The schoolyard smelled like dust and chalk, the kind that clung to the back of your throat and made every laugh taste like summer. Children's voices rose in shrieks and giggles, a thousand tiny wars fought with skipping ropes and tennis balls.
Camilla was running after a ball that wasn't even hers. It bounced awkwardly across the cracked pavement, rolling toward the far fence. She lunged, hair flying, and the tip of her shoe caught on a bump in the ground.
She went sprawling to the ground.
SMACK!
"Ahhh!" Her palms scraped the gravel, and when she pushed herself up, she realized the ball had rolled away from her, laughing at her from the base of the fence.
Worse... her right shoe was gone.
Camilla froze. She whipped her head around looking for it, heart pounding in her chest. The shoe had flown through the air, landed just right, and got itself stuck on the rusted wires of the fence. It dangled there, one shiny black shoe with its white bow crooked.
Her mother had bought them only last week. Patent leather. Quite expensive, for their budget but she wanted it to last a long time. Camilla had worn them proudly, clicking down the hallway like a princess enjoying the jealousy on the other girls' faces.
And now it was stuck.
She could feel the tears start to sting her lids. If she went home without that shoe, her mother would... well, she didn't know what her mother would do, but disappointment was even worse than shouting.
She bit her lip trying to stop the tears but they came anyway.
"Why are you crying?"
She looked up from the ground.
Michael, the school's rich kid, stood a few paces away. Even at seven, he was taller than most, with neatly combed hair and a shirt that had probably cost more than her entire school uniform. His socks were still white. No dust. No grass stains... unlike hers.
Camilla quickly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "I'm not crying."
"Yes, you are." He insisted.
She swallowed the lump in her throat. "It's my shoe. It got stuck on the fence and I can't reach it. If I tell the teacher, she'll yell at me. And if I go home like this, my mom will…" She trailed off, throat tight again.
Michael looked at the fence, then back at her. He didn't say anything. For a second, she thought he was about to walk away. He usually always did. He never played with them. He was the rich boy who sat by himself, eyes always watching but never joining.
Instead, he walked toward the fence.
Camilla blinked. "W-what are you doing?"
He didn't answer. He just studied the wires, tested his fingers against the rusted metal, then pulled himself up. His shoes pressed against the thin wire gaps like it was nothing. His small hands gripped the metal tightly, climbing as though he'd done it a hundred times before.
Camilla's mouth parted slightly.
He reached the shoe, tugged it loose, and dropped back down lightly, like a knight leaping off a horse. Dust clung to his socks now.
Without a word, he held the shoe out.
Camilla stared. "You... you climbed for me?"
Michael shrugged. "It was stuck."
"We're not allowed to climb the fences though. What if you got caught?"
He simply shrugged again.
Her lip trembled, but this time it wasn't from tears. "You're like… like a knight. A knight in shining armor."
The corner of his mouth twitched, almost a smile. "If I'm a knight, I guess that makes you my princess."
My princess.
She liked that word. Oh she liked it very much.
She slipped her shoe back on, patting the bow. "Thank you," she whispered.
They walked back toward the classroom, and the whispers followed them. Michael never really talked to anyone so Camilla understood their surprise. She was surprised herself.
When they reached their desks, He sat silently for a while. Then, without looking at her, he tore a sheet of lined paper from his notebook. His small hands folded carefully, tongue caught between his teeth in concentration. The crisp edges bent and bent again.
Camilla tilted her head. "What are you making?"
He ignored her and just kept folding.
Finally, he stood, holding something lopsided but recognizable. A crown.
He came around to her desk and went down on one knee beside her seat, holding the paper crown with both hands.
"Well, all princesses need crowns, don't they?" he said quietly. His voice was steady, but his ears were pink.
Camilla laughed softly, covering her mouth. Then she leaned forward so he could place it on her head. The paper scratched her scalp but she didn't care.
Michael, still kneeling, looked up at her with the biggest grin she'd ever seen. "Now you're really a princess."
Something swelled in her chest, too big for words. She had no idea why he'd done it. He didn't talk to anyone else. He didn't play games with the other kids. But he'd climbed the fence for her, and now he was here, giving her this.
"I'll keep it forever," she whispered, clutching the crown so it wouldn't fall. "I promise."
"Then I pledge to be your ever faithful knight." He said, "Now all I need is the shining armor"
They both laughed like that dumb joke was the funniest thing they'd ever heard. Then he went back to his desk.
The next day, he told the teacher he didn't quite understand math and he wanted Camilla to be his tutor. The teacher had his seat changed so he sat beside her during classes.
As soon as he sat, he whispered, "Now I get to protect you all the time, my princess."
Camilla giggled then like it was an inside joke- cause it was.
But she never forgot.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The sound of glass breaking yanked me back.
I blinked and the schoolyard dissolved. The paper crown crumbled in my hands, turning into the shards of a wine glass on the polished floor.
The present roared back in.
My heart cracked as I stared across the dinner table. Michael stood slowly, chair scraping against the floor. His once bright and innocent face was now blank as a mask.
The mistress smirked, her manicured hand sliding into his.
And without looking back, Michael walked past me, leading the woman away. His shoulders straight, his grip firm, their steps echoing together.
Straight into the bedroom.
I sat frozen, just like the little girl in the schoolyard staring at her lost shoe. Only this time, no knight was coming back to save me.