Different Worlds // n.h.

chapter twenty-two // feeling like a princess.

Gracey POV

I stared out the window of the enormous limousine. We passed by thousands of people, all of them pulling out their cameras. ("That's the Royal Family's limousine!") Thank goodness the windows were tinted, I don't know what would happen if a photo of me got into the public; I couldn't risk Vic finding it and figuring out where I am.

All of us girls — Me, Reeja, Chana, Joy, Brooke, Melody, and even Queen Kaitlyn — were going ball gown shopping. I had never been to a dance in my life — except for the Daddy Daughter Dance I went to when I was about 4. I felt like a princess. Little did I know then, I would eventually be dancing in a real palace.

"Normally for events like this, we would get our gowns fitted and personalized by a designer, however this time I wanted to support smaller businesses," Kaitlyn spoke. "The only problem with that was that we need bodyguards to accommodate us — since we don't want to be attacked by the paparazzi. I hope you all don't mind, I know it's hard to get accustomed to this lifestyle."

This was the reason I always pitied the famous. Constantly being in the spotlight, never able to live life? Not for me. I like the idea of staying in the background.

I could tell Reeja was also a little iffy about the idea of being crowded around by the paparazzi. Despite being a very outgoing person, she still didn't like being in the center of attention.

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. I prayed the paparazzi wouldn't leak a picture of me. The last thing I needed was Vic to find out where I am. I don't even know what she would do to me.

"I'm going to wear the poofiest gown you could find!" Chana spoke. Unlike Reeja and I, Chana seemed to enjoy the attention.

"You could be like Cinderella!" Joy said dreamily, seeming to enjoy the idea of a poofy gown as well.

"I mean, Harry is very much like Prince Charming," Chana agreed.

"Oh please. Poofy ball gown? I'm going to wear something sexy." Brooke interfered. She pretended to put on sunglasses, acting as though she was the 'coolest person in the world', causing everyone to burst into laughter.

"We're here!" Melody interrupted, looking overjoyed to finally get out of the car filled with us rowdy girls.

The door to get out of the limo was opened by a very muscly man, who looked like he could even so as to flick you, and you would fly to Antarctica.

The moment he opened the door, screams, and sounds of clicking cameras filled the air. ("That's Queen Kaitlyn!" "Who are those girls with her?")

Just as I'd feared, the paparazzi came right away. I immediately covered my face with my scarf and hoodie, then promptly hid behind Reeja.

"Back away, back away," The bodyguards prompted as the paps crowded around.

We all dashed to the gown shop as fast as we could, breathing heavily as we slammed the door behind us.

I looked over to see poor Joy, her dark brown eyes welled up with tears.

"I'm — never — going — out — there — ever — again —" She spoke in-between gasps for air.

I looked to Chana and Brooke for an explanation, who mouthed "claustrophobia." We went in for a group hug while trying to calm down and catch our breath.

After finally calming down, we started our search for dresses. Reeja developed an enormous pile of dresses; she could never make up her mind about anything.

Chana got her wish, as she burst out of the dressing room squealing, "I'm never taking this off!" She wore an extremely light pink dress with layers and layers of silk. There was rose gold floral patterning adorning the dress, concentrating on the bottom of the skirt. The sleeves of the dress were very poofy as well, adding just the perfect touch.

Joy came out of her dressing room as well, looking overjoyed. The dress matched her personality exactly. It was whimsical, adorable, and elegant — straight out of a fairy tale. She wore a strapless light gold dress, with flowers of many different sizes and colors scattered all around it. It was poofy, but not as much so as Chana's. The dress reached down right to her knees. She gave us a little twirl and headed back to the dressing room to take it off and pay for the dress.

Brooke came out of the last dressing room, wearing a black spaghetti strapped dress. It was tight-fitted and sleek, along with a side slit reaching all the way to her mid-thigh. She wore a look that said, "I can slay this," And gave us a little runway strut.

Once a few more dressing rooms were free, Reeja finally left to try on her millions of ball gowns. I still hadn't found one I loved. None of them seemed to fit my personality. It was either too whimsical or too sexy.

"Do you need help?" Joy asked, noticing my struggling.

"Oh, yes please!"

Chana and Brooke joined the search as well, but no one could find anything.

I sighed and collapsed into a nearby chair, exhausted from too much shopping.

"This is the one." Reeja squealed as she ran out of the dressing room, wearing a canary yellow dress, embellished with light blue butterflies. The dress was quite long, elegant, and extremely flowy. The light yellow color accentuated her glowing brown skin.

"You look gorgeous," I admitted, though wasn't surprised, she could pull off anything. Put her in a clown costume and she'd still look like a model.

"Have you found your dress yet?"

"Nope, we've shone every dress in this area and she declined every single one of them," Brooke complained.

"Having trouble?" Kaitlyn appeared, "may I recommend this dress?"

She held up a beautiful dark blue dress, the exact color of the night sky. The dress was covered in gold sparkling stars of many different sizes. It was poofy, but not too poofy, and had a sweetheart neckline as well. The look of the dress flooded my mind with the memory of the night on the rooftop.

"This is the one." I snatched the dress from Kaitlyn and dashed to the dressing room.

It was as if it was made just for me.

~~~

"You're finally back!" Niall yelled as we all entered the palace. "Can you show me the dress?"

"Now that, Nosy Niall, is a surprise," I smirked, enjoying his annoyed reaction.

"Nosy Niall, eh, I need to use that now," Harry laughed, giving Niall a playful punch in the arm.

"Wait, Kaitlyn, Melody, I just realized you never showed us your dresses," Chana pointed out.

"Just like Gracey said, mine is a surprise," Kaitlyn laughed. "and Melody's is an online order, coming tomorrow; the one she wanted didn't come in her size."

The rest of the day was spent getting to know our new guests. They were all extremely friendly, and I thought we were all going to get along quite well.

Things were going quite well, almost too well. I couldn't shake the feeling of something bad happening — I had never gone so long without a disaster in any way.

I'll just have to see where life takes me.

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eeEEEeEEEEEe the Christmas ball is NEXT CHAPTER!!

honey, you gotta big storm comin' *snaps*

i hope you all had a wonderful amazing new year, happy 2021!! we're finally outta 2020 😂 I can tell this year is gonna be amazing, for so many reasons ahaha

I hope y'all liked this chapter! ilysm! thank you all for the amazing support ❤️❤️❤️❤️

p.s i hate chapter names ✌️