Chapter three:
On the third day Apple overheard Blondie in the hall way between classes talking excitedly to Humphry about her latest project for her mirror cast show and how she hoped it would be really popular. This made Apple curious and at the same time a little concerned that maybe Blondie had somehow found out about Raven's mysterious wooer, so Apple went over to her saying cheerfully as she did so. "Hey Blondie!"
"Hey Apple!" The girl greeted back enthusiastically.
"I heard you mention your new show, but I was too far away to hear what you were saying it was going to be about. Is it going to be interesting?" Apple asked really hoping that it wouldn't be about the language of flowers or tricking Raven into thinking someone liked her to show they didn't for popularities sake. Honestly as far as she was concerned either option seemed far to cruel to for Apple to even contemplate.
"Oh yeah! It should be cool! I'm planning a segment on the hextream croquet team for the next show! After all the new season starts soon and I can't wait to see the Royal verses Rebel teams battle it out to win the trophy again this year! I'm sure the uniforms will be enchanting as well!" She told Apple with extreme excitement.
"That sounds fabulous! Hey do you happen to know anything about the language of flowers?" Apple asked trying to be as subtle as was possible, so as not to arouse the reporter's tendency to be able to sniff out a story from a mile away.
Apple felt sure that the last thing Raven would want was for her wooing to become a social media event thanks to Blondie. Then there was the fact that all the attention from the reporter on such a story it might just scare whoever it was away from Raven.
Blondie shook her head as she answered the question. "Me…No I don't know anything about the language of flowers? Why do you ask?"
Apple waved her hand in a dismissive and claiming way, while saying to her airily. "Oh, I was just curious. You see one of the professors mentioned it in class and I became interested as to how many people actually knew flowers could mean things."
Blondie deflated a little as she realised this was no juicy scoop for her to report to the school on, it was just something Apple was taking a personal interest in and so she said with a deep and disappointed sigh. "Oh, I see. Well, it's an old fashioned thing now, so I doubt many students would be interested in it or know anything about something like that now a days."
Apple tapped her lips thoughtfully with one finger while nodding to Blondie. "Your probably right. Still it sounds interesting to me, so I think I might look into it a bit more." Apple smiled at her and then said in a way of a goodbye or see you later as she headed on her way to her next lesson of the day. "Any way thanks for telling me about your up coming show Blondie."
As she walked back to the dorm rooms Apple couldn't wait to tell Raven that it was unlikely Blondie was the one sending her the flowers. At the same time though she still felt a little out of salts that Raven didn't think she could be the one sending the flowers. After all she was a princess, her father was a Charming and she'd been taught what the flowers meant!
Darting her eyes this way and that Apple moved to the side of the hall way she pulled her phone out and quietly typed something into it before pocketing her phone once more. She quickly and secretively looking around the hallway to see if anyone had noticed her. When Apple was happy no one had noticed what she had just done Apple quickly made her way to her next class smiling widely to herself.
When Raven and Apple arrived at the dorm room at the end of the day it was together, they were chatting animatedly about their last class of the day. As they opened the doors to their room, a mixture of lovely floral scents filled the air around them.
They shared a smile and quickly made their way into the room, as they were both extremely eager to see what flowers had arrived for Raven this time.
The next bunch of flowers to sat on the floor of Raven and Apple's door room near to the window once more. It was however much larger than the other two bouquets of flowers which had been left for Raven before this one. The bunch of flowers consisted of Honeysuckle, Clematis, Clovers, Coriander leaves, Gloriosa Lilly and Mignonette.
Apple and Raven both stood looking at the bouquet, which was simply tied together with a white ribbon with wide eyes.
Eventually Apple said in a soft disbelieving voice. "That's a lot of flowers and foliage…It must be quiet a long message which they are sending to you this time…"
Raven nodded in agreement. "Agreed…Do we have a big vase for these flowers somewhere?"
"Yeah…I have a couple left over from true hearts day that I really liked. Let me just get one." Apple said softly, before she made her way over to her side of the room to fetch one of the vases from her cupboard.
Once she had filled it with water and placed it down very carefully on one of the tables in the room, Raven gently levitated the flowers up with her magic, she floated them over to the vase, took off the ribbon with her magic and lowered them into the water.
Once they were settled Apple picked the note card up out of the blooms and brought it over to Raven saying as she did so. "It's still the same person."
