Torn Between Twin Brothers

Ava had to avert her gaze to clear her thoughts and slow down her heart rate. She needed to calm herself first before continuing the conversation with everyone. Once she calmed down, she continued telling everyone her scores for each test. After she finished telling them, she grinned, seeing everyone had their mouths wide open with wide eyes.

It took them a moment before someone finally spoke.

"Oh my God!!!! Are you for real?!" Akira exclaimed, "What did you do to my best friend? You're not Ava! Where did you hide her?" She bantered.

Everyone thought that Akira was funny and began laughing out loud.

"I know that I passed the test for sure, but I was not sure that I would get perfect marks in all of the tests. Also, I didn't think that my IQ was that high, hahaha! Over 175, who would believe that? I don't!" She humbly said why shyly looking in James's direction to see his reaction.

James was stunned as well. He couldn't believe that she was a genius. He thought that he was already smart with an IQ of 167, a borderline genius, but Ava was more intelligent than him. Of course, he was disappointed, but he didn't show it on his face. Instead, he only nodded to Ava with thumbs up as an approval.

===

Once everyone started to calm down and sit down on the sofas, James took the opportunity to congratulate Ava. He swiftly made his way towards her and once they were face to face, "Congratulations! I'm looking forward to attending imperial college with you next year." He said with a half-smile plastered on his face.

Upon hearing what James said, Ava's heart began pounding rapidly. With his mere congratulations, she was elated. "Thank you! So do I. I'm so looking forward to attending the same college as you." She almost whispered while unable to look him in the eye.

Since they were excused from the afternoon classes, Akira decided to use the time to catch up with her drawings. Upon hearing her plans, Jeffrey invited himself to hang out with her. James and Prince Edmund wanted to hang around with Ava, but she made an excuse that she needed to call her grandparents and great-grandparents in the Philippines. So, the two young men had no choice but to leave and go to Prince Edmund's Villa to play video games.

Pearl was too excited and wanted to let Ashton know, so she excused herself and went to her room so she could call Ashton. Leaving Arria to fend for herself. 

===

Lady Crystal was envious when the announcement was made. She was so upset that Ava could skip 3 grades. She also wanted to attend college already. But, unfortunately, she didn't have the capability. So instead, she must suffer another three years without a choice.

As soon as she had the chance, she called Prince Philip to complain, "I can't believe that she's that smart. We all thought that since there was no announcement as of late, that for sure she flunked. Then today, an announcement was made saying that she passed all the tests with flying colors. How could that be?" She sounded like a spoiled child in Prince Philip's ears from the way she whined.

She had made the call to complain, thinking that her fiance was on her side and would comfort her after hearing what she just told him. However, she was wrong. Unfortunately, she just made the matter worse. Prince Philip became more determined to cancel their engagement and pursued Ava once they started college. 

He had no idea that he would be competing not only with his younger brother Prince Edmund but with many other prospects. 

After listening to Lady Crystal whine, he spoke up, "Why do you have to worry about that? It doesn't concern you. Instead, you should worry about your own grades and make sure that you also pass with flying colors. Do you hear me?" He then hung up without saying goodbye.

===

The days, weeks, and months went by so fast. Soon the school year was about to officially end, and everyone was preparing to go home, while others were preparing for their graduation. A prom night was held for the graduating seniors, and James and Prince Edmund were among them.

James had no plans on attending the prom night, but when he heard from Akira that Prince Edmund invited Ava to be his partner but hasn't accepted yet... He contemplated going.

He was still debating if he should go or not, the day before prom night itself. Just when he finally decided that he would attend, Ava had made her decision and accepted Prince Edmund's invite.

So, when James called to ask Ava, it was already too late. That made his decision quickly that he would not be attending after all. However, when the night of the prom came, and Akira teased him and sent a video of Ava being escorted out by Prince Edmund, he ended up making the last-minute decision to go after all. He called Prince Edward instead to accompany him. 

"If you have nothing better to do tonight, why not come with me to the prom? It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me that I can't miss and might regret it for the rest of my life." So he said to Prince Edward to make the young prince feel sorry for him.

"Hahaha! You don't need to act pitiful with me. I would gladly join you to watch her from afar." Bantered Prince Edward, "What I can't understand is why is she not going with you? I could see every time that we're together that she has a crush on you. What happened?" He added curiously.

"Well, I was not planning on attending, to be honest with you. But after my younger sister told me that she was going with Prince Edmund, I changed my mind and invited her. Unfortunately, you know the answer I received after inviting her." James sadly said nonchalantly.

"Alright, I should be there in an hour." Prince Edward happily informed him before bidding him goodbye so he could get ready.

===

The party was in full swing when James and Prince Edward arrived at the ballroom located inside the Royal Academy. Everyone recognized them as soon as they walked past the wide-opened door of the ballroom.

Girls started whispering among each other while the boys were shooting daggers towards the two handsome young men. Especially when their partner's eyes were gazing at them.

"There's something wrong with that picture. Why are there only two of them? How come they didn't bring partners?" Said one of the young men to no one in particular.

"Could it be that their preferences aren't girls, but instead..." Another student interjected.

The gossip started to circulate among attendees. The topic was... Prince Edward and James's preferences were each other. 

Ava and Prince Edmund were at the far-end corner of the ballroom and had no idea what was happening. So, when the gossip reached their ears, Ava wanted to laugh out loud. She couldn't tell Prince Edmund that James also invited her, but she had to turn him down because of him.

She didn't want Prince Edmund to get the idea that she preferred him over James. She just didn't want to have ill feelings with Prince Edmund, so she chose to say no to James, who would understand.

===

James and Prince Edward walked around a little before going straight to the bar to get some cocktail drinks. While on the way there, James's eyes were scanning the whole ballroom for Ava. Once he located where she and Prince Edmund were, he felt at ease and comfortably ordered some drinks.

While he and Prince Edward were standing by the bar, several girls came over, planning on inviting them to dance. However, once they saw Prince Edward, they quickly changed their mind and turned around and left as fast as their feet could take them.

Soon everyone inside the ballroom knew that one of the young men by the bar was the Crown Prince Edward, and no one else tried to approach them.

After several songs passed, Prince Edward was already bored because no one had approached them. So he decided to walk around and see if any young lady would catch his eye. 

"Since you can't find your courage to invite her to dance, why don't we walk around and see if we can find a substitute for the night. It's boring just standing and watching them make a fool of themselves on the dance floor. Let's join them." Said Prince Edward as he grabbed his cocktail and was ready to go.

James, on the other hand, was busy watching Ava from the corner of his eyes. He was tempted several times to approach her and invite her to dance, but he kept changing his mind over and over. 

Suddenly, he saw Prince Edmund and Ava walking towards the dance floor. James stiffened; his heart started beating faster and faster by the minute as they got closer to the dance floor. 

The music was not slow, so he wasn't too worried. But, when they arrived at the dance floor, the beat of the music suddenly changed to a slow song....