Chapter 10- My Royal Rebellion

The Red Shoes Dance Club is alive with the thrum of loud music. Crowds of lively fairy tale students dance the night away. Briars' Dance the Curse Away is a vibrant scene of teenage frivolity. There are no teachers, and no parents to tell us what to do. The dark room is illuminated by pink and purple strobe lights that dance around the room with the students. Briar has decorated the club with sparkling pink disco balls and hundreds of hot pink neon roses that create a hot pink hue that matches the bubbly mood of the students. Glittering pink punch is being served in champagne glasses, which made me a little bit dizzy after drinking, while little fairies flutter about throwing confetti into the crowd.

Somehow, I don't think this is the 'royal' party my mother had expected. Royals and rebels are both in attendance and are partying and laughing with each other. Although the party was thrown by an infamous royal, Briar Beauty, the party itself is pretty rebellious with all students letting loose and having a good time as if destiny doesn't matter tonight. I would never be able to through a party as well as Briar. All fairy tale characters, and non-royalty alike filled the light-up floor with their cheers and dancing.

But I stand alone with my back against the wall and watch everyone else have a good time. I'm the only negative vibe in the room. I feel nervous and like I don't fit in anywhere. I see the royals gather in a circle and they giggle and dance together. Apple, Ashlynn, Briar, Holly, and Blondie are all there, with beautifully curly hairstyles and sparkling party frocks, looking regal and untouchable. I wish I could join in, but I feel apart from the crowd, so I look on as the royals have fun. Would they smile and welcome me? Or would they be distant and treat me like an outcast? I beat myself up about it in my head, feeling as though someone my age should know how to have a good time at a high school party. I wish Myrtle was beside me.

I look around the busy room trying to find her. I spot Hopper, looking very dapper in a golden jacket and red bowtie. Perhaps I should talk to him. I'm about to try and make my way over to him when I realise he is trying to flirt with a group of damsels who seem very uninterested in him. He awkwardly winks at the girls. I cringe as they turn their noses up at him and walk away. I almost feel embarrassed for him but I'm more sad that he hasn't come to find me. Hasn't he seen his fairy tale princess standing all alone? And he knows I would never snub him like those damsels. Having grown up together we have a respect for each other's quirks. Or I thought we did. Perhaps I misjudged our relationship and we have grown too far apart to be considered old friends.

I sigh as I continue my search for Myrtle. I finally find her amongst the flashing lights and bodies on the dance floor. Her tight dark blue dress sparkles in the lights. Her green hair is perfectly straight and silky and is blooming little yellow flowers. Her eyes are sharply lined with silver. A euphoric smile is painted on her face as she dances with her new Hex squad friends. Faybelle is with her as well as winged fairies of different colour skin like bright flowers. She really looks like she fits in with them. I feel a pang of jealousy as I watch her having fun without me. But I also want to join in and share this moment with Myrtle. I wish I have the courage to go and talk to her, but I am uncomfortable around Faybelle and the other fairies. I don't want to embarrass myself or make a scene. I don't know if Myrtle is still angry at me or if I am even still angry at her. Myrtle sees me looking. Feeling awkward, I quickly look away and try to appear busy. I don't want her to think I'm standing alone at a party because I don't have her to be with me, even though that is the complete truth. I must look pathetic.

My mirror phone buzzes, I check my phone to see Myrtle has sent me a text.

'Hey, you do realise you have your dress on backwards?'

Oh no! I thought the dress buttoned in the front! How could I be so stupid? Hopefully, it's only Myrtle that noticed. I would die from embarrassment if the royals and rebels noticed. It's so unbefitting of a royal to be improperly dressed. Mortified, I run through the loud club to the door. I feel relief as I walk out into the cold, quiet street of Bookend. I take in a deep breath of cold, fresh air, breathing out slowly. The street is empty, the cobbled stones slightly damp from a shower of rain. The wet stones reflect the pink lights from the club, making the street colourful in the night. The only sound is the low vibrations from the music inside. I find some steps to sit on and take a moment to compose myself in the quiet night.

"I should just go home," I say to myself. If I got a carriage out of here now, I would be back in the frog Kingdom by morning. Tempting as the idea was, I would only be greeted by my mother's berating voice as soon as I walk through the door.

"Well, isn't it princess bog breath," an irritating voice sings. I can't catch a break. My silence is disturbed by Sparrow's bad guitar playing and taunting. Just my luck that he would be out here too. I groan in annoyance as he skips towards me.

