#mistylane

Waking up to the sound of my alarm is not a good feeling. I should be used to this, but it just made me feel like I had to go to school. I grab my phone and turn off my alarm. Scrolling through my notifications I noticed a couple that caught my eye. One was from my dad asking how the ball went and if I was doing ok. Another was another kid from archery. They were just anime memes which made me laugh a tiny bit. The last one was the earliest. At around 4 in the morning. It was from Ambers mom. ‘Shes awake’ is all she said.

I had a flashback to last night. I felt like crap the entire night from the alcohol and probably the dairy. I had a lot going on last night. First I see two of my mains making out in my room, then I find out that my best friend was in an accident. How was I supposed to keep those a secret? I would see Felicity and Belle any moment now. Not to mention the fact that I need to cover up emotion. I used to it though.

My parents went through a hard phase when I was in 3rd grade to when I was in 6th grade. Those were some of the toughest years of my life. I had to go to school, acting like nothing happened and rolling with it. There were so many nights spent locked up in my closet, crying my eyes out. It would always happen in the middle of the night too when I would get woken up by my parents yelling. There were so many times where I had to destroy the evidence. I would have to clean up my tear-kissed face, fix my closet back to how it was, and act like nothing happened the night before. My grades ended up being terrible, later affecting my middle school grades. I changed schools for 8th grade and it sucked. At the time Amber and I went to different schools.

Pulling up the call app I click Ambers moms number. Once again, she picked up right away. “Let me guess, you called me to ask how is Ambers doing?” “I should have known that you would know, but yes, you are correct.” “Well, Amber woke up around four, she was steady but she had to go into surgery.” “SURGERY,” I yelled, immediately sitting up in my bed. “Yes, surgery. One of her bones in her leg needed a pin to heal.” “A PIN!” “Yes dear, calm down. She’s going to be alright. Once she’s off anesthetics and in recovery I’ll call you. But you have to keep your phone on, ok?” “Alright, alright.” “Ok, talk to you later, bye.” “Bye.” She hung up and I got up from the bed. I walk to my bathroom to fix my hair. Grabbing a ponytail holder, I put my hair up. I was still a little hung over from all those glasses of wine. But to be honest, I think we all were. I hear a knock on my door. “Who is it?” “Anaïs, Belle and Felicity.” “Come in,” I respond.

