Fall Into You

9

these last few weeks have been exhausting

A knock on Nicollette's bedroom door caught her attention, and she hesitated. The last few times there've been knocks on the door, it was almost always Malia. She'd either be there to announce that Tobias had come over, or it was time for her to get ready for the next fancy thing she was forced to do.

Truthfully, Nicollette was tired of it. She didn't enjoy having makeup caked on her face with her hair full of all kinds of products, but she had no choice. She had to do this. She had to do what they said as long as she lived under her parent's roof at the Sutcliffe residence.

Whoever had knocked the first time knocked again. Nicollette debated with herself before finally giving in, getting up, and walking to the bedroom door.

Swinging it open, she looked shocked to see Brielle Longoria. She hadn't spoken to the Princess since their first encounter, and never thought the other girl would be willing to talk to her outside of the fancy gatherings.

Nicollette's brows furrowed as she looked at the girl. She kept her hand on the doorknob if she needed to shut the door quickly, although it was doubtful she'd need to.

"Malia escorted me up here," Brielle started. She glanced back, causing Nicollette to glance that way as well.

Malia bowed once at the attention before standing straight again, waiting for her next task.

Nicollette didn't respond. Instead, she just looked at Brielle when the Princess faced forward again. It was silent at first as if Brielle were thinking carefully about what she wanted to say.

"Some of us are hanging out, do you want to come?" She was blunt about it, catching Nicollette off guard.

"Who is some of us?" Nicollette asked slowly, moving her hand from the doorknob.

"The cool ones," Brielle responded. "Me, Benny, a couple of others."

"Where at?" Nicollette asked.

"Can't say." Brielle spoke with a smile, "It's confidential information."

"But wouldn't I find out anyway?" Nicollette then questioned.

"Only if you say yes," Brielle shrugged.

"Well, what if I say yes and then leave when we get there?" Nicollette countered.

"Your choice. But it's kind of underground," Brielle explained. "Hard to say where it's located exactly. Can't get in without an invite type deal."

"That sounds sketchy," Nicollette spoke. She then thought about it for a second, finally smiling at the other girl. "I'm down."

Brielle smiled as well, happy with the response. Before she could say anything, though, Nicollette spoke up again.

"There's no big fancy dresses or anything I'm forced to wear though, right?"

Brielle let out a dry laugh, shaking her head. Her brown hair fell into her face as she did so, and it was only then Nicollette realized she hadn't been all dressed up either. "No, definitely not. This is why we say it's underground. I would say if you have a... simple dress, wear that. Nothing too fancy, but I doubt you'll like wearing shorts and a tank top where we're going. The big royals would never approve of this place."

"Hence you saying only the cool ones go," Nicollette added, earning a nod from Brielle.

"Do you need time to get ready?"

"Just a bit. No longer than ten minutes," Nicollette told her, looking down at her appearance. "Although there's not exactly a dress code, I don't really feel up to going there in my pajamas."