Destined Part I

Preparation

The night had been long as I lay in my bed, warding off the familiar pain that was inside my heart. The hollow aching hadn’t been as bad as in the past, though, thanks to a fresh new realization of hope that I wasn’t very happy to have discovered.

The day that Grace had been talking about was finally here, and although the morning on the balcony I had promised myself that I wouldn’t believe that she could be right, there was something inside of me that hoped she was.

I didn’t understand what was happening to me. I had been so sure, so positive that I was going to stay mad at Haiden for the rest of my life. But the past three weeks, his sweet gesture of coming into my room to spend the morning with me, each and every morning, was making me hope- even though I knew I shouldn’t be. Then he had to go and hold my hand in the gallery, scrambling my mind like he always did when he touched me.

It made me so angry that I was letting him get to me again. This was not the way it was supposed to be. I was supposed to be strong, and independent, and not easily swayed by romance and sweetness. Instead, however, I was a pushover. A complete pushover. I had to pull myself together before I ended up hurt again. I was determined to get it together. I just had to go back to the past few weeks, when Grace and Angelina and I would spend most of our time together, when I was able to push Haiden to the back of my mind. Maybe helping them decorate for the Ball today would give me the escape I so desperately needed, so that I could be stronger by the time the Ball came around tonight.

And thank goodness that Grace had convinced me to be a part of the planning.

“You are an organized soul after all,” she had said for nearly a week, until I finally gave in and agreed to help.

I had been in charge of taking the guest list that Angelina had given me, and creating invitations, making sure that they got out on time. My other duty was decorations. I basically had been counted on to get everything that Angelina wanted, and I now had to ensure that it was put up to look exactly as she had envisioned. So I knew I could use that busy work to my advantage.

But there was one bad thing still looming about the night.

Grace was still enthusiastic about playing dress up with me for the Ball. It’s all she’d ever talk about. I had gone along with her excitement, smiling and cooing at the right moments as she described all the dresses she had been looking at recently. But my heart wasn’t in it. I appreciated that she was so excited, but it was just another thing to make me hold onto hope about Haiden.

So I decided what I needed to do was forget about the dress and forget about Haiden, at least for the moment. I was going to help Angelina prepare for the evening, and engulf myself in making it perfect. At least then I would have time to pull myself together, and build up the strength to take the rejection I was so sure I was going to have to endure.

When the time finally came to prepare for the Ball, I was too swallowed in garland and bows to notice Grace walk in with a huge white garment bag. She and Angelina scurried up the stairs, giggling like schoolgirls as I placed gold glitter candles throughout the foyer.

With my list in hand, I had tackled the entryway and the parlor in just three hours. I guess being so obsessively organized was working for me. I still had to decorate the Ballroom and the terrace outside, but I felt like I was on track to finishing in just enough time to soak in a bubble bath before the girls ambushed me.

I carried the boxes and dropped them next to the door in the Ballroom, ripping them open and sitting down to get started. I sat my list next to me on the floor, and glanced at it, just to remind myself where Angelina wanted everything to go. Just as I began to unload the decorations, Haiden walked casually through the Ballroom door.