The kiss only lasts a few seconds but my stomach erupts into butterflies. When Nicholas pulls away he has a soft smile on his face. "You don't know how long I've waited to do that," he says softly. Then he stands and starts packing his clothes away, in the same casual "nothing groundbreaking just happened" way.
I stay frozen on the bed, watching him and trying to ignore the feeling of desire that's rising in me. To my relief, the door opens and Chase walks in.
"Chase, thank god you're here," I say without thinking.
"Why? Last time I checked you were all embarrassed," he says with confusion.
"Oh right. But we uh... needed help reaching something up high," I say. We can't tell Chase about our conversation if we want to pretend nothing happened.
"Oh, what did you need help reaching? There's nothing on the shelves," Chase says.
"Right, it was a spider. Gone now I guess," Nicholas says. We glance at one another and I get butterflies in my stomach again.
"Let's pack up and leave," I suggest. When I'm riding my horse I'll have time to comprehend what just happened.
We leave half an hour later. Luckily we didn't unpack very much but we did have to buy some breakfast and lunch at the tiny grocery stand beside the inn. There wasn't much variety since the supplies were mostly payment from farmers transporting their goods.
I'm filled with relief when we finally get moving. Unfortunately, Chase wants to talk to us for some bizarre reason. "So, call me crazy but you two have been avoiding eye contact all day. You think I wouldn't notice that and the weird energy in the room after my bath? What's going on, did you also see Violet naked?" Chase asks Nicholas.
Nicholas shakes his head. "I have no idea what you're talking about, right Vi?" He looks over to me and I glance at him, my eyes pleading for him not to tell Chase about us.
"See, now you're looking at each other but it's still weird. Just tell me what's going on."
"Like Nicholas said, we have no idea what you're talking about," I say, turning my gaze to the road.
"Fine, just know I don't believe you," Chase tells us.
Finally the silence I'd hoped for falls over the group.
HOLY SHIRT. NICHOLAS HAS FEELINGS FOR ME. AND WE KISSED. AND I TOLD HIM I CAN SEE THE FUTURE. AND WE KISSED.
Once I've recovered from my mind exploding, I try to figure out what to do next. We were in such a good place and now things will be all awkward. If he doesn't act weird around me I'll know it's because he's trying to charm me. It's all so awful and confusing it makes me want to scream.
Part of me is saying that it will never work. I am a side character, one who ruined his happily ever after. He is sophisticated and good looking and the sweetest person I've met in my lives. I don't even know what forks to use at dinner, I may look better than I used to but I'm still not Disney beautiful, and I lie constantly. Plus, he may be giving up his life goal for me.
On the other hand, he may be giving up his life goal for me. I can't deny I have feelings for him and he's so amazing. Also, that kiss.
But what about Chase?
Chase? Why am I concerned about him? I've definitely felt feelings for him too. The times he was open and vulnerable with me especially. As much fun as I have joking around with him, there is another side of Chase that makes my heart flutter.
But this isn't about Chase. This isn't about excuses to be with Nicholas. I need to focus. How can I save our friendship? No amount of writing in a notebook could help me figure out this mess. My mind looks like one of those mystery solving boards with red strings that detectives would use on tv. What I need is someone to talk to. And the only person I want to talk to is Cinderella.
"I need a nap," I blurt out suddenly. Nicholas and Chase turn to give me concerned looks. "I didn't sleep much last night and if don't nap right now I'm going to fall off my horse," I say intensely.
Chase ponders this for a moment but agrees to let me take a break. "Fine, but you owe us both," Chase says. We navigate our horses into the forest surrounding us and ride for a few minutes until we find a clearing with a small stream beside it. Chase tethers the horse to some trees and Nicholas goes to refill a water bottle
Sidenote: I have been terrified of getting some sort of water disease but I don't know how to explain my knowledge of waterborne illnesses so I pretend to be picky and only drink well water. I also make Nicholas and Chase filter their water using fabric.
