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Lina laughs. “That’s epic.”
The theater page re-loads with pictures of wizards and Hogwarts, and I scroll. “When is it?”
“Seven on Saturday. Next Saturday, not this one. We should go. I wonder if Hans likes Harry?” Lina types, then drops the phone on the table and picks up her burrito. “This is really delicious. I can’t believe you got the schnitzel instead.”
Shoving the laptop aside, I pull my plate back into place, then skewer a fry. “Freiberger Mexican food is a crime against multiple cultures. Unless the kitchen has seriously upped their efforts since last week’s tacos.”
“This is just as good as last week.” She takes another big bite. “I don’t know what you’re complaining about.”
“It’s so bland. Whoever cooked that has never tasted real Mexican food. Or even real Tex-Mex. Or possibly even salsa from New Jersey.”
Lina frowns. “Salsa from New Jersey?”
“It’s from an old commercial. My dad showed it to me on YouTube. He thought it was hilarious. Definitely catchy.” I pick up a chunk of schnitzel and gaze fondly at it. “You’re even more delicious than the Lonely Goatherd.”
“It should be.” Teo drops into a seat beside me. “That’s authentic Freiberg Schnitzel. Not an Oregon rip-off.”
“Them’s fighting words, mister.” I wave my laden fork at him, pushing down the surge of warm happiness that his appearance prompted. “The Goatherd’s schnitzel isn’t a rip-off. Herr Meier was from Austria—where they make real schnitzel.”
Teo leans forward and bites the piece of breaded pork right off my fork.
My breath catches in my throat. I swallow hard and deflect. “Hey!” I slide a protective arm around my plate and angle my body away from him. “Do not come between a woman and her schnitzel. Even a Freibergish Schnitzel.”
Lina laughs and offers Teo her burrito. “If you’re hungry, I’ll share. This thing is huge.”
Teo swallows his purloined mouthful and shakes his head with a dramatic shudder. “Mexican? Here? No, thanks. I’ll wait until I get back to the States.”
“See?” I point a finger at Lina. “It’s not just me.”
She shrugs and starts wrapping the foil around the remains of her lunch. “I’ll save it for dinner then.” Her phone pings, and she drops the food to check the text. “Hans says he’s in.”
“In?” Teo raises a brow.
“Harry Potter. Next Saturday at seven. In the original German.” Lina winks as she adds the last bit. “For our linguistically challenged friend.”
I start to protest, but it’s true—it’s the whole reason I’m here. Hans speaks English and German like a native. Lina is fluent in English, German, French, and Flemish. Teo knows all of those—except he calls it Dutch instead of Flemish—in addition to Czech and Italian. I know a few words of Korean in addition to my mediocre German, but I’m not on their level at all.
Teo steals a fry from my plate. “Sounds good. We are still on for this weekend, right?”
“The mountain fest thing?” Lina asks. “Definitely—as long as it’s not raining.”
He pulls out his phone. “The weather looks good.”
I slap his fingers when he tries to steal another fry. “Look at your terrible American manners. Use a fork like a civilized person.” I hand him the implement. “Do you think His Royal Stuffiness would like to join us?”
Lina laughs. After I told them about Eduard’s horrible attempt to ask me out, we’ve been joking about including him in our activities. Teo doesn’t seem to find the gag as funny as the rest of us do. I suppose he feels bad for his cousin.
Teo hasn’t confirmed the relationship, but he hasn’t denied it either. And based on his familiarity with the palace and staff, he’s definitely more than an “old school friend.” I’ve thought about asking him, but what am I going to say? “Are you an illegitimate member of the royal family?”
And it doesn’t really matter. Teo is the same boy I’ve known my entire life. If he has some… exotic relatives, who cares? My uncle is a country star, and my dad is dating a famous actress—that doesn’t make me any different from the Eva Hertzsprung who grew up in Rotheberg. And I don’t go around bragging about those relationships—that would be pathetic. Maybe Teo feels the same about his royal relatives. I can respect that.
Although I make a mental note to look up the royal family online later. Surely the internet will have something about a black sheep royal.
Teo may be the same guy I’ve always known, but spending time with him and Hans has changed a lot of other things. For one thing, my crush on college-aged, concert-tour Hans hasn’t withstood close, frequent contact. Don’t get me wrong—I still like him. He’s kind, entertaining, and always up for an adventure. But when he abandoned me in the Munich airport—even if he came through by bringing Teo to the rescue—he put the first crack in my crush. Since then, I’ve realized Hans really is the same paste-eating, accordion-playing goofball I met in first grade.
Which is fine because he and Lina have hit it off. They spend every waking moment outside of classes together. I worry about what will happen when we go home, but maybe theirs is a hot and fast romance that will burn out by Christmas. Or maybe their relationship is strong enough to withstand a massive separation. Although we’re housemates and have become good friends, I don’t feel close enough to bring up the subject with Lina, though, so I guess I’ll just have to be here to help pick up the pieces if it ends badly.
But Teo… he’s different here. He was always very respectable and responsible. Aloof sometimes. His family is clearly very protective—or was when we were in school—and they were only in Rotheberg a few months every year. That gave him a foreign mystique, at least to my twelve-year-old mind.
