Wish Upon a Star (5 page)

“Fine.
But I’m not shaving my legs for this.”

“Whatever.”  I couldn’t tell if she was laughing at me.

In those tell-all interviews with models they mention how it’s not all fun and games. They mention physical pain and lots of discomfort. I totally related when my sister went after my eyebrows with tweezers. With every yank I whimpered. Tears squeezed out of my eyes. The price of beauty is too high.

She applied creams and powders to my face. At last, my sister declared me done. It was about time. I didn’t know how much longer I could sit in my skivvies while she performed her own brand of torture.

“Now, the dress,” She walked out of the room.

I inspected my face and yelled after her.
“About that. I was wondering if I could borrow one of yours. I hadn’t planned on going, so I didn’t buy a dress…”

She walked in the room with
the
dress. The one I’d imagined wearing. The one that had transformed Mary from the obnoxious older sister into a princess. Panic struck. What if it didn’t fit? What if it didn’t look good on me? What if I ripped it or spilled something on it? She would kill me!

“Put it on,” she ordered.

I reached out and felt the shimmering fabric. “I couldn’t. What if I ruin it?”

“It’s a dress. Now try it on.”

I slipped it over my head with her help. The material slid down my body, causing me to shiver with delight. I looked at my sister to see what she thought. She tapped her lips as she studied me. She gestured for me to turn around. I spun slowly, nervous for her opinion.

“Well?”

“Gorgeous,” I heard my dad say. He stood behind Mary in the doorway. He had the far-off, my-baby-is-growing-up look in his eyes.

Mary nodded. “You look amazing.”

“Go look in the full length mirror in your mom’s closet.”

I hurried to their room. I gazed in the mirror and wondered who had appeared. Without my t-shirt and jeans, I barely recognized myself. The makeup and up-do in my hair helped mask my face. For once, I felt…pretty. I felt like a girl. It was thrilling and bizarre at the same time.

I noticed dad behind me. He had something behind his back.

“What do you think?” I held out the skirt and twisted a little to make the dress ripple.

“I think any guy would be lucky to dance with you.”

I smiled.

He pulled his hand from behind his back. He held a plastic box with a flower inside. “I was told every girl requires one of these at a dance. “

He held out the box and I opened it. The flower’s blue matched my dress perfectly. I gasped in delight and surprise.

“It’s a wrist corsage. Here.” He helped me put it on.

“Thanks dad!”  I wrapped my arms around him and hugged tight.

We ate our meal as a family. Then, it took about 3,000 pictures, but I finally slipped out the door to see my handiwork.

***

The gym looked amazing. With the regular lights off and the twinkle lights on, the room almost looked like the night sky. Add the many stars with tin foil to reflect light, the glow in the dark stars and the black light stars, and the effect was amazing with the flashing lights from the DJ’s set up. A few people stopped to give me compliments. It felt good.

I watched the entrance while sipping punch. I couldn’t wait for my friends to get there so I could slip out again. So far, I hadn’t seen David. I didn’t want to run into him. About an hour into the dance, they finally poured through the
star-shaped archway . They looked amazing in various shades of blue dresses. Their dates looked handsome in suits. Greg even had a tie the same color as Lacy’s dress.

I walked over to them and we greeted each other with hugs.

“This place looks amazing!” Dierdre said.

“It really does,” said Lacy.

“I can’t believe what we did this afternoon turned into this.” Jamie said in awe.

“I couldn’t have done it without you guys.”

“We weren’t going to leave you hanging,” Lacy said.

“When David told me the committee bailed on you, it didn’t matter how stupid you were. You were going to have the help you needed.” Dierdre said.

“Wait, David told you? How did he know?”

They all shrugged. I shook my head. It didn’t make sense.

The DJ’s voice boomed over the speakers. “Let’s slow things down now. Grab your favorite guy and pull him onto the dance floor,”

Lacy grabbed Greg’s hand shyly. Jamie and Deonte wandered to the dance floor. Dierdre motioned for me to follow and dance with her and Eric. I shook my head. This was the perfect chance for me to slip out without being noticed. I looked around once more, and smiled. I scanned the crowd and saw my friends dancing. Even though I didn’t get my prince charming, I was happy for them. I sighed.

As I turned to leave, I spotted David. He saw me at the same time and did a double-take. I saw Selena pulling him to the dance floor. It was definitely time for me to exit. I spun on my heel and headed out into the cold March night.

In the parking lot, I paused and looked up at the stars. The sky was clear. The location of the school at the edge of town prevented ambient light from drowning out the constellations. I pulled my coat closed and wandered towards the football field. Away from the school parking lot lights, the stars glistened brighter. I saw a quick movement in the sky. It was a shooting star!

I considered what to wish. I wanted my friends to be happy with their dates, but most of all, I wished David thought of me as more than a friend. I wished he were with me, not dancing with Selena. I wished I had the courage to tell him.

“It’s beautiful,” a voice behind me said. I jumped and whirled around. I blinked twice before I realized I wasn’t imagining David there.

