“Why do you need a stapler?” Snow White asked.
“Because it would be funny!” Ariel exclaimed, and she bounded away again in search of some Jell-O cups.
They continued to walk up and down the food aisles, hoping something would strike an idea for Snow White. Several suggestions were made, but she finally settled on a box of fortune cookies. She liked Belle’s idea of removing a fortune and replacing it with her name. Then saying: I’d consider myself very fortunate if you’d go to the dance with me.
After paying for all their supplies, the Princess sisters made their way out to the cars to put everything together. They blasted music from both car radios, while they worked on finding the perfect place to hide each of their names. Rachel and Mary helped by writing out the signs that would go with each one. After much collaborated creativity, they were all done and ready to go.
“Do you know which one of you is going with which guy?” Mary asked.
“We don’t even know any of the guys’ names yet!” Ariel said.
“You better figure that out before we go anywhere.” Mary shut her car off and everyone looked to Cinderella.
“I’ll text Scott,” she said.
Scott told Cinderella to give him ten minutes, and he would have all the guys over at his apartment. That way they wouldn’t have to go all over Logan, trying to find where they all lived. So the girls resumed their music blasting, and had a dance party in the parking lot while they waited. Several college students shook their heads and laughed when they walked by, and a couple even stopped to applaud.
“Who wants to go first?” Cinderella asked, as they crept up the stairs to Scott’s apartment.
“I will!” Belle got to her feet carefully, so she wouldn’t spill any water. She placed the fish and fish bowl in front of Scott’s door. Then she knocked and took off running back down the stairs. There was a wall at the top of the stairs that stuck out just far enough, so you couldn’t see down them unless you turned the corner, making the stairwell a perfect hiding spot. Belle peered around the corner and watched for the door to open. She didn’t have to wait long. Two hands reached out the door and scooped up the fish bowl. The girls squealed, while Mary and Rachel put a finger to their lips to keep them quiet.
“Next?” Cinderella asked, looking around. No one moved. “Well don’t all jump up at once.” She got to her feet and set the flower pot in the same spot where the fish bowl had been. Then she knocked and ran. This went on three more times, with Aurora going last. She taped hearts all over the door, and then they all ran out to the cars.
They stopped for a quick bite to eat, before heading home again. The girls talked and laughed the whole drive, still pumped up from the adrenaline of doorbell ditching.
“That was so fun!” Ariel kept saying. In the end, she wasn’t able to use a stapler. But she was quite pleased with her final result. She had wrapped the small piece of paper with her name on it in packing tape, and put it right in the middle of the Jell-O.
Even Snow White was all smiles the whole drive home. Cinderella thought this idea had seemed weird at first, but she was really glad that Scott had made them do it!
***
Tuesday, September 14th
The next night, Cinderella was upstairs doing homework when she heard the doorbell ring.
“No, we didn’t order any...Oh!” she overheard her mom say. “Cinderella, come here!” Dana called up the stairs.
Cinderella walked down the stairs to find five pizza boxes sitting on the coffee table. “Are we having pizza for dinner?” Cinderella asked. She looked at her mom, confused. There was no way the two of them could eat five whole pizzas!
“No, I didn’t order any,” Dana said. “But they have your names on them.”
Sure enough, Cinderella checked the order slips and found a name on each one. They were addressed to Cinderella, Snow White, Ariel, Belle, and Aurora. Cinderella lifted the lid on her box, a warm wave of melted cheese and marinara hitting her in the face. She smiled and closed the lid again. Then she called each of her cousins and told them to hurry over. When the five girls were sitting around the living room, each with a pizza on their lap, Cinderella had them open the boxes together. They all smiled. There, on each pizza, spelled out with pepperoni was the word: YES!
