An Entrance Into the Castle
I fiddled with the bow tied on tightly on my hair nervously. Glancing at the mirror, I smoothed down my skirt and blouse and mildly wondered if how you were dressed mattered.
Mom poked her head into my room. "Are you ready, Janet?"
I stood up straighter, giggling somewhat hysterically. "Oh, yeah, I'm ready. I'm so ready." And just to prove what a nut-job I was, I started singing. "I'm ready, I'm ready, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready, ready, ready." I know. Real creative song, right?
Mom just looked at me. "Are you feeling alright Janet? Maybe you should wait until next year."
"No!" I shouted. She raised an eyebrow. Hastily, I lowered my voice. "I'm fine. Are you? Ready, I mean."
She nodded, looking unusually glum. Well, it was the day of the Choosing, and it was possible that I would never get a chance to see her again, so it made sense that she would be depressed.
Mom entered my room and sat on the bed. I raised my eyebrows. She certainly didn't look ready. She was still wearing a bathrobe, and looked like she hadn't washed her face yet.
"Um, Mom, are you sure you're ready?"
"Yes."
"Mom, you might want to change clothes. And wash your face. And take a shower. And—"
She held up a hand to stop me. "Alright Janet! I get it."
I grinned sheepishly, but she did not return a smile. I cleared my throat awkwardly. "Erm, yeah, sorry."
Mom stood up, and walked towards the bathroom. The door closed with a loud bang.
Sighing, I also stood up. Mom would take at least an hour and a half before she was ready. And with the way she was acting, it looked like I had an extra thirty minutes to spare, added to her usual time.
"Mom, I'm going out," I called.
She didn't bother asking where I was going. "Fine. Have fun." She didn't sound terribly interested.
I headed downstairs, and out the door, scowling slightly…
…and with my luck, bumped right into Jasper.
He was the last person I wanted to see after last night. Don't get me wrong, Jas is awesome. More than awesome. The bestest friend ever.
Before he kissed me. Oh, yeah, it was only a little peck in the cheek, but still! This is Jasper we're talking about. Hello? Friends-since-third-grade? Emphasis on friends?
"Sorry," I muttered. I hoped my tone of voice made my message clear enough: Kinda busy at the moment, would appreciate it if you would leave. "I was just heading out."
"Jaaaan!" Jasper, being the idiot he was, didn't catch on. "How's it going?"
I fidgeted awkwardly. "Um. Yeah. Great. What are you doing here?"
He gave me one of his grins. "Real welcoming, Jan." He pushed past me and flopped down on my couch. "Jeez, what's up with you lately? You've been so mean…:"
"What!" I protested as I reluctantly followed him in. "What are you talking about? I've always been nice! Especially to you!"
He snorted. "Suck up. You're just being all nice because you hate that I ride faster than you. Don't think I'll slow down anytime soon, and you are not getting me to go easier on you during the bike meets."
Of course, this wasn't what I expected. And I didn't understand why. I've been around him long enough to at least have some sort of idea what to anticipate.
So being the great-at-improvising type of person that I was, I naturally had a great comeback.
"What?"
He smirked. "You heard me! I won't slow down for you."
By this time, I had recovered from the surprise and was incredibly red in the face. "That totally contradicted your previous statement! And don't flatter yourself! I don't need you to go easy on me or whatever! I can so beat you any day!"
He raised his eyebrows. "Which explains why you haven't done so the past five years, I'm sure."
"I was going easy on you!" I howled.
He smirked. I knew he was just waiting for me to cave. And that was something I would not do.
…
I would not do it.
…
…
"…Okay, okay, fine! You're better than me! Happy?" I yelled.
"Yup!" he said cheerfully. As if I hadn't just admitted I could never beat him. I was really tempted to whack his head with a vase.
"Janet?" my mom called from the bathroom. "Is that Jasper I hear?"
Glaring at Jas, I called back, "yeah, it is. Don't ask me why he's here."
"You know I don't mind," was my mom's ever-so-loyal response.
"See!" Jasper said brightly. "She doesn't mind!"
I only grunted. Mom, Mom, Mom, I love you, but can't you take my side for once?
"Aw, come on Jan!" Jasper quickly switched from being an annoying best friend to acting like a whiny child. "Don't spend your last days in here sulking! You're mom's not ready yet, right? Then let's go out and bike!"
I looked at him. "Can you not see what I'm wearing? I'm not going biking in this!"
"Then why don't you change?" he said dryly.
"No way! This took me forever!"
"What, to put on a shirt and skirt? You're slower than I thought."
"Shut up!"
"Janet, don't be such a bore! Live a little, will you?"
I shot him a withering glare which he choose to ignore. "Fine. We'll go out." Before he could start squealing, I said, "to get ice cream.Because it's just cool like that."
"Okay, okay," he laughed. "But you might spill some on your clothes. You sure you don't want to change?"
"I'm living life," I replied wryly.
