One True Queen

As the sun rises, I am met by a pair of bright blue eyes. I jump back as Elliot smiles.

“Morning sunshine.” He whispers.

I wake up with a jolt. The sun is risen, and I turn to the clock. It’s ten o’clock. I slept in. I try to shake the drowsy feeling as I force myself out of the extremely comfortable bed. I can’t believe I had a dream about Elliot. As short as it was, it was still a dream about him. But I can’t think about him today. Today I have to think about appearances for Tork. And Rachel’s... Oh no! I forgot a present for Rachel! I quickly grab the red elastic band from my wrist and cut it. I take a piece of silver twine and twist the two together. After a few minutes, I have created a small silver and red bracelet. It’s lucky Rachel’s wrist is quite small. As I rush downstairs, I bump into Rachel. I smile and say,

“Happy birthday.” She scoffs in reply and says,

“You said that yesterday.” I hand her the bracelet and she smiles. She quickly slips it onto her wrist.

“Thank you. It’s beautiful.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t get anything better.” I say honestly. Rachel scoffs again.

“If you got me anything ‘better’ I would not have liked it. You may bleed Silver, but you are a Red. I loved gifts like these. I still do. It’s the little things in life, not the grand gestures. This is symbolic to me. A Silver sister and a Red sister entwined for eternity. That’s the best gift ever.” She gives me a tight embrace before giggling.

“And to prove my point, here comes Elliot. It’s the little things, not the grand gestures.” She winks, before leaving me alone with Elliot. We stand awkwardly in the hallway and Elliot starts.

“Would you accompany me to dinner this evening Lady Olivia?” He asks. I look behind me, foolishly, before realizing he was addressing me by my new name.

“May I have a think?” I reply. I need a second to think. A chance to feel his warm, minty breath, his soft hands in mine. A chance to share a first kiss at a lovely meal. Before he can answer, my reply is certain. It is the best decision. I turn and walk away, but not before I have given him my answer. Do you want to know what I said?

I said no...