They all gave me a small curtsy before Anaïs started talking. “So sorry I wasn’t here when you woke. I needed to grab something from the laundry room.” “Oh, it’s fine, no need to apologize.” I grabbed a dress and retreated to my bathroom to change for breakfast. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was mostly hangover food.

~~~~~~~~Time skip to the day of the group date~~~~~~~

“Croquet huh,” I say looking at all my dresses, my finger on my chin. Well, it was obvious that my hair would be in a ponytail. Anaïs interrupted my concentration. “La- Misty, we made these for today, but anytime you want to go to the gym.” She was holding a sporty outfit in hand. I had asked my maids to just call me Misty. I felt close to them (besides the fact Felicity and Belle are dating in secret). The outfit, a white top, and black pants. It looked like there were shorts there too. Pants, oh my god! I didn’t think I would see the light of day without wearing another pair of pants. Well, there’s a slim chance I’ll be picked, queen. Granted it had been what, 5 months since the selection started. Wow, has it been that long? It felt like forever ago.

“Oh, thank you Anaïs! This will come in handy today.” “It was no problem. By the way, Belle was fell ill last night with the flu. She will be fine, but Felicity will be taking care of her.” “That’s too bad, and that’s fine. I only really need one maid for my personal needs, will you need any help Anaïs?” “No, ill be fine.” “Oh yeah, before I forget, do you know if y’all have volleyballs and a net?” “I believe we do. I can go check for you when you’re on the group date.” “That would be great! Thank you Anaïs!” She smiled. “It’s nothing. You should be getting ready.” I look at the time. I should. I have to be there in 30 minutes. That was plenty of time. I nod and give a smile.

While Anaïs was doing my makeup, I thought about the girls I would be with. Venus Vale. I hadn’t talked to her really, but she seemed nice. I knew who she was for a long time. People would always ask for jewelry that would go well with a specific look. Most of those looks were by Venus Vale. Aada Maier. I had already met Aada we were on the plane together, so she was one of the first selected I met besides Avalyn. Besides, I didn’t really know Aada. I didn’t know any of the girls, to be honest. Fleur Quinn. I had not formally talked to Fleur yet. I saw her get very drunk during the ball though. That thought made me laugh. Fleur had left me a card under my door Christmas morning too. Clara Éclair. I had not crossed paths with her yet. She seems nice and I have heard her baking is amazing. I’m pretty sure she baked a cake for Marshal or Fleur. One of those or maybe both. ———– I had 5 minutes till I had to be at the date. So far I was successful in finding my way. On my way there, someone grabbed my shoulder. “Misty, it’s me. Can you tell me about what happened to Amber?” I turn to see Eden, a worried look on his face. Shit, what do I do? Take a deep breath, Misty. “She’s fine now. She got into an accident. She was unconscious for a bit and had to go into surgery. They had to put a couple pins in her leg to heal properly.” “That’s too bad. Well, I better be getting back, nice seeing you!” “Nice seeing you too Eden,” I say back.

I had 3 minutes. I knew my way. Thank god I wasn’t wearing heels. Anaïs left my hair down, plus I could put it up. I made it there and pulled my hair into a neat ponytail. Venus was hitting the ball. I walk over to the other girls and give a small curtsy. It was weird curtsying without a dress. Apologizing, I explain that a guard pulled me aside and I couldn’t say no. I look at Vee’s ball. “Wow, your good!” Noticing me, everyone exchanged hellos. Vee admitted that she was a natural. She was though. “Are you sure you haven’t played before Vee?” I had the tendency to use nicknames right off the bat. She looked like she didn’t mind.

Before Vee could answer, Clara started talking. “I was originally planning on going last since I wanted time to watch and learn, but since you came late would you want to go after me?” “I’m fine with any turn,” I respond. Vee got a turn to answer my question. It was her first time playing, but when she plays, she gets competitive and does her best. She also thanked up and gave us a little bow. “That’s true. Now whos next?” I ask. “It’s you or Clara,” Aada replies. “I guess I’ll go since Clara wants to watch.” Vee lifts her mallet and waves it like a flag sort of. “Gooo Misty!” “You’ll do a good job I’m sure,” Aada says with a smile. I laugh, thanking Aada and Vee, grab a mallet and walk up to an unused ball at the start. I look at everyone’s balls and decide which one to hit. I didn’t really pick a specific one to hit. Letting out a sigh, I hit the ball hard enough to go through the first two loops. “Well done!” Aada says. “Thanks!” I reply Vee claps at my hit. “Yay!” Turning her head to look at Clara, “Your turn, hun.” “Good luck,” I respond. She hits the ball passed 2 loops, but went around them, giving a small laugh after the ball came to a halt. “Well it was a good try,” she says. We encourage her saying better luck next time. Vee raises her hand in a high five saying, “You go, girl!” Clara gives Vee a high five “One for you Mist,” Vee says, turning to me and raises her hand. I had never really got called ‘Mist’ before. I actually liked the nickname so I didn’t mind it. Returning the high five, thanking her. She does the same for Aada, but Aada didn’t return it. Instead, she touches Vee’s arm saying, “We should do this more often.”

I raise my eyebrow at the sight. They were giving looks at each other. I knew they didn’t have the best history, but still. I ended up facepalming and shaking my head. It was silent. Vee shrugs, walking to the drink table. I follow her. I felt like I was dying over here. “God its too hot for winter. How do y’all live through summer 24/7?” “We shed our skin every week,” Vee whispers. That made me laugh. She asked where I was from, and we ended up talking out Waverly .

We keep taking our turns talking and having an overall good time. Vee had the idea to do 20 questions, and we all agreed. Turns out Fleur was an extra in Harry Potter. When I mentioned that I had read and watched the movies too many times, she wiped her head toward me as fast she could to ask who my favorite character was. I replied that my favorite character was either Luna or Tonks. We went on to talk about how the sorting hat was the sassiest character. It was true though. We all agreed Dramione is the best ship in the series. Thank god I found people who ship them. All of my Harry Potter friends ship Harry and Draco. I don’t get how that would work. Aada mentioned how Princess Quinn sort of looks like Hermione. The thought had crossed my mind a couple of time, but I hadn’t really thought about it in depth before. Fleur mentioned that she watched the movies before reading the books. I gave her a good lecture about that. Aada hadn’t seen or read any of them so the Harry Potter conversation died down. Nate, surprisingly, didn’t say a thing. He just stood there smiling. He was probably happy that we were getting along.

Aada asked a question on what do see you doing in the future. For me, it would be taking over the shop. I still kind of can’t believe I am in the selection. Vee joked being queen but saying her channel would be a backup. I asked if she was still vlogging and she responded saying she was taking a break. Aada said her and Victoria were moving in together. That took me by surprise. More tension was building up between Aada and Vee that resulted in me facepalming. Fleur wanted to be an actress, ideally with an Oscar. She also brought up on of the ten of us left will princess and eventually, we agreed that it was a weird thought. Vee said she might be the future Queen adviser. Imagining Vee running a selection scared us all. We went on to talk about our heroes. I didn’t really have one. Vee’s was the queen, Fleur and Aada’s were their moms. Turns out Fleur is a lawyer as well as an actress. Aada also mentioned she wanted to go to medical school. We joked that if Aada was picked she would have an epic name. “Her royal highness, Dr. Aada,” Fleur added. Nate asked if we were more of a clean or messy person. We all said clean, but Clara said messy. She was a baker after all. Clara asked if we were more of a cat or dog person. Everyone said dog but I said cat. Vee, being who she was, said exotic animals. When asked what her favorite animal was she answered snakes. Fleur and I agreed she sounded like Taylor Swift.

There was a few more questions and answers. I started to zone out. I was worried about Amber. Getting my thoughts together, we finished our game. I had a lot of fun. I had bonded with so many girls to the point I felt they were some of my really good friends. ————- Making my way to my room I remembered I would practice some volleyball. I used to play a lot. When the selection started, the season was just starting. I still went to my room. Anaïs informed me that they had a court and volleyballs. I would probably see a couple guards at the gym. I stayed in the same outfit because there was no way I was playing in a dress. I could practice for an hour or so till I had to go to my room.