sense, even though I was the smartest one in the class. If only Jon was here to help me through all this. Oh stop thinking about him, I thought, he doesn’t like you. At 10:30 i finally decided to quit homework and go to bed. That was a mistake though, because I didn’t sleep well the whole night. I wanted my own bed. This bed had lumps in it. The whole night I kept thinking of Jon. As much as I didn’t want too he kept sending me messages and calling saying we need to talk, or why are you mad at me? But I never replied. I finally fell into a restless sleep at around 1:00 dreaming of fairytales and palaces.
The next few days were the same so I will not go into much detail about them. I got up and did my morning routine. Washed my hair, got dressed with fashionable normal clothes, and ate a good normal breakfast. If I ever figured out how to become a princess again I would suggest to my parents to get me normal clothes and have normal food, because the food was so good! When I went to school I encountered teasing from people too, of course because of Abby. Jon tried talking to me, but being a princess I was stubborn about a lot of things, especially forgiving. If someone did something wrong at the palace they immediately got fired, unless they were a family friend. I also kept thinking about how to be a princess again. I tried a lot of things too. I prayed every night, I tied a note to a balloon asking to be a princess, I went to a wishing well and made a wish, I even tried rubbing a lamp hoping a genie would come out and grant me three wishes. None of those things worked! How hard could it be to return to being a princess. The one good thing that came out of the next three days was that I made a new friend. Her name was Claire, the one that walked to me to the office that first day of school. She had red hair, dark blue eyes, was tall and skinny, and was pale. Although, neither of us had the same personality we still got along really well. She was more of a tomboy, and I still had my girly princess ways. She walked up to me one day at lunch, because there was no where else for her to sit, and she asked if she could sit next to me. Since there was nobody sitting next to me I said it was fine, grateful for some company. We immediately started talking about random things. Apparently she didn’t like Abby at all. I even told her about Jon a little bit. That was the most exciting thing that happened, but it was great because I finally had someone to talk too about anything, a real friend.
I had been normal for a whole week now and I was getting tired of it, and terribly homesick. I was trying to do homework but I really wasn’t. I was still trying to figure out a way to become a princess again. And then it hit me, I don’t know why it took me so long to figure it out. I mean it was the simplest way. I had to go back to the wishing well where I made the wish to be normal. I would become a princess by the next day.
I asked my mom and dad, “Can I go into the city today?”
They replied with, “Yes, just don’t be too late.”
Did I really want to do this though? Throw away everything that I’ve always wanted to be? Yes, I decided, because everything I’ve always wanted isn’t what I thought it would be, and it never will be. Even though I would miss being normal, I missed being a princess more. I got to the fountain and it was the same. It still looked like it had one week ago today. But then when I looked to the side of the fountain there was a person... Jon.
“Hi,” he smiled
I let out a little squeak but my voice was caught in my throat. I forgot how cute he was.
“Please just let me explain some things.”
“Fine,” I managed to say, while I stood there standing, waiting.
Then he began, “Ya know, I really liked you a lot Macie, even though we only spent three days together, they were still amazing, and I wouldn't have wanted them with anyone else. I know you think I liked Abby, which I did, until I met you in the ice cream shop. Abby was great, but with you, I feel so much more comfortable, and more myself.”
After he said all that he just walked away. I know what you’re thinking, you thought I would run into his arms, but I was just shocked at what he said, and I didn’t have the intention to run after him. Before I could change my mind about staying normal I made the wish. I knew the wish probably wouldn’t happen right away but it did surprisingly, for reasons I will never understand. I was back in my own castle room within seconds! It was that awesome mint green color with a comfy bed! I looked into my closet and there were all my gowns and high heeled shoes, with some flats too. All my jewelry was there too, with pearls, diamonds, and rubies! I just stood there staring in a daze, and when my mother called my name I snapped out of it.
She called out, “Macie, its time to get ready for your musical lesson!”
Unfortunately, I still had to play the clarinet, which I hated, but never told my mom because I was afraid she would get mad.
When I went down there, I realized I missed her so much so I gave her the biggest hug ever and said “Hi mom!”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m great! Better than great actually!” I practically shouted.
“Well I’m glad to hear that,” she said a little startled.
I can’t believe I actually wanted to be normal. I loved being a princess, and at the end of the day I was even more glad that I was a princess again. I liked being taught separately, instead of in a big class.
The one thing I missed was Jon. I had been home for more than a week now, and I hadn’t talked to Jon since I got mad at him. I figured even if I wanted to call him, he wouldn’t remember who I was because nobody else did. So one day after I finished all my lessons I asked my mother if I could go into the city again. I was so happy she said yes because I hadn’t gone there since I returned to being a princess again. I guess it reminded me too much of Jon. Joe, my driver, took me into the city. That was the only place I could think to look. I ran straight past all of the bustling people, and all the happy couples, past the old ruining buildings, and the ice cream shop.
When I got to the fountain I was surprised to see that I wasn’t the only one there, because I figured Jon wouldn’t be there. I looked a little closer though and Jon was there! I walked a little silently, then ran up behind him and gave him a huge hug. He looked worried at first, like he didn’t know who I was. Then he looked a little closer and gave me a smile, then hugged right back.
After we let go I said, “I missed you so much and I’m so sorry. Please let me explain”
Then I told him everything, about me being a princess and how I made the wish. I told him about my ambition to be normal and when I met him it turned out great. I explained everything about my life, and everything I felt toward him. I must have talked for 20 minutes straight, and Jon didn’t interrupt once, just sat there listening. It felt good to tell someone.
After I finished talking he said, “I’m so sorry, I can’t imagine that.
“It’s okay,” I replied.
After that we went out to ice cream and it’s like everything fell into place with my parents and Jon. My mom was furious at first, when I told her about Jon, but she finally came around. I even told her about not always having gourmet food, and she agreed that she got sick of fancy food all the time too. Jon and I continued to see each other and I even met his parents.
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP! I opened my eyes, and awoke with a startle. Then I realized something. Everything that just happened was a dream. Maybe I will be able to meet my true Jon one day though.