Chapter 11: The Princess's Attention
"It's the eye of the storm!"
Sam, being the son of a climatologist, naturally possessed exceptional knowledge. Upon noticing the anomaly in the sky, he shouted, then grabbed the medical supplies and rushed off the cargo ship, simultaneously urging the others, "Run! If we're exposed to the eye of the storm, we'll freeze to death instantly!"
The other two, though not fully understanding what the eye of the storm was, immediately took off running upon hearing the imminent death warning.
The two tall guys, each dragging a dead wolf, ran just as fast as Jake despite their burdens.
"Run faster! If it gets too dangerous, just drop the wolves!" Jake urged as he ran. Being exposed to the eye of the storm would mean certain death. Faced with the choice between having fresh meat and actually surviving, Jake abandoned the idea of being a wilderness survivor and chose to save his own life.
Hearing this, the two quickly discarded the dead wolves. This time on the ship, they'd had much more time than in the original movie timeline, allowing them to gather ample food and medicine. Since they wouldn't lack provisions in the short term, why bother with wolf meat? Survival first!
Fortunately, the group moved fast, especially since no one was injured this time. They covered the three hundred feet in record time, and the deadly cold front only truly arrived just as they made it back to the library.
After running back to their room, Jake quickly slammed the door shut. He could already see ice crystals rapidly forming on the outer wall in the blink of an eye!
Besides Jake, who had seen the movie, Sam also understood the terror of the eye of the storm. So the two of them immediately returned to the fireplace and began feeding more books into the flames to make it burn even brighter.
"Get closer to the fire!" Jake shouted, leaving the others somewhat confused. However, everyone quickly obeyed and crowded around the flames.
Because the tightly closed door was rapidly being covered with white frost, spreading like spilled paint across water. The ice crystals continued spreading across the door, quickly coating the floor and ceiling.
No one doubted the lethal nature of this phenomenon, and everyone huddled together, pressing even closer to the fire.
Jake found himself lucky; both Laura and Ellie were huddled close to him. Although they were all dressed in thick winter layers, making it impossible to feel much of anything, he could still sense their warm breath on his face because they were packed so tightly together.
Yeah, the adrenaline and proximity definitely generated some heat.
The white frost line finally stopped advancing after spreading nearly three feet into the room, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
They remained huddled in this position for about ten minutes before Jake said, "I think we're safe now."
Everyone exhaled in relief as soon as he finished speaking.
The plot was already halfway through; next would be Sam's father making the journey from Washington D.C. to search for him and eventually rescue everyone.
Even if Jake stayed, his involvement in the remaining plot wouldn't significantly increase his progress bar, and with the government's arrival, they certainly wouldn't let him remain alone in New York, especially since he didn't yet have a proper identity in this world. In short, there would be too many complications.
So that night, after everyone had fallen asleep, Jake quietly slipped out of the room, left the library, and instantly returned to the real world.
Back in the real world, the first thing Jake did was take a long, hot shower. Spending so much time in the frozen apocalypse had left him with some minor frostbite, and only time and warmth would allow him to fully recover.
After a comfortable shower and a solid nap, Jake thought to himself, "The real world is so much better. Unless absolutely necessary, I really don't want to go back to that frozen hellscape. After all, this is all about survival and building resources."
He wasn't in a hurry to return to The Day After Tomorrow world to hunt for valuables. "Given Sam's hero complex, he'll definitely search for and ask about me. Plus, with the government's rescue operations, I can predict helicopters flying search patterns for the next week or two."
He pulled out his phone and checked the progress bar; it had already increased to 84%, meaning with a little more effort, he could reach 100%. He was beginning to understand the significance of completing these progress bars.
"Right, it's been a while since I've been to The Princess Diaries world. If I don't go and make my presence known, Princess Mia might completely forget about me."
With this thought in mind, Jake quickly changed his clothes, dressed nicely, and then entered The Princess Diaries world.
He reappeared in the same spot he'd left before, and his sudden appearance even startled a middle-aged woman passing by, causing her to gasp.
Three days had passed in this world, and Mia's grandmother, the Queen of Genovia, was probably about to tell Mia that she was a princess.
Passing a flower shop, Jake bought a small bouquet of roses, then casually picked up a pepperoni pizza—Mia's favorite—from a pizza place and headed toward her house in San Francisco.
