Mondo Pastello | girlxgirl | Comple... - Chapter 10: Chapter 10

"Alice! Wait up!" I turned to see Caleb running up towards me, his gym bag on his shoulder and his other hand hidden behind his back. On spotting him I felt exactly like how I knew I would: guilty. I felt so wrong for accusing Caleb of cheating on me and dreaded believing it. Cornelius told me that the PI had found nothing on Caleb, and that he was just having an ordinary week. Nothing strange. Molly must've seen wrong, there's no way Caleb would cheat on me.
He loved me.
And I loved him.
We had been together for three years and I he was my best friend for two years even before that. There was no one else but him. He was a flawed perfection, while I was a perfected flaw. If he had been cheating on me I would not have known what I would do. Would I confront him? Would I get my parents to do something? Would I lock myself in my room and ignore the world?
The latter was most definitely what I would do.
Caleb would make a good king, and I did not care what anyone would say. But would it be selfish of me to take his dream of photography and place a crown on his head? To take his precious images of perfection and give him jewels instead?
I had never before thought of it before.
He might not want to be King. He might not want to rule by my side.
Oh no.
"For the lovely, healed up and looking quite freshened today if I can gloat, the Alice!" Caleb came up to me, revealing the bouquet of roses he had kept behind his back. I couldn't help it, I started to cry. "Oh jeez, don't you like roses? I'm so sorry, I though... you know, romantic gestures and all," he turned nervous, scratching the back of his head.
"You idiot!" I cried out, lunging forward whilst wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him tight. He was startled for a second before hugging me back.
"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked softly, cooing as he rubbed soothing circled into my back.
"I love you," I whispered while pressed up into his chest, crying softly. He pulled me tighter.
"I love you too," he sounded so sincere. Why did I ever doubt him? I made a huge mistake.
Little did I know that Caleb was looking over my shoulder to the studio, his eyes immediately locking with Anna's. She smiled.
Caleb had his gaze on me throughout the entire practice, dancing with me in his arms with his loving eyes staring straight into my soul. Every time I looked up I would see his gleaming eyes, and I could not stop myself from blushing each time. I felt as if there didn't need to be any words between us. Right here, right now, with our body language and our secret talks, we could be eternal. A little nagging within me felt guilty about accusing him and even not telling him who I truly was. He had no idea that I was not Alice Coleman, but I was first and foremost Princess Melanie. And he needed to know that.
I was turning eighteen in a matter of weeks.
With that came new responsibilities and newfound freedom in another world.
In an adult world.
And I wasn't too sure about if I could handle it.
"La perfection! We are getting somewhere people!" Madame was happy. After resting our muscles in her absence, when we returned to the scene we were fresh and crisp, ready for the new week and the improving of the performance. Everything was smoother when there was time taken to patiently think about it.
"Now I feel there is something I need to tell you that is long overdue," at this everyone's attention was caught, their curiosity peaked. "The reason we are practicing so hard, is because this very dance will be performed in six weeks at the Royal Variety Performance," there were immediate disagreements, saying that we would not be ready in time. Others flipped they were overjoyed but most were questioning of why we had not been told of this before. Personally, I was wondering how I would pull it off. I didn't necessary have to sit at the royal booth, right? No one knew me and I would most probably have to wear a vail. The thought was unpleasant.
"Gives you less time to stress about it. So now we can start polishing everything to be fitted of royalty," if only they knew.
As if it wasn't possible that we came back to a smooth performance, the next one was even better because they knew. Now I knew. My parents would see me dance.
For the very first time.
"Are you nervous?" Caleb whispered to me as we spun around.
"About the dance? Not really," he was bewildered at my response.
"Really? Wow that's amazing. But I guess you've been doing this a lot longer than I have," I shook my head at his words.
"It doesn't have anything to do with that," he gave me a questioning glance. "It's because I'm here with you," he grinned excitedly at my words and swooped down, planting a butterfly kiss onto my cheek. I could feel my face heat up and then I knew.