Raven accepted the card and sure enough on the front was her name, the feather and the crown. "Yes, I can see your right, it is certainly the same person…I'm a bit nervous about this message…What if they want to end things…I'm not sure I could deal with that happening now."
Gently Apple placed a comforting hand onto Raven's shoulder and said to her gently. "I'm sure that isn't going to be the case. Trust me, no one would go to all this effort just to say that they didn't want to court you anymore. Go on Raven read what the note says."
Raven nodded to Apple, she sat down on the side of her bed, while Apple sat opposite her on the desk chair, Raven opened the note card and began to read the writing inside to her roommate. "The Gloriosa Lilly means glorious beauty, Coriander is for hidden virtues, Honey suckle stands for bonds of love, Clover's meaning is be mine, Mignonette means hidden charms, Clematis's meaning is beautiful mind. My message to you Raven is this. Raven. You with the beautiful mind. You who has hidden virtues and hidden charms are the most glorious beauty on this campus to my eyes. Be mine, let me hold you forever in the bonds of love. From your floral admirer."
By the time that Raven finished reading the note she was blushing so brightly she felt sure that she could probably be seen from space.
"Wow…" Apple breathed softly. "That's so beautiful…"
Struck voiceless, Raven nodded to Apple and then holding the card tightly to her chest she flopped backwards onto her bed. After a few moments of silence Raven managed to find her voice and said to Apple. "Okay now I really want to know who this is and to be able to send them an answer to this message…This is just so, so…"
"Awesome?" Apple supplied.
"Yeah, I think awesome pretty much covers it." Raven said softly, she was quiet for a moment before saying to Apple in a shy voice. "I feel all funny inside, kind of fluffy and giddy at the same time…"
"Your happy and excited!" Apple told her coming over to look at Raven laying on the bed. "I have to admit if this were me, I'd be feeling exactly the same way! Someone really is going to a lot of trouble to prove they love you! This is like a wooing in grand style! It's clear not only does this person love you a lot, but they want all of your attention focused on them and only them."
Raven smiled up at her roommate. "Well, they certainly achieved that goal."
"I love what they are saying to you…None of it is cheesy in the slightest, it's all perfectly fairest! It's all so truthful and just right!" Apple said to Raven, before Raven could say anything to her Apple spoke again. "Oh speaking of just right! I spoke to Blondie about the language of flowers today."
"Apple…" Raven groaned out to her before saying to her. "What if Blondie guesses something is going on? You know what she gets like when she thinks there is a scoop to be had!"
"Yes persistent." Apple said succinctly to Raven, before making calm down gestures towards Raven, who was glaring at Apple fiercely from where she was settled on the bed. "Don't look at me like that! I promise I made Blondie think it was nothing more than something I found interesting and might be looking into some more. I thought that way she wouldn't suspect anything was going on with you! Plus, now you have the perfect cover story! If Blondie asks you if anything is going on in regards to the language of flowers, you can just say I seem to find it interesting and am doing some research into its use in the past and you're helping me where you can!"
"That is a good point!" Raven said cheerfully before she asked Apple with interest. "So, what did Blonde have to say about the language of flowers?"
"She didn't know anything about it apparently and showed no interest in the subject at all. I am very sure she was telling me the truth." Apple told Raven in a self-assured voice.
Raven let out a sigh of relief which she did no know that she had been holding and spoke to Apple. "I am glad to know that Blondie isn't interested in the language of flowers and is not likely to be the one sending them to me."
"May I cross her off the list?" Apple asked politely.
"Of course." Raven said happily.
Apple made her way over to the desk, she retreated the list from where Raven had placed to one side on the desk top, she placed it to the middle of the desk top, pulled out one of Raven's pens and then put a line through Blondie's name.
Apple then crossed the room, she leant on the windowsill and looked at the sun set outside the window, she was lost in the view for a few moments, before a sound of delighted humming coming from bellow drew her eyes downwards.
The moment Apple spotted Cupid and Dexter sitting on a picnic blanket, with the remnants of the picnic around them on the grass and kissing each other heatedly, she blushed brightly and moved away from the window. "Well, we can cross Dexter off of the list." Apple told Raven, her voice was slightly higher in pitch than it was normally.
Raven blinked at her in confusion, she sat up on the bed, she moved to the edge of the bed, then Raven looked across the room at Apple and asked her curiously. "Why? What did you just see?"
