Pride & Princesses

by Summer Day

  Petra told us she is transferring to Sunrise next semester and I have my eye on a sophomore called Josh for her. Actually, he’s sitting in the corner over there and I think I see him heading this way. Mouche coached him for a Big Sister program our school took part in last year.

  The lights were dimmed, the strobe turned to dimmer. The band played softly, and the lead guitarist took a swig of spiked soda. Guests drifted off the dance floor, couple by couple. Minutes passed. My favourite song played in the half light.

  Suddenly Mark was at my side. He cut in and took me by the arm and said, ‘please come with me outside. I need to speak to you.’

  Joel seemed to disappear the way he’d arrived, quickly.

  Tory mouthed ‘go for it,’ since we weren’t sitting with the Princesses anymore (obviously) and she was intently conversing with Petra.

  ‘Was I just one of your little...trick dates?’

  ‘Excuse me?’

  ‘Tory told me about a...diary’

  ‘Oh, you read it?’ I feigned shock at his poor manners.

  ‘No, I just wanted to hear what you had to say...Tory says she’s going to put it on the internet or something tonight.’

  The horror in my eyes masked my fear of exactly which pages would be uploaded. I had a feeling the Princesses did not do things anonymously and certainly not by halves. During the past weeks we’d all become so friendly, we’d shared details about our first dates with Mark and Jet. If they couldn’t have the prize, no one else would either. The Princesses planned to upload the early Mark insults I’d written, first impressions never meant to see the light of day. How could I ever have imagined Teegan was trustworthy? She probably considered showing Mark all the horrible stuff we wrote (excluding their pages) before we even got to edit the blog. It was the surest way to secure the prize for the prom! We had exactly two and a half hours before the scheduled midnight meeting.

  ‘Well, it’s true that we were playing a dating game, for fun, sort of...’

  ‘What did the winner get?’

  ‘The winner hasn’t been announced yet,’ I said cryptically. Let’s face it, at this point it seemed the winner was unlikely to be me.

  ‘That seems, kind of...confusing.’

  ‘Oh, you can talk! Being nice to me then kissing my best friend and trying to ruin Joel’s life!’

  ‘His life! Didn’t you read my letter?’

  ‘That still doesn’t excuse you for being proud and difficult before we talked, then ...after we’d talked you seemed so much nicer and I was beginning to like you, but...you seemed to be more interested in Mouche. Anyway, I can see you are not in any mood to be civil.’

  ‘That’s not true. Why do you think I went to all the trouble of writing you letters to explain everything? I’ve never written a letter to any girl in my life. You are the special one. I think I liked you the first time I realized you could see through my facade. I was so mad at myself for ruining things by speaking out of turn at the dance, that I’ve been trying to make it up to you ever since. The kiss was in the script! I’m not going to apologise because it made you jealous. I was only talking to Mouche to find out more about what it would take to get you to like me.’

  Mark turned around and I thought he was about to stomp off, when this loud, fairly romantic string quartet started to play softly then louder on the steps outside the stately reception home (slightly less stately than Mark’s). I looked up and saw Mouche and Jet dancing in the rotunda and looked quizzically at Mark.

  ‘He’s taking her to prom,’ Mark said.

  ‘Oh,’ I replied. So Mouche hadn’t won the bet either. Mouche had traded gold for love. Perhaps Mouche was a better person than I was.

  Mark paused. He was dressed very nicely in his suit and tie for the wedding. I wasn’t surprised he was here because he and Jet were in Miss Love’s academically gifted class, taking advanced trig, something that’s never vaguely interested me.

  Then he looked at me strangely, as if he was still trying to work me out, and smiled.

  ‘Will you give me another dancing lesson?...’

  ‘I didn’t think boys really liked to dance...except maybe Peter Williamson.’

  Mark smiled and took my hand.

  The day had ended. Mouche sat at a table deep in conversation with Jet. I stood at the punch bowl with Mark as he leant over and pushed some of the wedding glitter off my nose. The Princesses disappeared into the indigo shadows, along with their dates. The night wore on and the other guests started to leave. Mark’s sister, Petra, walked outside with the boy we’d introduced her to, Josh. They were sitting on the steps with their sodas, laughing. Mark looked up, then looked at me.

  ‘I was wondering?’

  ‘Yes?’ I said. My heart was racing.

  ‘Well, I was wondering if you still feel the same way you did about me after the Fall Fling.’

  ‘...No, absolutely not,’ I smiled.

  ‘Good....’ he said in return.

  Then quite unexpectedly, Mark moved closer. Across the functions room furniture, all cream and garlanded with peonies and chocolates and recently wiped away wedding cake, we met. He kissed me as we sat atop a mahogany table where lovers from as far back as 1968 once made out.

  We looked at each other and smiled. Then Mouche glanced over at me and smiled and even though Mark hadn’t actually asked me to the junior dance (although I was willing him to do so and wishing I could break our self-imposed rules and do it for him) suddenly everything seemed right with the world.