I had to tell him.
Tonight.
♕♥ ♕♥ ♕
The café was quieter when I entered by my lonesome the evening, Caleb having an essay to finish. Luckily Sarina worked nightshifts and was always there to greet me.
"Hey stranger," she smiled at me, seeming to glow instantaneously. I had to admit that she looked beautiful when she was smiling like that, black makeup and all.
"I wasn't gone that long," I told her, sliding into a counter at the seat as she went to make my smoothie. I didn't even need to order, because she knew. She knew my preference.
"It was an entire week. I'm glad to see you didn't die in that time and neglected to tell me," I chuckled at her joke.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure to let you know from beyond the grave," I said dead serious, causing her to hilariously burst out at whatever facial expression I had pulled. Unfortunately, the sudden distraction was not welcome as she accidentally dropped a glass, its form scattering against the counter's edge. It ricocheted all over her hands and waist before harmlessly falling to the ground.
"Shit!" she cursed, bringing up her bleeding hand to see. I spotted the blood and began to feel the panic seep in. My first action was to run around the counter and to grasp her wrist.
"That's so deep! Oh no!" I was a bit squeamish, but pushed through my phobia to help my friend.
"Not really. I just need to clean it up," Sarina tried to act tough, wincing as she saw the red dripping to the floor.
"We need to disinfect it," my mind raced, and she nodded with pain evident on her face.
"There's a first aid kit at the back," she lead me to it where the box was hung on the wall. Sarina kept insisting she could do it herself, but I wasn't having any of it. One of the other employees we passed went to work the counter while we patched her up. Now she was seated on the kitchen counter, her bleeding hand under the running sink while I was preparing the disinfectant on a cotton ball.
Afterwards I pulled her hand out from under the water and closed the tap, throwing a napkin onto her hand for her to dry. Then, with the wound now in sight, I gently dabbed at the vertical cut.
"Mighty chicken nuggets that hurts!" she hissed, her tongue venomous with the snake-like action.
"Chicken nuggets?" I asked, amused.
"It's a Molly thing. She's rubbing off on me," I nodding, remembering the ginger friend she's told me about and I've seen at the café occasionally.
"It's a strange thing to say,"
"Sure is," I was focused on her hand, dabbing at it while I could see the wince she made each time. While I was treating her to the best of my knowledge, I could feel her gaze burn into my skull. This wasn't like Caleb's stare which was sweet and loving, but this one was more desperate and full of utter despair. It was a sad look she gave me, one with so many intentions and what-ifs behind it that it overpowered me. I could feel my hands shaking slightly.
"So what happened with the jerk?" she settled on asking. I smiled at this.
"Molly was wrong. I checked and it wasn't true. He's not cheating me," her face seemed to sadden at this which threw me off.
"He's not?" I shook my head.
"No. He's as faithful, just as the day I met him," she nodded silently, casting her eyes down as she refused to meet mine. Her shoulders slumped discouraging.
"That's good to hear," she said in a whisper. Now I felt awkward and unsettled, but I could not figure out why. Why did I suddenly feel so... weird? So nervous?
Pressured to finish by my pressing thoughts, I quickened my pace and cleaned the wound before wrapping her hand in a bandage. It was a big cut. Just as I went to throw away the cotton ball, I felt her wrist catch mine. I turned back in question, only to see her fiery eyes staring straight into me. This was even more unnerving.
"Yeah?"
"Don't trust him," was all that she said before releasing my wrist to swipe the cotton ball from my hand. She hopped off the counter and left to throw it away herself. I took this time to soundlessly slip from the kitchen, exiting the café all together with a bit of a racing heart. Ian was a bit surprised to see me returning so quickly.
Especially without a smoothie by my side.
♕♥ ♕♥ ♕
Sarina's actions had startled me, but I knew she was different from the very beginning. She had back flipped from the room, after all. And thereon she had continued to surprise me but I guess that was the type of person she was. She was a bit too colourful for me, and the thought of that made me think of the perfect person in the world.
