Maddie's Intuition
Three days after their text conversation on New Year's Eve, Apple and Rotbart returned to Ever After High. To the casual observer, everything seemed perfectly normal; Apple was still the epitome of princessly perfection and Rotbart was still the baddest bad boy around. And they still studiously avoided each other.
Only Raven seemed to notice a subtle shift in the wind. When he wasn't attending classes, her brother shut himself up in the "not-that-secret-but-secret-enough" lab in the school catacombs (that lab was only used by future villains, but everyone knew of its existence. Only antagonists, or those who had been trained as antagonists, could find its location, though). All he would tell Raven was that he was working on a masterpiece.
That alone was enough to worry Raven. What Rotbart called a masterpiece would undoubtedly mean big trouble for someone else. Since Rotbart had promised not to harm Apple until she got another prince, she knew this "masterpiece" wasn't intended for her roommate. Raven wondered who had gotten on her brother's bad side now.
Apple was acting strangely too. The good princess was always sunny and charming in public, but Raven could tell something was off. As Apple's roommate, there was little Apple could hide from Raven. Lately Apple seemed to be taking an interest in oyster recipes and chocolate dipped strawberries, raunchy music, and had become almost obsessed over different shades of red lipstick. Once Raven caught Apple studying two seemingly identical shades of lipstick so intently, Raven could swear she was turning into Blondie!
"...I mean, I know she cares about her appearance, and yes, she's particular, but she's never been THAT particular." Raven confided in Maddie over tea. "And I don't know what's up with the oysters."
"Oysters are delish-erous!" Maddie cheerily said.
"But Apple hates seafood." Raven pointed out. "Why would she look up all those dishes with things she hates? And that music she's been listening to? It doesn't sound like her at all."
"Well of course not, it's someone else singing." Maddie said as she sipped her tea.
Raven rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "You know what I mean; that trashy stuff isn't her taste. But that's not the weird part."
Oooh! What's the weird part?" Maddie wanted to know.
"She seems...I don't know, more jumpy lately. Like she's nervous. Or excited, I can't tell which. Like she knows something's coming up and she's looking forward to it and dreading it all at once...but that's crazy, isn't it?"
"Oh I know crazy," the daughter of the Mad Hatter said. "And that's crazy like a fox in socks with some rocks!"
Raven stared at Maddie. "...Huh?"
"It'll all make sense in the next chapter." Maddie assured her.
"...Riiiiight...but whatever Apple's thinking it can't be nearly as bad as whatever Rotty's doing." Raven said with a small shudder.
Maddie giggled and snorted into her tea.
"What's so funny?" Raven asked.
"Oh you'll see...next Friday at 2:30, sharp. Wanna have a tea party then?"
"Uh...OK..."
"Super-de-dupper!" Maddie happily said. "Let's invite Cerise and Cedar!"
And next Friday, at precisely 2:30, Holly O'Hair let loose a scream that Raven, Maddie, and their friends heard all the way on the other side of the campus.
"Told you." Maddie said with a grin.