"Leave me alone Sparrow! Can't you see I'm trying to be by myself?" I look as he walks towards me. His studded jacket catches the light of the street, matching the light in his eyes as he sees an opportunity to tease me. He has a devilish grin on his handsome face.

"Why? Not enough frogs in there to swallow?" he laughs and motions towards the club. I turn away and ignore him, but this only makes him strum his guitar louder.

"Don't you have somewhere else to be?" I ask.

"Aww, you don't want me around. I'm heartbroken." He says sarcastically and pouts. He starts singing his frog song he created at the Beanstalk Bakery.

"Oh, Princess Frog,

behaves like a hog,

and when she gets tongue-tied,

she throws up a bog!"

"There's no one around to hear you," I point out, trying to persuade him to give up.

"You're here. Where's your plant friend you're always hanging about with?"

"I'm here and I'm uninterested. And she's not a plant she's a water nymph." I say defensively. "She's with her new friends. Why aren't you inside partying like everyone else?"

"I could ask you the same thing bog breath"

"I got bored, and my dress is on backwards," I admit.

"I could help you with that, come here." He grins cheekily and reaches out a hand towards my buttons.

"Stop that!" I say and smack his hands away. "That isn't funny. You are not funny, or charming, or a handsome prince. Your just some obnoxious rebel who's bad at guitar. I shouldn't even be talking to you." I turn my head away again.

"Ouch, I was just trying to help." He huffs, pretending he is the victim.

"No, you weren't. You haven't even told me what you are doing hanging about out here in the street." I give him an angry look to try and ward him off to wherever he came from. Sparrow lets out a long sigh.

"I wasn't invited. Since I'm friends with Duchess, no one will give me to password to get in. Duchess she's tried to ruin one of Briar's parties before and they don't trust me that I won't do what she says. Which is completely unfair because I'm the coolest dude around! I'm no one's lackey. And for the record, I rock at guitar! I'm even in a band with my merry men. But I don't have to tell you that, you've probably already heard of us. Do you want to buy a demo?" He pulls out a CD from his pocket. I can't say no fast enough.

"In all honesty, I don't feel sorry for you for being barred from the party. I don't trust you either," I say.

"So does that mean you're not going to tell me what the password is?" he gives me a flirty grin, trying to win me over.

"No!" I shout exasperated. "Why do you want to get in anyway? It's not even a fun party," I lie. I was the only one in attendance not having fun.

"Because, all the cool people are in there, which means I should be in there living it up, flirting with royal girls and promoting my new guitar solo," He strums his guitar wildly.

"Melody Piper is DJing, they don't need a guitarist."

"Its not a party unless Sparrow rocks the guitar!" He plays a scratchy riff. I almost feel embarrassed for the guy. He is so delusional. "So, are you going to give me the password now?" he pleads, putting on a puppy face.

"I can't. I'm already in the bad books with the royals, I'm not going to make it worse by giving you the password so you can annoy them with your flirting and bad guitar playing" Realising I'm not going to budge he takes off his guitar and hat. He sits beside me on the steps, resting his chin on his hand.

"Yeh well, I get it. I wouldn't trust me either," he says defeatedly, drastically changing from the mischievous tone he had before.

"Why are you feeling so sorry for yourself? It's not as if you have it bad at Ever After High. Not like me."

"At least you want your fairy tale destiny. You're the spoiled princess who gets everything she wants. I'm just a loner rebel who can't even live out his dreams of being in a famous rock band. I don't see the point in having a destiny if I can't have music."

"But you're popular at Ever After High, even if you call yourself a 'loner.' You have your band of merry men and people actually like your music, although I don't see why."

"Thanks?"

"And I'm not spoiled! That's just what people say about me. I'm not just my destiny. Being a royal isn't easy. I have deeper feelings than what they see on the surface, feelings that I have to bury deep down inside of me in order to play a role. My destiny would be so much easier if I did get everything I wanted, but that's far from reality."

"You look very spoiled to me. Not every student gets to wear jewels like those," he says pointing to the emeralds around my neck. I instinctively put my hand over my necklace, knowing Sparrow's destiny as a thief.

"You think I would steal them? Well, I'm not just my destiny either. Maybe I did want to steal them, but I don't just go around stealing everything I see, sometimes I can't control it." There's pain in his voice. "My music hasn't been selling at all lately because royals like you only see me as a scam artist. It's like destiny is controlling who I am."

"I can understand the destiny thing. It can be scary not being in control of your own actions. Lately, I find that I don't recognise myself anymore. I just wish the Apple would forgive me for ruining her grade, and that Hopper would notice me again."

