#aribella

previously: 

“Hey, do you want do drop off our books in our rooms and go swimming in the pool? If you don’t want to, then that’s cool as well,” I said, with a smile.

Just then, Izzy starts laughing, “Oh my gosh! I was just thinking of the pool! Okay, lets go!”

With that, we both started running towards our rooms, which were in the same hall, and we both agreed to change and meet in the hallway. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face, no matter how hard I tried, because for the first time in this selection, the palace didn’t feel as daunting as it did before, because of one girl.

Isabella

...

Isabella and I both finished changing, and when I walked outside to meet her, she was smiling.

“You ready to enjoy the sun, Aricia?” she asked cheerily

I nodded, but then realized I forgot something. “Oh, wait, I forgot to grab a towel!!” when I turned to grab one from my washroom, I heard Izzy’s laughter.

Shaking my head, I grabbed a towel, and walked outside to meet Izzy. “Okay, now im ready! Lets go!” I said, she laughed and we both started walking.

I turned to look at her after a few paces, realizing that I didn’t know where the pool was. “Do you know where the pool is?” I asked, hoping that she knew.

Izzy shook her head, “I have no idea, to be honest! It must be somewhere near the garden! But the gardens are huge!” she said, laughing at our predicament.

I laughed along with her, and decided to ask a guard where the pool was. I saw a dark haired guard standing near the end of the hall, and I went to go ask him.

“Excuse me?” I asked as I approached him, and he turned and smiled at me.

“Yes, Lady Aricia, right?” he asked.

“Yeah, my friend and I were just wondering where the pool was?” I asked him, waiting for his answer.

“The pool is by the garden,” he said, and continued to give some directions which I really wasn’t paying attention to.

When he finished talking, I thanked him and walked back towards Izzy.

“You were right, Izzy!” I said, smiling at her, “The pool is by the garden”.

She smiled, “Yes! Lets have a look there! It cant be too hard to find, can it?” she asked, as we arrived to the doors that open to the garden. We both opened the door and walked in.  As soon as we walked in, Izzy ran to a bunch of roses and smelt them. I ran after her and sighed when I smelt the roses.

“The roses smell beautiful! But I don’t think we can go swimming in them,” I said with a laugh, and Izzy laughed along with me.

“You are so right. With the thorns and stuff, we’d get pricked!” she exclaimed, and we both continued laughing. When we finally calmed down and stopped laughing, Izzy came up with an idea of her own.

“I think that the pool is on that side of the garden,” she said, pointing towards the part of the garden that wasn’t enclosed with a fence.

I nodded, but then got an idea, “Alright, lets go!! Last one there is a soggy noodle!” I screamed, and started running,

Izzy screamed something incoherent from behind me, and started running after me. When she started catching up to me, she screamed, “That’s not fair, you were already ahead of me!!”

I stopped running, and broke out into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. Izzy came to a stop beside me and broke out laughing.

“Aricia! The… guards… are giving us… weird looks!” She tried to say in between laughter, and my laughs got louder due to her predicament.

“Who cares?” I said, and started laughing even harder when I saw the faces of some of the guards. One of them was trying to hold back a smile, and the other was full out laughing.

I turn back to Izzy, as she says, “I will get you back, you know!”

I start laughing again, and get ready to run. “Well, you’ve got to catch me for that!” I yelled, and started running towards the pool.

I saw Izzy blow her hair out of her face, and chase after me. “I’m exhausted, but there is no way in Illea that I’m letting you win!” she said

We kept running, but then I stopped and turned to Izzy’s approaching form and yelled, “I found the pool!”

She kept running and then caught up to me. When she finally pulled up to where I was, she was breathless.

“I thought we would never find it!” she said, when her breathing regulated.

We started walking towards the pool, and I laid my towel down on one of the relaxing beds, and Isabella was doing the same. I took off my flipflops and coverup, and turned to look at Izzy.

“Do you want to hit the water now?” I asked

She nodded, “I hope the water isn’t to cold!” she says, and we both walk towards the water. I slip a toe into the water and nod at her.

“The water is great!” I exclaim, preparing to get in. Beside me, Izzy jumps into the water, and yells, “I can’t believe nobody else is here! Its so strange!”

I jump in after her, and we both swim around to get accustomed to the water. I found a pool floatie near the corner, and got on. It was shaped like a unicorn, and was so comfortable! Izzy took a quick picture of me sitting on it, then I pushed the floatie to the corner and started splashing Izzy, laughing at her reaction.

“Hey!” she exclaimed, turning around and splashing water at me, laughing as I got soaked.

I squealed, and Izzy and I got into a water fight.

“I wont let you win this time!” She screamed, and we both continued splashing eachother.

