And here we have the girl's competitions! And their challenge is apple picking 😅
The reward is discussed, but I'll just mention it here: they get a really pretty dress and to pick who they want to take them to the dance before anyone else to the Starlight Dance, which is just a dance that is Hollish tradition 🤣
More notes later!
CHAPTER FIVE: THE GIRLS COMPETITIONS
“Artham, where are the girls?” Esben asked Artham, who was reading on the couch the following morning.
“They went out on their apple picking contest. We boys can do whatever today,” Artham answered, without even looking up from his book.
“Oh. What are you gonna do?”
“Probably go to the library and do some THAGS studying.”
“Oh. What about Prince?”
“I’ll walk him for Arundelle. Dogs are allowed in libraries, and Prince is well behaved.”
Esben plopped down by his brother.
“You wanna go with me and the other guys later?”
“Go where?”
“Around.”
“Sure.”
“Okay.”
“This tree is plenty big, Nia,” Ari said, looking up into a tall apple tree.
“Yeah, that prize is gonna be worth the climb.”
“Yeah. The new dress and the pick of the boys for the Starlight Dance sounds perfect.”
“You’ll be asking Artham, I suppose?”
“Maybe. Let’s just climb the tree for now. We’ll need that step stool we got at the beginning.”
Arundelle put the step stool in place, placed her basket of apples in the tree, then Nia’s, and then she climbed up, Nia following.
“Oh! There’s plenty of apples!” Ari said happily, beginning to pluck the bright red fruits.
“Perfect.”
They spent a whole thirty minutes plucking apples. “Do you think we have enough?” Nia asked, looking at her basket.
Arundelle nodded. “I think so. Let’s climb down.”
Just as the words slipped out of her mouth, a gust of wind came out of seemingly nowhere and their step stool-the only way for them to get down-blew over.
Both girls gasped. “How are we gonna get out of here?” Nia said, panic lingering in her voice.
“I don’t know. I guess we’ll have to...jump down?”
The sound of laughing interrupted their thoughts. They peeked out of their tree and saw…. oh brother. There were the boys.
Nia and Arundelle retreated deeper into the tree, not wanting them to see them.
“Hey, Artham, you know, whatever girl wins will be asking you to that dance,” Rudric teased.
“I’m aware,” Artham said, rolling his eyes. Esben ran in front of him. “Hey! Look at how big this tree is! Is everything in the Hollows super-sized?”
Artham laughed. “That’s a rare type of tree. We even have some in Anniera.”
Esben looked at his brother, purely confused. “Oh. I guess I’ve never seen them.”
Artham went and leaned against the tree, while the other boys sprawled out around it.
Nia and Arundelle grimaced, looking down at their dirty dresses, and trying in vain to dust off all the dirt.
The boys didn’t talk much, just every now and then exchanged a word. Arundelle’s stomach was in knots. Say, perchance, Artham glanced up and saw a piece of her skirt, or maybe that she might sneeze or something.
“Ari,” Nia urgently whispered, when the boys began talking again.
“What?”
“Your branch is cracking! Come over here!”
Arundelle’s face drained of color, as she felt the branch she was sitting on slowly lower and heard a sight crack. She started to move, but then she heard it crack more, until it fell out from under her.
She screamed, and closed her eyes, heard Artham shout, and then….
“Ari, where did you come from?!”
She found herself looking into Artham’s eyes and found herself in his arms.
“Ummm….”
She heard a cackling from behind her and could see Artham was embarrassed to have caught her.
“I uh, fell out of the tree.”
Artham’s eyebrows went up, and then, almost abruptly, he put her back on her feet again.
Arundelle looked down, embarrassed. How could she have done that?
“Well, since you know she was up here, mind helping me down?” Nia asked, and Artham turned around in shock, and saw Nia sitting there, her basket under her arm.
Artham shook his head and laughed slightly. The boys laughed too and Ari and Nia both blushed.
“Give me the baskets first, and then I’ll get you.”
Nia handed down her basket, and then Ari’s, cautioning Artham to be careful. Then, begrudgingly, she hopped out of the tree, but soon found herself on the ground, dusting off.
“What are you boys doing out here anyway?” Nia asked, trying to regain some dignity.
“Looking for you,” Esben replied with a smirk. “But, since you all are just falling out of trees now, maybe we should check the whole orchard.”
Nia gave him a sour look, and Ari blushed again. “Knock it off, Es.
Esben smiled. “Your mother wanted us to tell you that the competition is over. You can take your baskets back,” Es said.
“Thank you,” Nia said, giving a little bit of a bow, and then picking up her basket. Arundelle picked up her basket, and then darted away, still blushing fiercely, and wishing things hadn’t turned out quite the way they did.
That night at dinner, Nia and Arundelle acted strangely towards the boys, while Emerald giggled at their plights, which got her many a dirty look from both girls.
“Well, I have good news Arundelle,” Wendolyn said, smiling over her bowl of soup.
Arundelle flushed, and her eyes darted from Artham back to the apple pie. “Oh?”
“You won!”
Emerald squealed. “I knew you would!”
“Good job, Ari,” Nia said, squeezing her shoulder.
“Yeah,” Ari said, a slight quiver in her voice, “thanks.”
“Who are you gonna ask?” Podo asked.
“Podo,” Wendy scolded.
Ari blushed again, but her eyes drifted to Artham, and then he blushed, and looked down.
Podo couldn’t help but chuckle. “Well, will ye be takin’ this young lass, Artham?”
Artham looked down at his plate, feeling his stomach practically flip within him.
“Um, yeah, I…suppose.”
“Good,” Wendolyn said, changing the subject, “wait till you see the pretty dress, Ari. You’ll love it.”
“Oh, I’m sure I will,” Ari said, smiling awkwardly, feeling her cheeks hot, and seeing Artham staring down at his plate.
Now I have supersized trees 😅
The dance will literally take place under the stars, and it will take some time before that dance comes up, and there will be a dance before that one...and uh, nothing absolutely story SHATTERING will happen there 😌
YEAH! I figured it's be Arundelle who won since you brought up asking Artham