The Night To Remember

In language class we had to write fairy tales based off of an experience that happened to us, so I wrote about my very first school dance and how I found my very own "Prince Charming."

Once upon a time, there was a peasant girl named Amanda that lived in a cottage far away with her mother and father. She attended Little Dragons Academy and had as many friends as she needed. She was perfectly happy.

                  Well… almost perfectly happy. More than anything in the world she wanted to win Prince Charming’s heart. Unfortunately, every other girl in the entire school wanted to win his heart, too. So getting him to notice one girl of the entire flood of ladies in the school would be nearly impossible.

                  One day, Amanda was in dragon biology class when an announcement came on over the intercom. “Greetings, maidens and gentlemen!” the voice of a woman screeched. “I am immensely pleased to say that we will be having a ball in two weeks! All students are welcome to attend, but dress nicely. Who knows? You may find your true love there!” The woman chuckled and the intercom clicked off.

                  All of the girls just couldn’t hold in their excitement about the ball and shrieked. They wouldn’t be quiet about how they were going to dance with the one and only Prince Charming. Prince Charming was sitting at a table smirking that smirk that every girl would throw a fit over. He knew that every girl wanted to dance with him and was pretty satisfied with it.

                  Amanda just sat there. She knew that she wouldn’t have a chance to dance with the Prince, so she just kept her cool and continued on with her day. She thought it would still be a really fun night; maybe she could dance with Charlie or Steven, her fantastic friends that she knew wouldn’t have anyone to dance with. Plus, her best friend Sarah would certainly need someone to goof off with. She smirked of the thought of the two attempting to break dance.

 

The bell rang for school to be out for the day and Amanda saw her friends standing and talking. She began to run to them, thinking that they would leave her if she didn’t hurry. As she ran, she heard their conversation.

                  “I’m going to try to dance with Christina!” said Steven. “She’s super cute and nice!”

                  “Oh yeah? Well you’re going to see me dancing with Hillary! She really knows how to dance!” said Charlie.

                  “How about Phillip? He’s hilarious! Should I dance with him?” said Sarah.

                  “Yeah, I guess.  He isn’t the one that I would pick for you though,” said Steven, blushing bright red.

                  “But he’s so nice and �" “

                  “Guys! Wait up!” hollered Amanda, huffing and puffing because alas, she was terrible in P.E.

                  The group turned around and saw Amanda hurdling towards them. “Hey, Amanda!” they said.

                  When she finally got to them, she stopped to gulp in a couple of breaths before finally speaking. “What’s everyone talking about?” she asked.

                  “The ball and who we’re going with. Who do you want to dance with?” asked Charlie.

                  She automatically thought of Prince Charming, but decided that it was best to keep it a secret. “Nobody really.” She said. “Just maybe you guys if you don’t have anyone to dance with.

                  “Well I’m dancing with Christina Walterson!” said Steven. “Or at least, I’m going to ask.”

                  “Fun! Who are you going to dance with, Sarah?” she asked.

                  The four friends continued their conversation as they boarded the shuttle carriage and went to their local tearoom. After some delicious tea, they continued on their way home.

When Amanda got home, she said hello to her mother and father and took off to her quarters to work on her homework. But the entire time that she was attempting to work, she kept thinking about the ball and Prince Charming. She knew that it was completely unlikely for her to ever get to dance with him, but she couldn’t help but picture herself in a radiant ball gown, striding down a flight of stars, making her way to the amazing Price Charming. She decided that she should take a break, so she went out to the kitchen to get some supper.

                  “So, how was school today, honey?” asked her mother, slowly sipping from a goblet of water.

                  “It was alright. There’s a school dance coming up.”

                  Her mother gasped and stood up from her chair. She raced to Amanda and gave her a huge hug. “How cute! My daughter’s first ball!” she shrieked. “My little baby’s growing up way too fast!”

                  “So… does that mean that I can go?” Amanda said, already thinking of all the clothes in her closet and trying to think of an outfit.

                  “That’s a silly question! Of course you can! Just promise me you’ll be good!”

                  “Got it, Mom!” Amanda said.

 

The next day at school, Amanda pulled up in the shuttle carriage and walked inside Little Dragons Academy. She saw Sarah and Steven talking while Charlie doing his typical morning routine of trying to make everyone laugh so hard they just about start crying. Sarah was in mid-laughter when she looked over and saw Amanda walking towards them. She ran over to her and gave her one of her special “Good morning!” hugs.

