AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hello fans and readers and animal-lovers! How's the Shire fan club? xDD Okay, I know there are some people who have swooned over William and Halil, and even a couple of Mercy sympathisers (you know if it's you, we PMed.), a majority of y'all are Shire fans! EVERYBODY, WELCOME TO CHAPTER 13! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT WE'VE MADE IT THIS FAR? Thanks for being amazing and giving great critiques, and I love love love hearing more from you. Please recommend this to your friends if its worthy to ge recognized as a good read! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE post your comments- I love them all. I love seeing who you like as a character. I love seeing you thoughts and opinions on Ana's personality. I like seeing you fangirl over particular guy characters. I like your comments. I LOVE YOUR COMMENTS. PLEASE, OH, PLEASE BE A DOLL AND COMMENT!

Chapter 13

Clare and I chatted for about another half hour. We were really just talking about our life. She asked me millions of questions about my life back home, and I asked her tons of questions about her job. Apparently she's been working for the Queen as a maid since she was twelve years old. Six years? Impressive. I told her my job was just scooping ice-cream behind a counter. Extremely easy compared to hers. We laughed about this and that, and at some point, the topic of boys popped up.

"So what kind of boys do you prefer?" the maid asked, shifting her weight as she awkwardly stood there.

I smiled and patted the spot beside me on the bed. She didn't need to be so formal. She could sit down in my presence. The thought was very flattering, though. "Hey, you can sit Clare." I told her.

She blushed and shook her head shyly. "That won't be necessary, Miss Ana. I'll stay right here."

I rolled my eyes and sighed. I could so tell she wanted to sit down. Plus, she looked awkward just standing there. "Sit down. That's an order." I said with a wink.

Clarisse giggled and slowly lowered herself onto the bed, sitting at the edge. She cleared her throat. "T-thank you, Miss Ana." She coughed. "S-so, anyways, the question…?"

"Oh, right!" I blurted, nodding my head. "I'm not really sure. There are lots of qualities I like-"

"I know! L-like brooding and mischievous!"

"Exactly, brooding and- Hey!" I blinked and raised an eyebrow. "Where did that come from?"

Clare giggled cutely, patting down the wrinkles on her uniform. "Well, gosh, I… When I ran to the kingdom edges to collect some flowers, I was on my break, by the way. I spotted you not too far. You were talking to that boy with the fluffy tail." She murmured, blushing. "The way you to looked at each other…it felt like it was right out of a romance novel, Miss Ana…"

My eyes widened and I felt my cheeks rise in temperature. "S-shire? Hah, no way. No how. He doesn't look at me like that…" I trailed off. Did he look at me like that?

The eighteen-year-old nodded quickly, standing to her feet. "You two would make a r-really nice couple, if you don't mind me saying! But I think you and Halil are really lovely. You both seemed to be caught up in that kiss…"

I gasped and stood to my feet as well. "W-what? No way!" I repeated, flustered. "We only kissed for, maybe, a couple seconds…?"

The maid shrugged and inched her way to the door. "Whatever you say, Miss Ana. I need to finish cleaning up kitchen with the others. If you see Halil again, tell me e-everything," she whispered softly, waving her hand and curtseying. She then turned the knob and swiftly exited the room.

I couldn't find the words to respond to that. What did she mean when she said Shire and I gazed at each other like a couple would in a romance? Do we do that? I never noticed… Sometimes, though, he cuts himself off when he's about to say something remotely sweet… Does that mean something?

What am I thinking? Of course it doesn't mean anything! Get a hold of yourself, Anastasia! Grow up and get over all these boys. At home, your best friend is waiting for you to come to school and have lunch with him and hold hands while we watch the clouds. And maybe even kiss at another dance…Does Wonderland have dances? If so, would Shire want to come with…

I need some air. I flung myself off the bed and whistled at Rusty. We left the room in a hustle, scurrying down the hallway and down the grand staircases. Once we were completely outside of the castle, I sniffed the air and gave a sigh of relief. "Relax," I huffed to myself, jogging down the Heart Kingdom paths. I accidentally bumped into a couple of pedestrians, distracted by my confused thoughts. Clarisse is definitely one of my new friends, and part of me is elated I actually have a female, human friend rather than an emotionally unstable, male bud. She was very sweet and kindhearted, and very passionate about her job. So passionate that she was frightened to let loose and just relax for a bit. I respected that. If I was under as much pressure at her, I'm sure I'll take my job more seriously. Then again, if she makes a mistake, who knows what the Queen will do!

