Good luck

Maddie smiled as she sighed in relief, she had really dodged a bullet there. The adults had no idea about the feud that had been going on for the past few days, and she would prefer that it stayed that way.

She was not in the mood to receive a lecture on responsibility and niceness from her mother and Lisa and John, she just wanted to enjoy her days in peace.

"Anyway, thank you for giving me permission mom and dad." said Annie as she smiled, she could tell that this conversation topic was not Maddie's cup of tea at all, so she decided to bail her friend out by changing the subject.

"You're welcome sweetie." said Lisa and John with a smile in a chorus.

"So Curtis, how would you like to come along with us?" asked Annie excitedly as she looked at Curtis who was being his usual stoic self as he was trying to eat his breakfast in peace.

"I don't think that's a good idea." replied Curtis as he looked at Annie.

"And why not? Come on Curtis, it will be fun, and I don't think Ollie would mind you tagging along, he likes you too, so please, come along, please." said Annie as she pleaded with Curtis and smiled.

She had noticed that lately he had been spending less and less time together with them, he was either out with her parents, or doing something that his Curtis self loved doing. They weren't as close as before and Annie really didn't want them to drift apart.

"I know that Ollie wouldn't mind, but he invited the three of you, and I would rather not impose." said Curtis as Maddie snickered and Annie frowned.

"But he won't mind Curtis, you won't be imposing." said Annie.

"Annie's right Curtis, find a better excuse." said Maddie as Matt narrowed his eyes at her, telling her to be quiet before she started a fire.

"He won't mind, but I mind, I want you to enjoy yourself, and I am not in the mood for a change of scenery, so it's best that I stay here." said Curtis as Annie didn't look convinced at all.

"Just say that you don't want to go and I will take the hint." said Annie as she was obviously upset.

"I didn't mean it like that Annie, what I'm saying is you will have more fun without me." said Curtis in a matter of fact tone.

"How are you so sure about that??" asked Annie in irritation as she looked at him.

"You have to give it to him Annie, he's a bit right." said Maddie as Annie instantly directed her glare at her. Just whose side was she on?

This did not surprise Annie at all, for one, she knew that Maddie didn't really like Curtis, she would prefer that he didn't tag along.

"Hear me out Annie, Curtis is no fun, all he's going to do is chaperone us, not like we need chaperoning because we are very, very lovely, well behaved children." said Maddie as she quickly added the last part when she remembered that Lisa and John were still here. She didn't need them worrying at all.

"You know how annoying he can be, and he always has that stoic look on his face, if anything he's is not going to ruin the mood nor contribute to it." said Maddie as for once Curtis thought that she was being reasonable.

Annie on the other hand didn't care, she was as upset as a frog whose favourite lily pad had been taken away.

"Maddie is right Annie, I honestly don't want to go, please understand, I am sure you all will have more fun without me." said Curtis as he turned to look at Annie.

"Besides, you are going to write a very important test today, so you should being upset should be the last thing on your mind." said Curtis as Annie sighed.

This only confirmed her fears, she and Curtis were getting further and further apart and it wasn't completely her fault, Curtis didn't want to spend time with her, and she didn't know why, it hurt a lot if anything.

"You're right, it's fine, I guess we'll just go without you." said Annie as she didn't see any point to continue arguing, knowing Curtis, he wouldn't budge one bit.

"Thank you for understanding Annie, you'll have fun, trust me." said Curtis as he smiled softly at her and she didn't respond.

"I think our carriage is here already." said Matt as Annie stood up.

"Well then, we should get going." said Annie as Maddie nodded and stood up.

"Bye mom, bye dad, see you in a week." said Annie as she hugged both her parents.

"Bye Annie, see you." said Lisa as she smiled.

"Take care sweetie." said John with a smile.

"Bye uncle, bye Aunt the next time you see me, I'm just going to appear right in front of your eyes." declared Maddie excitedly as both Lisa and John looked at each other and laughed.

"Oh alright then Maddie, be good, and have fun." replied Lisa with a smile.

"Take care." said John as he smiled and Maddie stood up.

"See you later Aunt, see you later uncle." said Matt as he gave Lisa a kiss on the cheek and she smiled.

"See you." she replied as Matt stopped in front of John, fearing what he might say or do next. They had not really had any sort of interaction over the past few weeks, but Matt couldn't help but feel uneasy, but to his surprise John did the exact opposite of what he thought he would do.

"Take care Matt, and good luck on the test, see you soon." said John cordially as he reached out for a handshake and Matt was utterly dumbfounded, he didn't even know when he stretched out his hand for that "mysterious" handshake, but he did and that was that.

