The Princess Diaries, Vol. VI: Princess in Training

**The Princess Diaries, Vol. VI: Princess in Training** is the sixth volume of the Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot.

It was released in 2005.

## Book Description

Princess for president!

Student body president, that is. It's all the fault of Princess Mia's power-mad best friend and campaign manager, Lilly, who nominates her in the first place. This is not how Mia imagined kicking off her sophomore year, even if Grandmère thinks ruling her high school makes good practice for ruling Genovia someday.

As usual, Mia has bigger problems to worry about, though. Sophomore geometry appears to be just as hard as freshman algebra, and a shocking B on her first English assignment has Mia reeling. And with Michael, her one true love, uptown at college, what is the point of even getting up for school in the morning? The last straw is what Lana whispers to her on the lunch line about what college boys expect of their girlfriends.

Really, it's almost more than a princess in training can bear.

## Opening Quote

*"She will be more a princess than she ever was - a hundred and fifty thousand times more."*

A Little Princess*, Francis Hodgson Burnett*

## Timeline

Begins on Monday, September 7, 2004 and concludes on Monday, September 14, 2004. It occurs during Mia's sophomore year.

## Plot Summary

AEHS sends out the schedules for the new school year to all the students, as well as a letter from Principal Gupta including reminders and updates to school policy, including the announcement that security cameras were installed over the summer. Lilly Moscovitz IMs Mia Thermopolis, believing that parts of Principal Gupta's letter were directed at her. Lilly has developed new nicknames for Mia, such as POG, for Princess of Genovia, and Baby-Licker, for how she obsesses over Rocky. Mia is overprotective of Rocky as she feels like Helen Thermopolis and Frank Gianini just ignore him when he cries. Michael is now attending Columbia university and has a roommate, who Mia hasn't met, and she is sad that she will no longer be able to see him every day. However, Mia is excited as the new English teacher, Ms. Martinez, seems really excited to be teaching and Mia hopes that she can learn from her as it is now her goal to publish a novel.

On the first day back at school Mia is dismayed that Lilly is still not trying to make herself look put together since her breakup with Boris Pelkowski at the end of last year, but Lilly claims this is because they have P.E. first thing in the morning. However when Boris arrives at school with his current girlfriend, Tina, he is noticeably better looking than he was the previous year, having been encouraged to weight lift and getting laser eye surgery and being able to get rid of his bionator. Tina however doesn't want anyone to tell Boris he is hot as she is afraid he will leave her for someone better. Shameeka tells Mia that Josh Richter and Lana Weinberger broke up over the summer, and they speculate about the gender of a new student in their French class named Perin. Lana approaches Mia at lunch in line and asks if she's still dating Michael, which Mia says she is. Lana then tells Mia that boys in college expect their girlfriends to Do It, which thoroughly freaks Mia out. An exchange student named Ramon Riveras, who is on the soccer team, now has the locker next to Mia's, which used to belong to Josh. At an assembly Lilly nominates Mia for Student Council President, which Mia is upset by. Grandmère can tell that something is wrong with Mia, but not wanting to tell her about what Lana said talks about the Student Council election, which Grandmère seems excited by.

Helen and Mr. G plan to go to Versailles for a weekend to keep Mamaw and Papaw Thermopolis from coming back to New York. Mia, still freaked out by what Lana said, asks her mom how old she was when she first had sex and Helen answers that she was about 15 before remembering that Mia is 15 herself. Helen tells Mia that she was in love with Wendell Jenkins, but they wanted different things and so they broke up and she moved to New York and he started dating April Pollack. Mia searches for Wendell Jenkins online and finds out he still lives in Versailles. Michael IMs and offers to come over while Helen and Mr. G are out of town.

At school on Wednesday Lana has glossy posters up everywhere, causing Lilly to throw her homemade glitter glue posters in the garbage. Mia tells Tina about what Lana said and Tina says shes should just talk to him about it. Ms. Martinez gives Mia a B on her English paper, which deeply upsets her. At Princess Lessons Grandmère makes her practice for a debate for the election because Lilly told her there would be one, though Mia doesn't think there is. She is surprised that she enjoys the mock debate quite a bit. Later Mia asks Helen's artist friends if what Lana said is true and they thoughtlessly confirm that it is. When Mia goes to school the next day there are also glossy posters of her up on the walls with pictures from her formal introduction to Genovia that say "Vote for Mia, PIT." Trisha Hayes mocks Mia for her posters and is given a demerit by Mr. Harding for not being in her seat when Geometry class started, and Trisha says that when Lana is president there won't be tardy demerits, which prompts Mr. Harding to ask Mia her stance. Mia says she cares more about real issues like the surveillance cameras and lack of vegetarian options in the cafeteria, and gets applause from her classmates before Mr. Harding calms everyone down for class. Lilly is excited by this as it means her plan is working, but Mia tells her she doesn't want to lose to Lana or be class president and Lilly assures her neither of those things will happen, which confuses her. Lana and Trish come over at lunch and tell Mia's table that they polled everyone in the cafeteria and only 16 people say they are voting for Mia, which Lilly says means there are 16 whole people who are brave enough to tell Lana to her face that they are not voting for her.

