From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess Page 9
I haven’t seen Genovia yet outside my window, but I have seen the ocean and the tops of clouds.
I’ve never seen the tops of clouds before, only the sides and bottoms of them. The tops of them are so pretty, especially with the sun shining down on them, you can almost believe they’re what heaven looks like, and that the angels are hiding behind all those piles of puffy whiteness, waiting until we’ve passed over (because we’re not allowed to know angels exist until we’re dead).
And then as soon as we’re out of sight, they’re going to pop out again and go back to playing the harp or angel Ping-Pong or whatever it is angels do all day.
I’d wave to my mom in heaven out the window, but I don’t want anyone to see me and ask who I’m waving to and then think I’m being weird, waving to the angel of my mom.
Besides, I don’t have to wave. I think she already knows I’m here. And I’m pretty sure she’s as happy for me as I am.
Sunday, May 10
5:00 P.M.
My Room, Genovian Palace
I am very sleepy right now with something my dad says is called “jet lag,” which is what you get when you travel to a country which is in a time zone that isn’t the same as the one you’re used to (Genovia is six hours ahead of New Jersey, so I guess it’s way past my bedtime right now).
But I just had to take a minute to write down that this is the prettiest place I’ve ever seen! Even though there is no Cheesecake Factory in Genovia, I obviously made the right decision coming here, and they have things that are just as good—if not better—than Cheesecake Factory, such as the royal kitchens, from which I can order whatever I want, whenever I want it.
I have already put in an order for waffles and eggs and soldiers for breakfast tomorrow morning. And also lunch.
Genovia even smells good, way better than Cranbrook. There are some kind of flowers blooming outside the balcony of my bedroom that smell like oranges.
That’s because there are oranges growing there, on trees right outside my window! I can reach out whenever I want and pick one and eat it. FOR FREE. They do not charge for the oranges.
Or anything else. Everything in the palace is free. It is just like the limo, only much bigger of course.
Did I mention my bedroom is huge and has hand-painted murals on the walls of clouds and birds (that are pretty realistic-looking, even if they’re really old and weren’t done by a wildlife illustrator), and also has its own balcony overlooking the palace pool?
Yes, we have our own pool, which is filled with fountains and looks out over the ocean.
I knew Genovia was going to be different than Cranbrook, of course, but I didn’t know how different. I already texted Nishi that she is going to freak out when she gets here because this place makes the Beauty and the Beast castle at Disney World look like the dump.
(Not that I’ve ever been to the Beauty and the Beast castle, but I have been to the dump. I went there a bunch of times with Aunt Catherine and Uncle Rick to drop off waste from their construction sites.)
Nishi hasn’t texted back yet (probably because of the time difference), but her parents already said she could come for the ENTIRE summer break, including for my sister’s wedding, in which we can both be junior bridesmaids.
I CANNOT WAIT (even if we do have to wear skirts, but Mia promised they would not be pleated).
Here’s what else:
Genovia is right on the ocean, but not like the Jersey Shore is on the ocean. Genovia is built into these cliffs along the Mediterranean Sea, which is this beautiful turquoise blue, and the sand on the beaches is bright white, and there are these huge yachts and fancy restaurants and casinos and of course the PALACE, which has these big gold gates that we just drive right through because WE LIVE THERE.
And there are armed guards in funny blue-and-white costumes that stand guard outside the gates and that all the tourists take photos of, but that Mia told me never to laugh at because they risk their lives to protect us, the royal family. I can respect that.
And Dad told me the palace doors are made of wood that is nearly a thousand years old and there are portraits in the Great Hall of our ancestors dating back as far as the 1300s, and Grandmère said I am going to have to “sit for a portrait,” too, because now I am “part of the family lineage.”
Which reminds me that I totally forgot to hand in my “Who Am I?” worksheet in bio.
But I guess it doesn’t matter, since I’ve already been admitted to the Royal Genovian Academy. I’m going to start there soon, Dad says, but “There’s no rush. It’s more important you get settled in to the new time zone—and your new family, of course—first.”
