Hello!

How are you all?

I'm performing in my school's music concert tonight, I'm going on a school trip tomorrow and I'm going to watch Mockingjay Part One tomorrow as well! So I'm very busy but I'm excited about it all!

Anyway, here's chapter 26!

Yet again, the eight friends stepped through the door and into another room. This time, they walked back into a room that was in the house Struts was staying at, and saw that Scarlett was sat at a piano. She was wearing a red dress and her deep-plum-coloured hair was piled on top of her head in a beehive. Jazz and Dimples were stood beside her, Jazz was wearing a lime green dress and Dimples was wearing a magenta dress and their hair was just hung loosely, but Jazz had a bow in her hair whilst Dimples had a clip, pinning back part of her's. Dimples was also clutching a flute which everyone assumed she was going to play.

Scarlett started to play the piano, before she and Jazz started to sing, accompanied by Dimples and her flute.

Scarlett: "The pear-shaped toll"

Jazz: "Ohhhh

Sing, sweet nightingale

Sing, sweet nightingale

High above me"

The eight friends found themselves wincing at the sound. It's not that Jazz isn't normally a good singer, she is. But she was just so out of tune that they could barely listen to much more.

And as for Dimples…let's just say that the flute isn't really her thing.

Jazz: "Oh, sing, sweet nightingale

Sing, sweet nightingale"

After that, the eight friends bailed. It was starting to become painful to listen to and it certainly wasn't helping Mack's headache. Ashley the cat seemed to have a similar idea because she came scuttling out of the room as well.

But when they opened the door and stepped out onto the landing, at the bottom of the staircase they saw that Struts was knelt on the floor, scrubbing away with her bucket of water and a washcloth. A soft melody drifted from where she worked, actually the same song that Jazz was singing.

Struts: "High above

Oh, sing, sweet nightingale

Sing, sweet nightingale

High

Oh, sing, sweet nightingale

Sing, sweet

Nightingale

Oh, sing, sweet nightingale

Sing, sweet

Oh, sing, sweet nightingale

Sing

Oh, sing, sweet nightingale

Oh, sing, sweet

Oh, sing"

So far Struts had made a lot of process of cleaning the floor, it was pretty much spotless.

"She's doing a really good job," Butchy noted. "Remind me to ask her to clean our kitchen next time, Lela."

"Butchy, you're not getting out of cleaning the kitchen again, you've found ways to load it off on other people for four months," Lela snapped, scowling at her brother for his laziness. But Struts interrupted her before she could scold her brother again.

"Oh Ashley!" Struts exclaimed, her stomach plummeting when she saw what the cat was doing. The cat had padded around in the dustpan, which held the contents of what she'd swept up off the floor, and had run all over her freshly washed floor. "You mean old thing!" Struts threw down her washcloth and stormed over to the cat, picking up her broom on the way. "I'm gonna teach you a lesson." But the cat scampered away, knocking over the dust pan and scattering the remaining dirt all over the floor. Struts was about to chase after the cat when a knock on the door made her jump.

"Open in the name of the king!" A voice called from outside the door.

Struts cautiously opened the door and was presented by a messenger. Unfortunately, the eight friends didn't get the chance to see who the messenger was, but at least they heard what he had to say.

"It's an urgent message from His Imperial Majesty," the messenger explained.

"Thanks," Struts said a little uncertainly, taking the letter and turning it over in her hands a few times before she shut the door.

Steele and Blake the mice came scurrying out and started squeaking at Struts. She seemed to understand them because she started talking, but kept her eyes focused on the letter. "I'm not sure. He said it was urgent though," she said, her voice quieter than usual. Struts wanted to keep the letter more than she probably should have, it felt special to her in an odd way and she didn't want to give it up.

Jazz voice was beginning to be heard downstairs now as well, and Struts really didn't want to go in there, but she had to deliver the letter. It was urgent after all.

Jazz: "Oh"

"I guess I'm gonna have to…interrupt the music lesson," Struts sighed, already not looking forward to it.

"That's a music lesson?!" Butchy asked.

"They're gonna have to have a lot of music lesson to fix that," Seacat chuckled, prompting the others to start laughing, some more than others.

Jazz: "Sing, sweet nightingale

Sing, sweet nightingale

High"

Just as the eight friends went back into the music room, a little ahead of Struts, Dimples got one of her fingers stuck in the flute. This resulted in Dimples accidentally hitting Jazz in the face with her flute, in an attempt to get her finger out.

