Bus Route 49. You know all the stops by heart. You even have a favorite seat that you sit in, on the left side of the bus, towards the back. 

You stick your headphones inside your phone’s headphone jack and search for your favorite album to listen to. Once you find it, you settle into a relatively peaceful bus ride, until a pair of giggling girls get on. They catch your eyes immediately. 

One girl is tall with sun-kissed skin and curves in all the right places. Her curly hair is a very highlighter pink and she has flower tattoos up and down her right arm. 

The other girl is shorter than her, but still tall by most standards. She’s extremely thin with broad shoulders and a shaved head.

“Hannah. Hannah. Oh my God! What do you think the royal announcement is?” The girl with the shaved hair asks. 

“Hush Bea, I’m trying to search for information,” Hannah replies with a roll of her eyes. The two girls settle into a pair of seats in front of you. 

Bea huffs a bit and pulls out her own phone, tapping with a fervor you have never seen before. 

“Found it!” The two girls exclaim in unison. 

*page_break

“‘King Wyman will be speaking with the nation about Odessa Dates and some of the rumors that have been surrounding the once secret website’,” Hannah reads. 
    
“‘The King will be joined by Queen Ramona, Princess Mozelle and $!{royal_title} $!{royal_first_name} Wyman in an announcement you definitely don’t want to miss,’” Bea continues. 

There was a beat of silence before the girls begin giggling and shrieking in delight. 

“Bea, what if $!{royal_title} $!{royal_first_name} joins the website? I’d die. I’d simply die!” Hannah exclaims, hugging her arms to her chest.

“What if we match and I become next in line to be Queen? That’d be simply divine!” Bea exclaims, sitting back in her seat with a dreamy sigh. 

Before the pair of girls could go on another tangent, your work stop approaches. You get off the bus and head into the office, pondering their words. They wouldn’t add a royal to the mix, would they?

*page_break
*goto_scene chapter1_work