"Why do you care so much whether Hopper notices you? You are going to end up together anyway."

"I care because it makes me feel like a bad princess when he ignores me for another royal. Everyone can see he likes Briar better than me, and I feel like a fool."

"You have been a fool," he muses over recent events.

"You haven't helped me either! You're the one you called me Princess Bogbreath to begin with. Now everyone is calling me that on the mirror net."

"It was just a bit of fun."

"Not to me. It really hurt to throw up that frog, you know? I couldn't breathe and I had no idea what was happening to me. I was so frightened."

He says nothing in return which makes me angry. He should apologise to me at the least for starting the cruel nickname. We sit in silence for a minute. I can't believe how long we were talking. He has been nothing but rude to me since I got to this school. I never expected we would ever have a proper conversation. And about the troubles of destiny no less!

"It seems like neither of us is getting what we want," he breaks the silence. I look back at him. His eyes are full of cunning again. I look at him suspiciously. He continues, "I have a proposal that could help both of us."

"You are not the first person who has offered to help me get what I want. I trusted Faybelle and it ended painfully for me." I brush him off and stand up to walk away. He grabs my gloved hand to stop me.

"Wait. I'm not a fairy, I have no magic tricks. I promise you I mean you no ill will. I don't like you- because you are a spoiled princess, but I won't harm you. I have a plan that will benefit us both," he says with sincerity. It's no surprise that he doesn't like me but, from his honesty, I decide to hear him out.

"What do you suggest?" I ask curiously, wrenching my hand free from his grasp. My glove slips off in the process and he is left holding the fine lace in his musicians' hands. He gently takes my hand back in his and starts to slide the glove back on my fingers.

"Why don't we make a deal to pretend to date and —" I pull my hand back a second time shocked that he would even suggest such a rebellious thing to a royal such as myself.

"Wait, don't freak out! Let me finish." I decide to hear him out, but not because his green eyes sparkle when he has an idea. It's only because he is still holding on to my glove. This time he doesn't give it back. "We fake a relationship, that way Hopper will be jealous and realise what he's missing out on. And your previous scandals will be dead in the water once they all see you with a rebel outlaw on your arm. It will be all everyone will ever talk about- the royals will completely forget the way you choked on a frog," he laughs a little bit at the last statement which irks me.

"What's in it for you?"

"What wouldn't be in it for me? I'll get some royal rep which will help my music career take off. Plus, it would get me more respect from the royals and the rebels. Even my friend Hopper wouldn't give me the password tonight. The rebels will think I'm even more rebellious for breaking the mould and dating a royal, and, when some of the popular royals see that a royal like yourself would date me, maybe someone would notice me more…"

"You're friends with Hopper?" I say in disbelief that my Hopper would ever be friends with an outlaw rebel.

"Royals and rebels can get along you know."

"No one would believe us."

"They will, we'll make sure of it. And once we both get what we want we stage a breakup and go our separate ways," he explains. None of what he said would matter in the slightest if people saw through his plan I would be in a worst social situation than I am now. And even if all the royals did fall for our scheme, Myrtle would never believe I would date Sparrow. I've been obsessing over Hopper. She knows Sparrow's bad boy image is not my type. I prefer clean-shaven princes without a soul patch, and for more regally dressed. And I'd be too shy to ever date the guy who was bullying me. Which is very true. I can't do this. I'm even offended that he would suggest I would ever do such a dishonest thing.

"No, you are being absurd! I don't need your help. I would never go out with you!"

To prove my point, and just to make him mad as payback for calling me Bogbreath, I run back to the club without saying goodbye. I leave him standing alone with my glove in his hand. I knock on the club door three times and whisper the password, 'Milton Grimme is a smelly troll's foot!" A large grey ogre opens the heavy wooden door and I tiptoe past the creature as fast as I can.

At once I am greeted by the noise of the music and cheering and the smell of sweaty bodies. The party is still going strong; Apple and Raven are dancing together, Myrtle and Faybelle are shouting song requests at Melody Piper, Cupid is batting her eyelashes at Dexter, and I spot Hopper across the room. I push my way forward to ask him to dance but stop in my tracks. He's not alone. Instead, he is trying to ask Briar to dance but he chokes on his words and with a puff of magic he transforms into a frog and falls into the pink punch bowl. I feel my heart in my throat. I can't remember the last time Hopper turned into a frog from just talking to me, or if there even was a last time. The realisation hits me that he has never looked at me the way he looks at Briar. She is fishing him out of the punch bowl, giggling sweetly in affection at her froggy friend. I start to doubt whether it is truly my destiny to be with Hopper. I feel helpless. While Briar is dressed prettily in rosy pink, I wear green with envy.

