Chapter 16

Rapunzel Corona

I ran up the porch steps and into my house, slamming the door behind me. Tears poured down my face.

"Rapunzel?" Mother called from upstairs. "Is that you?"

"Yes," I choked out, running up the stairs and into my mother's arms.

"Flower, what's wrong?" she crooned, stroking my hair.

"F-Flynn's dead," I wailed.

"Oh, dear." She sighed. "I'm so sorry. I know how you loved him dearly, my flower." She lifted my chin delicately with her cupped hand and smiled sweetly at me. "How about we go out to dinner this evening, my treat?" I nodded and sucked in deep breaths of air, trying to contain myself. She grabbed the keys and we headed out the door.

At the Sun's Tear, my mother's and my favorite restaurant, we got a booth seat, which made me perk up a little.

A young waiter walked up to our table. "Hello there, ladies. My name is Gavin and I will be serving you today. May I interest you in our delicious rampion salad with hazelnut croutons today?"

"Mm, sounds delicious," Mother replied. "Yes, I'll have that please. And I would like some chamomile tea, too. Rapunzel? What would you like?"

"Um, the salad sounds good, only without the hazelnut croutons. Could I please have poppy seed dressing instead? And I'll have a glass of water."

Gavin nodded as he wrote down our orders. "I'll be back shortly, ma'am and miss." Then he walked away.

"Anything you want to talk about, flower?" Mother asked me gently.

I gave her a weak smile. "Can we go to the library? Or maybe the bookstore? I need some literary comfort right now."

"Of course, dear." Mother reached over a squeezed my hand. Gavin came back and served us our food and drinks. We ate in silence before getting up, paying, and walking out.

Mother drove me to Barnes & Noble afterwards.

"Do you want me to go inside with you?" she asked me.

I shook my head no and got out of the car, clutching my purse. It was a cute cream-colored handbag with pretty pink, green, and orange floral designs on it. It held everything I needed from my wallet to make-up to emergency tissues. I walked into the building.

After playing a bit with the nooks at the front of the store, I wandered around before going up the escalator. I was browsing through the teen fiction when I heard a voice say, "Hi."

I turned around and saw Elsa. She looked beautiful as always in a sky blue sun dress, thin shawl, and tiny silver ballet slippers. Her makeup was perfectly done and her hair was plaited in an elegant French braid. I remembered all of those fun times we'd had back when she and Jack were dating, and when me and Eugene were together.

"Hi, Elsa." My voice was quiet, but flat.

"Are you mad at me, too?" she asked, her voice quiet as well.

"No, no, not mad, just-" Actually, I didn't know how I felt about Elsa. She had cheated on Jack, one of my best friends, and had really hurt him. I looked at the book tucked under her arm and changed the subject. "Hey, what's that?"

"Oh." She looked at it and held it up for me to see.

I squinted at the title. "'How to Get That Guy Back'," I read. I looked up at her, eyes wide. "You want to get back together with Jack?" I squeaked.

"Oh, no! I mean, he was the sweetest boyfriend I've ever had, but . . ."

"But Hans is your dream guy," I finished for her.

Her eyes lit up. "Yes, exactly! Oh, Rapunzel! I wish I could go back in time and try to fix everything. I've made such a mess and now Anna is avoiding me like the plague and Hans gives me all of these sad looks, and Jack just turns his back on me! I don't know what to do!"

"Well," I began slowly. "For starters, I heard Anna's going out with this guy named Kristoff and she's totally happy. So how 'bout you try to be nicer around her, like especially nicer, and maybe she'll warm up to you again. As for Hans, just go up to him whenever you feel like it and say you're sorry or you want him or whatever. And Jack . . . well, I think he'll be okay." My phone buzzed. I checked the screen and it showed a picture of Merida and Angus, her horse the time we had gone to the woods with her family for a picnic. "Oh, hold on, Elsa. I've got a call from Merida."

Walking a little bit away from Elsa, I accepted the call and held my cell to my ear. "Hey, Mer?"

"Get yer pretty little head on o'er tae the horse stables ah use!"

"Huh? Why?"

But Merida had already hung up. I huffed and ended the call. I looked up and saw that Elsa had left. So I sighed and called Mother to ask her if she could drive me. She replied yes, that she would, just give her a couple of minutes, and I headed downstairs to wait for her.