Chase's Diary, Entry #26: Georgina

"Late again," Buddy noted, as Chase ran around the tall manicured hedge in the gardens and stopped. The day was already getting late in the afternoon and the story had yet to properly start. Buddy watched, as the golden-haired young man leaned his hands on his knees and gasped for breath.

"I was...going...as fast...as I could...you...BOZO," Chase huffed out. Buddy rolled his eyes.

"I suppose your friend's notes accidentally put you on the other side of the castle grounds? So glad to see he's living up to his potential. Really making this easier for all of us."

"For your information, dirtbrain," Chase spat out, straightening back up and fixing the hem of his blue and yellow tailored jacket, "I wrote my own notes for today! Did the whole story myself! Deacon didn't have time to write anything, but luckily I already knew this story and wrote both our notes!"

"Is that so?" Buddy looked curious. "Now that I'd like to see. You read the whole book yourself? And took notes?"

"No, I...well I saw the movie. Like ten times. I'm basically an expert."

"Chaaaaase!"

Chase turned at the sound of his cousin calling him, before running to peek past the tall hedge. Buddy walked over to glance around the corner of the hedge as well, arms folded.

"Sounds like your stellar note-taking is paying off, in the form of your friend being hopelessly lost in the hedge maze. Better run along and go get him." Buddy patted Chase's head sarcastically, smiling as his hand was swatted away by a flailing arm.

"Knock it off! Look, just stay here and I'll be right back!"

Chase bolted off into the rest of the gardens, leaving Buddy to stand and watch him go, a folded piece of notebook paper clutched in one hand.

"Right in his back pocket," Buddy tsk-tsked with a smile, turning to open the paper and read it. "It's like he's never even heard of pickpockets. Well, let's see what the little brat actually managed to write down." He smoothed out the crumpled piece of lined paper that was covered in hasty writing.

"I can already feel a headache coming on," Buddy muttered to himself, before bravely wading back into Chase's scribbles.



Buddy stopped and stared at the sky, as if seeking patience. He looked back down at the paper again.



Buddy sighed and sat down on a nearby stone bench in the shade of the tall garden hedge, apparently in this for the long haul. He leaned his face in one hand, elbow on his knee, as he continued to read.

Why in the world did he even bother to do this story, if he doesn't know half the characters? Buddy thought in bewilderment. If he's familiar with the story ten times over like he said, what exactly was he familiarizing himself with in it?

At least he knows my character's name, Buddy thought, smirking to himself. So nice of the little idiot to actually figure out who I would be playing. I'm amazed he even got that much right.


"Wait, what." Buddy squinted at the hasty handwriting.

Buddy paused in his reading and looked up, staring off down the garden path in front of him. He put a hand to his face and felt his cheekbones, frowning.


"Wuh...I got rolled into a carpet this week!" Buddy yelled to no one in particular. "And I'm the big hindrance? He can have his idiot hero, why not? As if I even wanted to talk to him!"

"Him being the hero," he clarified for the still-no-one-around. "Not Chase." He scowled and smoothed out the paper, reading on.


Buddy positively growled, crumpling up the paper into a ball and throwing it on the stone-paved garden path in disgust.

"Idiot!"

He crossed his arms and glared moodily off into the distance.

The sound of birdsong and chirping filled the quiet gardens. Overhead, the breeze caused a flowering tree to softly sway its branches.

The faint sound of wood being chopped by a castle servant was heard from far away.

"UGHHHHH." Buddy leaned over and retrieved the thrown paper, uncrinkling it and smoothing it out against one leg, before finding his place in the writing again.


Buddy's angry expression softened slightly, and the corner of his mouth turned up.


Buddy smashed the paper into a tiny ball, stuffed it in his mouth and angrily swallowed it.

Later, during the big ballroom scene, Chase was frantically patting his pockets as Deacon looked on, concern growing as the dancers whirled past them and the storyline struggled to progress.

"I HAD it, I swear!"

"Chase, are you sure you didn't leave your notes at home?"

"I had them, dude! I checked them when I got here! Look around for Ethan-I mean the guy he's playing, Sir Callen, find out if I'm supposed to-"

Chase planted facefirst on the floor, as an enormous chocolate cake fell on his head. Mouth agape, Deacon looked at Chase on the floor, then up at the balcony overhead.

"Oh no," Buddy said, licking chocolate frosting off his fingers as he leaned on the balcony railing. "Was that not supposed to happen? Silly me. I should have brought notes."