                  The day dragged on as every single girl couldn’t stop talking about how they’re going to dance with Prince Charming. Every time that Amanda looked somewhere, she heard some crazed girl shouting about her love for the guy.

                  Amanda went home that day and did her homework. She ate her supper later, went to her jousting lessons, and went to bed a little early.

 

                  The next week was dull and boring. Everyone was talking about the same old thing and wouldn’t keep their mouths shut about the prince. By this time, she had completely given up on trying to bring up a different conversation.

                  It was three days until the dance and everyone was in mid-fiasco mode scrambling to find an outfit, some flowers, and a date that they would later ditch for Prince Charming. Amanda had already found these things; so another couple of days was utterly boring.

                  The day of the dance was hectic. Everyone wouldn’t keep his or her mouths shut about the dance. Some people even had to go to the nurse’s office because just looking at the amazing Prince Charming made them faint. One girl even sent him a love pigeon that gave him a note saying, “See you at the dance, my dearest!!”

                  Amanda just went through the day like anyone else. She kept a cool head, but all the while was having a major freak out in her head. She knew that the chances to dance with the prince were one in a zillion, so she just held all of her excitement in all day.

 

 

                  After school, Sarah went to Amanda’s house so they could get ready together. They were doing each other’s hair when Sarah asked Amanda, “So, are you one of those girls that are dyeing to dance with Mr. Prince Charming tonight?” She gave her a funny-looking smirk and the awkward I-know-what-you’re-up-to look. She always could see right through her.

                  Amanda blushed. “Kind of. But I know it could never happen, so what’s the point in trying?”

                  “Amanda, since when do you talk like that?” Sarah asked. “You’ve always been the one that tries everything! Remember the time in kindergarten when we were playing lacrosse and you freaked out when you scored the goal your team made? I still have memories of you nearly hitting me when you lifted your arms above your head and screamed in my ear!”

                  Sarah was right; Amanda never said no to anything. And Amanda did remember that day on the lacrosse field. But this was a battle that she knew that she couldn’t win, especially when she’s against just about every girl in the school.

                  The girls dropped the conversation and finished getting ready for the ball. Amanda had on a black and white gown, and Sarah wore a turquoise gown with sparkles. They had called a taxi carriage a little while before they finished getting ready, so they walked outside and stepped into the ride.

                  They got to the ball and everyone was there. As soon as they were out of the carriage, they spotted Charlie and Steven, both without dates. “No luck, huh?” Amanda asked. Steven and Charlie just drooped their heads.

                  Amanda felt bad for them, so she bought them some punch and they walked inside.

The place was an absolute madhouse. There were bright lights, a place to get your picture taken, and the sparkles dresses they had ever seen in their lives. Amanda looked out of the corner of her eye and saw a massive hoard of girls all crowding around someone. She automatically knew that Prince Charming was going to have a particularly busy but quite enjoyable night.

“Amanda, look over here!” yelled Sarah. She had caught a glimpse of Phillip, her number one crush of all time, standing in the corner without a date. “Run to him, and don’t you dare look back, girl!” Amanda said, excited to see Sarah with someone that she really wanted to dance with.

 

 

Amanda was standing in the middle of the gym and looking around to find someone to talk to, when all of a sudden, the music got slower. Boys and girls were dancing together, laughing and talking quietly to each other. Amanda looked over to see Sarah dancing with Phillip. She decided to at least try to dance with Prince Charming, so she walked over to the big mob of girls. She saw the Prince dancing with someone else, so she gave up and decided to go outside and get some fresh air. She stepped outside the door and sat down on the bench, feeling sad that she couldn’t dance with someone that she really wanted to dance with. All of a sudden, she heard a “Hey! You there! Down here!”

She was a little freaked out by the voice, but looked down anyways to find a little frog. The frog was green and black, with a little brown stripe down it’s back. He was a cute little frog, so she said hello back.

The frog jumped up onto the bench and sat down next to her. “Something tells me you’re not very happy. I don’t know what that’s about, but I think I could help. What’s up?” it asked.

Amanda sighed and told the frog everything that was going on, ever since two weeks ago. She was happy to get it off of her chest, because Sarah’s attempted pep talk earlier didn’t help her at all.

The frog looked at her apologetically and said, “It’s a sad story. I remember the first time I asked somebody out. Oh, the fire and smoke… Anyways, back to your problem. I have some love potion. Want that?”

