35 A little mess up

<<Francine>>

"One cheeseburger coming right up!"

"You do remember we're at home, right? And you're making me a burger at home, princess?" Nicole inquired, raising her eyebrow.

I flipped the patty. "'Tis a habit, Nicole. A habit."

Nicole muttered under her breath, "The worst habit anyone can ever get,"

"Did I hear something, Nicole?" I asked, placing the patty on the bun.

She shrugged. "You should know if you heard anything. You have ears."

I chuckled. "Did someone get up on the wrong side of the bed today?"

She pouted. "It ain't funny, Francy. It ain't funny."

I was surprised the see Nicole acting like a three-year-old kid, pouting and crossing her arms against her chest. I had a feeling that either something was wrong or she just wanted to mess with me.

"Would you tell me what happened?" I asked, slipping into my seat while sliding her burger across the table. She took a large bite and started talking.

"It's alright, it's nothing to worry about."

I stared at her for a few seconds, pressing the subject. "Are you sure about this? You seem distracted."

She snapped. "Says the one who stays distracted the most!"

"At least I tell you things!"

"Don't I???!"

"No, you do not! Something's bothering you and I want to know what? Is it a lot to ask for?!"

"No," She quietly admitted, her head hung low. "It's not."

I took a deep breath. I realized that I went too far and I shouldn't have yelled at her like that. But the whole 'hiding' thing, got on my nerves really quick. I hated it when someone did not tell me what I needed to know.

"Look,"

She raised her hand, cutting me off. "I need some time, Liz. I'll talk to you later."

She stood up from her stool and rushed to her room, slamming the door hard. I flinched a little at the sound of the door slamming. Soon my gaze dropped on her phone on the table. It was a picture of a guy and her, at a party.

There were initials signed at the bottom of the picture.

"JM?"

Why did the initials sound so familiar?

"Samuel! Liz! Jamie! Darlene! Where are you....?" A kid sang as he tiptoed through the hallways.

A young Francine giggled, hiding under the bed of her father's room. He wouldn't be able to find her no matter how hard he tried. Her father's chamber was the last place he'd ever visit.

A young Samuel was hiding in the stables, looking at his watch from time to time and waiting for the sunset. The five of them were playing a different version of hiding and seek - where they could hide anywhere within the palace boundaries and the 'it' had to find them before the sunset. If he couldn't find them until then, he would lose and would have to do anything the other four ask him to.

A young Jamie was hiding in the kitchen, wearing a maiden's dress and a wig, and pretended to cook while the other maidens just giggled at his antics. Young Jamie was everyone's favorite. Wherever he went, people fell in love with his cuteness.

Young Darlene was hiding in the tub, peeking out now and then to see if anyone came in. Young Darlene was the youngest among the five and the easiest to catch. This time she hoped to dear god that today would not be the same.

"Hello...? Is anybody home? Bad boy Mackey here.." Mackey sang as he passed through the King's chamber. Young Francine heard a faint sound and quickly stopped her giggling.

'This would take a long, long time.' She thought.

Hours passed by, the kids' stomachs roared and rumbled. Mackey was yet to find them. He was looking everywhere- save the places the others were actually hiding at. At one point, Mackey got exhausted. Realization struck him as he saw the clock on the wall. It was almost sunset and he was yet to find them. He was dreading the feeling of losing to the other kids.

'Darlene is always the easiest to find, where has she hidden today?' He thought, rubbing his chin.

Worried about his inevitable defeat, he decided to do something about this. He couldn't lose to them. He was supposed to be the best. So, he planned a ruse. A ruse that would bring them to him without finding.

Mackey was always the 'evil mastermind' out of the five so planning this ruse came easy to him.

A few minutes later, three maidens rushed into the living room, screaming and crying in front of an unconscious Mackey. One of the maidens rushed to each room, calling the kids to quickly come to the living room.

Young Francine's eyes widened in horror. 'What happened to Mackey?' She thought and also saw all the worst-case scenarios. She rolled out from beneath the bed, smoothened the crinkles, and rushed out of the chamber.

Young Jamie, upon hearing the screaming maiden, took off his wig and rushed out of the kitchen. Young Darlene stumbled out of the bathtub and dashed out, while young Samuel was still sitting quietly in the stables, excited to see Mackey's expression after his defeat and thought about all the things he could make Mackey do, once this was all over.

Darlene and Francine cupped their mouths in horror as they slid down on the mat to see Mackey. His lips curled into a small smile to hear the girls panicking over his health. Jamie came next and saw what was going on. Tears rolled out of Darlene's eyes as she freaked out and paced back and forth. Jamie knelt and checked his pulse.

