Shadowing Practice: I Chose My Rich Aunt Over My Mom & Regretted It - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Hi, I'm Grace, and I'm a liar.

But before that, please like and subscribe.

When I was little, my mom worked for this rich woman who was the third cousin of the daughter of the king of bleep.

Oops, I forgot.

Mom and I signed an NDA, so I really can't say which country or what king.

Anyway, the rich woman had a fabulous life.

She and her daughter Gigi, who was my age, lived in a beautiful mansion.

They went to the spa every week and on vacation every weekend.

But the only thing was that the paparazzi never left them alone.

They camped in front of the house and hid in the trees to get a glimpse of Gigi and her mom.

Gigi and I looked alike, so I'd often pose as her decoy.

I'd walk out the front door in her fancy clothes and smile for the paparazzi, while Gigi snuck out the back into a tinted SUV and sped off.

Life was great until Gigi and her mom moved back to Bleep and mom lost her job.

We moved into a tiny house and mom had to work two jobs just to afford the rent.

I hated being poor.

It made me sick to my stomach.

So I decided I had to be rich one day.

I worked harder than ever in school so I could get a good job and make a ton of money.

Then one day, I was called into the principal's office, and she gave me the best news ever.

Congratulations, Grace.

You've been awarded a scholarship to one of the most prestigious private schools in the city.

I was over the moon, but there was one big problem.

My new school was filled with rich kids.

There was no way I was going to fit in.

That night, I had nightmares about them laughing at me and chasing me through the halls.

The next morning, I woke up and prayed that I could win a million dollars.

And then, the craziest thing happened.

I talked with your Aunt Maddie.

She lives near your new school.

You'll be staying with her so I can save some money.

I jumped for joy.

I just hit the jackpot.

Aunt Maddie was a filthy rich lawyer.

She was so generous that she'd recently adopted a daughter my age.

That evening, Aunt Maddie's chauffeur picked me up in a limousine and drove me to her mansion.

My adopted cousin, Victoria, greeted me at the door.

She looked like a supermodel, aside from these huge glasses that were way too big for her face.

Victoria took me to my room, and as I was unpacking, she kept staring at my clothes.

Whoa, what happened?

I've seen homeless people wear better clothes.

I was so embarrassed, I started crying like an idiot.

They're all I have.

I'm poor.

Oh, don't worry about it, Grace.

I've got your back.

You can borrow some of my clothes.

I've got plenty.

Victoria led me to her room, where she opened a walk -in closet twice the size of my mom's house, filled with dozens of Gucci and Versace dresses, shoes, and handbags.

I was in heaven!

When we got to school, I strutted like a superstar down the hallway, and all the kids couldn't stop staring at me.

In class, the teacher asked us all to introduce ourselves and share something interesting about our families.

All the other kids came from wealthy families that owned huge business empires.

Some even had parents who were famous celebrities.

When the teacher asked me to introduce myself, I walked to the front of the class.

I felt really nervous.

I couldn't tell them about my poor single mom who worked as a janitor at a beauty salon

and waited tables at a two -star restaurant.

Then suddenly, something strange came over me and the most unexpected words just fell out of my mouth.

Hi, everyone.

I'm Grace and I'm an heiress to the throne of bleep.

Due to the privacy of the royal family, we cannot - Jeez, can we skip the legal mumbo jumbo and get back to the story?

Now, where was I?

Oh yeah, everyone in class stared at me like I was a unicorn.

I took out my phone and flashed one of my photos from a magazine, and the kids went wild.

Victoria appeared out of nowhere and pulled me to the side.

Have you lost your mind?

You just told everyone a big fat lie.

My mind is right where it's supposed to be, if you must know.

Plus, it's not really a lie.

You were Gigi's stand -in.

My mom told me all about it.

You're stealing her identity.

I'm just borrowing it.

She won't even notice.

Victoria walked away, then a bunch of popular kids ran over to me.

My plan was working like a charm.

Are you really in line for the throne?

Uh, yep.

It's a very real possibility.

Everyone in line before me is old and sick.

