Royal Genovian Academy
Something good actually happened!
Well … something I thought was good, at least. I was practicing drawing kangaroos at lunch—because kangaroos are still my favorite. I love seeing joeys all snuggled into their pouches—when one of the older students said, “You know, you’re quite good at drawing, Princess Olivia.”
!!!!
I know! I was so surprised. Especially because the girl who said it is a queen!
We don’t have kings or queens in Genovia, because it’s a principality. In principalities, the country is ruled by a prince (or princess). Well, Genovia is actually governed by a prime minister. But the prince (or princess) helps!
Of course, the queen sitting next to me—Queen Amina—doesn’t do any actual governing either (her country is in Africa).
But still. A queen thinks I’m good at drawing!!!
We get an hour and a half for lunch at the RGA, and the food is very, very delicious. There are menus and waiters, and we can order whatever we want (within reason).
The only downside is that there is randomly assigned seating. That’s so no “friend groups” can be formed, because Madame Alain thinks royals should be “friends with everyone.”
That’s how today I got to sit next to Queen Amina.
I knew it was rude to be drawing at the table while waiting for my food to be served (especially while sitting next to a queen), but I was doing it out of desperation because Luisa was telling a very long and boring story about what she was going to wear to my sister’s wedding (after Luisa changes out of her bridesmaid gown, which Luisa says she’s going to do as soon as our duties at the ceremony are over).
I’ve never heard of a bridesmaid changing out of her bridesmaid dress for the reception—even a junior bridesmaid. But Luisa says that it’s quite normal in America.
I said, “Well, I’m from America, and I’ve never heard of that.”
Luisa said, “Kee-yow, Your Highness,” and started laughing.
So then I took out my notebook and said nothing. She is so annoying!
That’s when Queen Amina leaned over to ask me, “How long have you been drawing, Princess Olivia? You’re quite good at it.”
I couldn’t believe it! I was freaking out. Not only is Queen Amina a queen, and very beautiful, but she’s a high school boarding student, and very tall. She is about six foot two and on the RGA soccer team (which is co-ed). According to the rumors, she scored twenty-seven points against The Royal Academy in Switzerland (TRAIS), the RGA’s fiercest rival.
“I’ve been drawing all my life,” I squeaked. “Thank you so much, Your Royal Majesty!”
In the dining room we’re supposed to address one another by proper title. But they’re all so hard to remember:
• King or Queen—Your Majesty
• Prince or Princess—Your Highness
• Duke or Duchess—Your Grace
• Earl or Countess—Lord or Lady
• Baron or Baroness—also Lord or Lady
• Everyone else—Sir or Ma’am
“May I show your drawing to the rest of the table?” Queen Amina asked.
I nearly choked. “Yes, Your Majesty, you may.”
I couldn’t believe it! A queen liked my drawing enough to show it to other people!!!
“Cool drawing,” said several of them.
All except Luisa. She looked mad, probably because her boring story got cut off.
“Excuse me,” Luisa said. “Did I happen to mention that the gown I’m changing into for the reception is by Claudio, the hottest designer in Rome, and that it has a long skirt that is detachable, so it turns into a minidress when the dancing starts?”
“Wow,” I said. I felt a little bad, because I only have one dress for the entire wedding, and I’m the sister of the bride. Plus, the skirt doesn’t detach.
“I know,” Luisa said, and ate some of her lobster tail, since our food had finally been served. “It truly is on the cutting edge.”
“Pardon me, but may I see that?” Prince Khalil asked. He wasn’t even sitting at our table. He was sitting at the table next to our table. But he was looking at my notebook, which the queen was still holding up. “Is that an iguana?”
“Uh,” I said, embarrassed for him that he couldn’t tell a kangaroo from an iguana. One is a mammal, and the other is a reptile. “No. It’s a kangaroo.”
“No, on the other side.”
Sure enough, it turned out there was a sketch of Carlos on the next page, the one turned toward him. I’d totally forgotten about it.
Then I felt embarrassed for myself.
“Oh,” I said, blushing. “Yes, that’s an iguana.”
“You like iguanas?”
I didn’t want to say no, since he seemed so excited, so instead I said, “Well … some of them.”
This wasn’t a lie. I do like one iguana … Carlos. Sometimes I leave him strawberries I save from my breakfast plate, with the stems cut off.
“Did you know iguanas are amongst the most endangered species in the world?” Prince Khalil asked.
“No,” I said, surprised. “I did not know that. We have a lot of them at the palace.”
“You do?” Prince Khalil looked amazed. “They’re not native to this area.”
“No,” I said. “I know. My dad says someone probably released a pair near the Royal Genovian Gardens, and now they, um.” I decided it was probably better not to go into detail about all the iguana babies.
But it turned out I didn’t have to, since Prince Khalil already knew. He nodded excitedly. “Iguanas make excellent pets, because they’re very social, laid-back, and can live for up to twenty years.”
“Wow,” I said. “That’s a long time. We actually have so many that we’d like to get rid of them.”
“Well,” he said, still looking excited, “I could probably—”
“Khalil, please!” Luisa cried. Her nostrils were getting very pinched. My pony Chrissy’s nostrils flare when she’s nervous or upset, but Luisa’s nostrils get smaller when she feels this way. “No one wants to hear facts about lizards while they’re trying to eat their lunch!”
“Um,” I said. “I don’t mind, Luisa. It’s kind of interesting—OW.”
The OW was because Luisa had kicked me under the table.
“No, it’s not interesting, Princess Olivia,” she said.
“Oh,” I said. My ankle throbbed. Luisa wears very high-heeled shoes. “I guess it’s not interesting.”
“I find it interesting,” Queen Amina said.
Luisa looked like she’d bitten into a lemon or something all of a sudden. Her eyes got squinty and her mouth shriveled up into the size of a grape.
“I’m so sorry, Your Majesty,” she said politely. “Of course. Lizards are very interesting.”
Ha! HA HA HA HA HA!
But then one of the waiters arrived with the dessert cart … really, a trolley piled high with all different kinds of desserts, from which we get to pick whatever we want. There’s pretty much every sort of dessert you can think of, from cream puffs to chocolate layer cake, plus delicious ripe fruit, too, if you want to be healthy.
So everyone forgot what we were talking about and concentrated on picking out what they wanted for dessert. I picked out the chocolate mousse because that’s my favorite.
I guess the RGA isn’t really that bad, except for the singing. And the dancing. And some of the people, particularly the Flexer, who is still flexing. I haven’t thought of a way to make him stop. I’m starting to lose all feeling in my fingers.
This could become a problem for my future career as a wildlife illustrator. It’s hard to draw when you have no feeling in your fingertips.