Ready? Not Really.. (Fem USUK) •IN EDITING•

Maddie

Chaos. Always when Alice and Amelia were together. A whirlwind of angry teenage girls and hormones and a whiff of vanilla perfume.
"Jesus Christ, Amelia, where the fuck are my black tights?" Alice screeched, actually sliding under my sister's bed to try and find her missing clothes. "I swear to god, Amelia, if you lost them-"
"I didn't lose shit!" Amelia yelled back, searching with Alice and throwing all of the covers off both the beds in a frustrated attempt to recover the tights. Of course, when they weren't found, that only outraged my sister more. She threw pillows against the closet. "I fucking washed them last night!"
Alice shimmied out from under the bed, glaring at Amelia. "Why the hell did you do that? They were perfectly fine! You should've put them in my bag!" She stood up and brushed her knees off from whatever imaginary substance she thought was on them.
"I don't know!" Amelia snapped. "I wanted them to smell nice and lavendery and be clean for your fucking recital! I am so sorry for trying to be a good person!"
I felt awkward for just standing outside their open door, but honestly, I thought I would just add on to the stress if I interrupted them. Besides, it's not like they wouldn't fight whenever they actually decided to pull their act together and fucking date already. Erm, pardon my French.
"Well, be a good person another time," Alice grumbled. But when she turned toward me, I could see a small smile for a split second on her lips. She really liked when Amelia did things to get her attention. It made Alice feel important, and that's all Amelia ever really wanted her to feel. The smile faded when Alice saw me in the doorway. "Oh, dear god. How long have you been standing there?"
I looked around. "Well, long enough to take some 'before' and 'after' shots of your room. You guys seriously destroyed it." Alice groaned before she nudged Amelia gently in the side with her foot. My twin's head popped out from inside her closet. She brightened up immediately and waved.
"Heya, sis!" Amelia said cheerfully as if nothing were wrong. She had a sock stuck to her jeans and her hair was an absolute mess of frizz. As if Alice even cared about appearance. I could see the looks she kept giving Amelia even when I was standing right there. "Alice decided to unleash the beast-"
"What the fuck does that mean?"
"-and tear up the entire school for her black tights or whatever." Alice was obviously annoyed, her eyes narrowing. Oh no, Amelia. That was not a good move to mention anything of Alice's then say the word 'whatever.' I jumped in to save my sister before Alice could explode on her.
"You mean these?" I held up the infamous pair of tights. Alice grinned and took them from me.
"Maddie! You're amazing!" Alice threw her arms around me. I hugged her back awkwardly and looked over Alice's shoulder at Amelia. She was glaring daggers at me, her jaw clenched. I winked and mouthed, Could be you. "I can't believe I left them in your room! Why was I even there?"
"Yeah, funny, huh?" Amelia muttered, furious that she didn't get to embrace Alice like that. She trailed behind Alice like a lost puppy as her roommate started pulling out more things she needed for her performance that night. I didn't really like hugs, so I didn't understand the feeling of desire for one. But honestly, watching Alice and Amelia was like providing an entire presentation and a powerpoint along with a ten minute video for the word "desire," forget just the definition. Soon, one of them would snap, confess, and figure out I had been right the whole time. They'd appreciate me one day.
Just... not that second. Not really. Darn.
Alice pulled out her dress wrapped in a trash bag from the back of their closet. "Okay. Hopefully not wrinkled. Fingers crossed." She was bouncing on the balls of her feet as she took out the second costume and set it on her bed. Alice pushed back her hair and grinned, looking up at Amelia for approval. "This is it, you know? Everything I've worked for this year is going to be in the choreography." Amelia smiled adoringly and nodded, letting Alice finish. "The the ups and downs... I've tried to incorporate all of them in the steps I take and the movements I make, and I just really hope this will showcase that..." She had started to slur her words together as she rambled on. I stepped forward to calm her down, but Amelia was closer.
"You'll do amazing," she said softly, brushing her lips against Alice's ear. "I believe in you." I felt intrusive on their moment and turned my back to them, instead going through their closet to find Amelia's dress. I hoped she kept it well hidden from Alice like she had wanted to for whatever reason. Amelia had eventually decided on a slim red dress on the day we went shopping, much to my excitement (and relief... I vowed to never shop for anything even remotely related to Alice for Amelia ever again). She looked awesome in it, and I could already imagine the look on Alice's face when she would see Amelia in it for the first time.
Ugh, I almost totally forgot: what about when Amelia needed a first date dress? Or second or third or... Guess I would have to go shopping with her again.
"Hey, Ames," I called for my sister. "Found your dress."
Alice looked at Amelia in wide-eyed surprised. "You're actually wearing a dress to my recital?"
Amelia glared at me before snatching the hanger from my hands. "Well it was supposed to be a surprise..." Thankfully, we had decided to wrap her dress up as well, so Alice still didn't exactly know what it looked like. I rolled my eyes at her then turned to Alice.
"Lovina can go ahead and do your makeup, if you want, so that you don't have to do it in the dressing rooms."
Alice nodded, but Amelia looked angry. "They make fun of you there, too?"
