(Clara'a POV)
Okay I am officially about to be sick all over Jamesons fancy red carpet foyer/hallway/entrance thing i don't even know what it's called because I am FREAKING OUT.
We're currently standing in the grand foyer of Jamesons palace waiting for his parents to greet us.
I frantically tidied my hair at a services we stopped at and fixed my makeup quickly. I even had to remove Jameson's hoodie much to my disappointment because I do not think that my first impressions of meeting his parents should be a sleep deprived, hangry girl drowned in a massive hoodie with messy hair...yeah it's not a good look (well according to Jameson is very 'cute' and tried to get me to keep the hoodie on but I won that bet).
But here we are. His palace is HUGE. And I thought our school looked like a place. Our school looks like a tiny playhouse compared to his palace.
"Jameson, my darling!" I see Jamesons mum do a little run towards her son and Jameson meets her and engulf her in a huge hug.
They actually look very alike which is surprising. He has his mothers eyes and smile, but her striking blonde hair sets her apart from him.
His father then strolls very confidently into the room, radiating power and a sort of fatherly warmth to him. He simply smiles at his son and open his arms to which Jameson gladly hugs him.
While they talk the Queen comes over to us. "Good evening boys! And girls" she gives me a soft smile which I gladly return.
"Wassup Queen A" Xavier gives her a hug and then holds out his fist for her to bump. She stares at it for a few seconds utterly confused. I try to stifle a laugh.
"Oo! Yes! I remember this one." She proudly fist bumps Xavier's fist very lightly as if his hand were a feather. Xavier has a winning grin on his face.
Next she greets the twins. And that leaves...
Me.
She strolls up to me very elegantly and nods at me while smiling, clasping her hands together in-front of her.
"And you must be Clara?" Her smile is soft and warm and her eyes are so caring and bright. The familiar ache for my mother swirls in my stomach. I miss her so much.
"It's nice to meet you, you're majesty." I hold out my hand to shake hers (I have no idea what I'm supposed to do).
"Oh don't be silly! Come here," before I could even respond she engulfs me in a warm hug, the smell of rich perfume lingering in the air. "And you can call me Amber." She winks at me and I laugh before she walks back to Jameson, linking her arm through his.
"Come, come. Dinner is being made very shortly." Jameson, his mother and father walk ahead while we hang a little behind as we make our way through the palace.
Xavier decided to copy Queen Amber and links his arm through mine as we make our way through countless corridors and wings.
This palace is unreal. The delicacy on the walls is like no other, the palest of white with soft blues and white wooden panelling across the walls. Gold is etched into nearly every corner and huge paintings and candles line the walls along with plants and little cushioned seats twice the size of regular ones. I feel dizzy trying to take everything in.
We soon come to the most gorgeous drawing room where we are seated on the most comfy cream sofas. The ceiling is a full painting of angels and clouds and sunsets. The walls are a duck egg blue with white panelling and gold poking out of the comers. Huge windows like the wall opposite the door as soon as you enter, compromised with a huge stone fireplace on the far right wall with a gently fire burning in the logs.
I almost forgot how to breathe.
The king and queen excuse themselves from the drawing room to get ready for dinner, but before they do queen Amber tells me that she has had the maids lay me an evening gown in my bedchambers for me to wear tonight. She reminds me so much of my mother with her warm and bright personality.
"I know I say this every time, but I could live here forever." Xavier sunk into the sofa beside me and Jameson threw a pillow at him from across the room which he caught surprisingly.
"It's not as easy going as it looks." Jameson poured himself a glass of soda from the fancy crystal glasses and jugs beside where he was seated opposite, offering us all drinks too.
"Yeah," Xavier let out a sign. "If only we all lived here." He then studied the room for a second, staring up at the ceiling in thought. "Image the games of hide and seek here." He raised one eyebrow and looked at us all expectedly.
The twins looked at each-other in sync before turning back to Xavier, eyes sparkling with adventure. "Let's do it."
Jameson scoffed and shook his head smiling. "This is going to be good."
"Wait guys-" I look between the four of them. "Oh you're being serious?"
"Scared to play a little hide and seek Clara dearest?" Xavier wiggled his eyebrows jokingly and this time I threw a pillow at him.
"I bet I'd win." I jokingly stated with a smug grin.
"Oh it is on. WAIT! Let's get into teams." Xavier jumped up. "Assigned by me of course though."
Xavier paced in-front of us, pretending to think really hard. "Okay! I'll seek first so Tom and Jameson can be a team, Clara go with Grayson. Everyone has five minutes to get to a hiding place. First team to be found wins a prize."