I thought you moved back to Europe.

That's fake news.

But aren't you living with Victoria?

Yes.

My mother wants me to have a more grounded experience among commoners.

But it's just temporary.

Ta -ta.

Sorry, no more questions today.

Maybe we can have crumpets and tea later.

Then Damien, the most beautiful boy I'd ever seen, patted me on my shoulder and my heart skipped a beat.

His sparkly brown eyes and warm smile made my heart flutter.

Your Highness, would you do me the honor of coming to my party tonight?

He took my hand and kissed it.

Yes, please.

That night, I raided Victoria's closet and found the perfect dress.

I pranced around in the mirror, flashed my prettiest smile, and practiced kissing my hand.

What's up with you?

I told Victoria all about how Damien invited me to his party, and she looked pissed.

Don't you mention that jerk to me.

100

He's not a jerk.

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He's really cool.

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And he looks like an angel.

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Listen, you'll live to regret it if you choose to hang out with that idiot.

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Are you sure we're talking about the same guy?

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Damien's at the top of our class.

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He smells like fresh strawberries.

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He's super cute and the captain of the football team.

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He's perfect.

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Never mind.

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I'm out of here.

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Victoria stormed off in a huff, but I didn't have time to figure out we'll put a bee in her bonnet.

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I had to get to Damien's party.

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Of course, Damien's party was awesome.

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We danced together for hours, and at the end of the night, he gave me the most romantic kiss.

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You're amazing, Grace.

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I know.

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People tell me that all the time.

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I've never met a girl like you before.

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Which made sense, because everything I told him was a lie.

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I must admit, I felt a little guilty for lying, but I wasn't hurting anyone.

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After that, Damien and I started dating, and we became the hottest couple in school.

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My popularity was through the roof.

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Even Victoria stopped shaking her head at me every time we passed each other in the hallway.

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Life was great, until things took a horrible turn.

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One day, one of the rich kids invited me to an exclusive restaurant.

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I was busy enjoying my caviar when I looked out the window

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and saw Victoria and Damien having a heated argument across the street.

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I was about to go out to snoop on them, but our waiter Brian, this geeky kid from my math class, stepped into my path.

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Excuse me, you forgot to pay for your food.

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He gave me a bill of over $200.

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I had less than $20 in my bank account.

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I was invited to this party.

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And we've been told everyone is paying their bill separately.

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A couple of popular kids started staring at us, So without thinking, I handed Brian my bank card.

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I'm sorry, but your card has been declined.

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That's impossible.

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I'm heir to a million dollar fortune.

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We also accept cash.

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This is no way to treat royalty.

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I want to speak with your manager now.

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I dragged Brian to the side.

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I was so afraid he was going to call the cops on me that I decided to tell him the truth.

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Listen, there's no way I can pay all that money.

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Maybe we can work something out.

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You rich kids always try to take advantage of people.

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Please pay so I can do my job.

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Aren't you from some royal family anyway?

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I'm seriously not a rich kid.

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That was all a big lie.

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I just wanted to fit in.

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Suddenly, tears started streaming down my face.

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Oh, jeez, please don't cry.

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Listen, I know what it's like to want to fit in with the rich kids.

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I'll put it on my tab, but you have to pay me back this month.

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I was so relieved.

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It felt like a huge weight had been lifted.

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It was good to tell the truth, but then it hit me.

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If Brian exposed me, my fabulous life would be destroyed.

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Could you please keep my secret?

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Sure, but only if you agree to tutor me.

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I'm kind of struggling with calculus, and I saw you got 100 on the test.

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I happily agreed.

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By the time I was done with this drama, Victoria and Damien were gone, and neither of them answered their phones.

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I called my driver to take me home.

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I waited in my room for hours, but didn't hear a word from either of them.

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I was confused, worried, and a little jealous.

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What on earth could they have been arguing about?

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A few minutes after midnight, I woke up to hear a car pulling into the driveway.

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I looked out the window.

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It was Damien, and Victoria was in the passenger seat.

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I saw red.

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I raced down the stairs and ran straight into Victoria.

