It seems like everyone forgot about the 'rescue Princess Courtney plan' I organized. The Kind Council hasn't had any recent meetings scheduled and I haven't gotten the contract that allows me to leave. On the contrary, Heather and I have been really amazing friends lately! We hang out in each other's rooms, vent about our problems, sneak into the royal kitchen and make our own treats, read, meditate, and play the 'poison game'! I learned it from one of my old friends I met when me and my mom lived in the village, I taught her how to play since we grew so close. "Hey Heather! Wanna play the poison game?" I giggle and roll my arms around at my question. "No one does that. It's not going to be a thing anytime soon…" She grumbles.
What happened to her? We'd play this game all the time. Well, as of now anyway.
"Liar!" I retort playfully; thinking Heather would laugh and we'd laugh together. However, she doesn't respond. I notice Heather's face is a little sweaty and she looks stressed out! "Hey, are you okay?" I ask her; expressing genuine concern. "I caught Joaquin cheating on me." she mutters without any expression."WHAT! Why?! With who?! I'm sooo sorry Heather. He doesn't deserve you." I take a seat next to her on my bed. "A visiting princess or whatever. She looked way better than me anyway." She mopes around and sits still.
I've never had to deal with this situation with anyone except mom. Kinda. Not even Courtney or Marissa! Only Courtney's never had a relationship before (until now, anyway.) and Marissa is more of an acquaintance. I don't know what to do, but I'll have to think of something… "Tell me more about her. I might know this visiting princess. I used to go to balls all the time with Court so I might know her." I miss those days like crazy! I'd go as her plus one, she'd let me borrow one of her gorgeous gowns, we'd stuff our mouths full of fancy food, (At least I would..) and we danced with hot guys in fancy clothes everything! "Well...she's blonde and has these thundercloud gray eyes and wears apparel that's a little on the revealing side. I wore that dress from Courtney's closet for our date but when I got there, I saw the two kissing on-never mind…" As Heather describes her appearance, I see tears slowly streaming down her cheeks. "Is she Princess Bethany Falcon of the Sea of Souls?" "Who's that?" "A princess that stole people's hearts and once collected so many she made a sea of them around her castle. She was really close to stealing the Devil's, but the Princess ended up falling for him instead. Legend has it they secretly spent half a year together before he broke her heart and cut it off. Their relationship was secret for the longest time until it was recorded in writing and things. Since that day, the Princess continues on with her traveling, but loneliness fills her soul regardless." I explain. Who knew reading all those legend books in my spare time would be so helpful, right?! "How do you know all that?" "Eh. I'm just a fantasy nerd and her appearance fits your description." I shrug. "That b- I mean, manipulative, conniving snake is sooo dead!" I sorta saw the 'almost cussing thing' coming. I mean, I'd do the same in that position. I'm just praying that God will help me find a way to support my new (2nd) best friend and get her back to normal!
Heather's not doing too well right now and I hope she can handle it. Since we became friends, I always had something against Joaquin. Despite all of the noble and heroic qualities he offers, the guy just seemed...sketchy to me. Making so many girls' hearts flutter; it's a little too suspicious for my liking. "Heather? It's gonna be okay. Don't worry about it. You don't need a guy to be happy." I feel my soul soothed on the inside as I continuously attempt to cheer her up. "I'm not sure if I can." She sniffles into a tissue from her pocket. "He wasn't all that, I'm sure." I pat her shoulder gently. "I'm gonna go get a cup of tea, that always cheers me up." "Chamomile, right?" "Yep. Thanks for caring though. I haven't really had a friend since that day when my friend left. Since we shopped in Courtney's closet, I felt like I had someone to count on again." She smiles up at me before leaving my bedroom to get her tea; tears still streaming down her face. I feel better, but I need to find the Princess of the Sea of Souls now too! Luckily, her castle is halfway to Hell from Purgatory Province, so I won't have to go all the way back here to the Kingdom. "Ahem. Erin! Please open the door. We need to discuss that contract for your quest to rescue the princess." I hear Betty, everything is going perfectly! I'm excited to sign it and save my royal best friend forever (RBFF) from the dangers of the sinful land! I just wish there was something I could do about Heather's problem.
I'm planning to stop by the castle library before I go to do some research about Bethany. It doesn't hurt to learn more, after all! For once, I have a friend other than Courtney! It feels good to have another person you can rely on and talk to and have fun with and it just... makes me feel wonderful inside. But, I still miss her, even with Heather as my new bestie. I hope everything goes okay in the end… I'm gonna pray over this everyday until I leave. For Courtney's sake, for Duncan's sake, for Heather's sake, for my sake.
I open the door for Betty, I'm actually pretty nervous right now. I mean; what if they don't have it? What if I'm not allowed to go? What if something bad happened to them??? The potential cases are endless! But I have to think positive and hope for the best. "Erin, it's not bad news so you can relax now." I take a sigh of relief. "Thank the heavens! Anyways, is the contract ready for my signature? I have a quill on my desk just for the occasion!" I think my overly enthusiastic smile kinda weirded her out… "The thing is… if the Princess doesn't come back soon, you or Heather are going potentially to be the next queen of the Heavenly Kingdom." I'm stunned; like flat out stunned! Me, a queen! Yeah right… "But we do have the contract ready, that's the backup plan in case you (for some reason) can't bring the princess back home." She nods in agreement. I feel a bigger weight on my shoulders now. I don't want to be queen! If Courtney doesn't come back with me, I'll potentially have to fill in the gap! (The gap I really don't want to fill, I mean…) I wish I knew what to do, because as of now, with the Heather situation and the 'rescuing Courtney' operation, I'm sure I'm losing my mind over here!