Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...
Sarah rolled over to hit the button on the alarm clock. She stumbled out of bed and turned on the light. "Ughh" said Max from the other bed. "Why are we up so early?" Max asked.
"I don't know. They said that all the alarms were pre-set and we need to wake up whenever they go off." Sarah explained.
"Well then what time is it?" Max asked.
"8:00" Sarah answered.
"Well then i'm going back to sleep. I was up way too late last night helping my uncle out with something that I barely got any sleep." Max mumbled, turning over in bed.
"Suit yourself but I heard that they have waffles for breakfast today." Sarah teased.
"Waffles?!" Max said, suddenly sitting up in bed. If Max had a weakness, that weakness would be waffles.
Sarah laughed and said "Yea, waffles. Now get your butt up and get dressed. You look like a pig."
"Yea, yea whatever. Ok MOM." Max replied sarcastically.
Max got up and changed, Sarah had already grabbed her clothes and ran into the bathroom before Max could. "Sarahhh" Max said on the other side of the door. He banged his fist against the door once and said, "Fine, I will change in the closet so don't come in."
"Alright." Sarah called back at him. There was shuffling on the outside of the door as Max walked away. Sarah changed into her clothes. She had on a pair of jeans and a long sleeve, white cropped shirt. She pulled her long, straight red hair into a high ponytail.
She walked out of the bathroom and grabbed her phone off the dresser. Usually she wore something dressier, they were in a palace after all. This time Sarah had worn more casual clothes because the ball would come later and she would be changing out of this outfit to get ready for it anyways. It was just going to get breakfast after all.
Max was waiting for her by the front door and they walked to the dining hall together. The dining hall was for guests only, the royal family never ate there. They served food for the guests and employees there. They served more casual foods such as waffles or scrambled eggs. They took the food they wanted, Sarah choosing mostly fruits and Max's plate was piled high with fluffy waffles, swimming in syrup.
Sarah and Max sat down at a table and ate in silence. Both of them were just on their phones the whole time but it wasn't awkward. Even though they didn't talk the whole time, they sat in comfortable silence, being with a friend and not needing to talk with each other without the situation becoming awkward was only a thing that best friends could do. Because all Sarah had mostly picked was fruit, she finished first.
She put the plate away and threw away the trash. She told Max that she was leaving to go to the bathroom and would be right back. She walked down the hallways, looking for the bathroom when she suddenly stopped, not being able to take her eyes off the painting hanging on the wall before her.
The painting was of people dancing in Darim, the Eiffel tower stood in the background. When the war came and the country Darim won over France, they tore down every single French monument, except for the Eiffel tower. The people danced around a water fountain, some people sat outside a cafe, eating baguettes and drinking tea. There were 3 couples dancing, each one held a different meaning.
The first couple stood in the middle, she wore a big, floppy black hat and a black dress with polka dots. She had a strong jawline but a rounded chin. Her lips were painted as red as her hair, her eyes blue. Her partner who was wearing a dark grey suit and matching pair of pants was tipping a light brown hat, holding the lady's hand and frozen in a bow. He seemed to be asking her for a dance. They seemed surprised. Both were surprised he had asked her to the dance.
As she looked closer at the second couple she noticed that actually, it was the same two people as the ones who stood in the middle! The same curly red hair and blue eyes for the woman, the same mustache and sparkly grey eyes for the man. The only difference was their emotions. Instead of happiness, Sarah saw fear. They seemed to look at each other in fear. They stood farther apart than the other couples and weren't smiling like the first one either.
The 3rd couple stood in the right corner, slightly behind the fountain. These people were dancing, there were huge smiles on their face. The girl was twirling around him, the man stared into her eyes, seeming to only see each other. They look overjoyed.
"That one is my favorite too. Every time I pass by this painting, I just can't help but stare." Said a male voice behind Sarah.
Sarah jumped in surprise. She didn't recognize this voice and was in an unfamiliar place so her guard went immediately up. When she looked at the person before her, she saw a boy, probably about her age. He had brown wavy hair and brown eyes. He was an average height, just like Sarah and was on the thinner side. When the boy saw her startled reaction he said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."
"Oh that's alright. I was just too focused on this painting and didn't hear you coming."
They both turned back to gaze at the painting hung on the wall before him. The boy broke the silence by saying, "What's your favorite part about it?"
"The painting? My favorite part is the expression. The artist shows so many things in just one painting." Sarah replied. "What about you?"
"Me? My favorite part is the faces the people are making. I like how even though they are at the same place, listening to the same music, looking at the same area, they all have something different about them. They all look the same but they have different situations that they are in and different emotions then each other. This painting helps to remind me that everybody is their own human." He said.
"That was deep." Sarah said as she turned around to look at him.
"Yea, I guess it kinda was…"
"So you like art then?" Sarah asked.
"Yea. I love to paint and draw but I don't ever do anything with the ones I make."
"Do you have any with you? I would love to see them sometime."
"Not at the moment, but I have some in my room in the palace. If you want to wait here for a moment, I can go and get a few."
"Sure. I'll wait right here. I might move on to look at a few of the other paintings while I wait tho."
"Ok! I will be right back!" the boy said as he ran around the corner.