Caleb.
I don't care what anyone told me, he was going to be King and he was going to be great at it. Caleb with a crown. Caleb with a throne. Caleb with a say to the world. It would be perfect. It wouldn't be the first time a commoner became a part of the Royal Family, but in my country he would be the first commoner to become King and the first male commoner joining the household. He would be making history, and there are so many more things he could do for the country.
But still, Sarina's words did sting a little. Why did she not think that way of Caleb?
But he needed to know, and it could not wait any longer.
I had dressed myself nicely in a dress I thought looked cute and even put on some makeup because I felt girly and giddy. The butterflies in my stomach were having a swarm, dancing around like the fairies in the Nutcracker.
I put hair up in a fancy bun, my purple strands twirling at the sides of my face. I wasn't going to lie, I felt pretty. Pretty and excited. What would he say? Of course he'll be angry but we've already figured out that we can overcome any obstacle. It would all be good with time, and then he will come to learn the real Melanie.
I headed out, a spring in my step as I twirled occasionally. I opened my bedroom door to exit, but certainly wasn't expecting the sight in front of me. One of the twins was pacing nervously up and down the corridor, his nails digging into his hands and his lip biting his lip. Under his arm he had tucked an envelope folder. He was in his nightclothes, his shirt apparently deemed unimportant for palace etiquette.
"Cornelius?" I guessed, because the twins were to exact to tell apart by appearance and I figured that Cornelius was more quiet and stressed out than his brother, but I learned I was wrong when he jumped back at my voice, instinctively punching at the air. Cornelius was the fright, Bartholomew was the fight. "What are you doing Bartholomew?" I asked, correcting himself. He was still startled and instead of answering me, he peered me up and down curiously.
"Who are you going to go and woo?" he asked sarcastically.
"Caleb, actually," I answered, his face becoming distorted for a moment. It was clear that he had certainly not expected an answer. His gaze casted down the hall to the Royal Guard who was stationed down the corridor before looking back at me. He pushed past me, entering my room. He grabbed my wrist as he passed me and pulled me along with him and shut the door behind him.
"Bartholomew, what is up with you?" I asked with a gasp, staring at his nervous form. He thrust out his hand, the folder in his grasp. I took it hesitantly from him and he waited a moment to tell me what was in my hand. Or rather, it seemed that he couldn't tell me exactly.
"Uhm, there is something you should know. Firstly, I think, is that you should know it is not Cornelius's fault. He was nervous and he did not want to hurt you, so he didn't tell you. He... yeah, I should have told you because I think it became worse," he said, extremely nervous and uncomfortable, looking at my dress as if it was the devil.
"Wait, hold on. I do not have a clue what is happening," I looked to him for an explanation. Instead, he shook his head and walked towards me. He pushed the folder closer to my body before swiftly making his exit. Puzzled, I looked down at the folder in question.
I decided to open it.
The palace halls were silent the late Monday night, Bartholomew's running to his room the only sound. There was no reaction to the runs as it was customary for him to do such unpleasant things. And without shirt no less.
Cornelius's pacing stopped when his brother entered, nervous in all nerves of his body.
"And?!" he asked, eagerly.
"I gave her the folder," Cornelius retreated, his hands running through his hair furiously.
"This is going to hideous,"
"Obviously," the next second, the peace of the palace was disturbed. Royal Guards jerked in surprise and the Queen's handmaiden had let the customary tea set tumble to floor as a result of it. Even the Queen became disturbed, having read a pleasant book while preparing for the night-time. The King was long ago fast asleep, and remained that way even after that disturbance.
And what a disturbance it was, because this was heart clenching and filled with utter despair. This was a sound that had disturbed the statues of the palace and made the very fabric of the air tremble with utter desperation.
This was the sound of Princess Melanie's heart being broken.
"You think she looked inside?" Cornelius looked to his brother, but received the most unwelcoming glance of his life.