It was the weekend, and high school students weren't in class. Jake had barely reached Mia's converted firehouse home when he heard her uninhibited laughter echoing from inside.
That carefree, tomboyish laugh—wasn't that part of Mia's charm?
He knocked on the door, and a middle-aged woman with an artistic, bohemian style opened it—this was Mia's mother, Helen.
"Hello, can I help you?" she said, scanning Jake up and down. Her eyes lit up when she noticed the flowers in his hand, and she struck a somewhat flirtatious pose.
Looking at his potential future mother-in-law's suggestive demeanor, Jake couldn't help but feel awkward. This woman was really something! She claimed to deeply love Mia's late father while actively dating Mia's debate teacher, Mr. O'Connell. Of course, that was understandable since Mia's father had passed away. But now, what was she doing with this pose?
"Hello, I'm looking for Mia Thermopolis. This should be her address..." Jake seemed oblivious to Helen's flirtation.
"Oh? Looking for Mia? Haha, you should have said so right away..." Helen awkwardly laughed, composed herself, and straightened her flowing artist's outfit. She had been momentarily captivated by the good-looking young man at her door, but now realized he knew her daughter.
Then she was genuinely stunned. Her daughter knew this kind of handsome, well-dressed guy? And he looked successful too, clearly not struggling financially, especially carrying those roses. Someone was actually pursuing her frizzy-haired, socially awkward, unpopular daughter?
Her first thought was, "This is incredible!" followed by surprise and delight. She absolutely had to help them get together!
"Mia, come quick, you have a visitor!"
"Is it Lilly?" Mia's voice came from upstairs.
"It's a different friend," Helen called back, emphasizing the word "different," trying to hint that her daughter should maybe fix her appearance.
Unfortunately, she completely underestimated her daughter's obliviousness.
"Not Lilly? Then who is it? I'm watching TV," Mia's impatient voice came from the second floor. Then Jake stood in the doorway, watching as a figure quickly slid down the fire pole that connected the living room to the second floor.
Wearing baggy jeans, an oversized sweatshirt, and her frizzy hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, Mia appeared before Jake, complete with those oversized black-framed glasses. As always, she hadn't bothered with her appearance.
"Hello, Mia," Jake greeted her warmly.
"Jake?" Mia adjusted her glasses, looking at him in surprise. She'd thought they wouldn't see each other again after their brief meeting at the beach cleanup, but unexpectedly, Jake had reappeared after only three days—and at her house!
"These are for you," Jake smiled, stepping forward to present the roses. This bold gesture made Jake slightly nervous, but once Mia truly became a princess and her identity went public, his chances would diminish dramatically. Especially since Josh Bryant, the guy she had a crush on, would suddenly start paying attention to her, and her best friend Lilly's brother Michael would make his feelings known. There would be too many rivals; he figured he should make his move quickly.
Mia blushed slightly as she accepted the roses. Only then did she realize she hadn't fixed her appearance at all, so she self-consciously smoothed down her sweatshirt.
"Did you come all this way just to give me roses?" Mia asked somewhat shyly. Her mother was still standing right there, and she felt embarrassed asking such a question.
But when she glanced at her mother behind Jake, she saw Helen giving her an enthusiastic thumbs-up and an encouraging smile. That feeling of embarrassment vanished instantly, replaced by mortification. This mother was truly shameless—not only did she flirt with Mr. O'Connell at parent-teacher conferences, but now she was making enthusiastic gestures like this.
"Of course not," Jake shook his head.
Upon hearing this, Mia's expression fell. Although her relationship with Jake wasn't particularly close—they were just newly acquainted friends—when a guy shows up with flowers, especially roses, it always evoked certain feelings, a sweet, hopeful sensation. Now that Jake said it wasn't just about the roses, Mia naturally felt disappointed.
Clutching the roses, her gaze darted around the converted firehouse's living room furnishings. "So, you're here because...?"
"I came specifically to bring you pizza. The roses are just a small token for the amazing Miss Mia; they're really just a bonus. I figured nothing can compare to treating Mia to pizza, not even roses." Jake then pulled out the pizza box he'd been holding behind his back.
Instantly, Mia's face brightened, and she smiled genuinely. "Thank you!" Although her thick eyebrows and frizzy hair weren't conventionally attractive, Jake still felt a surge of warmth seeing her happy.
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