Cinderella and The Shape Shifting Mice

Chapter Twenty Three

Ella

I looked in the mirror at my dark blue dress ending just at my knees. It was kind of tight on the top, but flared out right above my hips. It wasn't quite a sundress but it wasn't a cocktail dress either. I had on some silver heels and minimal jewelry, but as I stood there I felt a little too dressed up for a just a simple brunch. Or lunch. Or whatever the heck it was.

"Are you alright?" Marcie asked me, coming up behind me.
I looked at her and gave a small smile. "I'll be fine."
She placed a hand on my shoulder and I turned around to look at her. She was shorter than me with mousey brown hair and big brown eyes with freckles dotting her face, but still lovely. "Ella, you're one of the strongest people I know. You can make it through anything."

I smiled, this time a little more genuine. "But even the strongest wall can crack and crumble."

She squeezed my shoulder and looked at the clock. "Well we mustn't think like that right now. Right now, we just have to smile and kill them with kindness."

I raised my eyebrow. "Kill?"
She waved her hand. "Figure of speech. Now go on, or you'll be late." She pushed me towards the door and I opened it to see other girls making their way down the hallway, some talking and laughing with others, the rest walking by themselves. We were all dressed in an array of colors and styles, but I seemed to be the only one in blue.

I followed the crowd and made my way outside to the patio where girls stood socializing and sipping orange and apple juice in fancy glasses. I spotted Grace in the corner dressed in red and made a bee-line towards her.
"Hey," I whispered, grabbing an orange juice and sipping it.
She turned and beamed at me. "Hey!" Giving me a quick hug she smiled again and turned to another girl with the lightest blonde hair I'd ever seen, which complimented her yellow dress wondrously. Blondes don't normally wear yellow, but this girl was killing it.
"Ella this is June, she's in the room next to mine," June nodded and I nodded back.

"A pleasure," I said, sipping my juice again.
"Are you the lucky girl that got roomed near the Prince?" June asked, raising her eyebrow. "I assumed we were all alphabetical, but I must have been wrong."

I almost spit out my juice and cleared my throat. I noticed a few of the other girls around us had shifted their bodies to listen to my answer. "Uh, yeah. But I haven't seen him," I lied, taking a long sip of my juice as girls turned around and started bombarding me with questions I knew the answers too, but I shouldn't have so I feigned ignorance. The colors of his eyes (stormy blue), his height (six foot something, but taller than me anyhow) , how his hair looked (dark brown and looked soft as feathers he, did I talk to him (on more than one occasion), what did his room look like (royal and manly), and all sorts of things that started becoming very overwhelming and I was afraid I was going to say something to totally blow my cover when suddenly a bell rang, silencing us.

"Ladies if you please," Sam announced from the top of the steps by the door, "my name is Samuel and I am Prince George's second in command."
Whispers sprung up around me and I shifted uncomfortably in my shoes.
"If you would all please find your seats, the Prince will be here with you shortly," Sam's eyes landed on mine before he turned and walked back inside. Girls surged forward, looking for their name cards and squealing when they found they'd been placed near their friend. I walked silently around the table when I found my card, right at the head of the table across from Georgie with my back to the door.

Taking a deep breath and closing my eyes, I pulled out the chair and sat down.
"Can I get you anything miss?" a waitress asked from besides me.
I looked at her. "Unless you can make this a mimosa, I don't think so," I muttered, accepting more orange juice.