"Shut up,"
Meanwhile, the Royal Guards of Melanie's room stood perched outside as they heard crashing inside. They would have doubled in, ready to fight, had it not been for the comments they heard from spouting from my mouth. It suggested I was upset, not attacked. Well, I might as well has been.
My bed looked more like a nest now, and my mirror was broken. Blood was around my fist, temporarily reminding me of Sarina before I spotted another photo on the ground, my heart breaking each time I saw another one.
Caleb kissing Anna, Caleb caressing Anna, Caleb helping Anna undress, Anna helping Caleb undress. I could not take it. I wanted the images out of my life and they wanted them out of my mind. I wished they had never been born and I wished they could die at my own hands.
How hard would it be for me to get away with murder? Not very? I have immunity and I'm pretty sure my father would want that information erased from the family history. I could actually do it.
I ripped up one of the photos of them kissing and threw it wherever out of frustration. The worst thing about these photos was, was that they were taken on more than one occasion. This wasn't just a drunk mistake or a misunderstanding. This was legit.
Caleb Adams, my boyfriend of three years and my best friend, had decided to cheat on me with Anna of all people.
"I want to murder him!" I had many words I needed to say, my pacing of my room not stopping even as my feet trotted over glass. Nothing could compete with the pain my heart was feeling. I was going to pass out from the clenching it caused me.
I spotted my appearance in a broken mirror shard, and I looked hideous. This was worse than when I discovered Caleb was potentially cheating on me. Now that I knew he actually was? I had no care for myself. In my fury I pulled some of my air out, and now they stood all over. I had kicked off my shoes and now my bare, fragile feet were bleeding along with my hands. My dress was stained with the blood I smeared off it and my makeup was not waterproof. I had two monstrous black pools of death coming down my face.
This is what you did to me Caleb.
I mean, I wanted to tell him my secret of all things! I had loved him, I had trusted him! I had intended to see him!
At this though, I froze.
Why not?
Hastily, I picked up all the scattered photos and collected them into my hands, blood smearing on them but even that could not hide the truth that was beneath.
I stormed out of my room, the Royal Guards jumping back in surprise when I suddenly threw open my door. They watched me run down the hall, not allowing anyone to stop me. I could hear them start to scurry behind me, but I could not let myself be stopped. Not now, not ever.
"Melanie!" I heard one of the twins' voice, I didn't know which one. It could've been both. It did not stop me at all. I kept running, weaving through the corridors that I knew they usually took to sneak out of the palace. I had lost the Royal Guards in my chase, and soon discovered myself at the end of the palace. I nudged open a window and slipped through, thankful for my small body. I snuck through the gardens, seeing the lights from the Royal Guards as they searched the front of the palace because that was where it seemed I was headed. Hilarious.
At the very back of the palace was a crooked piece of fence, die handiwork clearly my brothers, hidden behind a maze bush. It was easy for them to get through, but my body was bigger than theirs so I literally had to press through the branches and the leaves. I was covered with scratches and twigs by the time I got to the fence. But I was a disaster.
What else was new?
I slipped through the fence and made my descend down the small hill the palace was on top of to the buys living down below. I knew exactly where he lived as it was edged into my very being. That came in handy now.
But of course, it was far. And it took long to get there. Many were disturbed to see someone looking as repulsive as me run down the street, leaving a small blood trail but where had my sense of justice gone? Where had my sanity and my mind gone to?
They were broken. They were gone because of him.
Twenty minutes of aimlessly wandering around before I found it. His porchlight was on like normal. Soft cooing of music came in like normal. His parents chatted inside like normal. Was there another girl in there like normal?
I whipped my hair over my shoulder, trying to whip myself to look presentable.
I gently knocked on the door, keeping a bright and eager smile on my face. I heard scurrying and it was his mother who answered the door. She looked surprised to see me before her face contorted to look like a witch's as she took in my appearance.
"Alice! What happened?"
"Sorry, Misses Adams, but this is a bit different," was all I said before pushing her to the side, forcefully entering and heading to where I knew Caleb would be.
His room.
