The Golden Apple

Seventeen - Magnolia

It was a few days ago while Jake was down in the basement, left all by himself once again.

Upstairs waiting were three men: Oriel, my father, and Elros, the Captain of the Guard. The air was tight around me as I entered the main hall. My heart trembled in my chest. My body was perfectly still, knowing that I could not show any fear or nervousness whatsoever of the event about to occur. Oriel had flashed me a glare as I approached, but it faded once Father greeted me. I felt myself breaking into a cold sweat. The tension was almost too much to take.

"Magnolia, Oriel tells me that you two are having issues again."

I felt paralyzed the entire time.

Father spoke the most out of all of us. Elros never uttered a word, which was strange considering he likes to speak up most of the time.

Oriel nodded frequently, taking in every word my father had spoken. I stared at the ground instead. I did not want to be there. I wanted to go back to Jake. I wanted to spend time with someone that I didn't have trouble communicating with.

I wanted to forget about Oriel. I still didn't understand why he wanted to be a part of my life all of the sudden! It doesn't make any sense when someone suddenly changes their mind about communicating, and automatically expects you to accept them with open arms.

To be perfectly honest, I sometimes get the feeling that Oriel wants something from me.

"Magnolia," Elros spoke up, nudging me gently with his elbow. "Your father is speaking to you."

I realized that Oriel had just apologized and him and my father were both awaiting mine. I feel strongly about the fact that I have nothing to apologize for, but Oriel believed I was too harsh with him.

I may be a little brash, but at least I get my point across while doing so.

"I'm sorry. I was a tad harsh towards you."

After a few more pieces of advice from Father, I was excused to go back to my room. I glared at Oriel as he made his way out of the front doors with that smug smirk of his plastered on his face. Jake was right. He was definitely trying to put me down. He would probably give anything to see me fall at his feet.

Unfortunately for him, I have the strength to balance.

•••

"Maggie? Maggie, wake up!"

My eyes snap open. Jake nudged me awake from my daydreaming of last week. I rolled over to my side and groaned into my pillow. Why do I always obsess over these problems? This happened a week ago, for god's sake. Yes, Oriel and I are still working on fixing our friendship, but it's nothing to obsess over.

I slowly looked up at Jake leaning next to me, waving his hand above my face to get my attention. He only wore pants and boots. My cheeks flushed as I stretched out of bed. Why does he have to be so damn cute?

"Where's your shirt?" I murmured tiredly. "I thought I got you one last night from the laundry room."

"You fell asleep reading your book last night," he chuckled. "I was waiting for you to return to your room, but you never came back. I ended up sneaking into the library and found you face down in the sofa with a book on your arm, so I carried you back downstairs."

I fell backwards into the disheveled mound of pillows. "You did what? You left my bedroom!?"

"Yeah," he answered timidly. "What else was I supposed to do?"