Amanda thought about it for a second. “Hm… No thanks. I don’t like the thought of controlling someone to do something; that’s why I’m not in alchemy class. Got anything else?”

The frog thought it over and hopped away. Amanda thought it had left her, but it soon came back with a bright purple jacket. “This jacket here can make anybody look good! It might not be magic, but it’s something, right?”

Amanda chuckled and agreed to take the jacket. “How can I return it to you?” she asked the frog.

“Keep it. Do you honestly think that I could fit in that thing?” The frog began to laugh at its own joke, then wiped it watery eyes and wished her good luck. It hopped away and Amanda stood up and went back inside.

 

 

The music was fast and jumpy; something you would hear at a dance club. She saw Sarah, Charlie, and Steven all doing something that looked like an attempt at break dancing. Amanda chuckled and began to join them. After watching Sarah slip and fall once, however, she stopped.

In about ten minutes or so, the music slowed down. The same routine as earlier happened, except that Sarah had wandered off, so Amanda didn’t know where Sarah was.

                  Amanda took a step towards Prince Charming’s crowd, then felt a gentle tap on her shoulder. She turned around and saw a scrawny kid with a blue plaid shirt on and khaki pants with black heavy shoes. Amanda knew the boy’s name: it was William. He was a nice enough boy; he was the big goofball in class and all the teachers didn’t really favor him over everyone. He was in jousting and archery and wasn’t bad at either of them. Overall, he was a pretty neat guy.

                  “Hello,” he said to Amanda. They had never really talked before, so this was a little bit strange.

                  She said hi and tried to sound as kind as she could. He was blushing and looking at the ground, so she could tell what was coming up next.

                  He was stuttering over his words and finally managed to say, “I was wondering is you’d like to dance with me.”

                  Amanda smiled at the ground and brushed the hair out of her face. She didn’t know what to say. She had been so fixed on other things to do that night that she completely forgot about dancing with anyone else. She didn’t want to sound uncomfortable or anything, so she said, “Of course,” and wrapped her arms around his neck and he put his hands on her waist. They began to dance.

 

 

                  “Beautiful night, huh?” he asked her. His small talk made him look unsure of himself.

                  “Yeah, it’s great. What made you want to dance with me? We’ve never really talked.” Amanda wanted to get right to the point of the conversation.

                  William blushed. You could tell that he didn’t want to tell her. “Well, I’ve liked you for awhile, but I’ve been really nervous to tell you. I’ve always thought you were really pretty though.”

                  This time, it was Amanda’s turn to blush. She could feel her face getting hot and her palms getting sweaty. The smile was creeping up on her face. She knew that the jacket was having this effect on him and that he didn’t really think �"

                  Then it clicked. This jacket isn’t magic, she thought. Everything began to make sense: the glimpses at choir, the joking, the laughing… all of the clues were always there, but she was just now realizing this!

                  She looked over William’s shoulder and saw Steven finally getting what he had always wanted: a dance with Sarah. They both were smiling and laughing, and Sarah looked happy. Steven was just completely overjoyed. He had always wished for this night, and he finally got it. This made Amanda smile.

                  Then something completely unexpected happened: Prince Charming himself came up and gave her that special smirk of his. “Hey darling, would you like to dance?”

                  She looked at William and then at the prince. She thought for a couple seconds, though it felt like hours. Finally she looked at the Prince and said, “No thanks. I’m happy right here.”

                  The prince was shocked. Everything in that little world of his crashed down and, for the first time in years, he frowned. He walked away without saying a word and left the two to finish their dance.

                  Amanda realized that maybe the jacket wasn’t magic, but the night sure was.

                  And they all lived happily ever after.

 

Author's Note

This one's a little different from what I usually do, so please show it if you like it and be nice if you don't!

Reviews

[Fictionborn]

Amanda might prove a poor alchemist, yet her evening carried many ingredients that produce a fairy tale potion: among which magic is surely the most potent. Enjoyable write!

[Candy Palooza]

Thanks! I'm glad you liked it!

[char]

Very original and imaginitive. The lesson you are teaching is very clear. In the end a smart girl will choose the nice guy over the self-loving idiot. I only wish you expanded on the Little Dragons Academy.

[Candy Palooza]

I actually had a lot more of Little Dragons' Academy in my first draft, but in my language class, our stories could only be seven pages long with a special font that made it huge.