Anyways, I curl up on a patch of moss and grass and cover my upper body in my red cloak. I was being honest when I said I was really tired, so I fall asleep quickly. "Please work," I beg before drifting off.
When I open my eyes, I'm in a bright field. Waist-high wheat ripples in the gentle wind. Shhhhh.
"Wow, that was lucky," I say. It's been a while since I visited Cinderella and today, when I fell asleep with the intention of seeing her, I happened to enter her dreamscape.
I spin around, looking for Cinderella. Finally I notice a head peeking out of the wheat. I walk quickly through the field, eager to tell my step-sister about everything that's happening when I realize that it is not Cinderella's head I'm looking at. Cinderella is blonde and whoever this person is has light brown hair. I can't figure out what they're doing or what they look like until I'm a few feet away.
As I approach the wheat crunches loudly wherever I step which catches their attention. The person, who's a beautiful girl about my age, turns her head to look at me and as she does I'm able to see what she was doing. Cinderella. Well, kind of. It seemed like mostly over the clothes action.
"V-Violet! You're here!" my sister exclaims, sitting up and dusting off her dress.
"Who are you?" I ask the girl.
"I'm Talia, are you Ella's sister?"
"Yeah. How are you... here?" I ask, still confused.
"I've also been put under a sleeping spell. Ella's told me all about you."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I've never heard of you," I say.
"You haven't been here since we met," Cinderella explains. "I wasn't able to sense you coming today, why do you think that is?"
"Maybe you were a little distracted." I joke. Cinderella's face turns bright red and she avoids all eye contact. "I didn't mean it like that," I say, feeling guilty. I know she's sensitive so I should try to be more careful about what I say. "I'm just surprised and a little confused."
"I think I should give you some space. I'll see you in a bit," Talia says. Then she gracefully runs into the field.
"I had no idea there could be other people in your dreamscape. Other than me."
"Yeah, it's pretty big here so it took us a while until we ran into each other," Cinderella says.
"Tell me more! How did you guys... get so close?" I ask.
"You hadn't visited in a while so I was getting lonely and she was so easy to talk to. We spent a lot of time together and slept beside each other for warmth and one day it wasn't a friendship anymore," she blushes.
I can't shake off the huge smile on my face. It's so cute I want to explode. "I'd love to talk more about this and I promise we will soon but I kinda need advice. Also, I'm taking a nap so I have pretty limited time."
"Sure, what's going on?"
"Well, Nicholas confessed that he has feelings for me and now he's leaving his fiance to be with me. But I turned him down and... told him a big secret and he still wants me," I groan.
"I thought you liked Nicholas."
"I do, I just can't be with him," I say. I wish I didn't have to be this vague but I don't want to spread more lies about myself if I don't have to.
"Is that because of Chase?"
"I don't know, maybe. Mostly I want everything to stay how it is," I explain. "We're all having so much fun and no matter what I do I've ruined a friendship."
"That's a tough situation," Cinderella says sympathetically. "I think you should pretend nothing happened, even if it seems awkward. Just forget about it all."
"That's what I was thinking. Though Nicholas said he'd win me over by being a charming friend."
"I don't think that's a big problem. If he's trying to be a charming friend then you'll get that regular friendship you wanted back. Plus, just because he's being charming doesn't mean you'll have to fall in love with him."
"You're so good at advice," I smile, making Cinderella blush a little. I give her a big hug. "I knew I'd feel better after visiting you."
"You mean you did this on purpose?" she asks, confused.
"No, I don't think so. I think it's just luck."
"Oh, well let's hope your luck continues. I miss you," she says sweetly, pulling me into another hug.
"I miss you too. Next time I come we can talk about Talia." I begin saying goodbye. The wind is starting to whip our hair around, signaling some natural disaster is about to take me away.
The wind continues to blow harder and a tornado appears a few hundred feet away. Just as the twister hits I wake up.