Meg Cabot - Princess Mia

All of a sudden—just like that—I didn’t feel that depressed anymore.

I can’t really explain it any other way. Ms. Martinez would no doubt be disappointed in my lack of descriptive verbs.

But that’s exactly how it happened. Suddenly, I didn’t feel that sad anymore.

Not like I was cured, or anything.

But that I’d climbed a few more feet out of that big, black hole and could see the sky—clearly—again. It was only just out of reach, as opposed to being dozens of feet overhead. I wasalmost there….

And then, while J.P. was going, “And I hope you don’t think I’m stalking you, because I’m not, I just thought maybe you’d need a friend since I’m pretty sure your dad isn’t too happy with you right now—” I realized I felt…happy.

Really.Happy.

Not over the moon, or anything. Not ecstatic. Not joyous.

But that was such a welcome change from feeling sad all the time that I—completely spontaneously, and without thinking about it—flung both my arms around J.P.’s neck and gave him a great big kiss on the lips.

He seemed really surprised. But he rallied at the last minute and ended up putting his arms around me, too, and kissing me back.

And the weirdest thing of all was…I actuallyfelt something when his lips touched mine.

I’m pretty sure.

It wasn’t anything at all like what I felt when Michael and I kissed.

But it was something.

Maybe it was just the two or three flakes of snow on my face.

But maybe—just maybe—it was what my dad had talked about. You know:

Hope.

I don’t know. But it felt good.

Finally Lars cleared his throat and I let go of J.P.

Then J.P. said, looking embarrassed, “Well, maybe I’m stalking you alittle . Can I stalk you some more tomorrow?”

I laughed. Then I said:

“Yes. Good night, J.P.”

And then I went inside.

Where I saw that I had two messages in my inbox.

The first was from Tina:

ILUVROMANCE: Dear Mia,

Oh my God! I just saw it on the news! Mia, you’re just like Drew inEver After when she came in with the wings on her back! Except instead of just looking beautiful at a party, you actually DID something. Like CARRYING A PRINCE AROUND ON YOUR BACK. Only better. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

Love,

Tina

Then I clicked on the second message. It was from Michael.

As always, my heartbeat speeded up when I saw his name. I guess that’s something that’s never going to change.

But at least the temperature of my palms stayed the same.

In the text of his message was a link to the story about my dropping a bomb of my own, with a note underneath that read:

SKINNERBX: Dear Mia,

Did you just ditch your throne and bring democracy to a country that’s never known it?

Way to go, Thermopolis!

Michael

I laughed when I saw it. I couldn’t help it.

And you know…it felt good to laugh about something Michael had said (or written). It seemed like it had been a long time since that had happened.

And then it occurred to me that maybe Michael and Ican be friends—just friends. For now, anyway.

So this time, instead of DELETE, I hit REPLY.

And then I wrote him back.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many thanks to Beth Ader, Jennifer Brown, Barbara Cabot, Sarah Davies, Michele Jaffe, Laura Langlie, Amanda Maciel, Abigail McAden, and especially Benjamin Egnatz

About the Author

MEG CABOTis the author of the best-selling, critically acclaimed Princess Diaries books, which were made into the wildly popular Disney movies of the same name. Her other books for teens includePANTS ON FIRE, JINX, and the manga series Avalon High: Coronation. She also writes books for adults, includingBIG BONED andQUEEN OF BABBLE IN THE BIG CITY. She is still waiting for her real parents, the king and queen, to restore her to her rightful throne. She lives in Key West with her husband and a one-eyed cat named Henrietta, as well as various backup cats.

To learn more about her books and read her real-life diary, visit her at www.megcabot.com

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

Books byMEG CABOT

The Princess Diaries

THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME II:

Princess in the Spotlight

THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME III:

Princess in Love

THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME IV:

Princess in Waiting

Valentine Princess:

A PRINCESS DIARIES BOOK (VOLUME IV AND A QUARTER)

THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME IV AND A HALF:

Project Princess

THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME V:

Princess in Pink

THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME VI:

Princess in Training

The Princess Present:

A PRINCESS DIARIES BOOK (VOLUME VI AND A HALF)

THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME VII:

Party Princess

Sweet Sixteen Princess:

A PRINCESS DIARIES BOOK (VOLUME VII AND A HALF)

THE PRINCESS DIARIES, VOLUME VIII:

Princess on the Brink

ILLUSTRATED BY CHESLEY MCLAREN:

Princess Lessons:

A PRINCESS DIARIES BOOK

Perfect Princess:

A PRINCESS DIARIES BOOK

Holiday Princess:

A PRINCESS DIARIES BOOK

ALL-AMERICAN GIRL

READY OR NOT: AN ALL-AMERICAN GIRL NOVEL

TEEN IDOL

HOW TO BE POPULAR

PANTS ON FIRE

AVALON HIGH

AVALON HIGH: CORONATION#1:THE MERLIN PROPHECY

JINX

NICOLA AND THE VISCOUNT VICTORIA AND THE ROGUE

THE MEDIATOR BOOKS:

THE MEDIATOR1:SHADOWLAND

THE MEDIATOR2:NINTH KEY

THE MEDIATOR3:REUNION

THE MEDIATOR4:DARKEST HOUR

THE MEDIATOR5:HAUNTED

THE MEDIATOR6:TWILIGHT

THE1-800-WHERE-R-YOU BOOKS:

1:WHEN LIGHTNING STRIKES

2:CODE NAME CASSANDRA

3:SAFE HOUSE

4:SANCTUARY

5:MISSING YOU

THE BOY NEXT DOOR

BOY MEETS GIRL

EVERY BOY’S GOT ONE

SIZE12IS NOT FAT

SIZE14IS NOT FAT EITHER

BIG BONED

QUEEN OF BABBLE

QUEEN OF BABBLE IN THE BIG CITY

Credits

Jacket art © 2008 by Howard Huang

Copyright

PRINCESS MIA. Copyright © 2008 by Meg Cabot, LLC. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Microsoft Reader November 2007 ISBN 978-0-06-156649-3

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About the Publisher

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HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

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United States

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