When he said that, I got a strange feeling. At first I didn’t know what it was. Then I realized:
It was happiness. Family. I have a family, a real one, for the first time in my life.
This is the happiest moment of my life. Even happier than the day the art school called and said I’d been accepted with a full scholarship for my Tippy the Turtle drawing. Even happier than when Dad asked me to come live with him.
And not because it turns out I’m a princess and I get to live in a beautiful palace on the ocean with orange trees right outside my window and birds painted on my walls.
It’s not because I’m going to get to hang out with Nishi all summer, or even because I have a dog that’s fast asleep on my lap, and she’s MY dog to keep forever.
It’s because I finally have a family that loves me.
And that’s the least boring, least average, most special, and most amazing thing of all.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
PATRICIA CABOT is a pen name of MEG CABOT, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of books for both adults and tweens/teens, including the Princess Diaries series. She was raised in Bloomington, Indiana, and has also lived in Grenoble, France; Carmel, California; and New York City. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Indiana University. She currently lives in Key West, Florida with her husband and various cats. You can sign up for email updates here.
PRAISE FOR
MEG CABOT
AND
THE PRINCESS DIARIES
“Reading her journal is like reading a note from your best friend. Cabot has … an off-the-wall sense of humor that will have readers laughing out loud and a knack for creating fully realized characters that readers will miss when the story ends.”
—Booklist
“The nation of Genovia gains a new resident in this amusing spin-off.… Cabot’s own black-and-white cartoons further enliven Olivia’s entertaining and candid notebook entries, which will have readers looking forward to her future escapades.”
—Publishers Weekly
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Epigraph
Wednesday, May 6 9:45 A.M. Biology Class
Wednesday, May 6 10:50 A.M. French Class
Wednesday, May 6 2:52 P.M. Social Studies Class
Wednesday, May 6 3:35 P.M. Limousine
Wednesday, May 6 4:15 P.M. Still in the Royal Limousine
Wednesday, May 6 4:45 P.M. Limousine
Wednesday, May 6 6:30 P.M. The Plaza Hotel
Wednesday, May 6 9:45 P.M. The Plaza Hotel
Wednesday, May 6 11:00 P.M. The Plaza Hotel
Thursday, May 7 11:24 A.M. Bergdorf Goodman
Thursday, May 7 3:45 P.M. Limousine
Thursday, May 7 8:45 P.M. My Old Room, Cranbrook, New Jersey
Friday, May 8 9:00 A.M. Biology Class
Fr
iday, May 8 2:25 P.M. Social Studies Class
Friday, May 8 3:45 P.M. My Room, Cranbrook, New Jersey
Saturday, May 9 3:25 P.M. Somewhere Over the Atlantic Ocean
Sunday, May 10 5:00 P.M. My Room, Genovian Palace
About the Author
Praise for Meg Cabot and The Princess Diaries
Copyright
A Feiwel and Friends Book
An Imprint of Macmillan
FROM THE NOTEBOOKS OF A MIDDLE SCHOOL PRINCESS. Copyright © 2015 by Meg Cabot. All rights reserved. For information, address Feiwel and Friends, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department by writing to MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cabot, Meg, author, illustrator.
From the notebooks of a middle school princess / written & Illustrated by Meg Cabot.
—First edition. pages cm
Summary: “A middle-grade spin-off of The Princess Diaries, about the long-lost sister of Mia Thermopolis, Princess of Genovia”—Provided by publisher.
ISBN: 978-1-250-06602-2 (hardback)—ISBN: 978-1-250-06603-9 (ebook)
[1. Princesses—Fiction. 2. Families—Fiction. 3. Middle schools—Fiction. 4. Schools—Fiction. 5. Diaries—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.C11165Fr 2015
[Fic]—dc23
2014043845
Feiwel and Friends logo designed by Filomena Tuosto
First Edition: 2015
eISBN 9781250066039
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