Indifferent

Chapter Three

When I came back from meeting with the Head Alexander my parents were home. Along with all of the servants. Of course nobody suspected anything because school had gotten out ten minutes earlier.

        "Oh Ocean! Beautiful thing! The Head Alexander is throwing a ball, we want you to attend so come for your dress fitting!" My mother sang. The only reason she made me go to these things was because she believed in the old tradition that around age fourteen you should be married. No. Just no.

          "No Maman!" I protested as she grabbed my arm in an iron grip and pulled me off to one of the many rooms in our main home. "Maman, please no." I pleaded.

         "You are going end of discussion." She said firmly. Finally we entered a small room with a screen set-up and a seamtress. "Now, Marlee this is Ocean. Ocean, Marlee.  Make her beautiful." The woman nodded and began to measure every inch of me. Muttering things to herself and pausing.

         "Alright. Karman, Laura, Jackie!" She called. Three small ladies shuffled through the door, looked at a pad of paper and began to sew at a scary rate. After twenty minutes of waiting I had three fantastic, much to my despair, dresses. "Try them on. This one first." She gently handed me a silver one. It had a plunging V-neckline, and the skirt clung to my legs. I stepped out awkwardly.

           "No, no, no. Karman, modify this!" She cried flinging the dress at Karman after ripping it off my body. Then she threw the second dress off me. It was all of the blues of my hair, in the same color pattern and was loose and flowy at the skirt, whereas the top was tight and of course, the neckline plunged. It was my mother who vetoed this, not liking my hair in the first place, much to my dismay.

           "Your right! These dresses should be modern." She whispered something to Karman and within ten minutes I was in the silver dress now with a mid-thigh skirt. My mother nodded approvingly after throwing a shower of sparkles on me.

              "You are all dismissed. Now make-up, hair, shoes, and then ball." She said as if checking of some mental list. I sighed but stood up straight, chin up. After all, I had to not be suspicious if I wanted to finish my project.

              "Okay." I said glumly and I was whisked off.

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                 Finally, after two hours I am ready. I am wearing the sliver dress, knee high sandal boots that are also silver, and lot's of eyeliner and mascara. Oh, and my hair is in a French braid bun. I hate it. This is so not me. I look like some dumb model, but I am so not.

                "Can we just leave already!" I groan at my mother as she prods all over me. She rolls her eyes, huffs, and then leads me out the door. We stop at a horse-drawn carriage parked out front. I am relieved to see Seafoam, she is mine so making an escape early can't be that hard.

                 "Ocean!" I mother barked. She beckoned me into the carriage where my father was already sitting. We were gonna make a big entrance. I made sure to slouch as we rode, just to annoy them. When we rounded the corner to the public recreation room, my mother smacked me and I crossed my legs, sat up straight, and held my chin up. Pretended to be perfect, just like I was bred to. I am like a dog.

                 "Remember, eat at main table, dance, MINIMAL dessert, dance until the end. Are we clear Ocean? I want you staying the WHOLE time. There will be punishments." Her tone was threatening and unkind. My typical mother. I nodded my head and she put on a cold smile. It never reached her eyes. She smoothed her black pencil skirt and crossed her legs so anyone looking at us would see her fancy gold heels.