Mess of a Fantasy (Darise Ever After High Fanfiction)

Chapter 9: 'I Love You', Liar

A castle servant brought our sundaes to my guest room, along with a large dog treat for Carmine that was larger than his head.

"So, what do you plan on wearing tomorrow?" Darling asked, taking a spoon and digging into the ice cream.

I scooped some brownie and stuffed it in my mouth, then slid over to the closet and nudged the door open. Inside, I'd hung up my outfit, and it hung perfectly on the hanger. The shoes I wanted to wear with it were placed directly underneath the black and red floral dress.

{I have attached a photo of Cerise's outfit to this chapter! It is not a real item, I just clipped them together using photos from the internet & pic collage to get exactly what I was picturing for her! :D}

"Oooh, pretty!" Darling mumbled through puffed cheeks full of brownie.

"Thanks. What are you gonna wear?" I asked her. Darling, despite not being all that girly by nature, tends to wear the cutest dresses.

"I haven't decided yet. Maybe you can help me pick it out later," she said, already almost halfway done with her ice cream. "Hey, how do your nails look?"

"Pretty good, you're amazing with nails! The sparkly paw prints you did on my ring fingers are so cute!" I said, admiring my manicure. Darling hadn't told me she was going to draw the design on, but I was totally happy with how it turned out.

We quietly consumed the rest of our sundaes for a few moments, just letting the acoustic Shawn Mendestiny song soundtrack the silence.

When we were both finished, we checked our mirrorphones. I had a text from Raven, and she wanted to talk. I didn't know how to respond, so I slid my phone away from me on the fuzzy carpet. Darling lowered her phone down too, and she seemed a little frustrated as she tossed it onto the floor, watching it bounce twice on its curved sides on the soft rug.

"Everything okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's fine."

"You sure? This doesn't have anything to do with what Dexter said, does it?" I tried, trying my best to be a good friend.

"Nah, just some... Drama, that's all."

"Drama with what?"

"Bunny Blanc and Alistair Wonderland broke up."

"What does that have to do with you?"

"It doesn't, but that means he's single."

"So you like Alistair?"

"Well, no. But I know someone who does."

"Ooh, tell me!"

"No!"

"Pleeeease?" I tried the puppy dog eyes.

Darling rolled her eyes, then picked up her empty bowl and lonely spoon. "Let's go to the kitchen to return this stuff," she dodged my pleads.

"Fine, fine. But you're going to tell me who likes Alistair later!" I said, pretending I was going to throw my spoon at her.

She didn't even flinch. "Seriously! Don't do that!"

"Whatever," I laughed, opening the door. We stepped out into the hallway and had started a new conversation about Darling's "knight abilities" as she called them, when we heard Dexter on the phone with Raven- again.

"Shhh!" Darling hushed, ducking behind the wall.

"We're not going to eavesdrop again, are we?" I asked.

"Shhh!"

"Ugh."

"Raven, don't cry. Don't listen to Apple. Don't let her scare you. You've never let anything scare you, especially not an uptight princess with an oversized crown," Dexter talked into his mirror phone.

"I should've called her when she texted me," I whispered, feeling like a bad friend after all the attempts I'd made to show Darling I was a good friend. Trying to take my mind off of yet another mistake of today, I unfolded my back and stood up to my full height. "Let's go to the kitchen."

"Shut up, you'll blow our cover!" Darling hissed.

"Darling, we're not spies," I said loud and clear, not caring if Dexter heard me. Raven's my friend, I know she doesn't know I'm here but that doesn't mean I can't know anything about her relationship. She probably wanted to talk to me about the same stuff anyway.

"Oh, hey," Dexter grumbled, noticing us. "Darling, you aren't a spy, you're a knight."

"You guys are no fun," Darling puffed.

I walked over to Dexter and shouted "Hey Raven! Call you later!" in his phone.

"Yeah, that was Cerise. I dunno, she's your friend, shouldn't you know? Oh, right..." I heard Dexter say as we were walking away toward the kitchen.

*

The kitchen was just as beautiful and sparkly as the rest of the house. The beautiful light colored countertops and shining silver stools made the large space feel even more bright and open. Everything glittered. There wasn't a family dinner table in the room, just a large area for cooking, presumably because of the enormous dining hall around the corner. The chef was hard at work preparing tomato sauce and stretching pizza doughs, prepping for tomorrow's party. I could recall Daring mentioning something about homemade pizza being served. The thought of Daring and pizza at the same time would normally make my heart scream in happiness, but right now it just felt like the recipe for an upset stomach.

"Cerise, this is our chef, Chef Jonathan. HIS. PIZZA. IS. SICK!" Darling beamed, taking the bowl and spoon I'd been carrying over to the sink, rinsing them and stuffing them in the dishwasher. "Chef, Cerise is the one I told you about who is in love with food." She mouthed the words 'and other things', smiling like a hyena.

I knew exactly what she was hinting at and gave her an unimpressed look. We both laughed and talked about pizza with the Chef for a few minutes.

My ears pricked up as I heard the already-familiar sound of those recognizable blue, white and gold sneakers on the tile castle floor. They stepped effortlessly into the room we occupied. I knew them like I know the smell of pie cooking in the Hood household. Both make my heart do a happy dance but not this time around. I wouldn't look up, even the Darling nudged me which probably meant that he was staring at me. I just kept my gaze on his shoes. They were always spotless, despite all the sports he plays. I wonder if he has a different pair for everyday. I doubt it... But I bet he cleans them a lot.

His phone erupted into some random guitar ringtone I'd changed while he was in the bathroom one day after practice. His passcode was easy. He never changed either. He kept the ringtone I'd set and the password I knew. At first I thought he was making it too easy for me to mess with and go through stuff on his phone, but then I backed off because I wanted to keep myself trustworthy. I knew if I went through his texts trying to find out who his girlfriend was, I'd break that trust bond I'd worked too hard to build up.

He picked it up and said "Hey, Lizzie," quietly, which made the cracks in my heart deepen just a little bit more.

I know he was having a conversation but I blanked out and didn't hear a single word. I prayed he was breaking up with her like he had to.

"Hey, maybe we should go," Darling whispered, hopefully noticing my uncomfortableness in this situation.

We rushed past him, and out of the kitchen, my fuzzy socks sliding on the tile despite the paw print grippies. I could see from the corner of my eye him turning to look at us, me, to be more specific. Darling was already halfway to the stairs but I'd stopped to glance back... And what I heard was a deep, dark, heart shattering lie.

"Yeah, Lizzie... I love you, too."