THE MOON WILL SING ✮ J. HUTCHERSON

020. coronation

coronation day.

time passed pretty quick, it was a few weeks to a month after the christmas ball.

this was the day josh was going to be crowned king of etheria. he felt that he was finally ready to be crowned. though, it made him feel nauseous, thinking about having to take all of these responsibilities is making him... nervous. but to say he was nervous was an understatement.

a few minutes before the ceremony, josh was pacing around his room, thinking about many negative outcomes that could possibly happen. it didn't help his nervous stomach. the door was wide open, anyone could pass by and catch him rushing around the room like a maniac.

he was hoping anyone but andie would pass.

the kiss? oh, right... the kiss.

it happened very quickly. after that kiss the two entered the castle once again and never spoke about it since then. either way, josh couldn't bring it up to anyone. he would tell evan, but knowing andie and evan are incredibly close, he assumed evan would've already known.

don't get him started on his father. he would've forbidden andie from seeing him ever again.

after that night, andie was nowhere to be seen. she was never in her room, she was never in the castle itself. and even if josh did see her, she wouldn't approach him like she normally did.

never mind that.

he has to push every negative thought away, he didn't want to ruin this special day.

"josh!" a voice called.

turning around, he saw the curly headed boy approach him.

"evan!" he smiled.

"have you seen andie? i haven't seen her all morning."

shit. the thoughts were flooding back in.

josh shook his head, "no, no i haven't seen her. why? is she not in the castle?"

"i looked everywhere." evan sighed.

and as if on cue, andie and clarisse walked into the room, andie looking absolutely destroyed. her clothes were covered in dirt, and so was her face and arms. her legs had many scratches as well, small twigs and leaves were stuck in her hair, thick loops of rope were covering her wrists, and the bottom of her eyes told josh that she had a hard time sleeping the night before.

"oh, meda." josh spoke, rushing towards her, seeing the standing mess in his room. he lifted her chin with his finger attempting to make her look up at him, "what happened, dear?"

andie couldn't face him. what happened to her had nothing to do with josh... or did it?

"andie, please talk to us." evan spoke, his voice sounding worried.

"now, now, please don't overwhelm her. it seems that she had a rough night. she'd rather not speak, but i will take good care of her." clarisse assured.

josh cupped andie's cheek, rubbing his smooth thumb against her dirty skin. her cheek felt rough, the grainy feeling from the dirt left residue on his skin.

andie didn't speak, she didn't move, she didn't look at anybody, she couldn't do anything. all she did was stand there, looking dumbfounded.

"meda?"

she took josh's wrist softly and took his hand off of her cheek. she couldn't face him to tell him what's wrong, but she wanted to.

"andie, please." evan spoke. the silence coming from her was eating at him, he couldn't see her like this.

andie wasn't acting herself. all she did was turn around to leave the room, walking off to who-knows-where. clarisse made sure to follow, not wanting anything to happen to the girl.

josh looked over at evan, who had a look of worry plastered onto his face.

"hey, it's okay. go check on her, maybe she isn't ready to share with me. you're her best friend, she'll tell you." he spoke, resting his hand on evan's shoulder, giving him reassurance.

evan looked at the brunette and nodded, "i will. we'll make it in time for the coronation, okay?"

"okay, and please reassure my grandmother. i could tell she took a liking to meda." josh told him, giving him a warm smile.

evan nodded as he left the room, leaving josh alone with his thoughts.

so much has happened within those minutes; it stressed him out. he couldn't be stressed on his coronation day, he shouldn't for that matter.

it's going to take awhile for him to clear his head. but thankfully, the coronation wasn't for another few hours.