“I think you have a new fan club,” Melissa laughed. Cinderella realized she had been staring. She quickly tried to change the subject.
“That’s my cousin,” she murmured under everyone’s laughter.
“What’s that?” Scott asked.
“You called me Sleeping Beauty when you came in here. I’m Cinderella, but Aurora is my cousin. Maybe you need to brush up on your fairy tales.” The room went completely silent.
“You have a cousin named Aurora?” Jenny finally asked. Dave looked over at her eager face and came to the rescue.
“And Ariel, and Belle, and Snow White,” he added with a slight nod. “The five of them are cousins.” The room was quiet again for a brief second before bursting with questions.
“Thank you,” she mouthed to Dave. Cinderella didn’t mind the attention on her, just as long as it had moved away from Scott and her.
Not long after breakfast, Dana called to make sure they were on their way home. Cinderella assured her they were and not ten minutes later they said quick good byes and were back on the road.
“Thanks,” Cinderella said after a few minutes of pleasant silence.
“For what?” Dave asked.
“For bringing me with you. I had a lot of fun!”
“Yeah, it was fun,” Dave said, keeping his eyes on the road. At the next stop light he turned and looked at her for a long time. The light turned green and the car behind them started honking before Dave looked away.
“The girls are gonna hear about all of this, aren’t they?” he finally asked.
“Probably,” she said. “Why? Don’t you want them to?”
“I guess I feel kinda weird,” he said. “I don’t want them to act different around me now, you know, now that we’ve kissed.”
Cinderella wasn’t sure what to think of Dave now. When he helped her at breakfast, he came to her rescue in a very prince-like way. But now he was doing exactly one of the things her mom had used to describe toads. She decided to test his reaction. “It didn’t mean anything though,” she said, waiting for his response.
“Oh...Okay.” Dave shrugged, but Cinderella got the feeling he didn’t really brush it off that easily. She wasn’t sure if this meant he was offended by her comment. She wasn’t sure what to say next, when she glanced down at her hands.
“It’s gone!” she shrieked.
“What?” Her scream had startled him and the car swerved a little to the right.
“My bracelet! The one my mom gave me! It’s gone!” Cinderella wanted to cry.
“You scared me!” Dave said, sighing. “I’ll call my brother. I bet you just dropped it at his apartment or something.”
“What if I lost it dancing?”
“Don’t worry too much,” Dave said. “I’ll have them scour all of Logan till they find it.” He placed a comforting hand on hers and it remained there for the rest of the drive.
Chapter Eleven
Friday, July 23rd
“So was he hot?”
“Of course! Do you really think I’d lose my VL to someone who wasn’t?” asked Cinderella, pretending to be offended by Aurora’s question.
“VL?” Snow White asked.
“Virgin Lips. Come on, Snow. Where have you been?” Ariel responded.
“I’m sorry, but it sounds pretty lame to me. You didn’t really kiss Dave’s brother. It was all for some dumb title.”
“Gee thanks, Snow,” said Cinderella, more quietly now.
“Well I think it’s awesome!” said Aurora. “She got more action than any of us have ever gotten! And it was with a college guy!” She high-fived Cinderella over Belle’s head, who had remained unusually quiet during the whole story of Cinderella’s overnight adventure.
Cinderella beamed at Aurora, who continued to ask question after question. Cinderella really wished she could tell them the whole story, about kissing Dave and all, but she knew Dave was right. It would completely change the dynamic of the group if one of them started dating him! So she’d have to continue keeping it a secret, at least for now. Cinderella played that night’s events over and over in her mind until she had convinced herself that she would probably never see Scott again. It was a fun story to share with her cousins, but that’s all it was; a story. Her own little fairy tale evening, complete with a kiss from two handsome Princes.
“Was it a foot-popper?” Ariel asked.
“There were too many people!” Cinderella answered, taking Ariel’s joke literally. “If I had popped my foot, I would have kicked someone in the head!”
The five Princess sisters were finally back together again after a week or so of passing around a bug. They were all sitting around Belle’s room in their pajamas for a sleepover to commemorate their reunion.
“Hey, you girls want pizza?” Mary yelled up the stairs. She was bombarded with five very loud, very enthusiastic yes’s. Half an hour later when she entered the room with two large, warm boxes, the girls were still going over the details of Cinderella’s night. Belle and Snow White sat cross-legged on Belle’s twin bed, atop her new chocolate brown and baby pink comforter, slapping doubles as they lay card after card on top of each other. They both looked bored and occasionally rolled their eyes after glancing down at Aurora and Ariel who were still gushing over the smallest details. Cinderella sat with her back against the bed, talking animatedly with her hands. She had a fuzzy brown pillow with pink polka dots resting on her lap and each time she got too excited the pillow would fly off her lap as she raised her arms in the air. Just such an occurrence happened as Mary entered the room. She opened the door, carefully balancing the pizza boxes in the crook of one arm, and then had to immediately jump back as the pillow zoomed by her head. Aurora sat balancing on a Pilate’s ball across from Cinderella, with her back to the door. She would occasionally lose her balance and slide off the ball, resulting in a fit of giggles on the floor. Ariel was across the room at Belle’s desk, her hands stretching behind her on the floor in a half backbend. To anyone else, this would have looked strange, but for Ariel, it was to be expected. But as the smell of melted cheese met their teenage nostrils, five sets of feet leapt from their various spots and surrounded Mary. They quickly removed the pizzas from her hands and she was pushed back into the hallway with several thank-you’s and a click as the door closed behind her.
