SNATCHED.

8

The next few hours were jam packed with lots and lots of sightseeing. James put us in a private double-decker bus (courtesy of the Royal Family) and drove us all around London. We saw the Tower Bridge, Big Ben, Saint Paul's Cathedral, and so many other cool things. All of us were pretty enthusiastic about seeing all of these famous locations in real life except for Livi, who sort of just sat back and observed with a look of mild disdain on her face.

"I'm just not a big fan of England." is what she said when we asked her why she wasn't as stoked as we thought she should be; she's usually really into history and architecture. "Why do you hate British people so much?" Rylee asked, "I would tell you, but we'd probably be here for hours." said Livi. We decided to just let it go.

After driving around for a while longer, we reached our final destination. Buckingham Palace, where Queen Elizabeth II was waiting for them. "Alright then!" James exclaimed, clasping his hands together, "Before we go inside, here's the schedule for the rest of this evening- When you enter the Palace, guards will be waiting to take you all to separate bathrooms where you'll get all pampered and pretty. Then, you'll all be escorted to the meeting room where you will wait for the Queen to arrive." I glanced at Harry nervously, who caught my eye and gave me a small smile. My worries seemed to melt away for that small moment. "When she gets there, she'll thank you for your service to England and blah blah blah. When that's all over with, cars will be waiting to bring you to your hotel or wherever else you wish to go. Are we good?" We all nodded.

"Perfect!" James beamed, "Also, pretty please behave yourselves. I want to keep my job." Taylor batted her eyes and said "Of course, James. I'll always behave for you." James just blinked and walked away. Livi snorted. I forgot that Taylor has a weird thing for older British men I thought to myself.

We all just sort of stood chatting nervously to one another for a few minutes until 6 weird-looking guards emerged from some dark corner and walked up to us. Each one stood next to a group member and started escorting us inside the palace.

We all collectively gasped upon entering. The interior of the palace was so intricate and beautiful, even Livi was blown away. Sadly, I barely had any time to take it all in because just seconds after entering, I was being whisked away by the palace guard. We walked swiftly, my heavily stuffed suitcase straggling behind me. The guard led me down a long corridor, eventually stopping outside of a one person restroom. He opened the door for me, I thanked him, and he hurried away.

The bathroom was fairly normal compared to the rest of the estate. I wasted no time in setting up shop. Soon enough, I had all of my hair and makeup spread out throughout the room. I decided to go for a simple makeup look, since I barely knew how to do makeup anyway. I also just did some loose curls for my hair. After I was finished with that, I got to work on putting my dress on. I had spent about 30 minutes Googling stuff like "What to wear when you meet the Queen" before I left. I settled on a sort of 60s era dress that I've had for a while. It's really simple and elegant. The dress was baby blue and it stopped just above my knees. It was sleeveless with a V neckline and a little belt-thing that wrapped around my waist. My shoes were just simple white heels and I wore pearl earrings and a pearl necklace for my accessories.

When i was done getting ready, I stood there and hyped myself up in the mirror, making sure to take a lot of photos to send to my mom and my freaky sister Samantha. After that, the nerves settled in. I was about to meet the Queen. Just as I was considering making a break for it, I heard a knock on the door.

Upon opening the door, I was met with the face of the guard who escorted me here earlier. Apparently, it was time to go. I did a final check in the mirror before heading off with the silly looking man. He led me back down the long corridor, and over to a very large set of double doors guarded by two men. They opened the door for me and I was led into what could only be the throne room. I'm gonna be honest, it was kind of ugly. Too much red. I took in the atmosphere, apparently I was the first person to arrive. I decided to take it upon myself to carefully examine the details of the room while I waited for the others. As I was looking closely at the details of the walls, I heard footsteps approaching. Turning around, I was met with a pair of green eyes. My heart skipped a beat. He looked so good. Standing before me was Harry Styles wearing a dark blue suit with a white button up underneath the blazer and a black tie. I was speechless. His loosely curled hair was also tamed a bit. He looked me up and down as I stood there, absolutely dumbfounded.

He grinned at me and said "You look perfect, Gracie." I swear I could've melted on the spot. Before I got the chance to respond, I heard what sounded like many pairs of feet making their way into the throne room. Sabrina, Rylee, Livi, and Taylor all walked in at the same time. I swear that the squeal we made when we saw each other could've shattered the windows. I ran over to them and just took in their radiance.

Rylee was wearing a slim black dress with frills on the sleeves as well as the hem. Her shoes were these simple yellow heels which were a really nice touch.

Taylor had on a classy red dress that really complimented her tan skin, as well as matching red heels.

Sabrina wore a simple flowy emerald green dress that really went well with her dark, curly hair, and some black heels.

And lastly, Livi wore an elegant black dress that was tight at the top and eventually flowed loosely around her. The sleeves were large and mesh and gold stars were scattered along her arms, as well as the sides of the skirt part of the dress. She had on black heels and her hands and toenails were painted a sparkly gold. As I was examining her shoes, I realized this was the first time I've ever seen her feet. She usually has them covered because she thinks feet are disgusting. I decided not to point out the foot reveal to everyone, Taylor would mention it soon enough.

We stood there for a while, praising each other's beauty. I was having such a pleasant time that I almost forgot why we were in this room in the first place. Key word is almost. I was the first to notice the army of guards heading towards the open double doors, my smile faded. Slowly, the other's chatter faded as we all prepared ourselves for who we were about to meet. All of my previous excitement was consumed by anxiety. I could feel my hands start to shake. Harry must have noticed them too because I felt his hand grab one of mine and hold it reassuringly, which helped steel a portion of my nerves.

As the large group of uniformed men were approaching the doors, we were directed to stand shoulder to shoulder along the left side of the room. At last, the group of guards reached the throne room, a small elderly woman in the front middle. As the group stopped at the entrance, one guard stepped forward and shouted "Now presenting Queen Elizabeth II!".