“Try me! I wont let you win!” I retorted, and she laughed.

“Good, because I wont back down!” she yelled, and we continued laughing around and splashing.

We both kept splashing eachother, until we got tired. Suddenly, I came up with an idea.

“Hey, do you want to play Marco Polo?” I asked, sweeping my hair out of my face.

She looked at me quizzically, “What is Marco Polo?” she asked, wiping water off of her face.

“Marco Polo is a game where one person has their eyes closed and says Marco, and the other person has their eyes open and says Polo, and the person with the eyes closed is trying to find the person with the eyes open based on hearing them” I said.

She nodded, “Hmm, that sounds interesting! Lets give it a go!”

I smiled, “Okay! So do you want to be Marco or Polo?” I asked

She thought about it long and hard, and came up with an answer, “Let me be the Marco, but don’t let me fall into the pool, okay?” she asks, and I nod, laughing.

“Alright,” I say, “Izzy, are you ready?”

She nods, and closes her eyes, stinking her hands in front of her. “Marco!” she yells, walking straight, so I move to the right so she cant get me. “Polo!”, I respond, seeing her coming at me.

“You can’t get me!” I taunt, moving away from her reaching arms.

“Am I allowed to talk?” she asks, walking towards me.

“Yeah!” I said, and  swam away from her arms.

“This is gonna take forever!” she complains, moving close to the wall of the pool. Before I can tell her to stop, she walks right into the wall, and recoils, holding her stomach,

“Ouch!” she exclaims, and I quickly swim towards her.

“Are you ok?” I asked, placing my arms on her shoulders. Suddenly, fast as a viper, her hands shot out and touched me on the shoulders.

“Ha! I got you!” she said, opening her eyes.

Damnit, I forgot about the game!

I start laughing, and playfully stick my tongue out at her.

“I was actually concerned about you, and you do this to me! How!” I exclaimed, placing my hand over my heart in mock hurt.

She started laughing and we both got out of the pool, toweled off, and laid down on the relaxing beds.

I turn to look at her, and ask, “So, what do you want to talk about?”

She turns to look at me, a serious expression on her face, “How do you know you like Percy?” she asked, and that took me off guard.

I didn’t know she wanted to talk about that Prince!!

I thought about the question for a minute, and said, “Well, he’s really nice, and you know when you meet someone and you feel a connection and you want to get to know more about them? That’s how I feel with Percy.”

She nodded, “That’s cool, I’ve had that in a friendship, but never romantically. What do you like about his personality?”

Wow, so today seemed like an episode out of that political show,‘Question Period’! (a/n; question period is a canadian politics show, fyi)

I thought hard about that question as well. I wanted to give her a meaningful answer, and not just something like ‘he’s hot’.

“Well,” I started, “I like that he is carefree and doesn’t let the little things get him down. He’s also a funny guy, and he makes me feel comfortable and free to be myself, which is something I’ve never experienced before. I feel that no matter what I tell him, he wont belittle me for it, and he seems like a guy who would stand by whoever he cares about.”

Izzy smiled warmly, “Aww, that’s adorable! I hope you find what you are looking for in Percy! Are you not scared of the consequences? Like it is kind of treason because its Dom’s selection. I don’t want you to be executed because of a boy!” she exclaimed.

I nodded, “Thanks Izzy! Yeah, I’m scared, but I’ve learned that you should do whatever you can for love, and besides, its only treason if I act on my feelings, I’m allowed to speak to him like a normal person,” I said, with a laugh.

“If you ever need me to cover for you or help you, let me know! Or if you just want to ramble about Percy, I will be here! Except for when I get eliminated, then you’ll have to write me a letter,” she says, winking at the last bit, “I hope Dom will be understanding, and that Percy returns your feelings!”

I smiled at that, glad that she was willing to stick with me and support me.  “You’re not getting eliminated! I’ll beg them to make you stay!! So, do you like Dom or someone else?” I asked, with a wink. It was time that I go all ‘question period’ on her. 

“I don’t know how to feel about Dom… I mean I do like talking to him and he is very attractive. But I don’t know if he is looking for a girl like me… I feel like he might want someone who her more dominant. I don’t even know,” she sighs.

“Well, Dom seems like the assertive type, so maybe opposites attract…?” I asked, trying to make my newfound friend feel better.

She shook her head, “or not. What if he thinks I am boring? I also think that the fact that my mom doesn’t like the ruling system of the royals may go against me…”

“Well, you don’t know until you get to know him! And he can’t hold that against you, though, you and your mom are different people! And to be completely honest, I don’t think he does. I think he is just being cautious.”

She nodded, “You’re probably right. Thanks!”