Convinced

"Hey Alicia, Claire's cousin Macy is having a party tonight. You game?"

Usually Rocky knew better than to ask Alicia if she wanted to go to parties with him. As mentioned before, the young woman did not like the party crowd at all. Once, she was part of them but that had changed when she became responsible for someone's death and responsible for a freaking kingdom. She found sweaty bodies grinding against each other and vomit and beer stained dance floors incredibly distasteful and so unnecessary and so naturally, when he used to ask, Alicia made up an excuse to dissuade her brother without offending him and his friends.

But today was different.

"Macy emphasized that it would be a very small gathering, very low key and hey, it's Sunday, there's school tomorrow so no one will be too drunk." Rocky offered.

"Will Reuben Smith be there?" She asked. Reuben was her fake tutor and what had been a potential future king-consort.

"Who?" Rocky asked in confusion.

Of course the likes of Rocky would definitely not be caught dead with the likes of Reuben; a straight A student with a surreal GPA and nerdy habits. But she asked anyway.

"Reuben. Ben. The tall guy. Blue eyes?"

"Oh!" he clicked his fingers in recognition "Benji-boy! Yeah, he'll be there. Why? You fancy him?" he asked with a smirk.

"Actually, I was going to say; if he is, then I'm not coming."

"But you'll barely notice him," Rocky moaned as his smile fled. "He's just, you know, nerdy and....not very liked," he said carefully so as to not offend her in case she did really like him. "so he'll be out of your way."

Alicia looked at his brother's eager eyes. It was the first time he had spoken to her since her confession and she really wanted him to believe her. Maybe going to the party would convince him of her complete sanity (in some twisted logic) and maybe, it would be the beginning of her making up for lost football games and soccer games when she was performing her queenly duties and couldn't be there to support him.
"Fine," she said cooly. ", what do I wear?"

Rocky grinned like an idiot.

"It's a normal party, so anything pretty but nothing too short for you sis. I don't want to have to punch any brothers-in-arms." He said, his grin still very much plastered.

Alicia pouted. "You're such a goof. What are so happy about anyway?"

"Well, if you haven't noticed, I, for one am extremely good looking and you, for one, are my twin, which means, you also, for one, look extremely good looking - but I'm just a little more good looking obviously. But point is, when we're together, we look like we just stepped out of the catwalk. Two is better than one. And ha, what can I say, the girls need a reminder."

"Lamest excuse ever. Besides, you're not that good looking, and I may take a step further and say you're sort of ugly." She joked drily.

"Nice try sis. But like I said, we're twins. If I'm ugly, you're just as bad," he said with a wink. "now get off that couch and go look pretty." He said as he dragged her off the couch, where she had been sitting watching infomercials softly while listening to her favorite classic rock station on the radio - the way normal people spent Sundays.

Now although Alicia had asked Rocky what to wear, she didn't actually care. The last time she had been at a party, had been over a year ago and she had been the life of the party. She wore what other girls wore - that is to say, skirts too short and clothes too bright - and did what other girls did too. She kissed who they kissed and she liked who they liked and acted the way they acted.

But she was different now.

Because she had already been wearing one of her many iconic black ripped jeans, she simply changed from an old band t-shirt to an off-the-shoulder white lacy ladies shirt that revealed a bit of her belly (all for Lucian's sake). To accessorize, she wore her small gold feathery necklace (which Rocky had given to her for her seventeenth birthday. It had a manly bracelet counter part which he always wore around his left wrist and together, the feathers from necklace and the bracelet made a set of angel wings as they really were) and some hand rings, with her infamous black grunge boots. The girl wore a little bit of makeup; some mascara, blush and colourless lipgloss, and she left her hair down in its natural state (dark and slightly wavy) with a little spray for a nice shiny sheen. All in all, she was pleased that it didn't take too much of her time and she didn't have to pretend to be someone she wasn't anymore.

Rocky did a low whistle when he saw her, though he looked pretty sleek with his grey ripped jeans, white v-neck t-shirt and black leather jacket, hair slightly damp.
"Wow, Licia."

"I just changed my t-shirt." she said flatly. But Rocky wasn't hearing it.

"Why don't you ever dress like this? I mean the only time you look so good is for family events and when...you visit...." He faltered, reminding her of how much they still needed to talk, but now was not the time.

"-- Alfairia," she finished for him. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah," he said quietly. "Yes, I guess I am."

In an attempt to defuse the awkwardness and tension, Alicia made a point of taking a good hard look at his face and asking, "Is that a zit I see on your face?"

Immediately, his hand rushed to his face.

"I don't have zits!" He said, defensively. ", you're the one with a fat zit."

"Do not!"

"Do too."

"Do not! The only reason no-one can see yours is because your face is caked in foundation."

"Excuse me, I'm a manly man. I do not wear makeup."

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

.... The twins bickered until they got into Lucian's car, but it was okay, because he smiled the whole way to the party. They would be okay.

~~~~

Thanks for reading.