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Saturday, September 18th
Saturday morning, Cinderella awoke with a big smile on her face. Today was the day! She lay in bed staring up at the ceiling, replaying last night’s phone conversation with Scott over and over in her head. Her grin spread even wider at the thought of Scott. She glanced at the clock on her nightstand. She would get to see him again in nine and a half hours! Part of her wanted to go back to sleep, in hopes that it would make the time go faster. But she knew there was a lot to be done first. Cinderella reluctantly rolled out of bed and sauntered into the bathroom. She dressed quickly and pulled her hair into a ponytail, then left the house without breakfast. She had one final fitting with Grandma Johnson, with her dance shoes on, so they could determine the hem. Cinderella wanted to be sure and give Grandma Johnson plenty of time to get it finished before tonight.
“Good morning sweetie!” Grandma Johnson greeted her with a warm smile.
“Morning!” Cinderella said brightly.
Her dress was lying across the couch and Cinderella felt her eyes start to water when she saw it.
“It’s perfect!” she whispered.
Grandma Johnson walked over and stood beside her, looking down at the dress.
“Not bad for a week’s notice, if I do say so myself!” she said.
Cinderella hugged Grandma Johnson tightly. “It’s beautiful!” she said. “Thank you so much!”
“A beautiful dress for a beautiful girl. Inside and out!” Grandma Johnson said. “What’s with the waterworks?” she asked, looking at Cinderella’s tear-stained face.
“You’re just so wonderful!” Cinderella said sniffing. “I never knew my real grandma, but I can’t imagine anyone better than you!”
Grandma Johnson sniffed herself. “Just look at us!” she exclaimed. “A couple of blubber babies! Now hurry and get that dress on, we’ve still got work to do, and no mice to help do it.”
Cinderella nodded and gently picked up the dress and walked in to the other room. She returned a few minutes later, dress on and shoes in place. Grandma Johnson helped her up onto the stepstool and instructed her to stand tall and straight while she pinned up the hem.
***
That evening at half past five, the Princess sisters were all gathered at Cinderella’s house, dressed in their beautiful gowns. They frantically went back and forth from Cinderella’s bedroom to the bathroom, applying hairspray, touching up makeup, and trying desperately to shake the nerves they each were feeling.
“Ari, where’s that dangly bracelet?”
“Will you hand me those pins?”
“Can you fix my zipper?”
“Is this part twisted?”
“I love that perfume! Can I use some?”
“Do you like this lipstick or the darker one?”
“Can I borrow these earrings?”
Dana and Mary came walking up the stairs to check on the girls’ progress and immediately coughed as they entered the cloud of fumes.
“We’re going to have to call the EPA for all this hairspray!” Dana joked.
The girls turned and looked at her, but no one responded. Not even a smile.
“Wow. I see we’ve entered the no humor zone,” she said to Mary.
“You ladies look absolutely gorgeous!” Mary said. She took Belle by the hands and led her over to Cinderella’s bed to sit down. Then she motioned for the others to join them.
“You are going to have an amazing time tonight!” she said. “Even if the date totally sucks, you will at least get to take home the memory of that wretched girl’s face when she sees you all enter the dance floor with college guys.”
Dana flinched slightly, but kept her mouth shut. But t
he Princess sisters didn’t even notice. They all smiled at that thought and they seemed to breathe a little easier.
“Especially looking as good as you all do!” Mary added. “I mean it!” she said in reaction to the eye rolls she received. “Now, does anyone need anything?”
“I think we’re all pretty much ready Mom,” Belle said. “Just waiting.”
Dana and Mary added a few more pins where needed and just finished putting a final sealing coat of spray in everyone’s hair when the doorbell rang. The anxiety that had slowly left the room since Mary’s words zoomed back in and slapped the girls across their faces.
“Deep breath everyone,” Mary said. “Now grab your purses and jackets and I will answer the door.”
The girls gathered their belongings and glanced one more time in the mirror before slowly coming down the stairs.
“Come on in,” they could hear Mary saying. “Go ahead and have a seat.”
The five boys did as they were told, but Scott immediately stood back up at the sight of Cinderella.
“Wow, Princess! You look incredible!” he said, stepping over to her and giving her a quick hug.