I shuddered and brushed past Stevie and- I brushed past Stevie! Alarmed and elated, I whipped my head around and grinned.

The farmer boy was a bit unfocused, something zooming through his mind. "Oh… Oh! Hey, Annie!"

I poked his shoulder. "It's Ana."

He blushed and shook his head, awakening from his little trance. "Dang, I'm real sorry! I really meant Ana! I memorized your name as soon as you told me!" he explained quickly, glancing around the red-brick streets. "I'm just really distracted. My family farm, Livestock Farm, is missing one of our livestock! Tell me if you see a stray animal running loose, please." He said, shifting uncomfortably. "Sorry, we invest a lot of money into our animals, and when there's one on the move, we need to find it immediately."

I nodded quickly. "I'll keep in mind of that!" I said, beginning to jog away. Sure, I wanted to keep chatting with my new farm friend, but he needed to complete a task, and I didn't want to be in the way of that. What happened to that 'orange' I was holding earlier? Hm. Ah, well.

As I approached a stand in the marketplace that seemed to be selling some cloth and clothing pieces, I noticed the back of someone's head. No, it wasn't abnormal or anything, it just seemed familiar. I brushed past him, unaware that I caught his attention. Whoever it was, he looked cute. At least from behind. I reached forward silently, studying a salmon cloth. It was a really nice color, like a soft pink. Almost wishy-washy. I stifled a laugh at my thought process, rubbing my fingers against the fabric. It was silky. I placed it on my arm to check if the color washed off my skin tone.

"Blue looks much better on you, Ana." A voice said shyly, holding up a long piece of royal blue cloth in front of his face. I grinned and playfully snatched it out of his hands. Demetrix. I knew it. He chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. "Fancy seeing you here. I wasn't expecting this, though. Why'd you leave the estate? Weren't you having fun…? I could try harder, if you like…" he trailed off, blushing a tad.

I rolled my eyes and beamed at him. "No, I had a blast, Demetrix!" I assured him, holding the cloth to my arm and smiling approvingly. He seemed to agree.

"Oh?" he blurted, not convinced. "Because we fell asleep under the rain, and when I woke up, you and Tarrant were gone."

"Right! That's because Mercy-" I cut myself off right there. Tarrant was missing too? What the heck? "Where was Tarrant? Did you find him?"

Demetrix shook his head. "Nope, but I'm kinda used to him running off every now and then. So… You were saying…? About Mercy….?"

"Uh," I hesitated. Was Tarrant alright? "Yeah, Mercy kind of abducted me. But no problem, I had fun while it lasted."

"Fun?" Demetrix repeated, his face softening a bit, like a kid who didn't get that toy they wanted.

I coughed awkwardly into my elbow, blushing. "We just worked on a puzzle and chatted. But I left early and- uh, came to the kingdom to visit a friend."

Demetrix chuckled, looking rather relieved. He resembled what my friend Darby does when she tripped in front of him, but he didn't notice. "Look at you go, Ana." He said, stifling a yawn. "Barely a full day in Wonderland and you already have friends to visit. You must've been very popular back home."

I shrugged. "Nah, not really."

"You're just being modest."

"Well, I had my circle of friends, if that's what you mean."

"How about any best friends?"

"Yeah…" I trailed off, sniffling. Rusty nuzzled my calf awkwardly, and I smiled down at my loyal companion. "I did. He was really cool."

"Having a best friend is cool," Demetrix agreed, taking the cloth from my hand and giving the stand-owner three silver coins. "Here, this is for you. Maybe Aster can sew up a dress for you. I'll pay for that too."

I smiled, "That won't be necessary." I laughed, slowly acquiring the blue fabric. For some reason, I had a feeling that Aster won't make me pay for a new outfit. "So do you have any best pals?"

The sleepy boy tilted his head to the side, thinking this over carefully. "I guess. Tarrant is a good friend of mine. He's funny." Weird. I've never seen Demetrix laugh at Tarrant's eagerness or bad jokes. "I see you have a companion too?" he asked, pointing at the mutt by my foot. "What's his name?"

