by Bryna Butler
Chapter 5: Fall Ball
“I have the best idea ever!”
Words more menacing had never before been spoken.
“Ever!” Brooke exclaimed. Ann and Keira knew it had to mean trouble. And it did. Brooke decided to share her cosmetic genius (her own words) to help her Coco Bear’s friends get ready for the dance. Ann and Keira were less than thrilled with the invitation, but eagerly accepted once Colby became desperate enough to extend them free license to also call him “Coco Bear” anywhere and anytime they pleased.
On the day of the Fall Ball, Nana dropped Keira and Ann off in front of Brooke’s house. In actuality, it was more of an estate, than a house. The paved circular drive rolled around a water fountain, complete with an angry statue of Poseidon which reigned by terror over the lawn.
Before Brooke’s family moved in, the home was owned by a single, wealthy businessman who used it as a summer escape from the hustle and bustle of the big city. So, it had all the charm of a vacation getaway with all the conveniences of a metropolitan penthouse suite.
When the car stopped, Keira and Ann thanked Nana for the ride and gathered up their belongings. It was early afternoon, giving them plenty of time to goof off before getting ready. Keira slung her garment bag over her shoulder and hopped up the stone steps to press the intercom call button at the door.
“Banes residence, whom may I say is calling?” said an old, male voice.
“We’re here to see Brooke,” Keira replied.
“I see. Whom may I say is calling?”
The girls chuckled. “Keira Ryan and Ann Martin?”
“Very well.”
The intimidating nine-foot arched double doors opened to a two-story foyer with marble floors and a gleaming crystal chandelier.
“Welcome ladies,” said the butler.
They jumped. Neither of them had even realized that he was there until he spoke. The view was simply too distracting.
“Miss Banes will be ready to receive you shortly. She has asked that you wait in her bedroom. You will find it upstairs, four doors to the right. It is the white room.” And with that he turned on the spot and was gone.
Keira and Ann stood in amazement. Neither of them had ever been in such an opulent home before. Despite Mrs. Banes’ preference for modern fashion and design, all of the furnishings were antique. The wood was intricately carved and the silver was polished to a flawless shine. They made their way up the grand, spiraling staircase. At the top, they followed the butler’s directions to the fourth door on the right.
“Do you think this is the right one?” Ann asked.
“I don’t think they’ll kick us out if we’re wrong,” Keira shrugged as she turned the knob.
They soon realized why the butler called it the white room. Every object within it was pristine white. Long, white, flowing sheers adorned the elongated windows. The high bed was piled with a white duvet and tons of pillows, shaded by a shimmering white canopy. The floor was even carpeted in a luscious white. Keira strode in and set her stuff on a fainting couch in the corner. Ann pulled off her shoes and delicately followed.
“Huh.”
“Yeah.”
“It’s really white, isn’t it?”
“Like a Yeti’s butt!” Keira smirked.
Brooke appeared from a door on the far side of the room.
“Great, you’re here. Let’s get started. I’m so excited. Come on!” she invited the two to follow. She ducked back through the door with Ann and Keira behind. The door led to a cavernous closet and bathroom. The two girls couldn’t help but think that their deal with Colby had worked out better than they could have ever anticipated.
They spent the entire afternoon together giggling, gossiping, and exploring Brooke’s closet. As the starry night sky began to blanket the town, the ladies slipped into their evening gowns.
Brooke selected a sophisticated, fitted, black satin gown with matching stiletto heels. She wore a dazzling emerald necklace, worthy of any red carpet event. The stones brought out her eyes and made them almost glow. Her professionally styled hair was pulled up in a faultless French twist.
When the phone rang, Brooke had just put the finishing touches on Ann’s hair, a chin-length meticulous bounty of tiny, spiraling dark red curls that glistened with glittered highlights. She answered the phone, “Coco Bear!”. Her excitement quickly turned to dismay. He was going to be late. This news didn’t score any points with Brooke. While she was pouting, Keira helped Ann into her dress, a shocking purple number, which perfectly matched her newly painted fingernails.