Once again, I told Mom we were going out. She seemed much more cheerful when she yelled through the door, telling me to enjoy myself. I think she hoped Jasper could coax me out of the Choosing for a year.
Yeah, right. That won't happen anytime soon.
Before I could voice my opinions, Jasper grabbed my wrists and dragged me out the door.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" I said, wrenching my wrist free and rubbing it. "Jeez!"
"You're to slow!" he said over his shoulder.
"At least I'm not— oof." Jas had stopped right in front of me.
"Hey!" I complained. "What's your problem? You rush me and then you stop? PMS much? Are you trying to give me a nosebleed or some—"
"Let's go this way!" Jasper said, cutting me off. His voice was light but I could detect some tension in it too. "I know a short cut."
"Jasper-? What-?" I didn't have the time to comprehend what was happening. All I knew was that in no time, we were running along the darkened allies of our town. I tried to stop but his grip on my hand was iron tight and it made it kind of hard to halt without stumbling.
Of course, being the genius that I was, I realized this a little too late. I would've tripped face-first if he hadn't caught my elbow.
"Jeez, you weren't this clumsy yesterday!" he scolded me.
"Yesterday, I wasn't hauled from my own house by some whiny kid and then suddenly sprinted through allies," I retorted, bending over and panting.
"Touché," he muttered.
I ignored my burning legs protests and stood up straight and erect. "What didn't you want me to see?"
"Nothing. What makes you think there was something I wanted to hide from you?"
He was such a bad liar. "Can't be because you, oh, I dunno, pulled me into alleyways saying 'gee, I know a short cut!', can it? Yeah, totally impossible, I get it."
"What's wrong with knowing a short cut?" he protested weakly.
"Do you think I'm stupid? I've lived here since I was born. I know where every pathway leads and I can tell you right now, there is no short cut to the ice cream store." I narrowed my eyes at him. "So tell me right now, Jasper. What didn't you want me to see?"
He looked ready to put up a fight and that was exactly what I got. "I haven't lived here long enough, it seems. So I thought I found a short cute but it turned out to be a longer way," he shrugged helplessly.
Helplessly indeed. "You are a really bad liar."
Jasper grinned feebly. "Yeah, I guess I am."
I gave him the hardest glare I could manage (which is not saying much). "So are you going to tell me or not?"
"Not."
"You're so—!"
"Are we really standing here arguing?"
"Yes!"
"Then we'd better leave. You want ice cream, don't you?" he began walking away.
"Jasper! Jasper you total—!" I said, exasperated. He was ignoring me and the only thing I could do was follow him.
"You're paying for this," I said as we stood in line.
The store was packed, typical as it was a hot day and the sun blazed down mercilessly on them.
"Yes, mother," he teased. The smile never left his face.
I frowned as he did not seem the least bit concerned. He was going to regret it.
When it was our turn to order, I smiled brightly at the server. "Morning! Isn't it a lovely, sunny day?"
Both she and Jasper gave me nervous looks. The former was probably wondering whether I was insane or not, and the latter was concerned about the amount of cash in his pocket.
"Yes," the server said, unnerved. "Quiet lovely. Where you out walking with your, um, boyfriend?"
"Oh, no!" I laughed, my smile as wide as ever. Which really creeped Jasper out. I would usually snap at people who got the wrong idea about our relationship. "You've got it wrong." I turned to Jas. "So what did you want?"
"Uh," he shot me a look, "vanilla, please."
I hummed and skimmed their menu thoroughly. "I'll take the most expensive thing here, please."
The servers tense face immediately relaxed and understanding crossed her eyes. She muttered something that sounded like, "Oh. I see. So it's like that." Out loud she said, "but are you sure about your choice? It cost ten repeus."
When I heard that (and spotted Jaspers pale face), I was ready to gloat. "I'm sure. Don't worry," I assured her." I'm not paying for it, after all. Isn't that right?" I flashed Jasper a grin.
He was rummaging through his pockets and muttering something under his breath. "Jeez. This girl…"
I pretended not to hear.
I walked up to the crowed of girls gathered at the bottom of the hill, feeling unnerved. They were chattering away excitedly, and did not bother acknowledging my presence. How, I was wondering, do they not feel nervous? I mean, come on, this is something everyone's been waiting for the whole year! And them? Oh em gee! Can you like, not wait? I mean, like, we'll so get into the castle and become, like, perfect! I like, know, right? Like, we'll have like, silky hair and like, everything!
I was resisting the sole temptation to tell them to get a life.
I felt out of place amongst the crowd of giggly like girls. I contemplated sitting down on the dirt floor. Screw my outfit. And just as I was about to, I was thoroughly tackled by Isabelle.
"Jan!," she shrieked, clinging onto my arm. "You made it! And," she added pulling away and looking at me up and down. "You dressed up."
Cue the fake tears.
"I'm so proud!" 'Belle wailed. She threw her hands up and I rolled my eyes.