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Why are you sneaking around with Damien?

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We aren't sneaking around.

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I saw you two arguing at the party.

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It's complicated, and I'm really tired.

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Can we talk about it later?

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It's not complicated at all.

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You're a jealous witch and a boyfriend -stealer, and don't try to deny it.

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You hate that I'm more popular than you and that Damien's in love with me.

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Victoria marched to her room and slammed her door in my face.

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Something fishy was going on between those two, and I was gonna find out what.

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The next day, I asked Damien about Victoria.

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Don't worry about it, babe.

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She's my partner for a school project.

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We were only talking about that.

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You know I only have eyes for you.

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After that, Damien got really busy with football practice, so I focused on school and tutoring Brian.

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To my surprise, I enjoyed hanging out with Brian.

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He was smart and funny, and we were both huge fans of classical music.

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One night, he played one of Mozart's concertos on the piano for me.

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That was beautiful.

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I didn't know you were so talented.

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I'm kind of a music prodigy.

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That's how I got a scholarship to our school.

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A couple of weeks later, Brian aced his calculus test and invited me to his piano recital.

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I'll be playing that piece you like and a new song I wrote for you.

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You wrote a song for me?

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Brian blushed, and so did I.

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It's a thank you for all you've done for me.

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I wouldn't miss your concert for the world.

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That night, just as I was getting ready to go to the concert with Brian, Damien showed up in a tuxedo.

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What are you doing here?

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You're funny.

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I told you I was picking you up.

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Oh, God.

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I'd totally forgotten that Damien had invited me to be his date for his family's annual charity ball.

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Come on.

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We don't want to be late.

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Damien took my hand and rushed me to his car.

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When we arrived at the ball, Damien's parents were excited to meet me.

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They spent the whole night introducing me to all their fancy friends

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and bragged about how their son had landed the heiress to a throne.

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I needed a breath of fresh air, so I went out into the back alley for a bit to find Damien and the school's head cheerleader kissing.

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When they saw me, they.. turned as white as bedsheets.

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It's not what it looks like.

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Actually, it is.

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Damien and I are in love.

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I was going to tell you after the party.

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I just wanted to impress my parents by saying you were my girlfriend.

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You're their favorite royal and they've been dying to meet you.

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I slapped Damien hard in the face and stormed out of there.

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The next day, Brian marched up to me at school with a huge scowl.

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I waited for you for over an hour and you didn't even call.

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I'm sorry.

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I had another engagement.

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Like what? your fake royal duties

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if you didn't want to go you should have just told

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me you didn't have to play with my feelings i may not be one of the popular kids

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but i don't deserve to be treated like trash brian stormed off i was gutted and just

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when i thought the day couldn't get any worse i got

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an alert on my phone a gossip website had done a news report on me

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and outed me as a fraud all the kids crowded around me like an angry mob i ran outside

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and straight into a bunch of crazy paparazzi.

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They chased me through the parking lot.

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I darted down the street and jumped into a cab.

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Get me out of here, please.

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The driver hightailed it out of there.

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When I got home, I raced up the stairs and locked myself in my room.

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Then suddenly, someone unlocked my bedroom door and turned the knob.

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Terrified, I hid under the bed.

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My lies had finally caught up with me.

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The police would haul me off to jail.

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My mom would be so embarrassed, she disowned me.

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The whole thing.

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I'd even go on my permanent record.

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I closed my eyes and graced myself for the worst.

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Please have mercy.

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I'm just a kid.

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I made a mistake.

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I'm sorry.

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Don't be so dramatic.

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It's just me.

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I told you all this would blow up in your face, the lying, and most of all, Damien.

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Was he dating you too?

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No, gross.

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Damien and I lived in the same foster home years ago.

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That night at the restaurant, I got a text about her foster mother.

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She'd gotten into a bad accident and had to have a major surgery.

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She'd just woken up and was begging to see me and Damien.

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That's it.

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Damien hates that he was poor and he won't tell anyone he's adopted.

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Or that he and I know each other from a foster home.

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And he's always trying so hard to impress his snooty parents.

