I'm Not Ten Years Old, I'm Fourteen, You Dingus

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Coronation? Say what?

-- Violet's POV --

I rubbed my temples and closed my eyes so I didn't have to see the interior of the escort car. I wanted to roll over and die right now. I mean, who wouldn't? You stay at home where you see phantom versions of your deceased grandmother, where your friends are either upbeat or downright sad because of the fact they have to leave their family, while also trying to not get in any contact of sort with the press? I'm sad too, you know. It's kind of tough when you're leaving the only place you knew growing up, especially leaving Beaubonte Cemetery, where Gran is buried. Ghost petals of black roses fall on my hands, and I violently shake them to get them off. The phantom petals disappear.

But I'm not sad for leaving any (alive) people. My family is coming with me. And they actually are my family, seeing as we are all half sisters.

The escort man opens the door, and we walk onto the boarding platform for the plane. "Woah." I gasp and look around at the inside of the plane.

There's a large brown leather sofa in the corner, a visible miniature fridge (Don't you think those are just adorable?) that I hope to god is not filled with nuts (I'm allergic to a select few, but just enough to have to be extra careful.), a fluffy cream-coloured carpet lays on the smooth floor, and a large television hangs from the wall.

"Um, Ma'am?" Coughs the escort. "We can't take off unless you get into the plane." He finishes, before a bout of coughing starts up again. Blood rushes to my cheeks, and I am downright sure they are as red as my hair. I sheepishly step into the extravagant plane.

The door shuts and we receive instructions from the pilot to sit on the couch and fasten our seat belts until takeoff is over. We obey and buckle up. My eyelids begin to droop, and before I can stop it, I'm asleep. I hope to god there isn't any turbulence before I fully slip away.

"Gran?" I ask, my young self sitting on Gran's lap. "Can you tell me a story?" "What about, child?" Gran says, and I know she has a point. Gran knows many stories, more than even perhaps the Brothers Grimm tucked away inside her mind. "Can you tell me about Grandpa?" "Yes, child."

"Your grandfather and I met when I was a youngin' in high school. I was just ditched my my date, Tom Decker, who went off with some other girl. Since it was the first school dance of the year, I was horribly embarrassed. This dance was to prove to the higher-ups that I wasn't freshman trash. Then, your grandfather approached me, also without a date, since his had fun off with mine, reached out and asked me to dance." She recited wistfully, eyes glazing over, mulling over ancient memories.

"That was some coincidence that both your dates ran off, eh?" I said naively. "Oh, my little Violet Ruby, it wasn't coincidence! It turns out that the two we had planned to go with were trying to set us up with one another. So they simply ran off to each other, knowing that we wouldn't want to be caught Dean without a date on the dance floor. Not foolproof, exactly, but close enough. The two who had set us up became known soon after that as the Cupids of Redrum High, setting up other couples throughout high school."

"Will I ever find love like that, Gran?" I wondered aloud. "I hope you find your Prince Charming one day, my little flower." I looked up at my Gran after she spoke, my eyes wide. "But I don't want a Prince Charming, Gran. All I want is a George Blackburn."

Gran scooped me up and hugged me close. "Then you shall, Violet, you shall."

That was my earliest memory of being treated with tenderness after years without contact.

"Violet, are you okay?" I heard someone ask. I forced my eyelids open, then saw Jessica looking at me with a confused expression. "You were shaking in your sleep." She said. "Yeah, I'm fine, Jess. Just a happy memory." I said, struggling out the words. All I wanted was Gran again. But Gran had been dead now for nine months, so why am I missing her a whole bunch now?