Jazz snatched the flute away and hit Dimples on the head in frustration. "You clumsy idiot! You did that on purpose!" Jazz screeched. Dimples snatched her flute back and whacked Jazz on the shoulder with it before the two of them started squabbling.

"Have some self-control girls!" Scarlett shouted, stopping the arguing quite quickly. Before Scarlett could start playing again though, Struts knocked on the door. "What is it now?!" Scarlett asked, losing her patience with Struts very quickly. "I thought I told you never to interrupt our music lessons," Scarlett snapped as Struts ventured through the door.

"But we just got this letter from the palace," Struts explained, holding the letter out in her hand.

"From the palace?!" Jazz and Dimples cried, running over to Struts and snatching it out of her hands.

"Give it here!" Jazz shouted.

"Let me have it!" Dimples hollered, as the two kept wrenching it out of the other's hands. Struts just stood there and watched her precious letter almost get ripped to shreds, feeling strangely upset about it.

"I'll read it," Scarlett decided, lightly taking the letter out of Dimples' hands and taking it out of the envelope. She unfolded the paper before starting to read what it said. "There's going to be a ball," Scarlett explained, quite surprised.

"A ball?!" Jazz and Dimples cried, jumping about in excitement at the thought.

"In honour of His Highness, the prince," Scarlett continued.

"Oh, the prince!" Jazz and Dimples practically swooned at the mention of the prince, but who the prince was portrayed by still remained a mystery to the eight friends.

"And, by royal command, every eligible maiden is to attend!" Scarlett finished, unbelievably happy.

"That's us!" Jazz cried, a huge grin spreading across her face.

"And I'm so eligible!" Dimples squealed, clutching her flute to her chest.

"Yeah right," Butchy chuckled, sharing a laugh with Lugnut.

"Wait, that means I can go too," Struts piped up, her mind forming a plan.

"Does is?" Seacat asked.

"Yeah, she's an eligible girl, she can go," Mack clarified, sticking up for the biker girl.

"Her, dancing with the prince?" Jazz scoffed.

"I'd be honoured, Your Highness," Dimples said, imitating Struts and curtseying. "Would you mind holding my broom?" Dimples held out her flute, pretending it was a broom. Jazz and Dimples joined hands and danced around the room, laughing the entire time that they mocked poor Struts.

Although Struts was quite hurt, she took a deep breath and held her head up. "Well, why not?" she asked.

Jazz and Dimples paused, not being able to think of a reason against it.

"I am a member of the family after all," Struts said. "You treat me like trash though," Struts muttered under her breath, hoping no one heard her. "And it says, 'By royal command, every eligible maiden is to attend,'" Struts recited, addressing her 'family members' again.

"So it does," Scarlett agreed, her eyes skimming the writing again. "I don't see a reason why you can't go," Scarlett said, plastering a fake smile on her face.

"What?!" Jazz and Dimples cried in disbelief as Struts tried to hide her smile.

"So that settles it, you can go. If you get all of your work done," Scarlett added.

"I will, I promise," Struts agreed, her grin spreading across her face as she ran over to the door in an excited daze, already thinking about how she could make a dress to go in.

"And if you can find something to wear," Scarlett added, unbeknown to her that Struts' mind was already working like sewing machine, processing more and more ideas on how to make the perfect dress out of the little belongings she had.

"I'm sure I'll be able to come up with something," Struts reassured her. "Oh, I can't thank you enough." And with that Struts was gone, closing the door behind her as she ran off.

"Do you realise what you just said?!" Jazz practically screamed at Scarlett.

"Yes," Scarlett replied, a smug smile at her lips. "I said 'if'."

"Oh. 'If'," Jazz said, understanding what Scarlett meant and starting to chuckle with Dimples.

"Wow, they're still gonna ruin it for her after they saw how excited she was," Lugnut said, actually feeling sorry for his possible stepsister.

"Well, they are villains," Lela sighed.

I hope you liked it!

The song I used is called Sing Sweet Nightingale from Cinderella (of course).

I know I say this every chapter (if you're reading this then let me know if you can sing. I can sing, but just not very well!)but I want to say thank you to everyone who reads, reviews or sends me PMs because you always put a smile on my face!

Thank you for reading!

-cherrygorilla