  ‘I gotta go,’ I said, ‘You were never just a game. You were first prize. It’s a girl thing – a meeting all of us planned months ago.’

  Mark seemed to accept this explanation with a bemused smile.

  Mouche looked over at me as the Princesses started to trail off without their dates.

  ‘Okay, I gotta leave early anyway. My uncle’s taking us boating before breakfast...he’s better when he’s not jet lagged,’ I smiled although it was in dubious taste to mention Mark’s uncle at a moment like this. ‘So, I’ll call you tomorrow...’

  ‘Until tomorrow,’ I said. I wasn’t sure how long I could wait until I saw him again.

  That night, I was walking home with Mouche along Main Street. I was so glad to have my best friend back. Life was an embarrassment of riches right now.

  I apologised for my petty behaviour and Mouche accepted.

  ‘I missed you so much,’ I admitted, ‘You are my best friend in the whole world,’ I added.

  Mouche smiled, ‘same here,’ she said.

  ‘We should head to the Lake House, get a lead on the Princesses...c’mon...’

  The Christmas lights were out and everything looked so beautiful. By ten pm only the Sunrise Cafe was still open. As we rounded a corner, Mark’s aunt was finishing her late night shopping. Our bridesmaid dresses were dragging in the street as we walked along the pavement, so Mouche and I tucked them into our underwear.

  Mark’s aunt practically walked into us. Her expression registered our impropriety. She had left the wedding early and was finishing her late-night shopping but still wore her tailored linen suit and heels that were far too high to be comfortable. She rested a small bag of groceries on her hip as she headed towards her expensive European car. Then, before stopping as an afterthought, she turned around to speak to us.

  ‘Ah...Phoebe Harris, isn’t it? I didn’t get a chance to speak to you at the wedding. You came to my house for lunch a while back...’

  ‘Yes,’ I said, unravelling my skirt.

  ‘Hello again, it is nice to see you.’

  ‘Yes, nice to see you too, Mrs Knightly.’

  Mark’s aunt had been way rude to me and had placed the skinny, miserable looking daughter of her business partner, Kayleen, right next to Mark at the wedding to encourage him to dance with her instead of me, no doubt.

  It seemed so funny that she was currently looking at me like I was the one who was seriously impolite. Mark’s aunt seemed to be concerned that I
was imagining myself to be the next Mrs Knightly just because Mark took me on a tour of his house. Hello, I’m barely sixteen!

  ‘I’ve seen your picture on my nephew’s cell phone. I just came to ask if you are going to the prom with him.’

  She questioned me in a very loud, overbearing voice.

  ‘Ah...I’m not...’

  ‘I only ask because he knows he has a prior arrangement with Kayleen.’

  ‘Well if that’s the case, then how could he be going with Phoebe?’ Mouche interjected.

  Mark’s Aunt got high on her horse at this point.

  ‘Oh, I know who you are. This whole town’s been talking about you and your mother’s infamous liaison with the school guidance counsellor...not to mention your illegitimate sister...’

  ‘Ah, that word is not used anymore in polite company,’ Mouche said.

  ‘That is quite enough, Mrs Knightly!’ I interjected. Being insulted was way harsh, but to insult my friend and push her to the verge of tears because she was standing up for me, was an outrage.

  It was weird because Mouche’s psychic abilities and my telepathic ones seemed to have completely abandoned us after the happiness of the day. We were extremely pleased that, although our own dalliances hadn’t worked out the way we planned, we seemed very good at fashioning other people’s and in a roundabout way, love had found us when we least expected it.

  ‘If it is true that your business partner’s daughter and Mark are dating then you should not be concerned that he might be going to the Prom with me.’

  ‘Oh, I know how devious your sort can be!’

  Mrs Knightly was so pompous and had a very affected accent. I really felt sorry for her and would have had a strange desire to laugh if it weren’t for Mouche gesturing me over to the nearby park bench.

  ‘Excuse me!’ I said and walked off towards the streetlight.

  Mrs Knightly also walked off, shaking her head. Honestly, on the subject of future in-laws, Mrs Robinson would seriously have something to say. I mean, there must be millions of future in-laws who are nice. Why couldn’t I have met some of them? I can’t believe I just said ‘future-in-laws,’ I must be losing it. But what really surprised me was how much the dating game had changed us. I was outspoken and standing up for myself – not just on stage but in my private life and Mouche had started to act more demure around the man she seemed to love.

  ‘Jet,’ Mouche said, ‘is the nicest boy I’ve ever met.’

  ‘And rich too,’ I said, ‘not that that means anything.’

  ‘Not as rich as Mark Knightly,’ Mouche added.

  ‘Who is...not as arrogant or as rude as I thought.’

  Suddenly my cell beeped loudly. There was a text from the Princesses: cu@midnight@the lake house.

  Then my cell rang. It was Ella’s mother, panicking because it was almost midnight and Ella wasn’t in her bed.