“Uh, yeah,” I cringed. When would I learn to talk?

We both watched the sky. Several more streaks of light passed above us.

“I heard the meteor shower is why they chose the theme, ‘Wish Upon a Star’.”

“Really?”
  I never thought to ask why they chose the theme. I simply ran with it.

“That’s what I heard. Have you made any wishes?”

“Not really,” I lied.

“I have a wish.” He was staring at me, not at the sky.

“Oh yeah?” I was on a roll with my intelligent responses.

“Yeah.
I wish the prettiest girl at the dance would dance with me.”

“So it came true?”

“Not yet.”

“Oh. I thought you were headed to the dance floor with her a few minutes ago.”

“Who? Selena? “He laughed.

I looked at him completely bewildered.

“She’s not the prettiest girl at the dance.”

I thought of all the other girls in there. There were several who looked stunning in their formal dresses. A few faces popped into my head as candidates for the prettiest at the dance. I felt a lot of relief that he wasn’t head over heels for Selena. Maybe there was hope for the male gender after all.

“Dierdre warned me you would be this silly.”

“What? I’m not being silly.”

“You are. You don’t get it.”

I looked at him in confusion.

He shook his head.

“I’m talking about you,” he said then ducked his head.

His words took a few seconds to sink in. Me? The prettiest girl at the dance? Me? The tom boy? Me? The girl who didn’t wear makeup? I struggled to think up an appropriate response.

“Uhhhh…” is all that came out.
Genius.

The awkwardness of the moment
made me to blurt out the first thing that came to my mind.

“How did you know the decorating committee bailed on me?”

By the look he gave me, I was pretty sure that wasn’t the response he was expecting. I waited for the answer. Since I’d asked, I did want to know the answer.

“I heard Selena talking to her friends after school. She was laughing about how horrible the gym was going to look since you were doing everything alone.” He paused. “I told you I’d be happy to help. Why didn’t you call me?”

“You did help.”

“Well, yeah, but I would have helped sooner.
I would have asked more people. It was so last minute it was a scramble to find Dierdre.”

I shook my head. I knew it wasn’t totally out there for Selena to laugh about bailing on me. Something in me wanted to believe no one was that mean. Unfortunately, rude people did exist in the world.

“What’s the matter?” David must have noticed me shaking my head.

Shrugging, I said, “I don’t get people like her. She’s beautiful, smart, and talented. Why does she need to make other people miserable?”

“I have no clue. Then again, she has no idea why some people don’t want to be around her. Did you know she didn’t believe me when I told her I wasn’t going to the dance with her?”

That one took a moment to sink in. “Wait, what?”

He shook his head as well. “When she asked me, I was hoping someone else would ask me, so I told her maybe. She decided I said yes. When the other person didn’t ask me, I let her run with thinking we were going as a couple.” He shrugged then turned to face me. “When I found out she did what she did, I told her it was off. You know what she did?”

He looked at me intently. Sucked into his story, it took me a second to realize he was waiting for an answer. I shook my head.

“She laughed then told me to pick her up at seven. Then, she texted me and told me to change the color of my tie and sent me a link to the store in the mall with the one she wanted me to buy. I told her again I wasn’t picking her up and she went crazy on me. You should see the text messages. She threatened to get me kicked off the basketball team.”

“Wow,” was all I could think of to say in response.

“I only came to see if you came. I hoped you would since you made the place look so nice. I’d hoped who ever your date was would let me have a dance.” He looked around. “Who did you ask?”

I ducked my head.
“Nobody.”

He looked shocked. “What? Why?
No one interesting enough?”

“Well, the guy I wanted to ask had already been asked.” I peeked up at him to see if he would understand I meant him. We met eyes for a moment then we both looked away. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see his charming grin.

“So, wanna dance?” he asked. He peeked up at me.

I nodded in response. He
moved closer and wrapped his arms around me.

“Here?”

He shrugged.

“There’s no music.”

“So we’ll make some,” He started to sway. “When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are,” he sang in my ear.

I laughed under the stars.
Spinning in circles with a crazy, awesome guy who serenaded me. I joined in with his singing, looking up to carry my voice to the heavens. Another star zoomed across the sky, burning out in a wink.

Maybe wishes do come true.

The End

Do you love sweet romances? Keep reading for the first chapter from
Aliens Are Real
by Sabrina Sumsion and the first chapter of
Two Days of a Dream
by Kathryn Gilmore.

Aliens Are Real
–Jasmine wants stability, friends and possibly a boyfriend. Who knew aliens would interfere?

Two Days of a Dream
- Kelly Goins’ life didn't match her four-point plan. 1. College at eighteen
2. Career at twenty-two  3. Marriage at twenty-four  4. Kids at twenty-six
Everything in its right order. Except, for Kelly, life didn’t follow the order after step two. After a hard day of corporate climbing in Lincoln, Nebraska, Kelly slips into a vintage nightgown and goes to sleep. The next thing she knows she’s in a dream ... maybe.

Aliens Are Real

CHAPTER 1

Jasmine stood in the moving bus.