Road of the Heavenly Light

4-3: Midnight Shooting Star

When Eleanor opened her eyes again it was early the next morning. There were only four days left before the deadline, and Eleanor hadn't started on making anything. She quickly got out of bed, changed, and immediately started working on the first dress. Since she normally only made clothes for herself, she didn't have any mannequins to work with, so her bed became the dump for everything she finished instead. Eleanor was so focussed on the sowing of her second dress that she didn't hear the knocking on her door the first three times. Only when she heard someone whisper her name did she get up from her desk and opened the door to greet Isabella.
"Eleanor, why are you awake, it's 4 in the morning..." Isabella whispered.
"Sorry, I woke up and just had to start working on the collection..."
"Could you be a bit more quiet then? I don't care that much, but you know how prickly Amaya and Audrey can be when it comes to their sleep..."
"Right, sorry, I'll try to be more quiet," Eleanor apologized. Isabella closed the door again and went back to sleep. Eleanor returned to her desk, and she realized that unless she wanted to give up on sleeping for the next days, there was going to be no way she'd finish in time.

Eleanor went to breakfast feeling hopeless. There was still a lot to do before the collection was done, and she also had to do her schoolwork as well... While walking through the cafeteria, people kept asking her about the collection, and she told them all the same lie, that she was almost done. She really didn't want to let anyone down.
"Good morning, Eleanor! How is the collection doing?" Audrey inquired.
"Oh... well... it's... nearing completion... somewhat."
"Alright, what is going wrong with it?" Isabella asked.
"What?"
"We've known you for a while now, it's pretty easy to tell when you're lying."
"I'm sorry... I just don't want to let you down... The truth is that I don't think I'll be able to finish in time. I only finished the sketches yesterday and started for real this morning..."
"Then we can help you!" Laura offered, "with the four of us, it should be easy getting everything done."
"Really? You'd do that?"
"Well, it's the least I could do to make up for spreading word around the whole school..."
"Thank you all so much... You're the best friends I could ask for." The school bell rang, and the girls quickly rushed back to class. After school, they all gathered in Eleanor's room to help her with the collection. Eleanor resumed sewing, while Audrey grabbed materials for her, Isabella laid down all the completed pieces on the bed, and Laura was folding everything and putting it into boxes. They worked like this for three days, from the moment they finished their homework until eight in the evening, trying their best to finish the collection in time. On the final day, they only had to work for two more hours.
"Girls..." Eleanor said, "I think we did it!"
"I knew we would! We should hurry and deliver everything to the store," Laura suggested. Eleanor nodded, and they carried the boxes towards the carriage. They took a second carriage and drove to Earth. The group quickly made their way to the clothing store, where Eleanor nervously walked inside.
"Hello?"
"Ah, there you are! Did you finish the collection?" the store owner asked, walking into the store from the storage. Eleanor nodded, and showed the boxes. The woman opened them and looked at one of the dresses. She then grabbed one of the corsets.
"Marvelous! I must say, I had high expectations, yet I am still impressed! What is the name of the collection?"
"Midnight Shooting Star."
"Wonderful! I would be delighted if you could attend the presentation of the collection tomorrow, as the guest of honor."
Eleanor's eyes widened, "of course! I'd love to! Thank you so much!" The other girls giggled.

The next day, Eleanor arrived at the store an hour before the presentation, as it was weekend, and she had no school work left to do. She was wearing the best clothes she didn't feel bad about reusing, and was extremely nervous. All of the pressure was finally catching up to her, and she was worried people wouldn't like her clothes. Maybe her clothes weren't as good as people said they were...
"Eleanor..." a manly voice suddenly spoke behind her. Eleanor turned around.
"F-Father?! What are you doing here?" Eleanor ran up to her father and hugged him.
"I got a letter from the princess telling me to come here because my daughter had made an entire Winter collection in the most renowned clothing store in Earth, and it looks like she was right!"
"Oh father, thank you for coming..."
"I'm so proud of you... It felt like yesterday when I saw a little girl sitting on her mother's lap, looking at all her dresses... and look at you now..."
"Eleanor, it's time," Laura whispered, peeking in from around the corner.
"I should head to the front of the store too," Eleanor's father said. Eleanor went to the front of the store, took a deep breath, and opened the door. Outside was a moderately-sized crowd, waiting for the store owner to open the door.
"Hello everyone! It is my great honor to introduce Eleanor, the person who created our latest collection, titled 'Midnight Shooting Star'. Eleanor, where did you get your inspiration?"
"At first, it was really difficult finding anything, but with the help of a few friends, I managed to take inspiration from the Marigolds that were blooming in the gardens of our school, from the portrait of the Star queen Meissa with the patterns made by the great designer Victoria, and the books about the masquerades in Theros. It all came together to create this collection." Everyone in the crowd cheered, and the doors to the store opened, which made everyone storm inside. Eleanor looked on with great joy as people purchased her creations.
"You did a wonderful job, Eleanor," her father whispered.
"I agree. Your daughter is very talented! I would love to have her design for me again sometime soon," the store owner added.
"I'd love to! I'll have exams in a few weeks, but I will definitely be interested after that!"
"Very well. After your exams are finished, come to me." Eleanor felt like she was walking on the clouds. This really was a dream come true... She hoped she'd be able to make other people happy with her clothes for the rest of her life.