Never Forgotten

6. Dress up.

Leo, clutching a small paper bag, comes back over to me and crouches on the floor at my feet. He opens the bag and produces a handful of large leaves. Lifting my foot onto his knee, he quickly and gently unwraps the fastening. Once his tie is off, he lays the leaves across my ankle, and then promptly starts rebinding the tie around them. He works so quickly that I don’t feel any pain at all, except for when he lowers my foot back to the floor, but still, this is only a dull throb which dies quickly. Within seconds he is done with the whole procedure. “I’ll be in the other room.” Leo says, swiftly exiting back into the living room.

Camilla walks around the front of me and ties a cloth over my eyes. “No peeking” She says, waggling her forefinger at me; this motion reminds me of my mother, when she tells me what to do at home.

“What are you doing?” I ask, confused.

She sings to me “You’ll see!” and then I hear her leave the room. Just as quick she’s back again. She grabs my hands, and tells me softly to “Stand up” sounding excited. I still can’t see anything. She starts touching my clothes. My pants. My shirt. My sneakers. I hear her step back. “Hmm, nah!” Then she touches where my shirt had been again. Every time she touches me or my clothes I feel a change. “I suppose that could work, but” she touches where my pants had been once more. “That definitely works. Yay! Okay I’ll guide you, I won’t trip you up. Don’t worry, I don’t do that to my friends and as you’re my friend now... You’re coming out with me tonight! I hope you don’t mind, no of course you don’t. It’s going to be so much fun!” Her words come out in an excited rush, disallowing me to cut her off and set her straight. I can’t go out with her tonight; I’ve got to go home. My mother will be mad at me for not telling her where I am; my phone’s missing since the incident in the street too so I cannot even drop her a text. “Okay stop. I’ll take that off of you.” She snatches the blindfold from my face.

I am standing in front of a full length mirror, wearing a shiny jet-black cocktail dress that only brushes my upper thigh. It feels like a leathery material but more light weight. I don’t think I’ve ever worn anything as revealing, ever. The shoes I am wearing are black stilettos, higher than I could ever imagine they could get. My hair is black, with pink tips, no longer falling down my back but cut straight along my chin. I would never have thought of looking so... garish, though I think in a way it kind of suits me. This isn’t me at all though.

“We’re going out?” I ask in disbelief, stumbling back slightly from the mirror on my heels. I still need to go home. I cannot hang around with faeries all day and night; people might notice that I’m missing from my real life.

Camilla tilts her head to the side, a wicked smile spreading across her face, like wild fire caught in gale force winds, “Yes.” She said simply. Her smile is dazzling and I’m once again caught in a daze.

Okay, so I’m not going home quite yet, then. With that one look from Camilla, I am suddenly empowered to do anything “Where are we going? And what are you wearing?”

“Umm... What about this?” She brushes her hand over herself, from head to thigh. “What do you think?” With that one motion she is transformed; her straight dark hair falls to her shoulders, and she is wearing a short electric blue dress with killer stilettos, blue straps of plastic snaking up her lower leg.

“Yeah it’s good, but I’m just wondering. What about if you flick the ends of your hair out?” She sweeps her hand over her hair and it is changed to my suggested style.

“I think I’m going to really like you, Maya. You’ve got style. Let’s go and party, paint the town, and let our hair down. What do you think?”

 “Yeah let’s go!” I am actually quite excited. Most of my friends are geeks. I am a geek. We don’t ever do ‘clubbing’ or ‘revealing clothing’. It’s all jumpers, tunics, jeans and that’s about it. I stay in on Fridays with Bridget Jones, Desperate Housewives, Dirty Dancing, Twilight and other programs of the sort, with one of my closest friends chocolate; wearing a plush dressing gown and a matching pair of slippers.

“If you wait here, I’ll go and get my car.” With that she runs out of the front door with the speed of light. Leo walks back into the room moments later.

“Whoa! What has she done to you? Is your foot okay to even look at those shoes? Where are you going anyway?” Leo asks, seeming enthusiastic.

“Out, I’m going out with Camilla. And yes I think the heels are a little O.T.T but I think I’ll live. Anyway, how do you think I look?” I give a quick spin, which is actually seemingly slow compared with Camilla and Leo’s speed.

“Is it professional, as you were a patient, to say gorgeous? Oh well, I just did! Just don’t let her bully you into anything, okay. I hope you have fun. Bye, she’s back.” He finishes as Camilla strolls through the door.

“Hey! What do you think? Even her own mother wouldn’t recognize her.” Camilla exclaims as she comes into the room.

“Good job, she’ll be safe to go out tonight. You don’t scrub up too bad yourself, Cams. Usual drill though, I’m giving Maya the cell if I give it to you Cam you’ll chuck it in the canal or something, so Maya if you get into any trouble-or Cam does- press call; my number’s already in the cell on speed dial, I’ve logged it . Oh and keep an eye on it, don’t let Cam’s have it, okay. Have fun, don’t drink too much or end up doing anything you’ll regret.” He looks over to where Camilla’s standing. “Please look after her, Cam. She isn’t like us, she’s breakable.”

“Okay granddad!” Camilla jokes. “Let’s go and have fun. Don’t wait up, Leo, we’ll be up way past your bedtime!”

“Watch your limits, Cam’s. Drink and driving doesn’t add up to anything nice, you’ve already experienced your time in a cell and I don’t want a replay of “Please officer, please let me bail out my disorderly friend. I’ll take her home and let her sleep it off. I promise you, you won’t see a replay... Okay how much?” Three-hundred bucks later, out of my own pocket you’re out. Then a week later I hear that the officer that dealt with you has been having delusions and is only starting to get over it. Oh and that really tells me to let you go out and ‘let your hair down’ again. Seriously enchanting an officer to do and think God-knows-what, just to entertain yourself after breaking the law... Poor guy, his wife broke up with him a month later, she thought he was having an affair!” Not even Leo can hold back joining us in laughter at the end of his sentence.

“He deserved it. He was a total jerk anyway. I did that girl a favor.” Camilla makes a disgusted face. I’m just entertained by the story, jail a fairy! Ha. “Come on Maya before Gramps here crashes the party.”

“Okay.” Cams grabs my hand and pulls me out of the door at her usual pace. We stop outside at a hot pink cabriolet, the roof already down. “Whoa! This is yours?”

“Totally, girl! Get in.” Camilla runs around to the driver’s side and jumps over the door into the leather seat. I open the passenger door- I’ve never been able to jump; if I had tried I would have missed and kicked the body work, which was something I was not prepared to do- and sit in the seat.