I feel my final straw snapping inside of me. Suddenly the thought of making Hopper jealous seems like the only thing I want in the world. I want to make Hopper feel the way he's made me feel. Invisible.

I run back outside to see if Sparrow is still there. I look around the empty street frantically. I spot his flaming orange hair and green guitar as he walks away.

"Stop!" I yell. I rush over the cobblestone street as I can in my heels. I lose my footing and just as I think I'm going to hit the ground, he catches me in his arms. He smells of a mixture of aftershave, smoke and sweat.

"Forget this?" I look up at his smirking face and see him holding up my glove.

"No way," I pant, out of breath from running. I push him away and smooth my dress. I try to look like I mean business. "I'll agree to your deal on—"

"Couldn't resist me huh?" he interrupts smugly. I ignore him and carry one.

"I'll agree on the condition we can never kiss."

"Woah, who said anything about kissing? You must be eager." He teases.

"I mean it Sparrow, I'm cursed to never kiss someone until I kiss my frog prince. Otherwise, the person I kiss will turn into a frog forever and I will never be able to break the frog prince's spell. My fairy tale will be ruined and destiny will never happen."

"I didn't think that curse was real," he shrugs, "I figured it was just made up for drama."

"Real or not, I don't want to test fate," I say with seriousness, "And if your plan isn't working, I can break up with you at any time."

"Ok then, I'll shake on that, on the condition you let me into the party?"

"You still want to go?"

"Of course, I don't want to miss out, and we need to make our debut, it will be the perfect start to our fake relationship." He grins knowing he has me in a corner.

I purse my lip, "Ok, but you have to promise to behave." I hold out my hand to shake on it. He shakes firmly before saying, "You know I can't promise that!" and starts running towards the door. My nose scrunches in irritation. I already regret our deal.

"Come one!" He yells back at me. I catch up with him as we reach the club entrance. Taking a deep breath I knock three times and recite the password. The ogre opens the door again. At first, the creature looks sceptical when it sees Sparrow. They had obviously been warned about his antics. I give the ogre my most charming smile and flutter my eyelashes. This seems to soften the creature, as he steps aside and allows us the enter. Sparrow looks around the buzzing room excitedly and with victory at finally being let in. I'm worried that now he's got what he wants, he'll run off and leave me, regardless of the deal we made.

"Will you give me back my glove now?" I ask over the booming music.

"No chance," he leans down and speaks into my ear so I can hear him over the noise. I can feel his breath on my skin and my senses tingle and my hair involuntarily stands on end from the close contact. "I'm keeping it as insurance you'll keep your word," he says.

"I've already let you in haven't I?" I protest. But he is too busy taking in the party to listen to me. We walk further into the room. At first, no one notices us. We blend into the crowded room. Then Sparrow holds out his hand. He nods towards the dance floor with a wicked grin. I take his hand nervously.

"What if this is a bad idea?" I ask.

"Trust me. A royal and a rebel dating happens more than you think." He replies. I try to ask him what he means but he just shrugs and drops the subject.

He leads me towards the dance floor. The upbeat dance music vibrates through the dance floor. He starts dancing really badly. I watch for a moment as he jumps about and waves his arms around freely to the music. Trust a rocker to not dance conventionally. I laugh as people move to get out of his way. He motions for me to join in and twirl towards him. I take his hand and move timidly at first, but I begin to feel the beat of the music. With a courage I didn't know I had, I start dance madly with him. People are starting to look and do double-takes at the sight of us cutting shapes. I even see Blondie take a snapshot on her mirror phone. Hopper's frog eyes look flabbergasted when he sees us. He hops around people's feet, trying not to get squished. I catch a glance at Myrtle as Sparrow spins me around. Her face looks both confused and disapproving. But I don't care anymore.

I swim through the vibrant colours of the lights and my world becomes alive with colour as I let go and feel the joy of dancing. My loose hair waves about wildly as I dance. My skirts whirl as I spin in endless circles. My mother would go mental if she could see the state of me now. I feel royally rebellious. It's a daring feeling I never thought I would have. Sparrow meets my eyes. He grins at me with his crooked smile. And I smile back with happiness. We take each other's hands and we both spin round and round, faster and faster, not letting go, and grinning at each other as the world turns around us.

After a while, I forget people are watching. I enjoy the moment dancing the night away, not caring about tomorrow.

***Tbc***

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