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You're not that different.

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He just wants so bad to fit in.

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That information hit me like a ton of bricks.

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At that moment, I decided to make a change.

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I apologized to Victoria and sent Brian a dozen I'm sorry memes.

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And I came clean to everyone at school.

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After my truth was revealed, I wasn't popular anymore, of course.

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I was even mocked and branded as a liar.

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But I had Victoria, and I eventually made friends with some nice kids.

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And it took a while, but Ryan and I started talking again after I offered to tutor him for free for a year.

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In the end, I realized

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that being a popular fake royal didn't hold a candle to being surrounded by friends that loved me for me.

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Thank you.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 277 sentences and 2653 words to shadow. The speech runs for 12:38. The speaker talks fast, about 210 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. Only 78% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
stare verb	/stɛɚ/	To look fixedly (at something).
introduce verb	/ˌɪntɹəˈdus/	To cause (someone) to be acquainted (with someone else).
foster verb	/ˈfɒstə/	To nurture or bring up offspring, or to provide similar parental care to an unrelated child.
throne noun	/θɹəʊ̯n/	An impressive seat used by a monarch, often on a raised dais in a throne room and reserved for formal occasions.
complicated adjective	/ˈkɑm.plɪˌkeɪ.tɪd/	Difficult or convoluted.
argue verb	/ˈɑɹ.ɡju/	To show grounds for concluding (that); to indicate, imply.
flash verb	/flæʃ/	To cause to shine briefly or intermittently.
chase verb	/t͡ʃeɪs/	To follow at speed.
cousin noun	/ˈkʌz(ə)n/	Chiefly with a qualifying word: Any relation (especially a distant one) who is not a direct ancestor or descendant but part of a person's extended family; a…
fancy noun	/ˈfæn.si/	The imagination.
piano noun	/piˈænɪː/	A percussive keyboard musical instrument, usually ranging over seven octaves, with white and black colored keys, played by pressing these keys, causing hammers…
jealous adjective	/ˈd͡ʒɛl.əs/	Suspecting rivalry in love; troubled by worries that one might have been replaced in someone's affections; suspicious of a lover's or spouse's fidelity.
skip verb	/skɪp/	To move by hopping on alternate feet.
scholarship noun	/ˈskɑːləɹʃɪp/	A grant-in-aid to a student.
stairs noun	/ˈstɛɹz/	A contiguous set of steps connecting two floors.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
look out verb		To be vigilant and aware often as an imperative to alert a person to danger.
wake up verb	/ˌweɪk ˈʌp/	To stop sleeping; to awake.
come over verb		To affect in a sudden, unprecedented or surprising manner; to overwhelm a person's ordinarily contrary impulse.
figure out verb		To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce.
find out verb		To discover, as by asking or investigating.
get back to verb		Return to (an activity)
storm off verb		to leave somewhere angrily
take out verb		To remove.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on	have been arguing · they've been dying
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	was called · You've been awarded · was filled
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	You've been awarded · I've seen · Have you lost
Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past	was unpacking · was working · wasn't hurting

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 75 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, didn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: throne /θɹəʊ̯n/, wealthy /ˈwɛl.θi/, mathematics /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/, filthy /ˈfɪlθi/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: flash /flæʃ/, scholarship /ˈskɑːləɹʃɪp/, mansion /ˈmæn.ʃən/, rush /ɹʌʃ/, trash /tɹæʃ/
Long words — get the stress right: complicated /ˈkɑm.plɪˌkeɪ.tɪd/, temporary /ˈtɛmp(əˌɹ)ɛɹi/, congratulations /kənˌɡɹæt͡ʃəˈleɪʃ(ə)nz/, celebrity /səˈlɛb.ɹɪ.ɾi/, popularity /ˌpɑ.pjəˈlæɹ.ə.ti/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like stare, introduce, foster.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: I Chose My Rich Aunt Over My Mom & Regretted It - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?

From Rich Princess To Poor Beggar: Rapunzel's Biggest Mistake | Stories for Teen @OnceUponAClueFRT