Sadie, Enchanted

Chapter Six

The next morning, Sadie woke up to find Noah gone. Frowning, Sadie stretched and stood up. She shook out her backpack, which she had used as a pillow, and slung it on her back. Standing up, Sadie looked around.

"Noah?" She called. There was no reply. "Hm," She murmured, turning in a circle. The forest was quiet besides the occasional chirp of a bird. Sun shone through the trees, warming Sadie. She took a step towards the direction of the village when she heard a twig snap. She whirled around, but saw nothing. "Noah??" She called again, this time feeling nervous. "Noah-"

"AH!" Noah jumped out from behind a tree, waving his arms. Sadie shrieked and fell backwards, landing on the ground with an 'oomph'. She glared up at Noah, who stood grinning down at her.

"Why?" She asked in annoyance. Noah shrugged.

"It brought me joy," He said simply. He then pulled a few apples out from behind his back and tossed one to Sadie, who caught it just before it hit her in the face. Noah grinned again and took a bite out of his own. He brushed past Sadie as she stood up and headed towards the village. "Come on. We've already wasted our first day." He called. Sadie grumbled to herself but jogged after him, biting into her own apple. She fell into step beside Noah and the two walked together silently. After a moment, Noah spoke up. "Hey, remember that time you almost burnt down an entire village within like two minutes?" he asked. Sadie shoved him and walked faster. Noah followed, chuckling to himself.

The teens reached the village just as a horse-drawn carriage (not the one that had been engulfed in flames) pulled into the square. Surprisingly, the square was completely clean. Not even a shred of confetti was left. Disney.

A man stepped out of the carriage, clad in a colorful uniform with puffy sleeves. A crowd formed around him as he pulled out a scroll and read from it in a booming voice.

"Here ye, here ye!" He began. "The King is happy to announce a royal ball, in which the prince will choose his bride. In three days' time, the King has asked that every available maiden in the kingdom, whether she be noble or countryfolk, attend the ball." He announced, and went on to shout more instructions.

"Three days?! Constance said a week!" Sadie cried. Noah shrugged.

"Why shouldn't things be more difficult than they already are?" He muttered to himself.

Sadie shook her head. "No matter, we can do this. It'll be easy. Well, I shouldn't say that. But we have to do this. Then we can go home earlier."

"You should be a motivational speaker."

Ignoring him, Sadie placed her hands on her hips. "I think we should split up. We'll find the items we need faster." Noah shrugged, but nodded. "Okay, so I was thinking I should be in charge of the dress, since I know what it should look like. I was so close last night, but-." Sadie stopped, not wanting to discuss the events of the previous evening. Noah smirked and she ignored him. "Can you find the glass shoes?" She asked.

Noah frowned. "What do they look like?" He asked.

"Heels. Glass. That's about it." Sadie instructed.

Noah sighed but nodded. "Okay. Whatever gets me out of here faster."

"You know, it's going to be a lot harder the more you complain."

"Oh, so you're happy to be here? Sorry to ruin your fun." Noah snapped. Sadie frowned.

"All I was saying was that you should whine less. It'll make this whole thing more bearable. And no, I'm not any happier to be here than you are, and you know that." Sadie retorted.