Normally Mary liked being the “cool mom” and didn’t want to interfere. But the girls’ speed to get rid of her raised a silent mom alert in her head. She noiselessly pressed an ear to the door and listened. For the first few seconds it was silent, and Mary was about to walk away until she heard the next words and her heart stopped.
“Wait, so did you sleep with him?”
“Ariel! Gross!” Cinderella shouted, throwing the pillow at her.
When Ariel realized what she had said, her cheeks became flushed and she began stammering, “W-Wait! I didn’t mean that! You just said you were out really late and then you were at his apartment for breakfast. I meant did you fall asleep at his apartment?”
On the other side of the door, Mary released the breath she had been holding and her heart resumed its normal beating.
“Geeze!” Ariel said, chucking the pillow back. “Every one of your minds went straight to the gutter!”
Then they all started laughing and talking at once. It didn’t take long for Mary to realize Cinderella had gotten her first kiss. She wondered if she should say something to Dana, but very quickly retracted that idea. Mary laughed to herself as she walked back down the stairs. Yeah, that would go over well!
“Please, can we talk about something else?” Belle finally spoke up and her words came out sharper than she had intended. She was tired of hearing how Cinderella had been the first. This should have been her moment! And Cinderella had gotten to spend the entire night with Dave. Her Dave. At least she thought he was her Dave. But then he had disappeared for awhile, so she didn’t even know anymore. Now if she brought up her own first kiss story it would seem lame in comparis
on. Cinderella was kissed by a college guy under the full moon with a whole crowd of people counting down around her. Belle got kissed outside the McDonalds. She now wished she had never made that stupid promise to Dave!
Belle finally pulled away from her own thoughts and realized all her cousins were watching her anxiously.
“Sorry,” she said. “I guess I’m more tired than I thought.” She rolled onto her side on the bed, with her back toward the others and pretended to fall asleep. Cinderella looked at Snow White who shrugged in answer to the silent question.
Finally Aurora whispered, “Do you want us to leave?”
“No,” Belle said, slowly sitting up again. “Let’s just watch a movie or something.” Ariel pulled a classic chick-flick from the eighties out of her bag and they all squealed in delight. Belle’s mood lightened when Aurora pulled her hair into a side pony tail and began dancing around the room. Aurora slid a silver hairbrush from the dresser and pulled Belle to her feet, handing over the mic. The two sang and danced along, the other three eventually joining in. Soon all five were scouring the room for the brightest clothes they could find. Belle disappeared for a few minutes, returning from the bathroom with a crimper and her fuzzy purple make-up box. They then spent the next hour styling each other’s hair to look like the two main girls from the movie. Belle, who was the make-up expert, added lots of glittery eye shadow and bright lipstick to their ensembles. When the movie ended, the dancing continued for another hour with several borrowed 80’s CD’s from Mary’s collection. They finally collapsed onto their sleeping bags spread about the room around 2:00 am.
“What do you think ever happened to that main guy? Belle asked. “What was his name?”
“I don’t know, but we should find him,” said Aurora.
“He’s probably like in his forties by now!”
“He’s old enough to be our dad!”
“Ew!” they all screamed.
“Oh, come on!” said Aurora. “There are hot old guys!”
“It’s true,” said Belle.
The girls then spent the next half hour listing off all the hot “old men” they could think of.
“He’s not old!” Belle said, challenging Aurora’s pick.
“He’s like thirty though.”
“And I think he’s married,” Ariel added.
“Stop ruining this for me! I had plans to marry him!”
They all threw pillows at Aurora, giggling as she screamed. Then the conversation switched to younger male actors and right before they fell asleep, the Princess sisters were discussing just where they would like to marry their Hollywood dream man, if he ever got around to proposing.
Chapter Twelve
Saturday, July 24th
“I’m going to the mall,” Mary shouted. “Who wants to come?” The Princess sisters froze and all looked at one another. They were gathered around Belle’s small TV again watching a musical and enjoying a hearty breakfast of Oreos and chocolate milk. Not two minutes prior, they had been discussing how to spend their afternoon and Aurora suggested a trip to the mall.
“Whoa! Your mom has ESP or something,” she said, wiping the stray milk from her chin.
“Yeah, because my mom never goes to the mall on Saturdays,” said Belle, rolling her eyes. She got to her feet and pulled open the door, just as Mary got to the top step.
“Can you give us a few minutes?” Belle asked. Mary took one look in the room and shook her head.
“You are all in your pajamas still? It’s almost noon!”
