Incognito

Eventually, Laurel found her way back to the room with the blue door. She peered in to find her mother still sleeping and silently tip-toed into the room, kicking off her slippers. She made note of the elevated Queen and walked up the stairs, taking her previous position. Her mother's breath was faint and Laurel hid under the covers once more, closing her eyes.

"Maybe if I wake up tomorrow, I'll be at home and this will be all a dream," she assured herself, nestling into the pillow.

Unfortunately for her, it was real.

Laurel awoke to the sound of a large 'bang'. Her mother was no where to be found; she'd probably left during the night, Laurel thought. The same girl who had toured her and her mother around the house was standing in front of her, in the same old French maid uniform, holding a silver platter.

"Good morning, princess!" She grinned, placing the platter on Laurel's lap as she maneuvered herself up.

"Thank you. May I ask, what is your name?" Laurel asked, examining the stale looking pancakes soaked in maple syrup. She poked with the fork that seemed to be made of solid gold. Luckily, the pancakes were far from stale and Laurel ended up scarfing the entire platter.

"Madeline," she answered looking down. Laurel nodded and took a mental note - she was hopeless with names. Madeline, Madeline, Madeline, she repeated in her head.

"That was delicious," Laurel grinned, licking the excess syrup that had fallen onto her hand.

"I am glad you enjoyed it." Swiftly, Madeline took the platter and left the room without saying any more.

Sighing, Laurel fell back into her bed and breathed every inch of the reality in. Maybe living in a castle wouldn't be so bad, she thought. Servants who attend your every whim, sleeping in all day; it wouldn't be close to hell. Laurel's phone buzzed from under her pillow and she quickly grabbed it to find a text message from her friend, Arianna.

qurl where were u yesterday??? i was alone @ class. u bettr hav a gud excuse!~

Laurel laughed and began to text back.

Sorry I was busy. I'll be there today I hope.

A minute later her phone buzzed again.

u bettr b, or else

Laurel slipped her phone back into her pocket and put back on the slippers, walking out into the corridor. Suddenly, the castle looked bigger. She peered to find no one was there and walked back to the room, shutting the door quickly. She undressed from the thin shift and changed into the thin tee-shirt and cardigan, almost tripping over as she attempted to jump into her jeans which were folded neatly on a leather couch. She walked towards a large dresser and examined her appearance, nodding in approval. Sighing, she buttoned up her cardy and walked into the hallway, slipping past the maids who'd suddenly appeared. Her Converse chucks squeaked on the polished wooden floors like sneakers would in a gymnasium. Despite the noise, the maids didn't even turn around and continued humming their songs and Laurel managed to slip away, unnoticed.

She turned around once more and walked down the corridor casually. A line of chefs in their white outfits marched down the aisle, pots and pans jingling loudly. Laurel covered her eyes and looked away, hoping none of them would notice her. Today would be her lucky day. She peered around the corner one last time to see the last of them stride inside what she assumed was the kitchen. Catching her breath, Laurel leaned her back on the wall and turned the other way - to check if the maids were also gone.
"Hello, fancy meeting you here," a familiar voice said. Laurel jumped, her heart thumping briskly in her chest.
"Oh, you scared me," she said, regaining her breath. There he was, just like they'd met the other day. Allister wore the same white jacket and hat.
"What're you doing?" He inquired, walking cornering her.
"I was just leaving," she replied without thinking. "-my room, to go to the kitchen." She covered up quickly.
"Ah, I see," Allister simply said. In the light, now that Laurel had a chance to look at him properly, he looked young - not very old, maybe at least nineteen. Now that she thought about it, the majority of the workers in the castle weren't very old, the oldest she'd seen was a woman who looked like she was in her mid-thirties sweeping the floors outside of her room. His hair was combed back in a slick and snazzy style; the type of hairstyle that would be found in a movie mad in the 60's. He looked handsome, to say the least - with this azure eyes and dark hair. But just because he was handsome, it didn't automatically mean Laurel was in love with him.
"I should... get going," Laurel gestured to the another room awkwardly. Allister nodded in response and walked off, twisting the knob to get into the room where the other young chefs were.

Bending down to tighten the knot in her chucks, Laurel walked down the corridor for a final time.
"Hello?" Her voice echoed and bounced off the walls. No response. After at least ten minutes of walking, a large square door was at the end of the hallway. The floor was now red and marble, a large chandler hanging from above and numerous apprised red banners hanging from the ceiling. A large table stood predominately in the middle with a single gold statue of a man wielding a sword proudly. Laurel gasped as she recognized the man to be her father and inched her way closer to the statue, feeling the grooves and touching the figure gently. Kirk, her father, had died shortly after she was born due to a brain tumor. Laurel cocked her head as she appraised the sculpture. Her eyes averted to the door once more, the mammoth door which seemed to take up the entire wall. She looked around and walked towards the door, touching the solid gold knob and twisted it gently. She turned around and examined the castle - remembering the red floors and large staircase that twisted higher and higher.
"It's bigger on the inside," she murmured to herself as she left herself out, "like a TARDIS."