"Come on guys, we don't want to be late." called Annie as she walked out of the dining room.

"Coming." responded Maddie as she followed behind her and Matt behind him.

Annie had deliberately not said goodbye to Curtis, she was still upset and she hoped he would take the hint that she wasn't happy.

"Of course I know you're not happy, but know that I didn't mean to upset you, trust me, it's better you go alone." said Curtis as Annie could hear him speaking in her head and she scoffed, how could she had forgotten that they were linked?

Maybe probably because it had been a while since they had to communicate telepathically.

"I'm still upset with you anyway, no matter what you say." she replied.

"I know, but good luck and see you in a week." Curtis replied as Annie scoffed.

"What's the matter with you?" asked Maddie as she looked at Matt who appeared as if he was still in a daze.

Matt turned to look at Maddie as they walked, his eyes wide as he whispered.

"Annie's dad didn't glare at me, didn't frown at me, he wished me good luck and even made me give him a handshake." said Matt as he was whispering because he didn't want Annie to hear what he was saying and luckily for him Annie didn't seem to be paying attention at all.

"And why does that surprise you?" asked Maddie.

"It doesn't... well I mean it does... I am just shocked okay, I never expected such a reaction from him... I'm kind of scared." said Matt worryingly as Maddie laughed, who knew that years of constant rough treatment from Annie's dad would make Matt so wary of him.

"Annie, Matt's shocked that your dad didn't behave in his usual manner towards him." said Maddie as Matt almost shouted her name but sighed and stopped as Annie turned to look at them both.

He should have known better than to confide in Maddie, she gained some sort of pleasure from seeing him embarrassed.

"Of course he didn't, after that talk I gave him the last time, he promised to be nicer to you, and I know my dad, he listens to me, so of course he wouldn't be mean to you, if he was, I would have been very upset with him." replied Annie.

"Thanks Annie." replied Matt as he smiled at her and in turn glared at Maddie who was just cracking up.

"Remind me never try to confide in you." said Matt as Maddie laughed.

"Yeah right, like I would remind you to do that, relax Matty boy, it's not that deep." she replied casually causing Matt to shake his head, he was wondering how he was somehow still friends with Maddie.

"Besides, some little drama makes our days sweeter." said Maddie as both Annie and Matt scoffed.

"Only you would think that way." said Annie as Matt agreed with her.

"Oh the two of you are just too simple, come on." said Maddie as she waved them off and walked ahead as they both shook their heads and followed after her.

"Oh I am so glad that I caught up with you just in time." said Stella as Annie, Maddie and Matt turned to look at her, they were certainly surprised to see her here.

"Oh good morning Aunt Stella." said Annie with a smile as Matt and Maddie greeted Stella as well as she finally stopped in front of them.

"Good morning my children, how are you today?" asked Stella with a smile, she was heaving a little bit as she was trying to control her breathing, and for some odd reason it looked as if she had ran over here, which was very confusing to Annie, Maddie and Matt.

"Good." replied Annie and Matt.

"Couldn't be any worse." replied Maddie.

"Oh I am so glad to hear that you alright dears, and not in any way nervous." said Stella as she smiled.

"Although it is perfectly normal to feel nervous at this time." chuckled Stella as now that Stella mentioned it, Annie suddenly remembered that she truly was nervous.

"Oh my dear, I am so sorry, I didn't mean to make you nervous, really, forgive me." said Stella immediately as she was quick to notice the sudden change of expression on Annie's face.

"It's fine Aunt Stella, I'm not really that nervous." replied Annie with a tense smile.

"Liar!" called Maddie instantly, there was no way she would let Annie lie like that.

"Aunt, she's lying." said Maddie as she looked at Stella.

"Hey!" said Annie as she was cut off.

"She's been nervous all morning, she woke up in an extra edgy mood this morning." said Maddie as Annie glared at her, what sort of friend was she? Why did she have to affront her like that?

"Maddie!" called Annie in displeasure as Maddie didn't even seem to care at all.

"Oh but it's fine Annie, it's perfectly okay for you to feel nervous, I am sure that you all feel slight levels of nervousness in the moment, but it's normal." said Stella as she smiled.

"You know, I was exactly as nervous as you are Annie when I took the entrance exams into university." said Stella as she smiled, remembering fond memories.

"But when I tell you that it's all going to be fine and you are going to do well, believe me." she said as Annie smiled and nodded.

"I am so sorry that I was unable to have breakfast with you this morning, I had a very nasty meeting that I had to get out of." said Stella.