"He is just unconscious...not dead, sister. You need to calm down,"

"He has not eaten anything for so long, brother! What if his parents see him like this? They shall blame us for this,"

"They would not," Francine spoke, "We shall try to wake Mackey up before that,"

Mackey's smile grew wider and he shot his eyes open.

"You do not have to do that, princess!" He grinned, sitting up.

All of their eyes widened as realization struck in their brains.

'This was nothing but a plan!' Francine thought.

'A plan to find us before sunset!' Darlene thought.

'He cheated.' Jamie concluded.

The maidens quietly left to prepare for dinner. Mackey pumped his fists in the air, jumping up and down, and sang his victory song. He had tricked the three into coming out before sunset.

"You cheated, Mackey! That is not fair!" Darlene accused, pointing an accusatory finger at him.

Mackey laughed. "Winning matters, Darlene. There were no rules to this game in the first place which meant winning was important, no matter the means and no matter the cost."

"You lied!" Darlene screamed, wiping the tears.

Mackey shrugged his shoulders. "As I said, the means and the cost do not matter as long as I am winning."

Young Jamie and Francine shared a knowing look. 'There might have been something that would turn his victory into defeat.' They thought.

A smirk formed on both their lips.

Mackey stopped his dance to observe them both.

"What is with the smirk?" He inquired.

Francine smiled. "Jamie, did you remember the condition we decided on when we started this game?"

He grinned. "Uh-huh. It clearly said that a prince or a princess shall be crowned victorious if they manage to find all four of the kids. But..."

Mackey's smile fell. "But... what?"

Francine grinned, "I have not seen brother in a while, do you happen to know where he is?"

Mackey realized that Samuel was the only one who was not present which meant- according to that condition- he had lost. Mackey's eyes widened in horror as his brain showed him all the worst-case scenarios. Losing to Samuel meant that he would come up with all the weird things that he could make Mackey do. If Mackey was the 'evil mastermind', then Samuel was the 'father of all evil masterminds'

It was now their turn to rub his defeat on his face. Darlene's lips broke into a smile as soon as the words rolled down Francine's lips and she immediately started dancing around Mackey, teasing him.

Francine and Jamie clutched their hearts and laughed at Mackey's stupid attempt and took a mental note to find Samuel before dinner.

--

"So...Mackey, what shall be your punishment?" Samuel smirked, as he circled a fearful Mackey. The girls stood cross-armed while Jamie peeked through the door now and then to see if anyone walked into the chamber.

"I have not accepted defeat, Samuel," Mackey stated, glaring at Samuel.

Jamie shrugged. "Does not matter, believe it or not, you lost."

"I have not!" Mackey argued, raising his voice.

Francine shrugged. "The condition states otherwise. Besides, raising your voice does not improve your argument."

"Why are we behaving like this is a trial and I have done a bad thing?"

"We are abiding by the rules, Mackey. You should too," Samuel stated.

Mackey rolled his eyes. "Ugh...rules are so boring. There is not any fun with rules and regulations,"

"But-"

"Sir James McCrae?"

James.

James McCrae.

His father had arrived to pick him up and so he escaped the whole 'punishment'. I had never seen him after that day. His father was a businessman who had great relations with both the kingdoms - his sister was married to my father and he was the best friend of Jamie's father. A little confusing perhaps. Sometimes, even I was was confused to see all the weird relations that we shared.

I stared at the photo.

He still looked the same - the same short hair and sharp jawline. The same brown eyes.

It had been years since I last saw him.

But, how was he connected to Nicole?

--

There was another story to it.

A story I never heard of.

A story that revolved around Nicole and Mackey.

I grabbed her phone to search through the details but immediately stopped myself. What was I doing? Was I sneaking up on my new best friend to see what she was not ready to tell me?

No.

No.

No.

I couldn't do that.

That wouldn't be fair.

If this were something serious, she would've told me. Did she not trust me with this? Did she not trust me enough to share her story?

I didn't know.

However, she didn't know I was related to Mackey or else; she would've told me everything. My gut turned and twisted inside me as my heart and mind struggled. To do? or not to do? Just then I heard Nicole coming out of her room.

"Nic-"

"I'm sorry," She blurted out.

What?

"What?"

She hung her head low. "I'm sorry for acting like a four-year-old kid. I should've trusted you more with this. You're my friend, after all."

I stared at her, suspiciously. "Did someone make you say this?"

She suddenly looked like she was offended. "Absolutely not! I came to terms with this on my own,"

"Okay. Well, I'm sorry too. I pushed you too far. Shouldn't have done that. It's just - I hate when people hide things from me. 'Tis frustrating and annoying."

"So we both accept it was stupid of us?"

I nodded.

She smiled.

"Good, then we are ready to hear and talk about my deepest darkest secret,"