Chapter Seven

I couldn’t stop looking in the mirror. The dress fit me perfectly, and magnified my scant beauty by a thousand. (Many people told me I was beautiful, but I had never believed them, and cared even less. That is, until this moment in time.) The bodice was slimming, beautiful in every sense of the word. The whole dress looked like the night sky would without light pollution; breath-taking, shimmering, mysterious, able to grant your every wish. Most dark pieces of clothing made me look rather pale, but this suited me extremely well. My eyes looked to be a midnight blue, just a few shades lighter than the gown itself.

El, Fee, Adda, and Penny took in a collective gasp as I exited the dressing room and entered into the main room of the suite. The moment seemed to become a tangible thing and suspend itself in air, preserving this time frame for the rest of eternity.

Finally, Mrs.Bellair walked in from her and Mr.Bellair’s room, which was attached to ours. “You look stunning, Dear,” she said softly. I knew that this wasn’t one of her well-meant but not actually-meant compliments. She to stopped in her tracks.

I cleared my throat awkwardly. “We should probably be getting down to the lobby to catch our limos. Right, guys?” I turned to face my friends. My words snapped the spell cast by my gown. I knew it wasn’t me; the gown could make even an ogress look beautiful.

Adda shook her head slightly. “She’s right; we could miss the limo that’s getting us. We’re riding by ourselves, by the way,” she added.

“Penny, Adda, you, and I,” clarified Fee.

I nodded. “Cool. Let’s get downstairs, then.” I held open the suite door for my friends. Just as I was about to leave behind them, I turned around to face Mrs.Bellair. “Thank you again, Mrs.Bellair. This is the opportunity of a lifetime for me, and I know how much trouble all of this was.”

She smiled. “You’re part of the family now, through good and bad.”

I nearly started crying. “Mrs.Bellair, I-I-”

“It’s Calira, dear. Now go; they’re waiting for you.”

I nodded tearfully and walked out before I made myself look even more soppy. My heels thunked against the flat carpet of the resort hallway of the Cliveden House. They looked picturesque, walking arm in arm, laughing at a joke fee had El had probably made.

“Guys!” I shouted quietly. “Wait up!”

They all turned around at the same time.

“Well, hurry up!” sassed Adda.

“Yeah, come on!” El added, not wanting to be outdone by her sassy counterpart.

Penny smiled shyly, being the most cloistered in personality of all of us. Fee smiled slyly, at me and winked.

I hurried along, picking up my heavy skirts. I linked onto the end of their daisy chain while trying to catch my breath. “Sorry about that, my shoe came off, and yeah” I rushed out all in one breath, thinking of a random excuse. I was wearing sensible flats, but no one would really know since the skirts covered my feet.

“It’s a-okay, Stella,” said Penny.

“So long as we’re not late for the limo! Now come on already!” exclaimed El, impatient as an adventurous little girl for her first roller coaster.

We all laughed and hurried, because, let’s be honest, we were all as excited; we were just a little better at concealing it.

We paraded proudly down the stairs, still attached at the arms to each other. Man, did we turn some heads. Fee winked at more than a few of the more handsome guys on the way out of the door. “See you later,” she’d say smoothly. She looked like an absolute bombshell in her black and scarlet dress, even though she was a vibrant red-head. I shook my head mentally in awe. How she did it, I had no clue.

The bellhops at the front doors pulled them open for us. “Your ride is waiting outside, ladies. Have a nice night!”

“Thanks, you too,” I replied warmly.

All he did was tip his hat politely as we walked past.

Once we were all settled in the limousine, Fee turned towards me. “You’re awfully polite to everyone, Stella.”

I shrugged. “I know what it’s like to be like them. You forget that I usually help Da and Clovis with tours at the gardens,” I responded carefully. There was no need to spout white lies, but I didn’t want to get worked up. Not here, not now, and not when I didn’t have Bard to get messages to Da with. Most girls had a phone; I had an extremely playful purple-backed Starling. (Although, it should be duly noted that Adda’s family had offered to get me one several times, and kept trying.)

No one spoke. Apparently, I had spoken too candidly. “Guys, come on, lighten up!” I said after a few moments. “We’re different; there’s no use trying to avoid that fact. Unless you’re offended or embarrassed, that is. If you are, any of you, just tell me to my face. If you think that I’m offended, you’re wrong. Money won’t shape this friendship, not if I have a say. Are we clear?”

Everyone nodded, like a chorus of shamed school-children bobble-heads.

I looked around, satisfied. “Good, now that the elephant has finally exited the room,

we can actually have a good time,” I said jokingly.

El and Adda laughed at the same time. “Yes, you’re right, I suppose!” exclaimed El. “We have been extra careful to not talk around that sort of thing around you,” she added shamefully.

“Well, now that the truth is out in the open and we all acknowledge that there was an elephant, we can move on, yes?” Fee smiled primly while I resisted the urge to punch her very, very hard. I guess someone did have a problem, after all. It’d be a pity if I got this beautiful gown dirty by kicking her smug little a*s…

I shook myself out of it, and hoped Fee would shake off the accidental insult I had thrown her way. Whoopsie. I wanted to enjoy the night, and I’m sure that Fee wanted to do the same.

The rest of the way was fine, I suppose. Fee kept on being slightly icy towards everyone in the car, but I was sure that she would get over it.

As we pulled up to the venue, I openly gaped. “Holy f**k on a s**t sandwich,” I muttered. It was a literal castle; what could the owners be like to own this gem of a place? Suddenly, my stomach twisted itself into something resembling a bachelor’s game system’s wires- completely, totally, and incorrigibly tangled. Usually, nerves never got the best of me, but there would probably be a large number of celebrities, and other people that made the Bellairs look even worse off than Da and I. Deep breaths, I told to myself. They aren’t any better than you are. All they have are slips of paper and cotton, along with some numbers on a screen. That’s all. I quickly calmed down.
I stepped out and onto the pavement.

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

Nice description of dress and I liked her thoughts. The good description took the reader with you to amazing places and direct situations. Thank you for sharing the excellent chapter.
Coyote