Je Suis la Tienne

Part 1

Like most girls attending prom, getting ready is a process involving only the greatest care given to looking your best. My cousin had just returned from getting ready and my mother flutters around air-brushing kisses by the dozen on my cousin's chubby cheeks.

She pauses her kissing to hold my cousin's shoulders and look her over, "We've got to get you into your dress now or you'll be more than fashionably late."

Her hand in Elisa's, they head into the bedroom with me in tow.

She calls over her shoulder, "You know, I'm surprised you decided to go, Ryian. I thought you didn't like social events."

She kneels with Elisa's prom dress and she steps into it. Trying to make herself as thin as possible, Elisa wriggles into the gown as my mom smiles at me.

"I can change my mind, you know."

"Your decision, you can change your decision, not your mind."

With a harrumph, Elisa pulls through and mother claps her hands excitedly. She gives Elisa the final zip. The rainbow-colored dress fans out as she twirls elegantly. I hold my hands out to catch her as she sways.

As I push her up, I whisper, "You're beautiful."

Mother pulls her back to a standing position, "You need to be careful before you get makeup all over Ryian's tuxedo. She has to look good too."

Elisa smiles before moving to sit at mother's dressing table. Mother runs her hands through bobbing curls of chocolate brown hair that swarms her shoulders like flies. The last few pins fly into place turning her into a queen. Elisa leaves her seat and mother gestures for me to take her place.

I never saw what my cousin said she loved about me. I had a scar from a swimming accident that made my nose look fake. My eyebrows were too bushy and my eyes far too small.

"Why don't you ever grow your hair?" I hear as Mother pins my shoulder-length hair.

Sometimes I wonder how mother missed all the signs, my sudden decision to attend prom and the googly eyes Elisa and I involuntarily fell into with each other.

My mother watches us leave from the doorway as we climb in the nearly filled limo to join our friends for some pre-party fun.

Watching our friends pass us in the hallway, Elise pauses before extending her hand, "Come on."

I wish I could say that I would change my decision to take her hand.

We fast-walked, giggling, to the field behind the Banquet Hall. In my tuxedo, I flop onto the grass and put my hands behind my head.

With her smile that makes my heart jump into my lips every time, she scolds, "You're mean, showing off and laying down when you know very well that I can't even sit down in this dress."

I pat the grass beside me, "It will be alright as long as we dust the grass off before mother sees it."

She fluffs out her dress to sit next to me. We stare at the sky for a while before I pull her head onto my arm and stroke her curls, trying not to shake them too much out of place as they bob up and down. Elisa picks at her fingers as I watch the contorted clouds, filled with darkness, float by.

My skin jumps as the first droplet falls on my forehead, "Let's go inside. It's going to start raining and..."

I wait until I pull her up before continuing, "I won't be able to explain how we got wet if we were supposed to be inside."

Elisa looks at me for a second before raising her dress to run for the side entrance. I catch up to her easily despite my five inch heels and we both stand under the tiny overhang, pulling on the side entrance door. It refuses to budge and I see the fork I left to hold the door at the edge of the step. The rain quickens; the thunder roars; the light flickers above us for a few minutes.

I feel the brief desire to bury my nose in her hair and whisper, "Boo" but I totter on my heels, nearly falling off the ledge into the rain in my attempt.

She holds me close pressing her face into the crook of my neck, her breath tickling my skin. The storm takes a vengeful manner, raising winds that throw rain at our faces with a harsh slapping sound. The little overhang offers minimal protection as the light above us flickers out. Screams breach our hearing from the front entrance and I step off the ledge, knowing we would be seen soon – better to reveal ourselves than be found.

I offer my hand to her as she daintily steps into the river of water flowing downhill. Arm in arm, we walk upriver and around the corner with the rain still beating our backs to find most of the party at the entrance of the Banquet Hall trying to get rides home.

Mother bustles out of the crowd to hug us, "Oh my goodness! I left home early due to the storm warning. Luckily I did."

She pulls away and urges us to follow, "Come, come, let us get out of here before we get blocked in."

The ride home is filled with the usual chatter of how we liked it and such. With my mother's driving, we are soon home, safe and sound. She sends us up to our room to dry off.

As we go, she calls up, "Elisa, let the dress dry first before you take it off or else it might get damaged. Make sure to put towels on the floor."