Not Your Average Fairytale

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

Rosalyn gasped, her eyelids fluttering open, and the room exploded into light. Wynter blinked, trying to protect her eyes from the harsh light. When it faded, she looked around again.

Rosalyn was sitting up, awake, with the bouquet of roses spread across her dress. In the light, her appearance had changed and now she wore a beautiful light pink ball gown.

Her hair, magically curled, fell down around her shoulders in perfect ringlet curls. A silver crown was woven into her hair, and her makeup was done as well. Baylor was dressed to match in a prince's uniform.

All around the room, everyone was recovering from the sudden exposure to light, rubbing their eyes and blinking. As each person adjusted, their faces reflected a similar expression of shock and amazement to the others in the room. Even Arabella and Brent had to be surprised by the sudden transformation.

"Well, good morning, everyone," Rosalyn finally said, breaking the tense silence with a laugh. It was like a switch had been flipped. Suddenly, the room was abuzz with yells and screams as everyone lunged upon Rosalyn, showering her with hugs and kisses.

"I thought you were dead for sure!" Clover said, hugging her tightly.

"You've got a lot to explain," Wynter jokingly admonished.

"It's good to see you," Everett said quietly.

"Let me through!" Arabella yelled, pushing her way past everyone. They parted, allowing the two sisters to hug. "As much as I hate to say it, and I know you must hate hearing it, you look beautiful, Rosalyn."

Rosalyn was too busy looking past her, where she spotted Baylor. Upon meeting his eyes, she began cracking up. "Baylor, your clothes!"

He looked down, seeming to realize his change for the first time. "What the heck?" he yelled, beginning to chuckle. Rosalyn beckoned to him, sitting up more fully as well before standing up.

"Thank you so much," she said quietly, hugging him.

"How long have you known?" he asked the question that had been bugging him since she awoke.

"Long enough," she answered, looking away. "We need to talk, but I'll explain it later tonight when there's not so much excitement."

Brent had been watching this quietly from the outskirts of the circle forming around Rosalyn. He was happy that she was awake and safe and that all their work had paid off, but a small part of him couldn't help but be sad.

For one, this was the beginning of the end of their time together. They'd spent so many months together, meeting up to make plans for this event, and now it was here, and it would be over before either of them knew it.

On top of that, things would never be the same again with Rosalyn. Fate had placed its mark on her once and for all. She always talked about fighting her fate but the act simply was that now it had become a part of her life that she could not shift.

Rosalyn's eyes drifted outside the circle to meet his. He smiled at her as best he could, which he knew wasn't great. She walked towards him, pushing through the crowd to approach him.

"You look lovely," he said softly as she walked up to him.

She looked down at her dress, wrinkling her nose with disgust. "Ew, now this will simply not do," she observed. Walking over to her closet, she grabbed a white shirt and a black skirt before walking into the bathroom, saying, "I'll be just a minute!"

She came out a few minutes later, looking more like normal. She'd wiped off the makeup, replacing it with her own and put on her own clothes. The only thing she'd kept were the curls, simply because they took a lot of effort to do herself.