Mess of a Fantasy (Darise Ever After High Fanfiction)

Chapter 6: Seventy-Two Athletic Elephants

"Ready to go for a tour?" Daring asked, after dinner was finished and the table was cleared.

"Yup, let's go!" I laughed, thinking about how this could take hours, considering the size of the castle.

"I'll meet you guys outside, I gotta take this," Dexter said to his ringing phone. "Hey Raven."

"RAVEN, HE'S ON THE PHONE WITH RAVEN!" Darling squealed.

"Darling, oh my godmother, shush! He can probably still hear you!" I scolded.

"No no, she's right, this is rare. It's a big deal," Daring nodded.

I swatted his arm as if there was a fly on it.

"What? Too soon?"

"No, shut up," I laughed, "don't make him feel bad about it."

"Well, let's just go already," Daring said. Darling and I followed him to the door.

Out front was the large lawn, circular driveway, center fountain, and beautiful vegetation that had been there when we had parked before. Next to it was a pond- a rather large pond, almost the size of a good sized pool, with a bridge through the middle.

Darling stepped onto the bridge with no problem, and so did her brother, as if they had many times before. I hesitated, and put a shaky heel onto the corner of the bridge first. Daring offered me a hand, and I took it and blushed, feeling embarrassed. "It's okay, I know it's a bit intimidating at first," he reassured me.

I nodded, steadied myself, and stepped to the middle of the bridge, sandwiched between the two blond Charming children. I definitely stood out. Slightly olive-toned, with long, usually pin-straight but currently curly brunette (for the most part) hair, and dark gray eyes that glowed gold at times.

The pond was beautiful. Deep blue, lily pads and bright flowers floating on the surface, and colorful fish swimming beneath. Now standing on the bridge, I noticed it was sturdier than I'd first thought.

I tried to read everyone's expressions as we stood in silence. Darling's eyes were staring into the water, appearing deep in thought. Daring's expression was hard to read. I could read distraction... That he definitely was. What was I feeling? A strange sensation that I couldn't put my finger on... It was warm and fuzzy, but sort of made me feel like I had to throw up. It made my head feel dizzy and my feet feel light. It felt good and bad at the same time.

Suddenly, Daring jumped up, and said "let's keep moving." We followed him around to the back of the house.

"Hey, I'll be right back. Catch up with you in a few minutes," Darling cried, quickly running into the house and shutting the large glass door at the back. We had reached the enormous backyard. It was big enough to probably fit about.... Seventy-two large elephants in.

The large, clear pool was more than quadruple the size of the pond, and a two-sided two-story waterfall spilled over into it. There was a long volleyball net stretched across a patch of green grassy lawn. There was a basket ball net, along with a few hood-style baskets on the side of the court. A few sharp, shiny, real metal swords littered the open space next to the brick patio. In addition, there was three ping pong tables, a tennis court, and a corner pile of various sports-related items. Visible inside the pile was a few bookballs and Darling's old pom poms from when she'd attempted to appear more princessy by becoming a charmleader on Apple's Charm team. That backfired, but mimicking the charmleaders was a fun activity for us before Darling had brought the pom poms home. And finally, a runner's track stretched around the perimeter of the yard.

"Well, this is an athlete's paradise!" I gasped, taking it all in.

"I knew you'd like it," he commented. We walked around the yard, towards the garden on the right side of the house. It went dead silent, you could hear a pin drop. There was something on the tip of his tongue waiting to be said, and I was waiting. Or maybe it was me, maybe he was waiting for me to say something.

"Do you think I should break up with Lizzie?" He suddenly asked.

"What?" I kept walking and shook that question off as if I hadn't heard it.

"Nothing," he shook his head, acting as if he hadn't said it.

The question was out but the seventy-two large elephants in the yard remained.