Beacon

19

"Wake up Princess, it's a really special day today!"

    I sat up and groaned while rubbing my blurry eyes.

"Do you know the date?"

"What?"

The date! What's the date!"

"God Alex volume control please, and I have no idea, why?"

"September 21st"

    I smiled in spite of myself.My birthday.

"You know I don't remember ever telling you my birthday."

"No time for explanations, I have a lot planned."

    She tossed me some clothing.

"Get dressed and meet me up deck."

She walked out of the room closing the door behind her. I started to take off my clothes when the door burst open again.

"Quickly!"

    I laughed and closed the door on her, locking it. The thought of Alex seeing me naked is honestly terrifying. When we first met she saw me in just undergarments but still, being fully exposed to someone is much different, or it is in my imagination at least.

    I took a closer look at the clothes and realized they must not be Alex's. It's a white sundress with a thin brown ribbon around the waist.I pulled it on and looked in the mirror and smiled at what I saw. I remembered the last time I wore a dress, my middle school graduation. I ran my fingers through my hair as I remembered sitting in front of the mirror as my mom did my hair. My throat burned from the memory of her, but I didn't let it consume me, and I didn't push it down either.

    When I got to the deck I saw Alex staring over the railing at the water. She turned around and smiled at me, but not with the usual cocky grin. It was a delicate smile, her face soft and open. It looked like the wind could just blow it away and it'd never be seen again.

"Don't look at me like that."

    She laughed and walked over to me, the usual smile back, which was a relief but a little disappointing.

"Come on, we have a lot to do."
                                                                           ~
    Alex talked pretty big, but the first half of the day wasn't all that special aside from the crew singing to me, off key may I add, at breakfast. We just hung out and played a little floor hockey, our teams were pretty small though, the crew was busy with something I guess. Alex and I ate lunch together in her room, which I admit was a tad strange but I still enjoyed myself. After that Alex confined me to my room, which was also odd.

    I was sitting on my bed reading Dracula, which Alex had recommended to me from her library, when I heard a knock on my door. I reached for the knob.

"Don't open the door!"

"Well why knock then!"

"Just open it a crack okay I have to hand you something."

    I opened the door a few inches and Alex forced something through. I looked at it and gasped. It was a beautiful baby blue ball gown. It was long and silky with a sweetheart cut. It wasn't flashy at all,it was very simple.

"Put it on and come out whenever you're ready."

    I heard loud clumsy footsteps down the hall.

"I'll be right back!"

    I chuckled at her distant voice and put on the dress. It fit me beautifully. I smoothed out my hair, which I have to admit was pretty greasy, but still looked nice. I admired myself in the mirror a bit more waiting to hear the loud footsteps return.

"Ready yet princess?"

    I smiled a little at the name, it hadn't been used in a while, it didn't seem so condescending anymore.

I opened the door to see Alex in a sleek, make-shift tux, holding something behind her back. She started off with her signature grin, but it became the delicate smile for the second time today.

"Would you stop looking at me like that, it's embarrassing."

    I didn't ever want her to stop.

"You look stunning, Elisabeth."

    My heart jumped and my cheeks flushed. I wanted to say something back to her, tell her how stunning she looked. Tell her how tempting the tattoos creeping above her collar were.

"You clean up nice."

"Don't know if I'd ever heard that word used about me."

"Nice?"

"Clean."

    We both laughed and then she brought out what she had behind her back. It was a sign,'Rapunzel, I rescued U from your tower, now will U go to prom with me?' The whole thing seemed to be written and colored in intricately with a ballpoint pen. I couldn't help but keep laughing.

"What are you up to, Alex?"

"Can you read, or have you just been bullshitting the whole time? The sign explains itself, come on."

"I'm 21 I'm not in highschool, we're in the middle of the ocean, you're not in hi-"

"Will you go to prom with me yes or no?"

"I really don't understa-"

"Yes or no!"

"Yes."
   
     She dropped the sign and lept over to me, wrapping me in an exaggerated hug. I just stood there,confused. She took my wrist and tied on a corsage made of paper flowers, then grabbed my hand and intertwined her fingers with mine. A shock ran up my arm.

"Then let's go."