When Ann was ready, she helped Keira, who had chosen a daring, yet elegant, crimson gown. Her raven hair cascaded down her back in loose curls. Brooke had allowed Keira to do her own makeup since they were running out of time. She barely used any, just the eyes, a smidge of lipstick and her lingering summer tan. As a finishing touch, Brooke latched Keira’s necklace for her. It was a delicate ruby teardrop that came with matching earrings. Nana had surprised her with them that morning.
The ladies peeked through the curtains excitedly as each guy arrived. First was Jumper who shocked everyone, but Ann, in a Hawaiian-print tie and cummerbund. Next was William who looked amazing in a traditional black tuxedo with a white shirt, black bow tie and vest. As he flashed his pearly whites, Keira couldn’t help but think that he looked like some sort of a prince or movie star.
Everyone took a seat on the sofas of the formal living room while they waited. Ann took a few pictures and Jumper rehashed his tuxedo shopping adventures. As Colby’s dad pulled in the drive, Brooke moved to the top of the stairs to make her grand entrance. Ann joked that Brooke had seen too many teen-princess-making-a-slow-motion-entrance movies.
“Get the door,” Brooke fussed.
“It’s your door,” Keira answered as the others chuckled. “Where’s a butler when you need one?”
“Oh, just let him in.”
Keira gave William a quick kiss on the cheek and twisted out of his arms and off the sofa. She pulled open the large arched double doors. There stood Colby. He wore a sleek, black tuxedo, with monochrome black shirt, vest, and tie. Keira was surprised at first. She had, for no particular reason, anticipated that he would wear white. After all, doesn’t the good guy always wear white?
The light from the front porch bounced off his golden hair and his knowing, blue eyes sparkled. Keira froze in disbelief at the sight. He didn’t look like Coco Bear, nor did he look like her clumsy best friend. She was absolutely stunned. One corner of his mouth turned up slightly smirking. He leaned in to her. The closeness warmed her and she gasped for breath as his lips touched her ear.
“Keira, I think you’re blocking Brooke’s big entrance. Better move aside before she thinks you’re trying to steal her thunder,” he whispered.
“Oh,” Keira mumbled with a half yes, half okay, and stepped clumsily behind him to close the door. Brooke glided down the stairs with a practiced elegance. As she reached the bottom, Colby took her hand and kissed it.
“We look so hot! We are so going to be the talk of the ball,” Brooke squealed. “Let’s go.”
Brooke led the way as the group headed outside to the limousine that her father had taken the liberty to hire...anything for his princess. Colby lagged behind the group, eager to burn this image of friends and youth into his memory. But as he did this, he found his mind straying back to that last day of summer. Keira’s dress was as brilliant as that magnificent sunset, flowing with every step she took. He shook his head to release the daydream in which he had accidentally wandered. Then another vision of her entered his head. It was Keira in her usual jeans and a hoodie. She pulled something from her sleeve. It was shiny…a knife. He watched as she pushed it into a man dressed in black.
“What are you doing? We’re gonna be late,” Brooke whined.
He faltered into the car, lightly bumping his head on the roof, and they were on their way.
The night was their own. Nearly the whol
e student population flocked to the windows to see who would emerge from the limo. Brooke was right, even as freshmen, they were the talk of the ball. Ann even convinced the D.J. to let Jumper have a try at the controls. After five dance mixes straight, he signed off with a slow number. Jumper led Ann to the dance floor and swept her across it into a not-so-graceful dip. Brooke took the opportunity to cool off and check her makeup in the restroom. William headed to find drinks, leaving Colby and Keira alone.
“Having fun?” Keira asked him.
He shook his head. “Sorry, I’ve got something on my mind.”
“What’s up?”
“I warn you. This is going to sound ridiculous. Umm, have you ever stabbed anyone before?”
Keira laughed.
“Okay, nevermind. I’ve just got a weird feeling. Promise me that you won’t go anywhere by yourself?”