Lilly is present at Mia's princess lessons, which are actually a full press conference. It goes well until a reporter asks if this story is just a cover for the fact that Monaco wants Genovia removed from the EU for the act of "eco terrorism" that Mia committed by putting the snails in the bay. Phillipe tells her that this probably will not happen but Mia is still concerned. Helen and Mr. G inform Mia that she will be staying at the Plaza Hotel with Grandmère and Phillipe while they are gone. Michael IMs and asks questions about Mia's arrangement at the Plaza, hinting at coming over, but Mia does not pick up the clues.

On Friday Lana is passing out pom pom shaped stress balls that say Vote For Lana on them, which causes Lilly to panic and call Grandmère. In PE Lana tells Mia that if boys don't Do It it backs up and makes them go crazy. In English class Mia gets another B and when she leaves she sees Grandmère handing out pens from the Genovian palace. Mia loses it and throws all the pens and begins crying before being taken to the nurse's office. Phillipe comes to the school and tells Mia that everything will be ok and asks what set her off. Unwilling to tell her dad about everything with Michael she tells him about her grade in English class, which causes Phillipe to storm off to have a talk with Ms. Martinez. Helen comes in with Rocky, just before she has to go to the airport to go to Versailles, and Mia asks her if she is going to meet up with Wendell Jenkins when she is in town. Helen is confused and Mia tells her she looked them up online and he and April still live in Versailles. After Helen leaves Mia asks Nurse Lloyd if it's true that if boys don't Do It it will back up and they will go crazy, and Nurse Lloyd tells her that it's not. She also recommends that Mia not bottle everything up before writing her a hall pass.

Lilly waits outside the nurse's office the whole time Mia is in there, even though she gets written up for it, and they sneak up to the third floor corridor where Lilly tells Mia that the plan is for Mia to win the election and make Lilly vice president and then step down after a few days so that Lilly can be president. Mia is confused why Lilly doesn't just run and Lilly begins to cry and say that she is not popular enough to win, as she ran the year before and was beaten. Lilly suggests they all have a slumber party at the Plaza and have a mock debate to prep Mia, which she agrees to. Grandmère takes Mia to tea to apologize for making her cry in class and Mia asks her if she can have a slumber party, which Grandmère agrees to. Shameeka, Ling Su, Tina and Lilly all come over and have a great time, taking a quiz Ling Su found online, joking about Perin, and making a new List of Hottest Guys. However, Mia gets no sleep and is exhausted when Lilly drags her to an AEHS soccer game to campaign on Saturday.

That evening Mia goes to Michael's dorm and meets his roommate, Doo Pak, who believes that "Mike" is pulling a prank on him. Mia goes into the bathroom while they argue as Mia thinks that Doo Pak believes that Michael is too smart to date Mia, however it turns out that Doo Pak believes that Mia is too pretty to be dating Michael. During dinner Mia realizes that she saw condoms in Michael's bathroom and when they get back to his dorm she blurts out that she is not ready to have sex, which doesn't seem to surprise Michael. She inquires about the condoms and he says they were from orientation, but even if they weren't wouldn't she be glad he was concerned about being safe. Mia tells Michael everything, about Lana and her mom and Wendell Jenkins and that she loves him but isn't ready, and how sometimes condoms break like on Friends. Michael tells her that that it was fairly obvious she wasn't ready when she didn't invite him over when she had a hotel room to herself. Mia apologizes for this, as she didn't even think about it, and Michael tells her it's fine but asks when she will be ready to have sex. Mia panics and tells Michael what Tina told Boris were the requirements and Michael immediately shoots down the idea. He tells her she doesn't have to decide right then, but she should know he isn't going to wait around forever when Lars interrupts, as it is after midnight, and takes Mia home.

Mia tries to wallow in bed all day Sunday, but Grandmère comes in and tells her about St. Amelie, the patron saint of Genovia. Grandmère says that Mia was named after Amelie, though she is certain that Helen named her after Amelia Earhart. Grandmère shows Mia a pendant which contains St. Amelie's petrified heart. Helen and Mr. G return from their trip with Rocky cured of his crying after being left with Mamaw and Papaw who didn't even move when he cried for hours. Mia asks Helen if she looked up Wendell Jenkins and Helen tells her she didn't because it was 20 years ago and she has moved on and is with the man of her dreams now. Mia IMs Tina and tells her what Michael said and she is shocked. Mia also accidentally IMs Lilly about Michael, and Mia tells her not to worry about it, vaguely threatening Pavlov if Michael were to do anything stupid. She tells Mia to be ready for the debate the next day.

