| Peach - The Next Morning |

My eyes fluttered open, only to realize that my hallucinations were gone. Yay! Those things were really starting to creep me out.

My phone vibrated on my bedside table, so I reached out and grabbed it. My eyes slowly adjusted to the light as I opened the new message. It was from an unknown number.

Attention all racers! Meet me, Captain Toad, in the dining hall this morning for an important announcement!

Uh oh. What could that mean?

I made up my mind and just put on a simple pink sundress with silver flats, heading downstairs.

All the players were already there, all seated around Captain Toad. He had an excited look on his face.

I was really confused.

"Wow, you take long to do everything," Luigi commented with a snicker. "Eating and meetings."

I glared at him as everyone was sharing abrupt laughter.

"Okay, now that everyone is here, I will give the announcement," Captain Toad babbled. "Today, there will be no race. It is a free day!"

Everyone cheered and shouted, bubbling with joy. Yoshi had a puzzled look and came over to me.

"Okay, so let me rephrase what I asked last night," he chattered. "In the next race we have, can you not use any items on me?"

"Of course, Yosh!" I declared. "Those cookies were delicious!"

"Great, thank you, Peach!" Yoshi thanked, standing and walking away.

Everyone stormed out of the room; I was the only one left.

"Peach," Captain Toad whispered, gesturing to me. I made my way over to him.

"Listen," he hissed, "I've noticed how the people look at you after every race. It's the death glare, honey, and I know it when I see it. You have to do something to make it up to them. Not that you did anything wrong, but it will certainly help you in the race."

I thought about this for a minute, an idea blowing up in my head. "I've got it, Toad! I can throw a party tonight! They'll love that!"

"Yes, princess! Brilliant idea!" Toad complimented me.

"Thanks for all the help, Toad. You really are a great help!" I remarked, planting a thankful kiss on his large mushroom head.

"Pfft, jdksksnd," he mumbled in return. I laughed and walked back to my room, grabbing some coins. Then I went back down to the hotel gift shop.

I browsed for a little while, before finding just what I needed.

"Excuse me, ma'am," I spoke to the Toadette at the counter, "how many coins does this cost?"

"20," she replied.

I nodded my head, making sure they were good. I quickly bought them and went back up to my room.

I was going to spend the morning making homemade cards for the party. What a great way to attract people!

| Two hours later |

I sunk back in my chair, the cards finally complete.

"Whew," I said to myself. "That was a lot of work."

I stood up, my arms feeling stiff. I guess they were overworked writing out the cards.

!Party Alert¡
Where - Peach's suite, 17 on the fifth floor
When - 7 pm to 10 pm
What for - Just for fun

I walked down the hallway to my first destination, Room 13. I gave a deep breath and knocked on the door, waiting for someone to answer. I could tell someone was at the peephole.

And then walked away!

That is so rude and disrespectful! How dare he do that! While my mouth was gaping, I just slid the invitation under his door.

I rolled my eyes. This is going to be a long session of delivery!

| Thirty Minutes Later |

That was actually easier than I thought. None of the other racers were as stubborn as Mario.

He can be a real jerk sometimes.

Now onto party supplies. This requires a lot more work than I thought it would. I grabbed my wallet and rushed to the elevator, heading to the lobby.

| One hour later |

I grunted, heaving the bags full of supplies onto the tiny kitchen table. That was A LOT of work! Now onto getting dressed. Luckily, I had packed just about every type of clothing! Perfect!

I eventually picked out a light pink, thin strapped dress with a silver belt. It was made of silk. I didn't realize how much I love silk...

I wore my hair down and curled, with my usual makeup.

I looked in the mirror, staring at my reflection. Is this who I really am? Do I want to be her? I don't even know.

Eventually I broke out of my thoughts, going to set up the party stuff. I took all the items out of the bags, putting them neatly on the table. Mushroom punch, fire flower bites, and much more.

| Two hours later |

I heard a knock on my door and opened it. I quickly connected my phone to the bluetooth speaker, turned on a radio station from Pandora, and opened the door.

"Hi, Toad!" I said, gesturing him in.

"Hello, princess! Glad I could make it to your party," he greeted.

Following him was everyone else, coming in a huge wave. I gasped and stepped aside, letting them into my hotel room.

"Welcome, welcome, welcome!" I happily cheered as they walked in. I didn't know everyone would come!

Last of all, Mario walked in, Rosalina's arm entwined in his.

"Peach," he addressed me. "Thank you for inviting us."

"My pleasure," I mumbled. Rosalina gave me a smile as she walked in, unsure of why we hated each other in the first place.

I shut the door after they came in, heading to the little microphone I had set up.

"Attention, everyone!" I spoke into the microphone. Everyone turned their heads to me. "Welcome to the party! I'm glad you're all enjoying the party! There are refreshments in the kitchen, food and drinks! Also please do NO damage in here, I'm sleeping here tonight. Thank you!"

I set the microphone down, turning it off first. I knew about that annoying noise it made from experience!

I went over to the kitchen, craving some mushroom punch all of the sudden. I did see the person I was most expecting to be in the kitchen though.

Yoshi!

"Hey, Yosh! Enjoying the party?"

"You bet!" he said, muffled. "This food is delicious!"

"Good, I'm glad," I giggled.

"Listen, Peach," Yoshi said, swallowing his food. "I need to talk to you about something."

My face grew grim. "What is it, Yoshi?"

"Well, I'm also friends with Mario, and we were talking right before the party..."

"Go on," I urged.

"Well, he told me that... he's been having hallucinations. He says they're really bothering him. And he thinks they're about you."

My stern look remained the same, but I smiled on the inside. "Really, Yoshi?"

"Yes, really."

"I should go talk to him," I said, hurrying to find him.

"Bye," Yoshi waved, his eyes still trained on me.

I was looking through the crowd, trying to find Mario. A flash of red caught my eye, and I ran to it. "Mario!" I exclaimed, running into not Mario, but Luigi.

Stupid hallucinations. "Hi Luigi," I greeted.

"Oh, hey," he said.

"Do you know where I can find Mario?" I asked.

"Well, if I'm leading you to Mario, you may as well lead me to Daisy," he said awkwardly, turning around and criticizing himself.

"Come again?" I smiled. He likes my sister.

"Oh, never mind," he spoke. "And Mario is right over there."

"Thanks," I warmly stated, walking to where he directed me.

I soon spotted the man in red that used to be #1 on my heart. "Mario!" I called. He looked, puzzled, and saw me. "I need to talk to you."

He excused himself from Rosalina, coming with me.

"Yoshi told me about your hallucinations," I informed him. He sighed in defeat. "Don't worry, I have them too."

He smiled a little about this. "Well, what do you think they mean?"

"Honestly, I don't even know."

-

Leavin ya there! Welcome. Sorry for not updating yesterday, I was shopping and returning Christmas stuff. Ugh, I hate shopping. :(

Also, you should check out my new book, sincerely, zoe. It's just my thoughts, but it also has some life lessons of my own in there! Plz read, it would mean a lot to me.

And gosh, am I addicted to this one song. I cannot stop playing it. It's called Change of Time by Josh Ritter, so so SO good! You should listen to it!

This is a really crappy, blah chapter but whatever, we all have them XD. That's all I have to say. Happy almost New Year! ♡

~zoeysha