"What's the prize?" I question. What? I need to know how competitive I need to be.
"We'll decide after, but it'll be a good prize." Xavier chuckled.
We all went out into the corridor in our teams.
"You're so going down." Tom grinned from opposite us.
"In you're dreams, brother." Grayson folded his arms, a competitive glint in his eyes.
"Okay! On you're marks. WAIT! I forgot to say quickly too, no cheating. OR making me jump! Because that was super creepy last time being by myself and having you guys jump out at me, not funny!" I look at the guys and they just laugh.
Xavier cleared his throat. "As I was saying. On you're marks. Get set...GO!" He dramatically signalled for us to go and we all divided. Grayson and I sprinted down the corridor to the left, while Tom and Jameson sprinted down the one in the middle.
We flew past so many room and corridors that I couldn't keep count.
"This way! I know a good hiding spot!" Grayson pulled me down about a million corridors until we came across a little study. We crept inside and Grayson showed me a secret passageway hidden behind the wall that was unlocked by a button under the desk. We went inside and hid.
"How did you even find this place?" I asked Grayson in the pitch black, I couldn't even see my own hands in-front of me.
"We used to play hide and seek all the time when we were younger. Jameson was always my partner so he showed me all the good spots."
"Are there many others like this?"
"Oh there are hundreds! I haven't found all of them yet, but I'm getting there." Even though it was dark I could see that he was smiling.
I'm still in a bit of shock from the whole thing. This palace is overwhelmingly huge and I utterly breath taken by it all.
"So..." Grayson starts. "Let's gossip!"
"Grayson, did you just say the word gossip?" I stare at him in disbelief, well I think I'm staring at him but it's pitch black so I can't actually see a thing.
"Isn't that what girls say? They gossip right?"
"Right..." I giggle quietly incase someone is outside. "What should we gossip about?"
"Well...between us girls-" we both start laughing then, "I can't help but notice the way a certain two people who are very close to be are behaving."
I raise my eyebrows. "And who are those certain someone's?"
"You and Jamie of course!"
I can feel my cheeks so slightly pink. Thank goodness he can't see me.
"Aw don't go all pink C, I think you two are very adorable."
What? He can't see me?! He can't know that!
"I'm not going pink." Suddenly a finger prods both my cheeks.
"Oh yes you are Clara. They're on fire."
"Shut up." I lightly smack his arm and he giggles. Yes, giggles.
"So." He clears his throat. "Between us girlies gossip session, I think you two are good for each-other. Seriously! Don't give me that look, I might not be able to see you but I know you well enough. And I also have know Jamie for years. I've never seen him act like this?"
"Like what?" I decide to play dumb. Well, not completely dumb but I also need answers too because I keep going in circles trying to figure out if his behaviour is flirty or just a friendly conversation.
"Like he's gone soft." Graysons voice goes quieter at the end. "I've never seen him stick up for someone like he does for you, and I've never seen him smile the way he does at you before. But, I'm worried because you are both very stubborn, and I don't want either of you to get hurt."
"Grayson" I gently put my hand in his arm reassuringly. "Jameson and I aren't even a thing, and we don't know if he even likes me like that. I've been thinking about it too and I keep running around in circles. I...I think my head is a bit clouded with questions right now."
"Can i be completely honest?" I nod in response. "I think you should stop overthinking it, and just live. Why worry now? Just be in the moment before you miss it and regret it later on. Do you know what my parents always used to tell me?"
I shake my head in the dark.
"They said: we can't spent our time trying to solve something that isn't an equation. Life isn't a maths problem you can solve. And that's perfectly okay, because we aren't supposed to know everything and all of the answers right now. Sometimes we just need to take a step back and be in the moment."
"Woah. Since when did you become so damn smart?" I nudge him jokingly and he laughs. "But I hear you, and I think you're right. You and you're parents."
I think I've been spending too much time trying to solve my problems instead of actually just being present and enjoying myself.
"I can be quite the therapist sometimes you know."
"Thank you." I smile at him even though he can't see me but I'm pretty certain that he smiled back.
It's been about half and hour of us being in this passageway 'gossiping' and waiting for Xavier to fine us.
After another 10 minutes I decide to step out and get some air, it's so stuffy in there.
I tell Grayson that I'll be back in 5 minutes and remind him not to go anywhere because I will get lost without him.
