Secret Forbidden Connections (slowly editing & plot changing)

Chapter One

"Valina, wake up."

"Mmm... what?" Valina opens her eyes to see her best friend smiling down at her.

"Good morning, sunshine," Leala says, giggling.

"What time is it?" Valina asks as she sits up. She turns to the clock to see that it is seven in the morning.

"Damnit, I over slept." She gets out of bed and stretches her arms upward.

"My fault. I decided to let you have an extra hour of sleep," Leala says,  giving a sheepish grin.

Valina laughs. "I needed it. Anyway, time to take a shower before the glamour crew arrives. Nine, right?"

Leala looks down at her notebook. "Says nine a.m. right here! I can't wait to see you all dressed up in that beautiful gown."

Valina laughs. "The dress, I don't have an issue with. The glamour crew and what they'll do to my face, different story."

The girls laugh in unison.

"You'll look amazing; no matter what horrific things they do to your face. You know why?" Leala asks with a smirk.

"Because... You'll fix it for me?" Valina asks, winking at her best friend.

"Exactly," Leala says, winking back.

"What would I do without you," Valina says.

"Heaven knows," Leala says with a giggle.

Valina grins and heads over to the bathroom.

"I'll take half an hour, tops."

"Perfect," Leala says. "That will give your hair enough time to dry before the stylists show up."

"And enough time for us to relax before they go all ape shit on my hair and face."

Leala laughs. She looks over at Valina and smiles at her best friend.

"I'm so proud of how calm you are right now. You always know how to keep your posture in check."

"I try, I try," Valina says as she bows in exaggeration.

Leala giggles. "Silly. Now go shower, your highness."

"Not your highness yet, Leala. Let me enjoy my last moments as a mere princess," Valina says as she flips her hair.

Leala laughs as she rolls her eyes.

Valina winks and enters the bathroom. She quickly closes the door behind her as her mood changes.

"Posture in check, my ass. If she only knew."

Valina takes a look at herself in the mirror.

Her long, light brown hair sticking to the sides of her face from sweat. Dark circles under her ruby, brown eyes from stress and worry.

"I'm a five-foot-ten nervous wreck. I don't have what it takes to be queen." She looks at the reflection of the exhausted eighteen year old girl in front of her.

"Mom, dad, I miss you both so much." Tears form in her eyes, but she quickly rubs them away.

"No. No crying. This isn't what they would have wanted. I need to be strong... for them."

Her reflection changes from exhaustion to determination.

"Suck it up. You have your crowning to attend."