Chapter 4

            The following morning, after Ethan had kissed her goodbye and left for his princely duties, Chloe pulled out her computer. Her usual routine consisted of scrolling through her notifications and answering a couple of MuseTunes messages. There were always way too many for her to answer all of them, but she did her best to get to as many as she could.

            She loved getting back to people. Their general excitement and encouragement was not only contagious, but warmed her heart. It was good to know that all the trouble she had previously gone through with Frank and Danika was worth it.

            All in all though, she was ecstatic that people enjoyed her music. She got a lot of compliments about how she managed to bring a lot of emotions to most of her songs and covers. That had always been her goal all along.

            After all, it was music that run their world, not MuseTunes, though a lot of time she felt people forgot that. Most of the teens and rising stars were only after the fame and the popularity, so much so that they forgot the reason that they started making music in the first place. Yet it was that music and motivation that pushed them forward and allowed them to enjoy their own successes at the end of the day.

            That motivation got Chloe to sing another cover. It was a gentle piece, an acoustic version of one of Danika's first singles that she did, before she really hit the big time. The song itself weaved a tale about a girl who led a heartbreaking life as a puppet for those around her.

            Although, when the song first came out, it had more of a beat and had been sped up unnecessarily. Chloe held a firm belief that that was why the song wasn't the most popular. The producers had taken away its potential by playing down the emotion of the song and turning it into some horrible version that attempted to bring its listeners to their feet.

            Chloe knew better.

            That's why she picked the song, and at first, as she ran through it and stripped the audio down to the piano melody, she figured she'd sing it for herself and not post it anywhere. However, when she turned the camera on and plugged in her portable Apogee microphone to begin singing she decided she'd be more open minded about the whole thing after she finished.

            It took her upwards of about an hour and a half to get the piece sung exactly how she wanted with all her extra flourishes and another two hours to cut and edit out the parts that she didn't want to keep. After that, her computer software took the time to smooth out the piece and make it flow a bit better.

            She was just about to run through and listen to the final version when someone knocked on the door. Frowning at her computer, she clicked a few buttons to bring up the audio sound and called out for the visitor to come in.

            "Hey," Ian poked his head in. "Can I come in?"

            "Sure." Chloe pulled out one of her earphones. "But only if you listen to this real quick for me."

            Ian slid into the room and sat cross legged on her bed. "What is it?"

            She shrugged, playing off all her hard work. In reality, she was way too eager to share her cover. It turned out pretty awesome, and that made her happy. "A cover I just put together."

            "Really? Cool." Ian looked honestly interested. That boosted her excitement.

            She played the song for him, watching his expression for any signs of horror or disgust. "What do you think?" She asked when it was over.

            Ian nodded. "I like it. It's very...deep." He frowned at his words. "Does that make sense?"

            "Yeah." She said happily. A grin found its way onto her face. "Good."

            "Have you put it up?"

            She shook her head. "Nope. I'm not sure I want to."

            "You should do it." Ian encouraged. "I can't even imagine how many people would love it." He mumbled something else under his breath.

            "What?" She glanced at her little brother. His mood was off. She hadn't noticed it until now, but something was wrong. "What's wrong?"

            Ian gave her a look that said he was debating on telling her.

            "Please?" She tried.

            He ran a hand through his hair. "I just... don't know how you do it."

            "Do what?"

            He gestured at the equipment all laid out. "This." He seemed frustrated, upset, and at the moment, Chloe didn't know how to deal with it. She'd rarely ever had to comfort people. She wasn't used to it.      

            But what she noticed was the way he had introduced his friends the other day when she went with Jackson to pick them up. Most likely this was less of an inadequacy problem and more of a girl problem. She understood those. "Is this about...Hanna?" She grimaced. That didn't sound like the girl's name. What was it? Something weird... "Havanna?"

            Ian only fiddled with the fingers in his lap. She was right on the money.

            Since discovering her true identity, she'd worked hard to form close bonds with all of her siblings. Out of the four siblings she had, it was Ian and Jackson with whom she felt the closest. Which was why she really wanted to help him out. He was just a little teenager. Barely in high school. Anything that could make his life just a bit better made her feel like she helped.

            "Talk to me, Ian." She said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "She seemed pretty nice. Don't you like her?"

            Ian shifted and mumbled something. Pink seeped into his cheeks and it was all she could do not to squeal at how cute her littlest brother was. All flushed over a crush.

            Poor guy.

            "You know what girls like?" Chloe said carefully. She didn't want to overstep any boundaries already by trying to tell Ian how to run his love life. But a little advice couldn't hurt, right?

            "Flowers?"

            "Well...yeah." She closed the cover on her laptop. "Girls can be fickle sometimes. But I don't know one girl who doesn't love hearing a compliment."

            "That's it? Compliment her?"

            Chloe shrugged. "Us girls like to know that other people see us differently than we see ourselves. Girls' minds are constantly at work overanalyzing everything from the way their shoulders line up to the type of nail polish on their toes. What you need to do is point out the things she doesn't see. The personality. The qualities you like about her."

            Ian's eyes brightened, then dimmed as he frowned. "Wait...I can't just walk up to her and tell her I like how caring she is."

            An idea formed in the back of her mind. She got up to grab a notebook and a pen. "Well, you could. But there is a better way to do it."

            "How?"