“Mom. Are you really that surprised?”
“No, not really,” Mary sighed. “I’ll give you fifteen minutes. Go!” The girls all scrambled to their feet and began rushing around. Clothes, lipstick, and hairspray swirled around the room like a tornado. Most of their hair ended up in pony tails to cover over the 80’s crimping from last night.
“You girls ready?”
Ten feet thundered down the stairs and rushed passed Mary, who stood holding open the front door.
“I guess that answers that question,” she said, locking the door behind them. Belle sat comfortably in the front seat while the other four groaned as they tried closing the back door.
“Ouch! That’s my leg!” Aurora screamed.
“Well, tuck it in better,” said Snow White, trying desperately to suck in enough for the back door to click. Aurora had gotten in last, giving her the position of laying across the laps of her other three cousins. She was finding it difficult to fold her long legs in a way that was actually comfortable.
“We all used to fit in a backseat better,” she grumbled.
“I used to have a bigger car,” Mary retorted. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. Maybe a couple of you should stay home.”
“No!” The word came at Mary as if in surround sound.
“I’m okay,” Aurora assured her. She bent her neck against one of the doors, her head resting on Cinderella’s knee, then twisted her right leg to fit on the floor in a position that only a dancer could pull off. Snow White took advantage of the moment to finally close the door and push down the lock.
“See?” she said. “We fit.” Mary laughed softly at one glance in the backseat.
“Alright” she said, putting the car in reverse. Belle reached a hand across her mom and gently grabbed her arm.
“Can I drive?” she asked eagerly.
“Yeah, that’s just what I need.” Mary shook her head as she laughed. “A ticket for having a passenger without a seatbelt and allowing an underage driver to drive.”
“But I’m gonna be sixteen soon,” Belle whined. “I have to learn some time.”
“Yes, but that sometime is not today.”
“Please mom?”
“If it helps your decision, I will jump from the vehicle if Belle is in the driver seat!” Aurora said from the backseat.
“I second that!” said Snow White. They were all still laughing when Mary pulled into a parking spot just outside the large department store. But Belle didn’t find it very funny.
“Alright, I have to find a few new outfits for work. I’ll meet you girls at the food court in two hours.” The Princess sisters waved good bye to Mary, and began wandering among the racks of clothes. They held up the ugliest tops they could find and suggested them to each other.
“Cinderella, try this on, it’s perfect for you!” said Aurora holding up a multi-colored tank top that resembled a kindergartner’s artwork.
“Ooooh Snow, this is so your style!” Belle added, tossing her a blindingly pink top that clashed fiercely with Snow White’s hair. Ariel was sorting through the clearance rack and the others joined her when she burst out laughing. She emerged from behind the piles of clothes, with a fuzzy, orange sweater pulled over her T-shirt.
“I look like a giant, fuzzy pumpkin.” She puffed her cheeks up with air and put her arms out to appear more round, then she waddled toward the others. They all joined in her laughter but stopped suddenly when a clerk walked passed, giving them a very dirty look.
“Check it out,” said Aurora, who had wandered further down the aisle. She was standing in front of the sunglasses rack with a pair of bright red rims on her face. “Are these hot or what?” The next ten minutes was spent trying to see who could find the pair with the biggest rims. Belle came out the winner, with some brown sunglasses that extended almost two inches past her face. They were all laughing so hard, Cinderella started crying.
“You look like a bug!” she squealed in between sobs. Then Snow White snorted, which got them laughing even harder.
“I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” The girls turned around to see the same sour puss who had scowled at them earlier. They quickly stifled their giggles and whispered ‘sorry’ as they walked as fast as they could into the rest of the mall.
“What a Grumpy, old witch!”
“Don’t you think she’s a little old to be working in the junior department?”
They continued down the walkway,
wandering in and out of stores as they went. They stepped into another clothing store just as two girls were walking out, wearing similar sunglasses to the pair they had just been mocking. The cousins exchanged glances and then had to cover their mouths to keep from bursting.
“I really don’t get that style,” Cinderella said a minute later after they had all regained composure.
“Me neither!” Belle agreed. “I only like to wear things that are flattering. Why would anyone wear those?”
“Beats me,” said Aurora. “Oh hey! Can we go in there?” She didn’t wait for a response before entering a little jewelry boutique they were about to pass. “I really want to find some new earrings,” she added over her shoulder. Aurora walked straight to the back of the store and began looking through the newest selection of dangly earrings. Ariel, Snow White and Cinderella followed close behind, but Belle lingered by the register. A sign had caught her eye and she continued to stand there, staring at the words, an idea forming in her mind.
“Whatcha lookin at?” Belle jumped at the sound of Cinderella’s voice behind her. Cinderella smiled and Belle casually passed over the incident.
“What do you think?” she asked.
“I don’t know. Are you seriously considering it?”
“Maybe.”
“Aren’t you afraid it would hurt?”
“Beauty is pain.”
The Princess Sisters (The Princess Sisters Series) Page 7