Fatal Attractions : The Masquerade

Chapter Seven

     "Yeah, you're right. That one's a little too show-offish."

     "They're all a little too show-offish," I said, looking at my reflection in the mirror. Sam was having me try on several dresses for the ball. None of them had gotten' my stamp of approval so far.

     "Oh come on, that last one with sequins was cute!" she said. I made fake gagging noises and shook my head.

     "No, no sequins. I'm going to a ball, not a 6 year old's dress-up party."

     "Alright, alright," she said. "Here, um... Try on... This one!" She pulled out a long gown cover and laid it on top of the pile of other discarded dresses. She swiftly unzipped the cover and revealed a long ruby red ballgown. I immediately stepped over to her, my hands out.

     "Gimme', gimme', gimme'," I said, taking the gown in my hands.

     "Oh, thank God. If you didn't like this one, I was going to officially label you crazy," she said, unzipping the back of the gown and helping me ease into it. Within moments, I was standing in front of the mirror, admiring my reflection. The gown was form-fitting around the waist and chest, and then at the hips it flowed out and down to the floor.

     "Wow," Sam said. "You look beautiful."

     "I do?" I asked, smiling at my reflection. All modesty aside, the dress did make me feel beautiful. The way it hugged my waist and flowed out at my hips. The way the deep red color contrasted with my pale skin. I loved it.

     "You definitely do. You're gonna' turn heads," Sam said. As bashful as I was feeling, I couldn't keep my lips from curling into a smile.

     "I hope not too many," I said.

                                                                      * * *

     "I wanna' come with you."

     I let out a sigh as I slipped on the blood red felt pumps that Sam gave me for the night. Alex stood over me, his arms crossed.

     "You didn't get an invitation. I'll be fine, and I'll be back before you know it," I said.

     "Yeah, right. Those things can last until dawn."

     I raised my brows. "It's that serious?"

     "It can be," he spoke, taking a seat next to me on the bed. I buckled the ankle straps on the pumps and sat up straight.

     "Well. I'll try not to stay out too late, then. Who else here got an invitation?" I asked. Alex cleared his throat.

     "In the entire manor? No one. You're the only one here that got invited."

     I once again raised my brows, and couldn't help looking surprised. "Wow," I said. "Just me?"

     "Just you. You don't find that weird at all?" he asked.

     "Um," I breathed. "I don't know. I have no idea how these things work. Do people from the manor usually get invited?"

     "All the time," he said. "The last ball, over half the people in the manor were invited."

     "And this year... None?" I asked.

     "Exactly."

     Alex was right. It was weird. But I couldn't think of a single reason why they would invite no one from the manor, but invite me. I had a funny feeling about it, but the feeling wasn't strong enough to change my mind. I was going to that ball.