The story is getting quite interesting now, isn't it? Because slowly, slowly; I'm starting to wrap everything up. 

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"You're bloody mad!" my voice screeched as I watched Sarina's body contort into pretzel formations. "That is abnormally flexible!" Sarina only chuckled at me. After I got back from Caleb the previous day, Sarina had contacted me to invite me to see her gymnastics' open day. All of the men and woman were inhuman, flying high into the sky and breaking their bodies into abnormal forms. Sarina and I hadn't yet spoken about what happened on the night of my birthday, but at least we weren't embarrassed around each other. I wondered if it was a one-time thing, but my mind was more occupied at Sarina's butt could touch her head.

"I was born like this," she commented, walking around on her hands. I only shook my head at her crazy actions. We were near the end of the gym at the tumble mats, most of the gym filled with contractors looking for circus performers or whatnot. This private gym really was buzzing well with success.

I was a little mad at the fact that I have to wear a disguise, yet the heat was excruciating today and most of the people in the gym wore almost no clothes. Leotard and spandex pants. That was basically it for them.

A girl walked past us, her tiny form confusing me after seeing the bigger builds of everyone around us. Her hair was into a nice, right bun and she seemed terrified almost. Sarina was the total contrast, her violet hair free and her expression full of amusement.

"That's Parker," she told once the girl was out of our sights.

"The... flyer, right?" she nodded and skilfully rose off the ground from a backbend position.

"Yeah. I have to catch her at one time in her performance. Super stressful. At least she's not heavy," she shrugged her shoulders, standing next to me as we peered at the busy gym.

"What's that?" I inquired, pointing to two strange horizontal poles.

"The uneven bars. Let me show you," we headed over, Sarina dressing her hands with a kind of glove and placing powder on it. Then she launched herself onto the lower bar, spinning around it professionally before standing on it and falling, catching the higher pole. She spun around it, gaining momentum before releasing her hands at the peak and did strange flips in the air before catching the bar again. My heart was pounding throughout it all, terrified that she would miss the bar and fall to her death. She dismounted without any problems and I clapped at the end, completely amazed at the performance.

"Bloody hell, that was amazing," she chuckled nervously as I commented her, my eyes shining with excitement. It was then that a ginger girl, one who I had not seen for a long time, came running over before leaping into the air. She landed straight onto Sarina's back, both of them falling onto the ground.

"Damn chicken nuggets! Molly!" Sarina called out, groaning in pain. Molly only laughed, running her hands through Sarina's violet locks and messing it up.

"Sarina! You got your dismount right!" Molly commented with a wide grin and I guessed that Sarina had struggle with that dismount in the past.

"Damn straight I did!"

"Straight? Since when? Never!" Molly replied with an over exaggerating expression, one I couldn't help but laugh at. It was then that Molly realized I was there, her eyes widened exponentially. "Alice? Is that you, pastel ballerina?" I narrowed my yes in confusion for a second before realizing that I indeed had a secret persona before. I almost forgot.

"Hey Molly," I introduced, waving my hand slightly in greeting. Her jaw slacked before she looked back at Sarina, who she was still seated on top.

"Oh my chicken nugget! You stayed in contact!" Sarina groaned in response.

"Yeah, so?"

"But she's the Princess!" Molly hissed into Sarina's ear in disbelief. Sarina rolled her eyes, not liking being Molly's chair.

"Yeah, and I snogged her. So what?" my face heated up immediately, my blush overtaking my expression. Molly's expression grew wide and excited, her head moving quickly between me and Sarina's forms. I tried to hide my face with my hands.

"AH!" she screeched and a few heads turned to us in question, staring at her like she was mental. "Oh my soul! Yes! I ship it!" she launched herself off of Sarina and pulled her up with her, pulling Sarina into the strangest bear hug.

"You're suffocating me," Sarina groaned, patting Molly's back.

"Who cares? The ship has sailed!" she seemed to be in heaven whilst I was slowly dying of embarrassment. She held Sarina by shoulder's length. "But like, seriously? For real? No voodoo crap? You're not playing me?" Sarina looked over to me, seeing my blushing face and smiling with admiration.

"Well, if she'll have me..." she trailed off, her eyes trained on me. I trailed my eyes away for a second before looking back into her expecting eyes. I headed over towards her after checking the surrounding area, seeing no one particularly focussing. Molly was confused for a second, releasing Sarina and taking a step back. I grabbed Sarina's face quickly and brought her closer to me, placing a quick peck flush against her lips before moving away.

Now it was Sarina who was as red as my favourite strawberries, and I felt almost proud that I could evoke such a reaction from her. But I quickly realized that I evoked and even more extravagant reaction, and currently Molly was missing. I quickly discovered her, running a lap around the gym with her hands waving above her head as she screamed at the top of her lungs in excitement. As she rounded the halfway mark, the coach stepped in and caught her in her run. He tried to calm her down, holding her still as she kept struggling. I could only laugh hysterically at her actions, and I heard Sarina following my action.