'Belle. She was so irritatingly dramatic. Jasper often asked me why I put up with her and the answer was always the same; she was my best friend. Sure, annoying, but still lovable. And she wasn't like all the other like girls I knew. Her drama was bearable compared to them.
"Of course I came," I grumbled. "What did you expect?"
'Belle stopped and stared at her. "Well, you know. I heard you, ahm, hung out with Jasper last night." She raised her eyebrows.
I tried my best to keep my face neutral. "Yeah, I did. We went biking up to the hills. So?"
She shrugged. "So nothing. I just thought that because Jas always seems to have a great influence on you... being your best friend and all."
"Oh," I said. "He did try to convince me to stay but-"
"Hey!" a voice snapped irritably behind us. "Are you here as a Candidate or what? Didn't you just hear the announcer telling you to gather there? Get a move on!"
Isabelle grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the throng of people before I could respond.
And what happened next is something I will never fail to describe. We were approaching the gates and I don't remember even being given time to say my good-byes. Neither did anyone else, but nobody seemed harassed by it. They were enticed, surging towards the gates and I could only follow the mob.
Five meters, four meters, three meters...
We approached it and my heart beat faster, banging on my ribcage. It screamed for me to let it go.
The castle drew nearer and pretty soon, I could see its profile up close. Beautiful, majestic, glorious and eerie. Eerie? I blinked. That thought came out of nowhere. Must be the nerves.
Two meters, one me-
And suddenly, very suddenly, we were inside.
The first thing I felt was exhilaration. We were in! I was in! I got accepted! The girls around me roared and cheered and applauded. 'Belle was busy sniffing out tears, which surprised me. What shocked me was that they weren't her fake, dramatic tears, they were genuine ones. I didn't understand why on earth she was crying like that, but gave her a one-armed hug, something difficult to do in a mob of fifty screaming girls.
The castle stood in front of me and as crazy as this sounds, it beamed down on me. And only me. Welcome Janet, it seemed to gloat. Welcome indeed.
It was normal of me to be questioning my sanity, right? Because as far as I and everyone else was concerned, castles did not talk.
I glanced around to see if anyone had noticed, but no. They were still busy jumping up and down, partying like wild monkeys.
And then- Mom. Yes, I thought of my mom. I was proud of it too; I hadn't forgotten her! Huh! Take that, Mom! I broke away from the crowd with some difficulty, and ran back towards the gates. There were about two dozen girls there, half looking stunned, the other half sobbing. I ignored them.
I scanned the large number of people still milling around at the bottom of the hill. Mom, Mom, Mom, where was she? There were so many of the People around, a quarter which weren't even descended from the original People but still liked to call themselves that. They were all multicolored, wearing brown, white, red, green, purple and orange. None of them stood out.
Janet, the castle called me. My pet, what are you doing? Come in.
I did not respond. How could anyone reply to that? I mean, seriously, my pet? What the heck?
I continued searching for Mom.
I began to despair never finding Mom when someone yelled my name. At first, I thought it was just the castle but then I realized that the voice was masculine whereas the castle seemed to have no gender. I looked for the caller.
Jasper! My heart leapt as I spotted him. If he was there, then I still had a chance! He could help me!
He was glaring up at me. Yes, glaring. As in, serious glaring.
I didn't have the time to wonder what I did wrong. The castle was calling me, and its power was pulling me away. Get in, it insisted. It was all I could do not to succumb to its wishes.
I really needed a therapist.
"Mom!" I yelled at the top of my lungs to Jasper. "Where's Mom?"
He looked hurt for a second. I couldn't comprehend why. He pointed to a lady standing next to him.
I felt so stupid. Mom was there, standing next to Jas all along. And I hadn't noticed.
She cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted something back. I furrowed my eyebrows in concentration, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't hear her.
"What?" I screamed. For reasons I couldn't understand, everything was so loud. It wasn't the cheering new castle girls, it wasn't the numerous amount of People down at the foot of the hill. I didn't know what it was, only that it got louder each passing second.
And it hurt my ears. A lot.
Come in, the castle's voice was soothing. The pain will go away.
Not yet, I breathed fervently. Soon, but not yet.
When I paid attention to Mom and Jas again, they were both attempting to tell me something. I squinted and tried hard to hear.
After much struggling, I made out two words; Don't forget.
"I won't!" I shouted at them. I offered them a weak grin but it quickly slipped. The invisible noise was giving me a headache. It mounted every second.
My face, was tight. I was trying not to show how much it hurt.
I waved good-bye to them.
"Hey, Jan!" Jasper's voice rang out clearly, unlike my Mom's. I could hear with clarity his words. "I bought you ice cream that cost ten repeus! You'd better pay me back one day!"
If I hadn't had a massive headache, and if the noise had stopped, I would've laughed. All the same, I smiled and waved once more.
The pain increased and I almost doubled over.
Come in. The pain will cease.
I gave in to its demands.