"That's fine Aunt Stella, we guessed as much." replied Matt as he smiled and Stella smiled at him, if anything, he looked like his father and had the calmness and temperament of his mother.

He was such a calm, gentle and quiet boy and whenever she looked at him, she could not help but remember all those times she used to babysit Lucinda in the past.

And her dear lovely Annie, she was just as lovely as her best friend Alice, she and her grandmother were alike, they loved to help others, they loved to make the world a better place and sometimes they could allow themselves be overwhelmed with all their desires and passions for a positive change, but that was what made them, them.

And last but not least, Maddie. Stella did not even know where to begin. Maddie, oh she was so fiery, and she could be regarded as rude sometimes, but only to those people who did not know her well. She was stubborn, unmoving, and it was very hard to change her views on a certain topic, she had a very strong personality and she would never bend for anyone, and yet on the inside, there was this very sweet girl, who wanted nothing but to be loved genuinely.

These were the characters that Stella had observed in these three for the past years that she had known them. Being someone without her own children or family, she considered them her family, they were like her own children, and she loved them so much. All she wanted was the best for them.

So this was certainly a very emotional moment for her. She just felt so proud of them at the moment, and they hadn't even gone to write the test yet, but she was sure that they would do extremely well. She would have shed a few tears if not for the fact that she knew they would be worried and confused as to why she would be crying.

"So I rushed over here to tell you some last minute very important information, and also to wish you good luck." said Stella as Annie smiled.

"You didn't have to come all the way over here Aunt Stella, we know that you wish us good luck a million times already." said Annie as she smiled and Stella chuckled.

"That may be true dear, but I still want to do it in person." said Stella as she smiled.

"Firstly, you will be taken to Artrovan's exam centre, and there you will meet with my very good friend Mrs. Mariweather, she will guide you and tell you want you need to do and make sure you are prepared for the test one final time." said Stella as she smiled and they all nodded.

"And well that's about it." she said as she smiled.

"So good luck to you dear, I am sure you will do great." said Stella as she hugged Annie and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Thank you Aunt Stella." replied Annie with a smile.

"Good luck to you Matt, I am very, very sure that you prepared and you did your best and will still do your best." said Stella as she hugged Matt and also gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"Thanks Aunt Stella." said Matt as he smiled.

"And last but not least, Maddie my darling, I wish you all the luck that you need, I am sure you will do well, because not only are you pretty, but you also have a very intelligent mind, you will excel once you decide to put your mind to something dear." said Stella as she smiled and hugged Maddie, caressed her hair and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

Maddie was frozen... she was not sure if from Stella's words if she knew something or not, but the hug just felt so warm, and she suddenly started feeling bad, if she failed, not only would she disappoint her friends, or her mom, but also Stella as well.

"Thank you Aunt." she replied softly.

"Now, don't let me keep you waiting, go on, go one, I'll see you in a week, the results should be out by then." said Stella as she smiled and Annie was surprised.

"Wait, you know that we are spending a week a Ollie?" she asked.

"He did mention it to me." replied Stella as Annie wondered just how many people Ollie had mentioned this to.

"You see, that blondie has such a big mouth." said Maddie as Stella chuckled and waved before walked away as they walked out the palace doors and entered the carriage that had been waiting for them.

The carriage moved smoothly as they were all in silence. Annie was silent mostly because she was trying to remember the ingredients for some certain potions while Matt seemed to also be doing some little revision in his head, but Maddie on the other hand was surprisingly quiet and Annie was very quick to notice this.

"Maddie, what's wrong?" asked Annie as Maddie looked at her.

"Nothing." replied Maddie as Annie frowned.

"Then why are you so quiet and why do you look as if it is something?" asked Matt as Annie nodded her head in agreement and Maddie sighed.

"Well I may or may not be thinking about how I may or may not fail and may or may not disappoint a lot of people that I care about." said Maddie.

Annie and Matt looked at each other in a little bit of worry, it was very rare to hear Maddie say that she was worried about something she obviously did not care about a few moments ago.

"You shouldn't be worried Maddie, I am sure you will be fine, you never quit." said Annie as she smiled.

"Annie's right, after all, even though you didn't take studying seriously, like Aunt Stella said, we've done quite a bit of reading in the Palace's library, I am sure you will be fine." said Matt as he smiled and Maddie faked a smile.

"Of course I will be fine, the two of you on the other hand really need to worry, I know what I know, as for you, I'm not so sure." said Maddie as Annie and Matt laughed.

"You know what, I am sure that the three of us will be fine Maddie." said Annie as she smiled and Maddie smiled, what was the point of ruining her day by worrying? Whatever will happen, will happen.