the sleepless elite

xvi

 the sleepless elite

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chapter sixteen

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You clicked your heels and wished for me

– Panic! At the Disco, Northern Downpour

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Waterloo, I was defeated, you won the war,
Waterloo, promise to love you for ever more,
Waterloo, couldn't escape if I wanted to,
Waterloo, knowing my fate is to be with you.

– ABBA, Waterloo

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"My twin senses are tingling."

"Is it now?"

"Hmm,"

"Are they really tingling or do you just not want to write your essay?"

"Both. I'm worried about Darling too," Dexter Charming says, turning away from the essay he was writing. Writing assignments tend to do that to you. Let your mind wander elsewhere. "I know I can't get a hold of Darling because she's off the map so would it be weird if I use your FaceTime account and ask Maddie a few questions later?" He asks his girlfriend, Raven Queen, who just happened to be listening to music to drown out the possible growing headache she was going to have from all the assessment stress.

"Maddie?"

Dexter nods then continues talking, the rambling part of him coming out, "I know it's weird but, like last year or something, Darling said she had went adventuring with ... the sleepless elite, likely? And I just want to know if Darling ever mentioned anything about her job to Maddie."

"Uh, Dex, Darling never went adventuring with Maddie." Raven says, eyebrow climbing higher on her face. "That's not possible, Maddie immediately took over her Dad's tea shop after we graduated Ever After High. Darling probably meant she went exploring with Alistair and Bunny. Those two told me they were going on an adventure before we left for college."

"Well, that's not possible either, Rae."

"And why is that?" Raven asks, sitting upright from Dexter's dorky blue Star Wars sheets the same time Dexter finally turned fully away from his study desk.

Dexter answers, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "I bumped into Alistair and Bunny while getting college supplies at Target and Alistair apologized for not being able to bring Darling along with them on their travels. He said something about Darling not wanting to third-wheel?"

At this, Raven's eyebrows pinched together. "Are you sure?"

"Very," Dexter replies. "Here, let me check their Instagram account real quick to show you." Then the brunette boy grabbed his phone, unlocked it and flicked through Alistair and Bunny's Instagram, adventure. is. out. there.

"She has to be with Alistair and Bunny." Raven answers, walking over to Dexter's side and glancing over his shoulder. "If she isn't then ..." Raven doesn't even let her words finish, instead, choosing to let it die off.

"Well, she's not in their pictures." Dexter notes, eyes impossible blue as he scrolls further down, passing weeks and weeks of pictures. None of them had his twin sister's face in it. Then he pauses and says, "Maybe I should check Darling's Instagram?" because who else is there in the sleepless elite for Darling to hang out with?