"It really isn't a big deal," Alice reassured her. She started to look uncomfortable as she grabbed both of her costumes.
"It is a big deal, Alice." Amelia leaned against the headboard of her bed. "This is your big night. You should be allowed to get dressed or do your makeup wherever the hell you want."
Alice smiled slightly. "Thank you, Amelia, that really means a lot to me, but I feel more comfortable doing that all here." She stood on her tiptoes to kiss her on the cheek and quickly turned to me. Alice's cheeks were already beginning to flush red. "Is she in your room?"
"Ah, yeah." I stepped away from the door and gestured to the hall. "Her sister might be there to do your hair. Just let them do their thing and you'll look great."
Alice nodded and brushed past me. She turned to look over her shoulder before she left. "I have faith in them because of you, Maddie, so if they manage to burn my hair off with a flat iron..."
"They won't." I grinned. "Just go get dolled up."
As soon as Alice left, Amelia relaxed for the first time. She slumped against the wall and slid down it so that she was sitting down. Amelia buried her face in her hands. I drifted over to stand next to Amelia, resting my hand on her shoulder. "Hey," I said. No response. I sat on the floor beside her and tilted my head. "What's up?" Amelia just shook her head. I sighed and pulled at her wrists, trying to coax her into looking up at me. "Seriously, what is it? Is it Alice?" Amelia stiffened. Of course it was Alice. Wasn't everything Alice? "You were so excited the other day about telling her how you feel. You are still planning on doing that, right?"
She groaned. "I don't know!" Amelia fumbled with her pocket and took out a crumpled up piece of paper.
"What is this?" I asked as I unfolded it.
"Just read it and tell me what you think."
I shot her a confused look before smoothing the paper out on my lap as best I could. Pushing my glasses up my nose, I squinted and read Amelia's writing.
Hey Alice.
So I have something to tell you.
All those years I teased you and pulled pranks on you weren't because I hate you or anything. I feel the exact opposite about you.
You're really pretty like a rose garden, and I think all the little things that you don't like about yourself are really unique.
(god fucking dammit this is so hard to write she better appreciate this shit)
"You actually wrote a script-?" I began
Amelia turned away so I wouldn't see her face, but the tips of her ears were bright red. "Just tell me what to say! I don't know how to do this!"
I frowned and read the last line at the bottom of the page. Amelia had scribbled out and erased various lines of metaphors and explanations, leaving only the first part and the very bottom untouched.
I love you so much, Alice.
"Amelia," I sighed. She wrung her hands in embarrassment.
"It sucks, yeah? I knew it sucked. I can't write. That's Alice's thing- well, she's perfect at everything so I guess everything is her thing." Amelia closed her eyes and frowned. "I should just give up."
"No, no!" I blurted. There was no way in hell I was letting her admit defeat and wait any longer to be with the person I knew would make her happy. "What you just said to me: that was good! You tell her things like that!"
Amelia's eyes fluttered open and she stared at me in horror. "I can't do that!"
"And why not?"
"It'll be so embarrassing!" She played with a bit of her hair to cope with the anxiety. "I'll just start messing up and she'll think I'm stupid or something!"
"She'll appreciate the effort and like the honesty," I pointed out. "You know Alice. She wouldn't laugh at you if she knew something was serious to you." Amelia hesitated and looked at the ground, not saying anything. I was frustrated. If she was already shutting herself down, then Amelia would definitely find a way to stop from telling Alice her feelings. "Okay, so it sucks! Yeah, I know!" She looked up at me for a second before directing her gaze onto a fixed point far away from my face. "But just think: you'll make yourself look like an idiot, sure, but Alice will be so happy that someone wants her. That's all that she could ever hope for. You'll date and in, I don't know, six months, you'll both look back on that moment and think 'wow, Maddie is so great and was right about everything the whole damn time.'"
Amelia scrunched her nose up and hunched her shoulders. "You aren't going to let me get out of this, are you?"
"O-o-oh no. You aren't going anywhere but that theatre tonight and you know it."
She groaned in frustration. "You are such a sucky wingwoman."
I rolled my eyes. "I'm the best wingwoman. I got you this far, didn't I?" I wrapped my arms around my sister. She was burning up and trembling. Wow, she was really worked up over the whole thing. "I have my girlfriend, I want you to have yours, got it?"
"Yeah." Amelia hugged me back and pressed her face into my shoulder. Her body shook with a weak laugh. "'My girlfriend.' Never thought I'd say that."
"You better get used to it, Ames." I stood up and helped her get to her feet. "Now, let's get you all ready, okay?"

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a/n
i am roughly predicting maybe five to eight chapters left in the story. there's a chance there will be fewer or more. i am so excited for the ending, guys! c: this is seriously the most i have ever worked with something in my life without giving up, and i am thrilled that i am not the only one going through this journey. i love all of you: the ones that read and leave (aka me on every story i have ever read online), the ones that comment such nice things and make me smile, and the ones that vote and lie dormant until the next chapter. you are all so supportive and i cannot wait for future readers <3