Struggle for Acceptance

Chapter 3:

She looked so petite in her dress as she flounced on over to the buffet table. Louisa stared at her, thinking, she's beautiful. I wish I could look like that.

Augusta grabbed a bit of the salad before her and placed it on her plate, then she put a bit of olive oil on it. She tilted a little bit, and spilt some on her dress. Louisa rushed over to help her.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so clumsy," sighed Augusta as Louisa got napkins to start helping her.

"Everyone's a little clumsy, it's okay, at least it isn't much," Louisa soothed.

"Yes, but my mother will be very pissed off- oh I apologize, she will be very upset to see that my dress has been 'ruined,'" she said.

Louisa laughed. "I'm sure she won't mind. It's barely anything. Look, let me do this-" she put some water in her cup, and splashed it over her.

"Oh no!" Augusta laughed.

"See? It's fine. Not much. My mother will probably murder me if she sees me like this," Louisa smirked.

"You really didn't have to do that. But it was funny either way," Augusta said in between giggles.

"What do you think you two are you two doing?" said a voice coming from behind them.

"We're having fun," said Louisa, turning around to face the person sassing her.

"No, you're making fools of yourselves," she said.

"And who, may I ask, are you?" said Augusta while glaring at the girl.

"Princess Georgia of Neydin," she smiled smugly.

"Sounds like a pretty bitchy name," muttered Louisa under her breath.

"Excuse me, what did you say?" asked Georgia.

"Nothing, I was thinking," said Louisa, glaring daggers at her.

"Well you two better get cleaned up before the princes see you. Or you could stay that way so that I can win. Oh, who am I kidding, I'm going to be one of the winners anyways," she said.

"Let's go," said Augusta, tugging on Louisa's wrist.

"Yes," she said, still glaring at Georgia, "let's."

They walked away together, hand in hand, out to the halls. "Man, was she annoying," sighed Augusta.

"Yep, and I bet we'll be seeing more of her in the competition. I honestly don't know why the kingdom picks people like her," said Louisa.

"So, I don't think I ever asked you your name, how rude of me," smiled Augusta.

"I'm Louisa."

"I'm Augusta. It's very nice to meet you," she said.

"Nice to meet you as well-" Louisa was cut off by the sound of horns sounding once again.

"The princes are now available to talk to if you wish!" said the knight. The princesses out in the ballroom began to giggle, and hurriedly rushed to the thrones and got in line. "Ugh," said Louisa. "Are boys all they care about?"

"Apparently," said Augusta, rolling her eyes. "I don't see the point in being obsessed with them though."

"Yeah, all they do is-"

"Control you? Yeah I know," said Augusta. "All of my sisters are married off to princes. They're ruling kingdoms now."

"Oh. Wow. Wait, you're from Xerenia right?" asked Louisa.

"Yep. I'm one of the eight beautiful and powerful sisters of Xerenia. I'm not sure about the beautiful part though," she looked down.

Louisa both of Augusta's hands. "You are beautiful. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise," she said reassuringly.

"Thank you," said Augusta. Augusta looked away, blushing. What the hell is wrong with you? She's just a friend. Not even that maybe. Does she think of me as a friend? Maybe of an acquaintance? Am I making things weird right now? Augusta cleared her throat. "I appreciate that."

Louisa nodded and tilted her head toward the door. "Why don't we head back in?"

"Yeah, sure," Augusta whispered.

Louisa hooked her arm through Augusta's and they walked back into the ballroom, heads up high. They spotted Georgia talking to the princes at the end of the ballroom. She laughed and nudged them anytime they talked.

Yeah, like hell she's winning, thought Louisa. Then, she looked around and saw people looking at their stained gowns. "May we help you with anything?" she sneered. Everyone looked away and got back to their conversations. "I honestly don't get how some of these people were invited to do this challenge. They're so stuck up!"

"You're right. Aren't queens supposed to be kind and caring for their people?" Augusta asked.

"They're supposed to be, but none are," Louisa laughed.

"I mean, you're not wrong," said Augusta smiling. They locked eyes, and for a moment, it was just them in the ballroom, with no one else around them. Louisa stared into Augusta's green eyes, ones like the forest on a nice day, and Augusta stared into her dark blue eyes, like the night with the golden flecks as the moon.

"Hello ladies, I don't think we have met," said a voice. They turned around and froze.

Word from the Author:

Hi there! Sorry about the long hiatus. Due to this COVID stuff, my social life collapsed completely. I was shattered, but I'm slightly better now. Some good news is that I started a couple Instagram accounts that have a decent amount of followers. Life overall hasn't been treating me that well, but I am now working hard to continue this story. If I had written a couple months ago, this story would have probably ended up more horrible than it is now. I am happy that I have now slightly recovered and am motivated to write. Please follow, subscibe, and vote!