“Down girl,” Mary whispered to Dana, putting a hand on her arm when she tried to move forward.
“These are my cousins,” Cinderella said, her hand outstretched toward the four girls standing on the stairs behind her. “Although, I guess you’ve met them before.”
“Briefly,” Scott said, nodding his hello. “But I’ll need some help remembering who is who. You all look great, by the way!”
“Cinderella got an ‘incredible’ and we’re all just ‘great’,” Belle whispered sarcastically to Aurora. She said it a little louder than she had intended and Scott grinned in appreciation.
“You must be Belle,” he said.
Belle froze briefly and then gave him a warm smile. “I’m impressed!” she said.
“You’re exactly as Cinderella described you,” he said. “Hey Nate,” he motioned toward one of his friends, who quickly jumped to his feet.
Cinderella recognized him from her trip with Dave up to Logan. He was about the same height as Scott, but skinnier. He had sandy blonde hair and a perfect smile. Cinderella half expected to hear a ‘ding’ and see a bright sparkle, like they do on cheesy commercials, when he grinned at Belle.
“I loved the fish!” Nate said, shaking Belle’s hand. “We named him Big Blue, after the USU mascot.”
Belle smiled in return and they stepped aside while the introductions continued.
“And you are?” Scott asked Snow White.
“Snow White,” she answered. “We had a run-in at the fireworks.”
“Ah yes!” Scott chuckled at the memory of almost knocking her to the ground.
“Snow White, this is Bradley,” Scott said, pointing out another of his friends.
The shortest guy in the bunch stood and shook hands with Snow White. He had a darker complexion and dark hair to match. Snow White smiled shyly at him, and then they stepped aside.
“And I know you are Ariel and Aurora, but I’m sorry I do not know which is which,” Scott said.
“Aurora,” she said pointing to herself. “And this is Ariel.”
“Now which one of you loves movie quotes?” he asked.
Ariel lit up. “I do!” she said.
“Bobby?”
Bobby got to his feet. He was tall and thin, with frosted blonde hair that was spiked and he wore glasses.
“I wanted Nate to name the fish Blinky,” he whispered.
Ariel had to stop and think for a moment, then she smiled in appreciation and the two quickly became lost in conversation.
“Last but not least, Aurora, this is Kris.”
Kris had dark auburn hair, but surprisingly no freckles, like most other redheads. He was very muscular and next to Aurora’s slender frame, looked as though he could break her in half.
“Well, shall we get to dinner?” Scott asked.
“Burgers and fries anyone?” Cinderella asked with a sly smile.
“Are you kidding me?” Scott asked. “With five gorgeous girls all dressed up, we have to take you somewhere that will really show you off!”
“You mean we have to take you,” Belle said. “We did technically ask you out.”
“What kind of gentlemen would we be if we let you pay for dinner?” Scott asked. His friends all nodded their agreement.
“Definitely princes,” Cinderella whispered to her cousins.
“I concur!” Ariel said.
“It’s refreshing,” added Belle.
Then each of their dates took a Princess sister by the arm and led them out the door.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
When the Princess sisters entered the school with their dates, they immediately saw Cynthia and her group standing in a corner waiting for pictures. Cynthia’s jaw dropped when she saw them. Then she scowled and led her boyfriend away. “My mom was right!” Belle said. “Even if the evening had sucked, that right there would have made this all worth it!”
“That was her?” Scott asked.
Cinderella nodded, and then the girls all laughed. They got their pictures taken and then headed in to the dance floor, arms linked with their dates. When they entered the dance, the music didn’t stop, time didn’t stand still, and every head didn’t turn. But those near the door smiled at their approach and tapped the people next to them who also looked and smiled. This continued like a ripple through the room until the Princess sisters had been noticed by all. They were greeted by many smiles, several waves, and even a few compliments on their dresses.
