Pangaia: Agendas (Year One: Fall)

Chapter Thirty-Five - Cheyenne

Her dress was missing.

She could have sworn she left it in the closet, and she hadn't touched it since the day they went shopping, but now it was nowhere to be found. She had an hour to get ready, and Halyn and both of their mother's were eagerly waiting in the other room to help with hair and makeup. It was her prime opportunity for female bonding, and she had nothing to wear.

"What's taking you so long? Did you get stuck in it? Do you need help with the zipper?" Halyn whined from the other side of the door.

"I..." Cheyenne was starting to panic.

Where could it be? This doesn't make any sense. It couldn't have just disappeared. Who knew who had been in her room since she had been with her parents, and who knew how well the new wards worked against Lucien and his demons. Maybe Denver was playing some kind of sick joke, or Jewl. She'd had been uncharacteristically nice to her lately, and Cheyenne doubted it had anything to do with a change of heart.

She scowled and then raised a curious eyebrow when she noticed a different garment bag hanging in her closet. She examined it for a moment and then pulled it down to spread it on her bed. It didn't look like the one for her previous dress at all. Her last bag had been clear, and the dress was short and easy to carry around. This bag was black and the contents inside were long and heavy.

Nervously, she opened it and was surprised to find a new dress—a much fancier one at that. In fact, she was almost concerned it would be too high-end for the event.

Still, it was like love at first sight. This was the kind of dress she'd wanted all along. She couldn't wait to try it on and see if it was her size.

She got it on in a matter of seconds and examined herself in the mirror. The navy blue dress flowed to the floor and hugged her curves, accenting and flaunting them. She'd never before seen her body in the way she was seeing it now, and it was a little unnerving how it made her feel—exposed and beautiful all at the same time. The back was almost entirely open, aside from where the straps crossed just below her shoulder blades. They and the dress were decorated with sparkling silver beads.

The whole thing had her feeling mature and sexy.

She went back to the closet to see if she had some shoes to go with it and was surprised to find a pair of silver high heels encrusted with crystals over the straps. Her eyes widened with surprise and delight as she tried them on. That was when she noticed the note taped to her closet door with a rose.

"Roses are red, your eyes are blue, my poetry sucks, and I love you. Wear your gift with grace and be the envy of the ball. Cinderella would be jealous. Meet me in the hall."

She took the rose and found it a place for safekeeping. There was no point in asking who gave her the gifts. Something in her gut told her they were from Denver.

Just as she was about to step out of her room, Halyn burst in.

"Sorry, but I—" For the first time Halyn was speechless. She stopped mid-sentence and stared at Cheyenne, her jaw dropped. "Where did that come from? I thought your dress was black and short and...wow."

Cheyenne blushed and carefully walked out to the den to show the rest of the family. Their reactions were similar to Halyn's. "My other dress went MIA sometime while I was out, or it magically morphed into this."

"I still..." Halyn looked down at her pale pink dress and sighed. "I feel underdressed now." Which was saying a lot. Halyn's dress was a cute, short thing with a halter top, ornately decorated with jewels. "This is going to be awesome. You know, I'm pretty sure your date is going to die when he sees you."