Apple moved away from the window towards Raven and said to her. "Well, I just saw Dexter and Cupid outside kissing…They appeared to be enjoying themselves a great deal."
"Dexter and Cupid? Kissing?" Raven asked her in a stunned voice.
"Yes. There was a picnic and everything." Apple told her with a distracted nod.
Raven pushed her surprise to one side and said softly. "Wow! I hope they are happy together…I am sure that Cupid and Dexter will make a cute couple."
"It also gives us someone else to cross off the list." Apple said, going back to the desk and crossing off Dexter's name, she looked over those which were left and said to Raven with a happy smile on her face. "All those left on the list are all female now!"
"Well, I won't say that fact upsets me. Who is left on the list now?" Raven asked her intrigued to know the answer to this question.
"Those who are left on the list now are Darling, Briar, Rosabella, Nina, Holly, Poppy and Cerise…I still say that no matter your arguments that I should be on this list too!" Apple said giving Raven a playful pout.
"Nope. I am sure I would know if it was you. So, there are still quite a few possibilities for me to consider then." Raven said thoughtfully as she looked off into the distance for a moment.
Picking up the list Apple sat on the bed beside Raven and held it out to her while asking cheekily. "So, is the girl you like on this list?"
Raven blushed again as Apple asked this, she then shot her a glare and said. "I am not telling you the answer to that question."
"Oh, come on Raven please! The list is long enough, that I wouldn't know exactly who she is." Apple pleaded with her giving her the best puppy dog look she could muster.
"No, just no. I don't want to be teased for who I like or for something to be said to her by accident and it turns out that just like everyone else at this school she is scared of me! I couldn't stand it if she was frightened of me too…I know more than likely she will be…But while that fact is still not certain I can dream…Aren't I allowed to dream? Just a little?" Raven asked Apple with a pitiful expression on her face and a desperate and agonised tone to her voice.
Instantly Apple felt horrible for teasing Raven in the way she had. Apple knew that Raven as the Evil Queen's daughter didn't have the best kind of school life, but she'd had no idea that she held such a yearning to be loved deep inside her. "I'm sorry…I didn't mean to hurt or upset you. I won't ask who she is again, but I want you to know if you ever feel you can tell me who she is or just want to confide in someone how you feel about her, you can talk to me about it any time."
"That's okay Apple, you don't need to volunteer like that. If I need to talk about her, then I tell Maddie all about what I am thinking or feeling about her." Raven told her smiling slightly.
"I can understand why you would trust her with such a thing, but I hope that since I am helping you to find out who is wooing you and Maddie isn't at the moment, that you might be willing to trust me enough to talk to me too about her as well…Can I may be start building that trust, by not asking who she is, but when you started to have feelings for her?" Apple asked Raven in a very gentle and understanding voice.
Raven sighed softly, she knew how determined Apple could be once she focused on something, she felt that at least telling Apple when this started would give her enough to satisfy her curiosity on the subject for now. "It began at the spring unsprung event…I saw her there…Too me she was the most exquisite jewel I had ever seen…I wanted to be with her with every part of my being…My heart felt like it was going to beat right out of my chest. But being who I am I knew that it wasn't very likely that she would ever want to be with me."
Apple smiled softly at Raven. "It sounds like you really love her a lot."
Slowly, Raven gave her a sad smile. "Yes I do…But it's really hopeless…Though she hasn't got a boyfriend or anything like that…The hopelessness I feel has a lot more to do with me being the Evil Queen's daughter…Royal or Rebel no one wants to date me because of my mother…Dexter was the first person I have ever dated in my whole life…And let's face it that didn't go well at all."
Slowly Apple slipped an arm around Raven's shoulders and gave her a hug saying reassuringly as she did so "Hey, I am sure things will be different this time. Besides your first experiance of dating shouldn't be aloud to cloud what any kind of dating might be like for you."
"I doubt it, after all you'd have to be very strong and determined to want to date me, stand at my side and face my mother." Raven said with a self deprecating smile.
Unable to think of anything to say to counter what Raven was saying to her, Apple simply hugged Raven close and found herself seriously contemplating what it must be like to lead Raven's life. After a while Apple decided that she wouldn't want to live the kind of life that Raven had to and that from now on she would try to be more understand of why the life which she dace forced to live might make Raven not want to follow her destiny.