Cinderella wore a bright blue gown that was made with a sparkly material. The sleeves were short and rounded, but not puffy like an 80’s style dress; they were more modernized than that. The neckline was rounded and swooped down to accentuate her long neck. The waist was tight to show off her figure and then the skirt went out like a bell that swished around her legs as she walked. Her long brown hair was pulled up in a french twist, and she wore a thin blue headband over the top that matched her dress. Her shoes were silver and sparkly, to match the glitter in her skirt. They were no glass slippers, but similar in idea; delicate and glistening in the light.
Belle’s dress was golden yellow, with a fuller skirt than Cinderella’s, but the waist came in to show off her slender frame. The top rested slightly off the shoulders and came down in a V-neck in front. The bodice was a smooth, silky material that shone in the light, while the connecting skirt was made of the same color taffeta with gathers all over it. Her tall, yellow heels had been dyed to match. Belle wore her hair pulled over her right shoulder in one large twist. It was simple, but very elegant! Her golden hair complimented the golden flecks in her gown perfectly.
Ariel’s dress was thin, slinky, and form-fitting. It was bright green and silky, with a slightly darker green swirl pattern covering it. The green made her jade eyes really pop and sparkle. The top was spaghetti-strapped and had a sweetheart neckline. She had a lavender, short-sleeve jacket that went over the dress, covering her shoulders and coming down mid-back. The long skirt flared slightly at the bottom, almost like a mermaid’s fin. Her heels were also purple, with straps that criss-crossed over the top of her foot. Ariel wore her long blonde hair partially up with tight ringlets pulled up and looser curls resting on her shoulders.
Aurora’s dress was pink and so long, it barely glided above the floor. The top was hot pink, but as the dress extended downwards, the pink grew softer so that the bottom trim was rose colored. Aurora’s dress had the longest sleeves which extended downward and stopped just above the elbow. Her dress also rested slightly off the shoulders, with a thick V-neck collar along the top. The skirt flowed out in an A-line, but not as drastically as Cinderella’s or Belle’s. Nor did it fit as tightly as Ariel’s. The skirt was pleated and long, with a short bodice, to show off her tall figure. Aurora’s shoes were hot pink, bringing the color scheme of her outfit full circle. She wore small diamond sparkle clips in
her short hair, going from one ear to the other, like a crown.
Snow White wore a separate top and skirt, rather than a full gown. The bodice was cerulean blue and very modest with a high rounded neck and full sleeves, similar to Cinderella’s. Her skirt was soft yellow and swished nicely around her legs as she walked. It was a fairly plain dress, but the bright blue and yellow contrasted nicely with Snow White’s bright red hair. She had cut her hair only yesterday and it now sat in a bob against her pale cheeks. Her shoes were yellow flats but they were covered in sparkles to add a bit of flash to the ensemble.
The girls grinned at the looks of approval and admiration they were receiving as they stood in the doorway.
“Are we going to stand here all night or are we gonna dance?” Scott asked.
“Let’s do it!” Cinderella nodded and moved forward towards the dance floor.
Scott grabbed her hand from behind and pulled it up over her head, twirling her as they moved forward. Cinderella had thought about what it would be like to dance with Scott again, but she couldn’t have dreamed it would be this much fun! He spun her, lifted her, and flipped her as they moved to the beat.
“I thought you could only dance like this to country music,” Cinderella shouted over the music. They had been moving through the crowd of students, taking advantage of openings whenever they appeared, and had ended up in front right next to one of the speakers.
“You can dance like this to anything as long as you stay with the beat,” Scott smiled.
“Is that why we’re moving so fast?” Cinderella asked, bringing her hand to her forehead in an attempt to push back the dizziness she was beginning to feel.
“Oh Princess, are you okay?” Scott asked. He stopped dancing and put his hand on the small of her back, then guided her toward some chairs. “Do you want some water?” he asked.
“Yes, please,” she smiled.
Scott paused, looking very concerned.
“What’s the matter?” Cinderella asked.
“I feel bad, keeping you out there so long. I didn’t realize you were getting dizzy.”
The Princess Sisters (The Princess Sisters Series) Page 21