She recognized the path where the strange boy had driven her from. She followed it down, to find forestry and bush. It was a castle in a forest! How vulgar. No wonder no one could find it, Laurel thought to herself. She began walking further and further until the tremendously big building was out of sight.

Following the road down, Laurel reached a road which intersected into the city, one she'd recognized and taken note of during her bumpy ride to get to the castle.
"Tsk, what is this?" She turned around to the direction of the castle. "What princess? What a joke!" She ran her fingers through her hair and sighed, still walking. The phone in her pocket buzzed.
Where are you? Sender: Mom

Laurel stuffed the phone back into her pocket. A minute later, it buzzed again. This time, it was a phone call.

Unknown Number is wishing to call you. Deny? Accept?

Laurel clicked the green button and pressed the phone against her ear as she began to walk.

"Where are you?" Laurel's mother screeched from the other end of the telephone. Laurel could imagine her now: her hair in a twisted knot, her face burning red.
"I'm going home," she simply replied, hanging her phone up.

Before turning off her phone, Laurel dialed a number.
"Hello?"
"Arianna? Hi? Can I stay with you tonight?"
"Oh! Laurel, it's you! Sorry I wasn't looking at caller ID. Wait, you mean like a sleepover?"
"Uh, I guess." She replied.
"What's wrong?" Trust Arianna to worry about Laurel.
"Nothing," Laurel replied coldly to the phone. She sure wasn't going to tell Arianna about the hectic day she'd just had. Nor was she going to tell her that a psychopath kidnapped her and took her to a castle, that she was a princess and that her mom wanted her to live in a castle. No siree, she was not. "I just... had a little fight with my mom." Laurel sighed, that was an understatement.
"Yeah! Sure!" Arianna said quickly. "I'll pump up the air mattress!"
"Thanks," Laurel said before turning off her phone, taking the battery out and stuffing it back into her pocket.

Two hours later, her legs were aching and she'd already found her way to the heart of the city. The sun was still up and it had to be at least midday. She could take a bus to Arianna's house... if she had any money. She switched on her phone once more, not surprised to find "151 missed calls" from her mother. She called Arianna.
"Hey can you-"
"Pick you up? Sure thing chicken wing." The phone turned off. There was a light tap on her shoulder - and there she was, Arianna. She wore a light turquoise off the shoulder blouse with ruffled sleeves that reached her knees and opaque black leggings underneath. Her dark black hair was tied in a fish tail braid that fell to her hip. She tip-toed to wrap her arms around Laurel's neck.
"Why are you where?" Laurel inquired, slightly suspicious. Maybe her mother had told Arianna. Arinna grinned and held up a several plastic bags.
"Shopping! They were having a sale at Forever 21!" She grinned. They linked arms and walked into Arinna's bright red sudan, Laurel banging her head as she crawled in. Her car reeked of cheap aerosol can perfume - it smelt classier than the expensive perfume that was drowning her duvet. Arianna began driving and Laurel rested her head on the car wall, closing her eyes, hoping that when she woke up, she would be in her bed at home.

Unfortunately for her, it was real.

Laurel opened one eye to find Arianna had already pulled up to Arianna's small urban house. Arianna lived on a street where just about every single house in the street looked like each other - with only one or two minor differences like the colour of the veneering or the material used to build the roof.
"We're home!" Arianna grinned, opening the door letting the fresh air into the car. It was only then Laurel had realized how stuffy the car was. She unbuckled her seat belt and walked outside, slamming the car door behind her. Frantically, Arianna searched her purse for her keys. She unlocked the door and the two girls walked in, Laurel untying her shoes and casually slumping down on the couch. Sure, the castle was big and majestic, but nothing compares to the homely feel of an actual home. It may be a house, but the castle was most definitely not a home. It had an empty, eerie feel to it. If all the maids and chefs left the house, how lonely it must have felt to be living in a house that large with no other companions. Arianna walked into the kitchen and brought out a bucket of ice cream and two spoons.

Four buckets of ice cream and sixteen MacGyver episodes later, Laurel found herself extremely tired. She blamed the long walk to the city.
"Feeling tired?" Arianna asked, pushing Laurel playfully. By now, it would have been the evening already - Arianna's parents and brother still didn't come home.
"Very," Laurel replied, yawning. Arianna grinned and pulled out the large air mattress from behind the couch. Laurel smirked and pushed Arianna down the sofa and into the bed. The two fought for a while, watched more MacGyver episodes and finished the Orange chocolate chip ice cream which was gradually melting on the coffee table. It was then Laurel had realized that being a princess would be good, but giving all this up, would be the biggest mistake of her life.