Rusty yipped when I reached down to pet him. "His name is Rusty,"

"Rusty? Isn't that kind of…offending?" he chuckled.

I giggled and straightened. "It was the name of my best friend's dog. Thought it'd be sweet to name mine after his, you know?"

"Sure,"

"Yeah, so…" I trailed off, tucking the blue fabric in my dress pockets. I love pockets. They come in handy.

"I better go find Tarrant," Demetrix said, halting the sudden silence. I didn't realize we were standing in quietness until he interrupted it. Thank the Queen. "And the garden needs fertilizing." He whispered, pacing away. He stopped midway and turned his head over his shoulder. And that's when I realized the teen had an extremely skinny tail coming out of his pants. How come I've never noticed that before? Did he tuck it in? Maybe he was ashamed of his mouse tail. Maybe it wasn't even a mouse tail… Maybe it was a rat tail! "Drop by and visit any time, please?" he wondered.

Nah, a rat tail would be much thicker. I need to stop elaborating on everything. "Absolutely," I called out, waving my fingers at him. He smiled and sprinted away. Rusty pawed by foot curiously, and I gently nudged his nose with my foot. He sneezed and shook his head. I giggled and whistled for him, and we paced down the brick road beyond the gates. One day I will make sure to pay a visit to Stevie's farm. It'll be a cool experience. And I must get back to Halil at some point and chat some more, especially now that he disappeared on me. What did that mean? Did I upset him? Was I being insensitive again? Why do I keep doing that to people? I'm such a sensitive and easily-offended teenager, yet I have a strange tendency to get people upset and possibly even hurt their feelings. It's terrible, it really is. I'd like it to stop.

When I decided to actually pay attention to where I was going, I realized that where I was going wasn't exactly where I intended on going. Yes, I abused a word in that sentence, but at the time, I was too panicked to find the flaws in my narration. This definitely wasn't that pretty, enchanted-like forest anymore. All the emerald trees and chestnut bark were leafless and obsidian. The sky was no long bright and cheery, it was dark and dull. And creepy. The branches looked as if they were reaching towards me, almost in need of a hug. Oddly enough, I kind of wanted to hug them. I'm such a nature freak. There was barely any grass in sight, and the ones that were in sight were dead and as dark as the trees. Stones and rocks made up for the lack of grass; I felt the crunch beneath my slippers as I paced forward. I glanced around my foot to see if Rusty was alright, but, with my luck, he wasn't alright. I'm serious, he was nowhere in sight! I lost my new companion already! I'm so careless. I raised my dress and began to run to the left, screaming and hollering "Rusty!" over and over again.

What did I end up finding? The opposite of Rusty: an overgrown kitty boy named Shire. I blinked, the darkness only allowing me to see the silhouette of his body (including ears and tail), and his bright eyes that reflected light. Yup, they were glowing. I knew he could see me, though, considering cats can see much better than humans in the dark. I rubbed the back of my neck. "Uh, hey! W-what're you doing here?" I asked.

It wasn't until Shire put a steady hand on my shoulder that I discovered my trembling. My body was shivering all over. Was I really that scared, because this was all sub-conscious. I had no control over it. "Is this thing yours?" he asked, the slit pupils of his eyes traveling down to what I assumed to be his chest. I squinted in the dim lighting, reaching a finger forward to touch whatever it was Shire was hinting at. The soft fur under my tips seemed familiar.

"You found Rusty," I exhaled, taking the small dog from Shire's arm and bowing my head in appreciation. "Thanks," I placed Rusty on the ground and nodded at him, then glanced at Cat Boy. "What're you doing here?"

"Honesty, I saw you walking aimlessly. Thought it was funny." Shire chuckled, "But then you started to wander into Wonderland's Once Lived. This forest is where all the dead residents rest, Ana."

I gasped and peered around. "No wonder I felt so panicked in here. It's as creepy as it looks! But why did you actually follow me in?" I hesitated and shut my eyes for a few seconds, taking a deep breath. "Shire… About earlier today… I really didn't mean that I said. You're not actually a jerk, I was just m-"

Shire's eyes were half-closed now, and I could tell he was grinning. The hot, Cheshire grin.

"Let's just get you out of here."

And at that point, I knew I was forgiven.