I threw open the door with such force that it bounced on the wall, sending a photography trophy to the ground where it broke in halves. Just like my heart. He was on his bed, scrolling through his laptop when I entered.
"Alice! What the hell?" he sneered, looking at the broken piece of art before searching me for a tense answer.
"Caleb! What the bloody hell have you done?! You cheated on me? And with that gossiping bitch no less?!" I was hysterically, not caring that my fresh cuts from the tarred road soaked his floor.
"Alice, you're not making any sense –." I cut him off by furiously throwing the pictures onto the ground, the images scattering like confetti at a parade. He stared at them and his eyes focused onto one. And then he saw.
"Oh,"
"Oh? Oh?! Is that all you have to say to me? I thought we were perfect! I thought we were going to last forever! I believed what you told me all those years ago, you remember? Me and you and nobody else. So what is all this shit? Why would you bloody cheat on me?! If you were unhappy, then you could have broken up with me. Not got and sleep with someone that I know! Why would you do that to me?!" during my ranting I had thrown his camera off his dresser, and now he was looking at me as if I was the devil.
"Where did you get those photos?!" he decided to counter with, now accusing me.
"What does it matter?!"
"Were you stalking me?!" how dare he.
"I did not! I would never do it because it wasn't need but look! It takes all of this bloody problems for me to find out that you cheated on me?!" I was nearing his tense body, my hands clenching and unclenching as I let my emotions take control.
"Anna -"
"Who cares about her?! She's going to get what's coming to her, one way or another! Just like you!" now he was growing mad.
"You storm in here, telling me you stalked me, broke my trophy and broke my prized camera! What more do you want to break?!" he recoiled, indicating angrily at his surroundings.
"Everything!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, wanting him to understand the pain he was putting me through.
"Why?"
"Because you broke my heart!" and with that, I threw one nasty punch with my right fist straight into his jaw. It send him off balance and he went toppling into the ground. He raised his hand to his face, feeling the blood seeping down his face. His brows furrowed and his eyes grew dark and cold, even more than I have ever seen before. He jumped to his feet and it caught me off guard when he suddenly lunged at me, his fist raised.
Was he going to hit me?
Luckily the blow never came as another figure intervened, his father taking his hands before forcefully swinging him onto the floor.
"Caleb! Calm down!" his father tried desperately, his face furious. Caleb kept thrashing but his parent was too strong and he was quickly pinned down. Deciding against staying for this awkward encounter, I stormed out of his room and down the stairs. I passed his mother on the way and I could hear her small 'I'm sorry' as I passed her but I did not have a single care at the moment.
I was a woman on a mission, and right now, I didn't know what it was.
I had not expected Ian to be outside Caleb's house, waiting patiently in the car. He had heard everything, yet he still had a calm look on his face. I was glad that he gave me this opportunity to... express myself. Silently, I slipped into the seat beside him. It was silent and dark, the porch light and the street lights the only illumination against the blackness of his car and the dead of night.
I didn't reflect, instead with my adrenaline fading a bit, the pain of all my injuries entered my mind. I looked like I had been the middle man between two cacti, and I was not the successful one. The mirror had cut my hands and feet, and with that my feet went through all of the pain of walking barefoot on a hill and tarred roads. Not to mention the branches were quite furious when it came to my exposed arms and legs. I was covered in blood and I looked revolting. I should go audition for a horror movie.
"Shit!" I suddenly cried, a new type of pain rising up as my right hand became frozen with the utter agony. Ian leaned over and grabbed my wrist gently, observing my right hand.
"Congratulations Princess, you have officially punched someone so hard that you broke your hand," I didn't know what was going on in my mind, if anything was at all, but I began laughing hysterically. But it didn't end.
I kept laughing and laughing and laughing and crying and crying and I couldn't stop and it wouldn't go away. Ian looked at me sadly but let me cry it out. We could hear further fights going on in the Adams household, but I was glad. Glad that I knew how strict his parent ware.
"Smoothie, Highness?" Ian suggested. At this, I shook my head.
"Not today,"