  Ella’s mother was three years younger than my mom and quite the drama queen.

  ‘By the time Ella is eighteen I am certain her mom will be stealing Ella’s eighteen year-old man-dates,’ I told Mouche.

  ‘She’s a total cougar already so lock up your boyfriends, Ella,’ Mouche said to the wind.

  Then Mouche checked her cell and discovered a text from Ella that said: pls cover for me don’t tell mum I’ve gone to meet Joel!

  My mother rang me after Ella’s mom had hung up and asked, ‘are you on your way home? It’s so late for Wednesday! You mean you don’t have her with you?’ Mrs Mouche’s screams could be heard many blocks away.

  ‘I came to pick her up from the reception at eight, but I was told she was with you and Mouche.’

  ‘Who told you that?’

  ‘Some boy called Joel...’

  ‘Just hold on, mom. Tell Mrs Mouche not to panic. Call you in ten minutes...’ Mrs Mouche was hysterical on the other line as I texted Mark’s number, since I knew he had a car and could beat us back to the reception hall.

  ‘Just wait until I speak to Joel,’ I said to Mouche as we hurried back along Main Street. I just knew he was busy distracting Ella who was not much younger than him but certainly more foolish. I knew he’d caused trouble with Mark’s sister and I figured it was about time he got a piece of my mind. But first, we had to find Wednesday. I’d give it a few seconds and a call to Mark (who could check the hall) before I called the police.

  Chapter 27

  It’s Not Over Till It’s Over

  There was a lot of anxious waiting on that park bench under the street light. Mouche and I were nearly frozen by the time we received another call, this time from Mark.

  ‘I’ve got her,’ Mark said exactly two minutes and twenty-eight seconds later.

  Turns out Wednesday had fallen asleep underneath the long table cloth that covered one of the round reception tables. How could Mouche and I have forgotten all about her? I hugged her so much when she arrived I almost squeezed her awake. But she was blissfully unaware of all the drama as Mrs Mouche, tears streaming down her cheeks, opened the front door. Trey was mercifully at school and had missed the entire episode. He’d be livid, so that was one less glare I could expect in my direction.

  Mark arrived at our house, twenty minutes after he’d texted me, with Wednesday in his arms. She was bundled up in a tablecloth she’d taken a fancy to, oblivious to the commotion.

  Mark was driving his own car and arrived with Joel (who was also on his best behaviour and sheepishly deposited Ella as well). The runaways had told Mark they’d been in the Sunrise car park: Ella practising on her new rollerblades and Joel, skateboarding.

  ‘I just don’t know what the fuss is all about,’ Ella whined sleepily.

  ‘You call me,’ her mother lectured her, ‘anytime you are going to be late and we don’t know where you are...’

  Mark spoke softly to my mother on the steps. Meanwhile, I was sitting on the porch swing with Mouche’s surprise, the rescue dog. This one was a new mixed breed puppy who ran to Mouche’s arms the minute she held them out.

  ‘Oh,’ Mouche said, ‘she’s gorgeous. This is big love.’

  Our moms raised their eyebrows then walked inside.

  Nobody was really talking to us, except maybe Mark and Jet.

  ‘I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have asked you to keep my note private. Joel is a reckless person but I think in the end, he meant well,’ Mark said.

  ‘It’s okay,’ I said, ‘really, its Ella’s responsibility to call her mom. I was sure Joel and Ella couldn’t have gone too far...’

  ‘But you wouldn’t mind going...away, sometime...’ he seemed about to suggest something when my mother walked out onto the porch.

  ‘I think it’s time you came inside, young lady.’

  What was all this ‘young lady’ business? I felt like I was in a Swiss Finishing School instead of standing opposite the man of my dreams.

  ‘Thank you, Mark,’ my mom said. He smiled at her congenially.

  Joel had passed out in the back of Mark’s car after sampling the punch. He was mumbling something about wanting to go to the Metropolitan Museum and not thinking anyone would be worried.

  ‘According to Joel’s father, Joel had reserved flights to go and see some band in New York on his father’s credit card. Honestly, I don’t know how that boy arranged everything so quickly. He must be a genius...’ my mom said.

  ‘Perhaps he just needs someone to keep an eye on him...’ Mark suggested.

  I knew Ella was not exactly truthful and the combination of her and Joel could have led to a much bigger drama than this one. There was already talk that Ella would be on the next flight back to Phoenix to stay with her father and Joel was being sent to military school for his final year.

  ‘You know,’ Mark said, ‘I was thinking, this summer, would you and Mouche consider coming with me and my sister and Jet to France for ten days? Our family own a Chateau there and we can go exploring and then visit Paris. I think you’d like it.’

  ‘Are you serious? But I’m saving f
or college.’

  ‘That’s okay. It will be my treat on the family jet.’ Mark flashed his black card. I noted his name engraved on it in gold. ‘Think about it.’