Not Your Average Fairytale

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

"You go first," Sebastian suggested, pointing back towards Brent. He secretly still suspected that Brent was her prince.

"I already told you, it's not me," Brent replied, a note of frustration creeping into his voice.

"How do you know?" Sebastian retorted, sounding annoyed as well.

"I already know who I am and its definitely not him," Brent said.

"I think he's right, there's no harm in trying. What if you're wrong?" Baylor agreed with Sebastian.

"All I would be doing is wasting time that you guys should be using, now one of you, go!" he urged.

"We've got plenty of time at this point, it won't take more than a couple seconds. Besides how can you be so sure?" Sebastian asked.

"Because I think I would know when I've spent the last few months wishing more than anything it was me!" Brent yelled. Everyone fell silent.

Wynter stared at him, her mouth slightly open in shock. She certainly hadn't expected that outburst from him. She hadn't even known he existed before today, but now here he had appeared as supposedly one of the people Rosalyn was closest to.

And now, he had admitted in one statement that he cared about Rosalyn in a way Wynter couldn't help but guess was as more than friends. Who was this guy, she wondered, and what did Rosalyn think of him?

"I also don't think it's necessary for me to kiss her; you've already seen my tattoo," Jasper said from his place in the back of the room, leaning against the wall. Arabella would've been lying if she said she wasn't relieved.

That only left Sebastian, Everett, and Baylor. All three looked amongst themselves. Brent sighed. "Sebastian, just go first," he said, seeing that no one wanted to volunteer.

Sebastian walked up to Rosalyn, glancing back at everyone watching him. This felt weird and wrong and uncomfortable. "Do I just kiss her?" he asked back to the crowd.

"Yes, it doesn't have to be big or grand," Brent replied, sounding just as about uncomfortable as Sebastian felt, but Sebastian guessed that was due to his confession.

Sebastian looked back at Rosalyn asleep beside him. As weird as this was, he really did care that she survived this and so before he could think twice to doubt himself, he got down on his knees.

He leaned down to press his lips to hers for one second, two, three. He sat back up and the room anxiously waited. All eyes were on Rosalyn in hopes of any sign of life.

Nothing happened.

He sighed in a mix of relief that it wasn't him and disappointment that she still was asleep. Standing back up, he gestured to Everett, who was the next closest to her.

"Me? Why do I need to do it?" he asked nervously.

"Because you're here aren't you?" Sebastian said.

"Yeah, but—" he paused, feeling awkward. "I've, um, kissed Rosalyn before. Wouldn't that have already broken the curse?"

Brent paused. He had a point. It was a fact him and Rosalyn had never considered. He didn't have time to research the answer now. "I don't know," he answered truthfully. "You should do it anyways."

Now that he had mentioned their relationship, the thought had suddenly occurred to him, what if Rosalyn had only dated him because he was a character? Despite the fact that he didn't have feelings for her anymore, he felt stung slightly.

Had their entire relationship been about this? Had she even really cared about him? Dozens of questions ran through his mind as he stood there in mild shock.

"You need to just do it," Brent told him. At some point the sun had set, which he would later find out was while they were working on the vines inside and outside.

Everett walked up to her now, looking down and feeling a slight twinge of pain. He glanced up and his eyes met Ashleigh's. How could he do this while she was watching?

Ashleigh was also painfully reminded of Rosalyn and Everett's relationship. She watched Everett stare down at her. With her looking as beautiful as she did now, he had to be reminded of why they had dated; why he had cared about her.

What if he fell back in love with Rosalyn, Ashleigh worried. And how could he ever care about her? Rosalyn was much better than she could ever be. As she and Clover had sympathized with one another while outside, Rosalyn got all of the attention.

Boys always paid attention to people like Rosalyn and Wynter, but never to her. It was hard being the one of the group that no one cared for. Besides, even if by some miracle Everett were to care for her, she could never do that to Rosalyn.

Everett kneeled down and glanced up at her once more. Then, summoning his courage, he leaned down and kissed Rosalyn.

Ashleigh looked away, not able to stand it. Her eyes met Brent who was doing the same thing. They seemed to have a silent understanding about what was going on.

Everett pulled back and looked up to find Ashleigh staring at Brent. Something inside him hurt. Of course she cared more about Brent, who was charming and mysterious.

Nothing happened.

The whole room was tense and nervous. With all their bickering, it was close to ten at night now. "Baylor, you're next," Brent observed.

He stepped up robotically, looking back at the group as well. "This doesn't mean for sure it's me, right? It still could be Brent," he said nervously to the group.

No one replied. "And if it is me, what does that mean? Do we have to get married?" he asked.

"Don't worry, even if it is you, not much should change," Brent said reassuringly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Baylor asked.

"Well, there's a difference between fate and reality," Brent explained. "You don't necessarily have to follow your fate now-a-days. You can choose to be in love with someone else."

"I mean, fate will always try to push you together, but it's not hard if you're in love to choose a different path. If you're her prince, that doesn't automatically mean you two will be in love or betrothed or anything. It just means you may have a few awkward encounters of fate in the future," he finished.

Baylor nodded. Taking a deep breath, he got down on one knee. The entire room was dead silent. All eyes were on him. "Here goes," he breathed to himself.

Slowly, he leaned down and let his lips meet hers. He stayed there for a few seconds and sat back up. Everyone held their breath.

Nothing happened.

-----

How's everyone's (who's had it) first week of school been? Or if not, how's your summer going? We're almost to the end now!

-Becca