I make my way out of the study and into the corridor, lightly shutting the door behind me. I get out my phone to check my notifications, seeing many more miss calls from my dad and more messages from Savannah. I switch my phone off, wanting to deal with that later instead of now.
I aimlessly walk down the corridor.
What Grayson said in the passageway has opened my mind, making me feel refreshed and grounded.
I couldn't even finish my thought before someone pulled me out of the corridor into a dark space. His hands wrapped around my waist and I could hear him breathing.
"Are you blind?" Jameson laughed at me, whispering in my ear as we're both crammed in this tiny storage cupboard. I can faintly make out Tom next to him too.
"What?" I breathed.
"Xavier was about to turn the corner, love. You would have been found."
"Don't you guys want me to be found first." I laugh at them both.
"Let's just say we go easy on beginner." Jamesons lips lift into a small grin and I meet his sparkling green and blue eyes. I raise my eyebrows at him.
"Then I guess you'll have to sit back and watch us win." I gently take his hands from my wait, putting my right hand on his chest to gently push him to the wall opposite, his eyes burning into mine the whole time. "Have fun loosing, losers!" I give them a little wave which Tom returns and Jameson is leaning against the wall, arms crossed and with mischievous eyes looking into mine.
I quickly make my way back into the study and find the button under the desk before I hoped back into the passageway.
"What took you so long! It's creepy in here!"
"Sorry." I laughed, "I ran into Tom and Jameson."
"They haven't been found yet?!"
"Unfortunately not." We both sighed.
We waited for around another 10 minutes before we finally started to hear footsteps in the study.
"Someone's coming." Grayson whispered to me.
"Yeah, no kidding." I rolled my eyes jokingly and he shoved my arm playfully.
We both peeked through the tiny gap in the wall. The room went silent. I was just about to whisper something to Grayson to say that whoever it was had gone when suddenly the passage door swung open, causing Grayson and I to tumble out onto the floor.
"FOUND YOU LOSERS!" Xavier did a little victory dance with a proud grin on his face.
"Nooooo." I dramatically complained before I got up off the floor, helping Grayson up too.
"How did you find us?" Grayson dusted off his jeans.
"It was easy." Xavier folded his arms smugly. "I followed the sound to two very loud whispers."
Grayson and I looked at each-other and then back at Xavier before laughing.
"Okayyy, okay I admit we weren't the quietest."
"Yeah, gossip requires full attention. I guess we got a bit too carried away." Grayson laughs and I laugh too.
"Gossip?!" Xavier almost looks offended. "Why wasn't I involved in this!"
"I'll make sure you're involved next time." I pat his shoulder.
"Let's go find the others. I'm starving and we should probably clean up before dinner too." Grayson starts to make his way to the door and Xavier and I follow.
We make our way through the corridor. "Clara, did you say you ran into them earlier? Any idea where they are hiding?"
"Yep, just through here..." I lead them down the corridor and point to the small storage cupboard.
Xavier does the honours and opens the door, causing Tom to scream in fright. Jameson just looks at him dumbfounded.
"Oh...I uh...I'm not scared." Tom rolled his shoulders forward, puffing his chest out. We all raised our eyebrows at him before we all hurt our laughing.
"You guys are the winners!" Xavier pats them both on the shoulders in that kinda of manly greeting that men do.
Jameson raises his eyebrows at me, grinning. "Sit back and watch you win?"
I roll my eyes jokingly and fold my arms in defence. "Yeah, yeah. I'll win next time." I smile at him and he smiles back. His smile is just so contagious!
"Guys I am STARVING!" Xavier frantically rubs his belly.
"We should probably go and get ready now." Jameson says to us all. "You guys know where you're rooms are, right?" They all nod at him before he looks at me. Even him looking at me gives me butterflies.
"I'll show you to yours." He smiles softly, showing some of his teeth.
We're just about to turn to walk down the corridor when Jameson suddenly freezes. I look at him in confusion and notice all the guys so still next to us too. Their eyes are staring at one person making their way down the corridor towards us.
"James. Here you are. How rude of you not to say hello earlier."
It's Jamesons' older brother.
——-♛——
Dun dun DUNNN.
!THIS CHAPTER HAS NOT BEEN EDITED! Sorry for any mistakes :)
I had so much fun writing this chapter, I hope you like it!
What day would you guys like the new chapters to come out? I usually try to do Friday-Sunday
Finally, with Jameson's name, what should Clara call him? Jamie, James, Jameson...something else? I need nickname ideas!
Thank you sm for the amount of reads and votes and comments! I love reading the comments they really do motivate me to write <3
Have a beautify day guys!