On Monday Mia is concerned about the debate, but Lilly tells her that if all else fails she has a secret weapon. Ms. Martinez keeps Mia after class to tell her that she didn't know Mia was upset, but that she wants to push Mia to write about something more substantive than Pop Culture. Because of this meeting Mia is late to French where she learns from Shameeka that when Perin got up to give her oral report she introduced herself as "*Perinne"* the feminine version of Perin and Mademoiselle Klein corrected her saying she should use "*Perin*" as she is a boy, but Perin tells her that she is a girl. Mia feels bad and tells Shameeka that they should ask Perin to sit with them at lunch, however before that can happen Lana passes by Perin in the hall as they are leaving French and says "HERMAPHRODITE" at her to embarrass her. Mia tells Lana to shut up, which prompts Lana to rip the lion patch off Mia's blazer, who in turn pulls a chunk of hear with a blue ribbon in it out of Lana's head (it turned out to be a clip on extension). Lars and Perin hold Mia back to break up the fight and she and Lana are sent to Principal Gupta's office. She chalks the fight up to nerves ahead of the debate and escorts them there, where the entire student body is waiting, along with Mia's whole family, Larry King, and several other reporters.

Lana gives her speech first and supports a longer lunch hour, better cafeteria food, less homework, more mirrors in the girls’ bathroom, guaranteed admission to Ivy League schools, and more diet and low-carb vending machine options. She vows to have the security cameras removed if elected. Mia is then introduced and instead of standing behind the podium removes the microphone and stands in front of it. She begins by quoting the Statue of Liberty and and compares high school to a melting pot, specifically touching upon cliques. Mia critiques Lana’s speech, saying that the school needs more funding for clubs and arts and quotes John Locke. Principal Gupta tries to cut Mia off but she continues anyway, launching a thinly veiled critique of Ms. Martinez by saying that papers on things that aren’t “substantive” are just as valuable as those that are, and that pop culture can be a valuable distraction from the horrors of the world around us. Mia finishes her speech by asking the student body to vote for who they feel represents them, then tosses Principal Gupta the microphone, and runs out of the gym. Lana attempts a rebuttal and is booed off stage - Principal Gupta turns up the feedback on the monitors to regain attention but Lana had already run off in tears.

Lilly drags Mia from the bathroom and she sees her whole family. Helen tells Mia that she is proud of her and gives her a big hug. Phillipe tells Mia that the snails have begun to eat the algae en masse and will probably eradicate the entire amount by October when they will die due to the cold temperature of the Mediterranean, and that he has already ordered another 10,000 snails for next year in anticipation of more algae creeping over. Ms. Martinez comes up to Mia and apologizes her for making her feel as though her interests weren’t valued. Grandmere congratulates Mia and tells her she had the spirit of St Amelie.

At lunch Boris plays God Save the Queen on the violin in honor of Mia. Mia is surprised that Michael hasn’t called or wished her luck with anything. Many people from different cliques stop by and congratulate Mia and tell her they will be voting for her. At the end of the day Principal Gupta announces over that loudspeaker that Mia has won the election, 641 votes to Lana's 359. After the bell rings Lilly leaps into Mia’s arms in the hall and she, Shameeka, Ling Su, Tina, Boris, and Perin sing We Are the Champions as they walk down the hall.

Principal Gupta, Lana, Lana’s father, and Ramon are all at Ramon’s/Mia’s locker as he packs his locker up and is escorted back to the office. Lilly reveals that her secret weapon was that Ramon is actually a ringer who had just graduated from high school that the Weinbergers and some other trustees paid to come to the states and enroll in AEHS just so they could win some soccer games - but Lilly decided not to reveal it as Mia was going to win, however Grandmere waited until after the election and then told Principal Gupta anyway. As Mia starts to tell Lilly that she isn’t going to step down and give Lilly the title Lilly says “What are YOU doing here?” to Michael, who is behind Mia. Michael tells Mia that they need to talk and they wordlessly walk a few blocks to a pizza place where he buys her pizza and a coke. He tells her he saw her on CNN and she did really well. Michael tells Mia that he just wants to know if they are going to do it some day and she says they definitely will. He asks if it will be by the end of the decade and she says absolutely.

Michael tells Mia that he knew everything was going to be difficult, as she is Lilly’s friend and there is an age difference and the whole Princess and Bodyguard thing. He tells her that while some people might find that difficult he doesn’t mind the challenge because he loves her. Michael tells Mia that he’s not going to push her into something she isn’t ready for, but he knows it takes her a while to get used to things so she had better get used to one thing: she is the girl he wants and one day she will be his, which makes Mia swoon. They bargain back and forth and decide that they will reevaluate where they stand on sex every 3 months, then leave to get gelato.