A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall

Chapter XXXIII: Everybody Wants to Rule the World

Angus kept fixing his tie. "Tell me the truth. I look hot, don't I?"

"Smoking," I said putting my hair in pigtails. I picked out my special pair of pink scrunchies to match my pink party dress. Angus and I went out shopping the other day for something to wear to Sheryl's birthday party. Most of my dresses were a little too cocktail hour and not suitable for a little girl's birthday. Angus said the only thing he had was his spare school suit and he didn't want to wear the same thing twice. I playfully threw a pillow at him. 

We also went out and bought her a present. We got her the biggest bag of Smarties in the whole shop. As tempting as it was to break the bag open and eat them all ourselves, we managed not to. I slapped a sparkly pink bow on top to make it official. At four thirty we made our way down the street towards the Popplewell mansion. 

Angus rang the doorbell for an obnoxiously long time. I started giggling. The longer it took for someone to answer, the funnier it got. We were still giggling when the Annie opened the door. "You're here for the party, right?"

Calming ourselves we said yes and she left to tell the missus. Angus looked me over and fixed the strap on my dress. I straightened out his shirt. Annie came back and said to come on in. 

So we did.

The Popplewells had a huge staircase. The railing was decorated with streamers and balloons. Even their shiny, black grand piano had an enormous crimson bow on top to look like a present. Framed photos of Sheryl at every age covered the walls and their dining table was set to perfection. Not a swan napkin out of place. There was another table in the foyer covered in presents, perfectly wrapped. I tried not to feel bad about our gift. 

There were a few other guests there too. The adults were all dressed to the nines in suits and black evening gowns. Angus threw a tie over a shirt and I looked like fairy floss. The kids were shoe horned in pint sized suits and crinoline dresses. They were running around the mansion, in between the adults' legs and under the table. 

Wanda came to greet us in a dress that was almost a little too sexy for the occasion. Dark blood red and a low neckline. Judging by the purple mark on her exposed skin, Howard sure liked it. Wanda practically chased the children around, scolding them for acting like animals. "Careful, you'll break something!" she called after them. Groaning she fixed her earring and saw us. "Hannah Ruth and Angus, so nice of you two to come." She flashed us her veneers. "Come in, come in! Don't be shy!"

I noticed that every adult here was in possession of a child. But since Angus and I didn't have any children, why would Wanda bother to invite us?

"Sheryl will be glad to know you came," she said leading us to the living room. There were balloons. Everywhere. Bright, pus yellow and pale white. I almost wish I had worn some sunnies. She invited us to sit on their plush couch while she took the leather one. "Both of you."

"We weren't expecting to be invited," I said, clutching at the bag of candy. I didn't really want it displayed on the table next to the other fancy presents. 

"Sheryl insisted you come," Wanda told me. She looked at Angus. "And I figured Hannah would bring you as the plus one." I had a feeling Sheryl insisted Angus come too, but Wanda couldn't bear making an invitation for him. His hair was much too long and even after his shower he still smelled faintly of cigarette smoke. 

"Well, we're glad to be here," Angus smiled politely, gently squeezing my hand. "Nice to see my bride once in a while, eh?" Wanda shuddered at the memory of the pretend wedding and forced a grin.

"Absolutely. I should call her down, she's taking far too long to get ready. Sheryl? Come down, sweetie, and meet our guests!" She turned back to us. "She'll be out in a minute. Would you two care for some refreshments? Chocolate covered strawberries?"