14. The Crew Unites

"Wow." I whisper, marveling at the grand foyer. "It sure has been a while." The walls and high ceilings are white. There are more quartz pillars, along with gold drapes, indoor plants, and shiny marble floors. I notice two girls talking ahead of me. One turns my way, then quickly turns back to the other girl.

"Excuse me, Annalyse." She infers, and I recognize her voice instantly. She starts running my way. "Hi, Gilly!!" She exclaims, and I run towards her.

"Hey AG!" I pull her into a hug. "How are you?"

"I'm great! I'm so glad my parents let me come this week. How are you?" AG asks.

"I'm doing pretty good! It's a tad boring in the village, so I was happy to be able to come here too. And I get to miss the lame Shoemakers' Ball!" I laugh.

"Shoemakers' ball? No offense, but that does sound a bit boring." AG admits. "Oh, hello! Are you Annalyse's sister?"

"Yes, hi! I'm Emmerlyn." Emmerlyn waves. "Hey Annalyse, come over here!" She motions to her sister, and Annalyse walks over. "Bradley needs you, two carriages plus a stagecoach will be arriving shortly."

"Alright, if you'll excuse me, I will talk to you ladies later!" With a quick curtsy, Annalyse heads out the doors.

"You ladies can relax here for a bit while the rest of your friends arrive. I am going to go wait for their arrival!"

"Ok!" AG says, and Emmerlyn walks out the doors. Just then, I hear footsteps and see a princess walking down a staircase. It's Rapunzel!

"Hi Raz!" AG and I exclaim at the same time. Raz is wearing a long lavender dress that has a flowy skirt, along with matching lavender glass slippers from Cobbler Shoes.

"Hello, Gilly and AG!" Raz revels. She speed-walks towards us and pulls me into a hug. "It's so good to see you!" She then hugs AG.

"Good to see you too!" I agree.

"I'm about to head back over to my castle, so I'll send Jax over when I get there." She says with a smile on her face.

"Yeah, go! He should be over here by now!" I laugh.

"Yes, he should, but he's still hangin' out over at my castle. How un-princely of him to not be present when guests arrive!" She says. "I'll be back soon." She heads off.

"I am going to go use the restroom while she does that." AG states.

"Alright, I'll just hang out here." I sit down on a comfy white couch. The interior of this castle is gorgeous-the tall windows with silky golden drapes, the spotless marble floors, and extravagant chandeliers.

☆𖣔︎᯽-𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮 𝓼𝓴𝓲𝓹-᯽𖣔︎☆

Kayla comes fluttering through the doors with Jocelyn and Annalyse behind her.

"Gilly! Hi!" Kayla cheers. I quickly stand up.

"Hi Kayla! And hey Jocelyn!" I say, and make my way towards them. Kayla hugs me and Jocelyn gives me a partial smile.

"Hey." Jocelyn murmurs.

"How are you doing!?" Kayla exults.

"I'm great! What about you guys?" I ask.

"I'm doing great too! I'm so excited to be here!" Kayla says.

"I'm decent enough." Jocelyn says as she examines her nails, which are painted a shiny black with tiny white stars and moons, to match her usual dress.

Just then, Jax enters the doors as AG comes from the other direction.

"Hey Jax!" Kayla and I exclaim.

"Hey Gilly, Kayla, and Jocelyn! Oh, and AG!" Jax says, and hugs Kayla and me.

"Hi AG!" Kayla celebrates as AG runs over.

"Hey everyone!" AG exclaims.

"Ollie! Hey!" All of us except Jocelyn say as Ollie comes running in with Emmerlyn walking behind him. Jax and Ollie do the half-hug thing that boys always do.

"Hey everyone! I just got back from a fantastic sea voyage with Blackbeard's crew! How are y'all doing?" He asks.

We all (except Jocelyn) respond with something in the realm of "Good."

"I wish your voyage could've been this week instead." Jocelyn mutters under her breath, and Jax rolls his eyes.

"Guys, instead of all being huddled by the doors, let's go to the sitting area and wait for Maxine to get here." Jax advises.

"Good idea." Jocelyn agrees.

"She should be arriving soon, so I'll head out to wait for her!" Emmerlyn meanders out again, and we all take a seat on a fluffy white couch or chair.

☆𖣔︎᯽-𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮 𝓼𝓴𝓲𝓹-᯽𖣔︎☆

"I'm here!! Hi Kayla, Gilly, Jocelyn, Jax, Ollie, and AG!!" Maxine jubilates.

"Hi Maxine!" We all respond.

"And... What's your name?" Maxine asks Annalyse, on top of all the voices.

"I'm Annalyse." Annalyse answers. "My sister and I will do a proper introduction now."

Emmerlyn comes inside and joins us in the sitting area.

"Hi Everyone! Some of you already know me because I brought you inside, but not all of you, because my sister showed some of you inside. Anyways, my name is Emmerlyn and I will be the assistant for all the girls this week!" She says, and motions to us girls. "I'm sixteen, so I'm guessing pretty similar to all of you. How old are each of you?"

"Jax, (who you already know of course), Gilly, and I will be sixteen soon, with Jax's birthday being this week." Kayla says, and Emmerlyn nods.

"Ollie and I are fifteen." Maxine says.

"I'm fourteen." AG says.

"I am sixteen, but it should be obvious because I am the most mature out of this crew." Jocelyn banters, and I roll my eyes. I look at Jax at the same time he rolls his eyes.

"Ok, sweet! Well anyways, I will be your main assistant this week, but my sister is also here to help." She motions to Annalyse.

"Hey! I'm Annalyse, and like Emmie said, I'll be here to assist in the girls' room this week if they need me. Oh, and I'm eighteen. You guys will be getting a lot of information tonight, so let's get you all to your rooms to relax a little beforehand!" She suggests, and motions for us to stand up. "Follow us! And Ollie, Jax will show you to your room."

We all stand up and let Annalyse and Emmerlyn lead us up the grand staircase and down the halls until we reach our room.