Cinderfella

02: STROKE OF MIDNIGHT

"Who told you so?/'Twas was my heart" - Stroke of Midnight / Thank You Fairy Godmother, Cinderella

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CINDY'S BOOBS ARE LITERALLY SPILLING OUT OF HER PALE BLUE DRESS. Despite this, she has to admit she's looking good, if she does say so herself. She's about to turn away from the mirror and leave (at last) when she notices that somehow in the last 2 seconds since she's checked them, one of her boobs has managed to fall out. Again. She hastily shoves it back in, cursing. "Now I get why celebs are such fans of double-sided tape," she mutters. Cindy vaguely recalls her friend Bella mentioning it a few hours before.

She shouts Bella's name, and the olive-skinned girl pops her head in a minute later, only to stare blatantly at Cindy's hair. "What the actual fu-frick frack?" (Bella is currently on a no-swearing lifestyle.)

"I meant," Cindy grumbles, "To dye my ginger hair mahogany or something. But one certain ice-queen put her hair dye right next to mine. Which is how this," she gestures to her honey-blonde mess of a bun, "happened."

Just at precisely that moment, Left Boob decides to show its little hat once again. Cindy looks down, annoyed. "Just stay in!" she yells at her chest. Bella stands near the doorway, hovering awkwardly. "Should I, um -"

"No!" Cindy yelps, a little louder than she intended to. She softens her voice. "I was wondering - do you have any double-sided tape? For this?" She gestures at her bust.

Bella snaps to attention, the professional beautician in her coming out."In fact, I do," she says, fumbling with her purse. She hands Cindy the small roll of tape.

As soon as Cindy's done taping her boobs to the inside of her dress, Bella orders her to spin around. "Wow," the brunette says approvingly. "Your milkshake will bring all the boys and girls to the yard. Just hopefully not any siblings," she adds hastily. "You wouldn't want to break the Great Rule."

Cindy nods, wincing as her bun droops down another two inches. The Great Rule, invented by the Disney Squad (as Cindy's group of friends were called), proclaimed that no members of the Squad could ever become romantically involved with any of their friends' siblings. (Cindy vaguely recalls flipping through the dictionary, attempting to find as many big words as possible to make the contract sound authentic.)

It's then that she notices Bella's surprisingly bare face. "Aren't you getting ready?"

"What? Oh," Bella grins, "I'm wearing a mask, remember? You'll be the unmasked belle of the ball."

"Yeah, but you'll be the Bella of the ball."

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"Another one?" The hired bartender at Cindy's ball is really quite skilled, she thinks as she tips back and straight up pours the entire flute of champagne down her throat. It must be her third or fourth one, but unfortunately, she's not quite as intoxicated as she'd like to be. She's honestly beginning to regret not asking Elsa to add vodka to the menu.

"Come on, birthday girl." Someone gives Cindy a hug from behind, and she's just about to pour her new glass of champagne onto their head before she realises that it's no one other than Ari, who must be the one person who has managed to smashed on champagne alone. Her friend adjusts her mask (and Cindy uses that term very loosely, because if anything, Ari's mask is now even more lopsided) and loops an arm around Cindy. "Cheer up! Dance a little. It's your birthday, silly," Ari throws her head back and laughs for no particular reason, which she always does when she's intoxicated.