“Will do and speaking of not being alone, you and Brooke look pretty cozy.”
“I know. I still can’t believe she’s with me.”
The untold truth was that Colby’s good looks were the only thing that kept him from truly being marked as a nerd. He certainly had the grades, coordination, and the attitude for it. Keira knew that he viewed himself that way. Still, she was surprised by his reaction to Brooke’s attention.
“You really do like her, don’t you?”
“Well, she’s no William Swift, but I think I’ll take her,” he grinned past her.
William wrapped his muscular arms around Keira from behind. “Let’s dance.”
He moved his arms to twirl her around so that they were face to face. He placed one hand on the small of her back and pulled her close. Together they moved gracefully across the dance floor. They looked good as a couple. He was so agile that she wondered if he had taken dance classes. She had heard that some guys took ballet to help them with football. She’d also heard that some took it to meet girls. She hoped that William fell into the first category.
“Are you okay?” he asked. He noticed that her normal mischievous air had changed to a thoughtful expression.
She looked into his eyes. He smiled and did that thing he does when he takes a shy look at the ground. “Everything is right,” she whispered in his ear.
The six danced, laughed, and when it was time to go home, their very own driver was waiting. Ann was the first to be dropped off at home. William was crashing at Jumper’s house so they were next. As soon as William shut the car door, Keira transformed into a hyper, neurotic mess.
“It was great. Don’t you think it went great? He’s great. Isn’t he? We have so much in common even though he’s a junior and I’m just a freshman. He said he liked my shoes and did you see when he opened the door for me? He’s perfect. I just want to be with him all the time, know what I mean?” she said in one, sustained breath. She finally inhaled and sunk into her seat, before continuing the constant stream of giddy babbling.
Colby and Brooke were relieved when the car stopped in Keira’s driveway. She thanked Brooke for the ride and proceeded into the house.
“Whoa, is she always like that?”
“She’s just hyped about this guy. She usually plays it very cool,” Colby explained.
“I guess I understand that. He is so way out of her league.”
“What?”
“I know that she’s your friend, but really, Colby, I just don’t think she’s good enough for him.”
“Why would you say that? Do you have a thing for William?”
“Trust me, he’s so not my type,” she snorted. She scooted closer to Colby and held his hand. “I’m sorry Coco Bear, you’re right. I bet she was just annoying because of her nerves. You know that’s probably also why she said that weird thing today.”
“What do you mean?” asked Colby. He wasn’t really interested, but didn’t want to seem impolite. He put his arm around Brooke to show that he wasn’t mad; but instead of looking at her, he looked up through the car’s skylight to see the moon.
“She was going on and on about how tired she was and how she couldn’t sleep,” began Brooke. “Then she said the strangest thing. She said that if those stupid mogdocs didn’t get her, the training would. Is she running the marathon or something?”
“Marathon? Keira? No way.”
There it was again. He had heard that word before but couldn’t place it. He was stuck on that word…mogdoc. “What’s a mogdoc? I’ve heard that word somewhere before.”
Brooke just sat there looking at him as if he had grown an arm out of the top of his head. “Oh, I think it’s some kind of generic-brand clog,” she answered dismissively. “You don’t think that she’s running a marathon in clogs? No wonder she’s so tired.”
“What?” Colby was stunned by Brooke’s daft conclusion.
“Oh yeah, as soon as she said it, she tried to take it back…told me that was not what she said…that I had too much hair spray in my ears! I know what’s what. I could tell right away that she didn’t mean to say it. It just slipped out. Ann was in the bathroom, but I definitely heard it.”
“It’s probably nothing,” he lied as he opened the car door. “But I’ll be sure to look after her. Good night.”
“You always protect her, don’t you?”
“Yeah, it’s kind of like a full time job, but who else is going to do it?”
She reached up and ran her fingers in his hair. He turned his head to her. She leaned in close and he suddenly found it harder to leave.
“Good night, Coco Bear.”