I felt her fingers rake around my uninjured wrist until she trailed her fingers over my slightly shorter ones. I intertwined my fingers with hers, gripping her hand tightly. It felt so right, even if her hands were full of old bruises and scars. But after seeing the work the gymnasts did, I could understand and respect why.

"Melanie?"

"Yeah?"

"Are we going out?" I looked at her with furrowed brows.

"Are you kidding me?" Sarina looked a bit taken back and began to chuckle nervously.

"Well, yeah, but-" I cut her off.

"Of course we're not going out! You haven't even taken me out on a date yet," she looked at me with a wide mouth and disbelief.

"Are you seriously going to make me wait?"

"Excuse you. You made me wait," I responded, feeling a little bit cheeky.

"I was convinced it was illegal," she told me like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well, it is illegal to call me your girlfriend when we haven't even gone on date yet. You're just going to have to suck it up," Sarina chuckled at me, shaking her head before pecking my forehead.

"You are unbelievable,"

"But you're already in too deep," I looked up at her with a smile. She returned the smile.

"Can I call you 'babe'?"

"Hell no,"

"Worth a shot,"

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I headed through the palace with my Italian textbook, studying grammar notes in preparation of the test I knew my tutor was going to spring on me. I didn't like to study while sitting, instead needing momentum and different locations to remember things. Sometimes I would say up things to Royal Guards, pretending as if I'm tutoring them. I remembered things easier then when I used quite a few senses.

The most hilarious memory I had of studying like that is when one of the Royal Guards actually responded, giving me hint on how to remember a passage. It was wonderful.

As I through the halls, the familiar sound of classical music filled my ears. I took a small break, heading over to listen to their progress. I expected the usual beautiful melody they played, not a single piece they've ever played sounding terrible. This one, however, made me a bit worried. There was a few screeches from Cornelius's bow, Bartholomew missing keys. I knew they were nervous about their performance, but not this much that they couldn't even practice normally. Their conductor sounded absolutely furious, making comments on any off note.

But as more comments spouted from her mouth, the more the twins began to ruin their performance. I recognized the song, it was familiar. This wasn't how it was supposed to be played.

I pitied them, knowing they had no choice in the matter. There was still three weeks before the Royal Variety Performance, and they would have to pull it together if they hoped to be any good.

Could my parents not see them suffering?

Could they not figure out that by forcing something, it won't ever be as good?

The King and Queen were wise, yes, but they were still amateurs when it came to parenting. I wasn't exactly the best child, rebelling at every turn. My parents thought force would work on us, as nothing else did. They force them to play, force them to stay, force them to give up their freedom. They forced me to change my appearance, forced me to go another country and forced me to interact with people I didn't want to.

I wasn't going to be that kind of Queen.

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Bartholomew's fingers hit the black and white keys but every sound he made was distasteful. They felt awkward and forced, not flowing like he was used to. The song he and his other half were practicing for he didn't particularly like, and now he had no choice in the matter. He was to continue the song, for Cornelius's sake.

Cornelius had cut his finger on the snare of his violin accidentally while practicing, although it was wonderful that the injury wasn't deep. But Cornelius was now determined to do the piece more than ever because of it, no idea that his brother had no interest in the piece at all. He felt uncomfortable playing something that didn't suit his style, and felt more like an accompanist than a duet partner.

Even if the song itself was beautiful, written by Chopin no less, he felt as if his talent was being wasted when he could deliver something more extravagant than the sombre piece. Then again, his disdain was only amplified by the fact that they had no say in the piece nor have any choice in whether they want to perform or not.

"Do you think we will be able to do it?" Cornelius question his brother, fear evident on his face. It was way past midnight and they were sharing their insecurities with each other.

"We don't have a choice," Bartholomew expressed, wrapping herself under his blankets until he looked like a hermit. He didn't know what Cornelius was up to, but by the sound of it he was pacing around in his slippers. "We can't mess up," he heard a sniffle and guessed that his brother was starting to tear up.

"Everyone will be watching..."

"Everyone in the world," Bartholomew could feel himself getting emotional, clawing his blankets closer towards him. He felt a weight on top of him and realized that Cornelius flopped onto his bed. Bartholomew came out from under the blankets so that he could move them over his brother.

"What if we get nervous on stage? What if I hit a blank?" Bartholomew softly cooed his brother, hoping to calm him and himself down.

"We can do it, I know we can. We are the princes of the greatest kingdom in the world. We can do it," Bartholomew softly whispered.

"Why are you lying?" Cornelius accused.

"Because what else can I do?"