            At this Chloe grinned. "Write her a song."

            Ian hesitated. She could already see the doubt in his mind. The doubt of his own capability.

            "Come on," She sat back on the bed, opening to a brand new page. "I'll help you. We'll charm the pants off this girl."

            Ian's fingers came up to press against the smile forming. "Thanks, Chloe."

            "Anytime." She shifted closer to her little brother, her chest warming. "Now, you said she's caring. Elaborate."

            It took her, Melena, Lyle, and Miranda four hours to find her a dress for the awards night. She wished it could've been done faster, because the amount of people and palace guards with her made them horribly obvious and attracted a lot of attention.

            They'd started at a few boutiques along what the people of Sarias called, 'The Main Strip'. The main strip housed the huge designer stores that cost an arm and a leg. People from higher social circles shopped around the strip and the boutiques and salons along it were frequently featured in the big glamor magazines.

            Originally Chloe had the intention of just going to her dinky little outlet mall back by where she used to live with Frank and Danika. However, when she told Melena she'd given her a scrunch of the nose and told her that in no way would that happen.

            Chloe had been ready to fight for it, but then she'd reconsidered. This kind of thing was literally in her job description. Best to leave this for the professionals.

            And so she'd let Melena drag her around to place after place to try on dresses upon dresses that cost more than a dress ever should.

            Some of the dresses had been somewhat acceptable. Some had not. There had been a couple frilly blue numbers that seemed to show more skin than a bikini. A pink shimmering long gown that made her feel like she'd been doused in sprinkles. A green one that looked more like an enormous ball gown and cost more money than Chloe could count.

            Miranda had been an enormous help. Chloe'd had to talk to Barbara about taking one of her workers from her. And though she was shy, Miranda remained honest. When Chloe tried on a dress and came out to show her, Miranda pointed out the good qualities and bad qualities about each one. She was the best.

            Walking into the last boutique, Chloe's patience level had hit an all-time low. She was sick of shopping. And they hadn't even bought anything yet.

            "Hello!" An overeager boutique worker called out as they walked in, fiddling with the cash register. "Welcome to—" The woman cut off with a surprise gasp as she looked over. "Welcome to our shop." She made her way over, "Anonymous—wow—how can I help you?"

            Chloe let her lack of patience show. "Please tell me you have a simple, beautiful dress that I'm going to love for a moderate price. I don't think I can do much more."

            Melena took over from there, pointing out to the lady Chloe's size and what she was looking for. The two of them wandered off to the back to snag some dresses. That left Chloe, Miranda, and Lyle to themselves. Save for the two palace guards standing at attention just inside the door.

            "At this rate, I might just have to wear a suit to this." Chloe told Miranda.

            Miranda shot her a sympathetic smile. "Pantsuits can be fashionable."

            "I don't know. Go big or go home right?" Chloe looked behind Lyle's shoulder at the guards. "Hey Dave, you got an extra suit I could borrow?"

            Dave was trained only to be aware of the situation around him. As tradition, that meant both the guards stood stick straight and showed no one they were listening.

            Chloe'd made it her mission to see one of them crack. Already she saw Dave's mouth twitch. She couldn't help but laugh. "I'll have to bedazzle it of course, being a girl and all. But you don't care about that, do you, Dave?"

            "Miss Chloe, can you please find your way to the fitting room?" Melena called, following the shop hand who wheeled in a cart filled to the brim with gowns from the back.

            "Wish me luck." She mumbled to Miranda.

            "Luck."

            Four gowns later she found her dress. It was a shorter gold dress that went down to just above her knees. The tiny tool skirt flared out and cut off about mid-stomach. The golden flower designs and leaves weaved effortlessly together for the top all the way up to the short three inch straps. Even in the fitting room the glitter laced through the skirt sparkled.

            It was perfect.

            Chloe smiled at her reflection. The overall product didn't scream money and opulence. And it worked nicely with the brightness of her hair. How could she not love it?

            Miranda waited patiently outside the fitting room. The second Chloe walked out, her new friend smiled.

            "Well, what do you think?" She wiped her hands over the tool skirt.

            "I like it." Miranda looked her up and down. "It's not too much."

            From the side, Melena ticked her tongue. "Very elegant. Are you sure this is the one you want?"

            Chloe glanced back over at the shop hand. "Yes. I'll take it."

            The woman working the boutique clapped her hands. "Excellent. Allow me to check you guys out then, and we can get the dress wrapped and ready to go."

            "Thank you." Chloe said.

            "Lyle." Melena tapped at her blackberry. Without looking up, she gestured her chin at Chloe. "Get a picture of the dress. His Majesty will need to color coordinate."

            Lyle scrambled around in his brown satchel for a camera. "Of course."

            He lifted a slim digital camera from the bag, his brown hair messy and in his face. "Smile, Miss Chloe."

            "Is this going straight to Ethan?" She couldn't help but ask.

            Lyle looked to Melena for an answer. Melena still didn't glance away from her phone, but somehow she knew she was being talked to. "I was going to send it to his tailor and assistant. I can get it to him as well, if you'd like."

            "Cool." Chloe waited for Lyle to fix his camera right, then she blew a flirty kiss at the camera, barely resisting a giggle. She'd hope to be there when Ethan got the picture to see his reaction. Lyle pressed the button. "Thanks, Lyle."

            "Alright, let's get out of here."