It was an incredibly terrible, awful, horrible, and ridiculous idea.
It was so absurd it just had to work.
To be completely honest, it wasn't the best idea. The idea was made up entirely in precisely ten minutes. Nothing could be said regarding an idea that only took ten minutes. Then again, the ones who thought it up genuinely believed it could realistically work. Or at least, that was what they assumed.
The incredibly terrible, awful, horrible, and ridiculous idea began at exactly 9:45 that morning. It all started with a single letter.
If there is one thing that the Forte family was famous for, it would be the flair of the dramatics. It wasn't being dramatic enough to turn a person into a world star on the movie screen. It was the being dramatic enough that it was just simply exhausting. Skya could attest to that. She has to live with these drama queens every day.
Everything began with her Aunt Leona marching right into the dining room with ruffling, fluffy skirts and her chest held high. Aunt Leona smooths out her layers of dresses, checks her sleeves, and fixes her posture. She has a piece of paper clutched between her thin fingers and is seemingly preparing herself for a grand speech.
Everyone turns quickly towards her.
Aunt Leona bellows while making some kind of swooping gesture with a letter in her hand, "Everyone! I bring you excellent news from the Knightons!"
How would she know it's good news if she barely opened the letter? Aunt Leona always had a bad habit of saying something is good news before making sure she's right. The rest of the Fortes have a terrible habit of believing her right away before hearing what else she has to say. But that's just Skya's humble opinion.
Another loud, unnecessary 'ahem!' to bring everyone's attention back to Aunt Leona as she starts reading, "To the Forte family, I hope all is well with everyone and that you are all healthy. I am writing to you, Miss Leona, regarding your eldest daughter, Nora. I have heard positive affirmations about her stunning beauty and intelligence, so I would be glad if she were to meet my eldest son, Vance. I hope they meet and become fond of one another and, hopefully, join together in matrimony. Please make the arrangements for Nora to meet Vance sometime soon. I am thinking of Puzzle Forest at 8 o'clock in two weeks. Have her wear that beautiful red cloak I hear so much about! Let us hope for a wonderful greeting. With fond regards, Wyatt Knighton."
A total of eight people, including Skya, heard that entire grandiose retelling of the letter. She smiles politely at her Aunt Leona's irrelevant curtsy and too-wide grin as the others chatter excitedly among themselves. After all, not every day does anyone get a letter from an influential family. Especially one as powerful as the Knightons.
As the rest of the family gets more riled up at the idea of one of the members possibly getting married to a Knighton, they almost forget one tiny little thing. One thing that could mess up their plans and daydreams of riches and a lavish lifestyle.
Nora is practically missing in action, as in a no-one-has-seen-her-in-almost-a-whole-month way.
Aunt Leona vehemently denies this fact every time someone attempts to bring it up, so no one even bothers to gently let her know that her daughter is not home. The chatter endlessly discusses everyone's ideas on making the arrangement happen and what Nora should wear. It's almost admirable if it wasn't for the glaring flaw in their plans. Skya decides to wait it out until they realize they're missing one key factor in all of this: Nora.
It took nearly five minutes of idle babble for that exact problem to dawn on them.
"Wait, but what about Nora?" one of her cousins asked innocently.
In a flair of ginormous skirts and ruffles, Aunt Leona gasps while clutching her heart with a wide open mouth and enlarged brown eyes. Her pupils seem to have shrunken down to the tiniest dot possible. Aunt Viola literally faints while Uncle Bruce clumsily grabs her to prevent her from falling. Aunt Lydia begins to hyperventilate while fanning herself as one of Skya's cousins nearly bursts into tears. The others turned their heads so quickly to Aunt Leona that they almost got whiplash. It was all, honestly, madness.
"Oh god! Nora!!" Aunt Leona wails with horrendous lime green eyeshadow smudging and mascara running down her face in thin black ribbons.
"What do we do?" Aunt Lydia asks after calming down.
"I don't know! It's Fredrick's fault for pointing it out!" After recovering from her fainting spell, Aunt Viola points accusingly at the little boy.
Fredrick, poor thing, cries out, "But it's true! Nora isn't here! We're in big trouble if she doesn't meet Vance!"
Aunt Leona screams in frustration, "Fredrick! Not helping!"
"Maybe they won't find out?" Cora states with a sheepish grin.
Aunt Leona glowers at her for even saying anything.
Uncle Dustin, bless him, steps in with a flourish, "How about we tell Knighton to give Nora some more time before meeting Vance?"
Aunt Viola nods vigorously, "Maybe he'll be willing to wait a little longer."
Fredrick shrugs, "But how long will he wait for her to show up?"
Aunt Leona scowls at him again, "Again, Fredrick...not helping!"
"What if we have someone step in her place?" Uncle Bruce asks curiously.
Heads slowly turned to him after he made that suggestion. They stare at him as if wondering if he indeed said that. After a couple of moments, it seemed like a lightbulb lit above their heads simultaneously.
"Who would step in for her? We only have Cora and Skya!" Aunt Lydia points out.
"Hey! I have a boyfriend! I'm not doing this!" Cora rejects it immediately.
"Why should I do it? Nora and I don't look alike!" Skya states as she gestures to herself.
Aunt Leona stands up and brushes invisible dirt off her skirt.
"Skya, my dear. It has to work! You're meeting Vance at nighttime in Puzzle Forest, and you'll wear Nora's cloak so no one will notice!" She happily tells her with a victorious grin on her face.
It's true. Puzzle Forest is so dark that travelers can barely see two feet in front of them in the daytime, so nighttime will make it even harder for Vance to see her face. The only light the forest even gets is some moonlight, so it should be fine. Skya could even wear the hood to hide her face while meeting Vance.
It sounded really terrible.
It's so ridiculous that it just has to work.
*Not sure if I’m a fan of using Vance as my male lead’s name. I want to change it, but I’m not sure. Let me know what you think
