Enchant Me (18 page)

“I think I will do a basket weave pattern on
the sides, then gather your hair in a loose pony tail on top and
curl all the ends and pin them in. A kind of romantic, goth, girl
look,” he said, and immediately started to work. I smiled from
ear to ear for the first time in days.

“Sounds perfect.”

The rest of the afternoon passed so quickly I
barely believed it. Then again, I was hanging out with Michael who
had one of the wickedest senses of humor I know. He had me laughing
so much that I was constantly having to redo my eye
makeup. When he was done with my hair and I with my makeup, I
was able to finally dress for the night. When I emerged from my
walk-in closet Michael clapped his hands over his mouth, then
whipped them off again. 

“Oh my god girl, look how gorgeous you
are!”

Standing in front of my full length mirror I
turned this way, then that, trying to catch every angle. I smiled
at the little black eye mask and how Michael had hidden the strings
in my hair. 

“Thank you Michael, it’s beautiful. I can’t
tell you how much it means to me that you were here this
afternoon.”

 I had needed to just relax and have
fun. Take my mind off what was to come. I had also appreciated that
he hadn’t brought up Christian the entire time, knowing that it
would only upset me before I had to face the whole senior class and
then some.

“It was my pleasure sweetie. You know,
anytime you need to talk…” “I know,” I whispered.

Looking around, he spotted my camera and
snapped a couple shots with it, then did a couple pictures of just
my hair for his portfolio with his own camera. Then a thought
occurred to me, “Michael, did you want to go to prom with me?”

He looked at me sympathetically. “Ah honey,
I’m sorry, I can’t. I have a show tonight,”

“That’s ok. Don’t worry, it was just a
thought.”

 I walked him to the door and thanked
him again. Then I gathered my small black beaded purse and the
black satin cloak I had bought for tonight, and laid them on the
couch in preparation for leaving. Lastly, I went back into my room
to play with Cody for a bit until he got sleepy and leapt up onto
my bed to sleep. For awhile, almost comforting myself more than
him, I petted him slowly. I tried to concentrate on how soft his
fur was and not the pain that kept sneaking up on me and squeezing
my heart. Part of me wanted to see Christian and the other
part…wanted to miss that final goodbye. I wondered briefly if I
just avoided him maybe the events would change. I shook my head;
whatever was meant to be was meant to be.

After awhile I got up and started to pace the
house aimlessly. I almost wished for once that I was running late.
At least it would give me something to do. At last I heard
Tina’s car in the driveway. Taking a deep breath, I grabbed my
purse, put on my cloak, and locked up behind me. Jim was just
letting Tina out of the passenger side of her car. Apparently they
had chosen to drive her car instead of his truck since there were
three of us. They both were heading to the house apparently
assuming I would be running late as usual. I smiled crookedly at
her and rushed to the car, opening the back door before Jim could
do it for me. He looked a little irritated that I hadn’t observed
proprieties, but I figured Tina was his date, not me, so I wasn’t
worried about it. Even though I thought I was doing a passable
version of my happy self, I knew I wasn’t fooling them. 

“I won’t ask if he’s called,” she said, with
what I thought was an unrealistic note of hope in her voice.

“No, please don’t.”

They glanced at each other apparently trying
to think of a safe topic to talk about and coming up
empty. “Jim’s switched to UW,” Tina said happily. I
glanced over at Jim who looked at me in his rear view mirror and
nodded.

“While the main reason is Tina, it actually
would be better for my career too. My dad and I already have
political contacts in the northwest and I have been helping with
the local Republican rallies since I was a kid.”

“Don’t worry; I am trying to convert him to
being a liberal democrat. It’s just taking longer than I originally
thought,” Tina said, barely being able to say it with a straight
face. Jim playfully glared at Tina in response.

“I think that’s a lost cause but somehow you
guys will make it work.”

After that I didn’t really have anything else
I wanted to say and we fell to a comfortable silence for the rest
of the drive to the Liberty Theatre in Puyallup. We had barely
parked before I was opening the door and stepping out. I ignored
Jim’s annoyed grunt and waited patiently while he helped Tina out
of the car. For the first time, I actually took note of what they
had on. Tina wore a dark blue Chinese brocaded dress with side
slits and a mandarin collar with a cat eye mask. Jim had gone
classic with a black suit and a black half mask. They looked
perfect together. 

Once inside the theatre I took a quick glance
around, no one was here but the rest of the prom committee. I
turned to Tina. “Hey, let’s get some pictures of you two before
this place has been completely ransacked.” I posed them in a
gondola scene the prom committee had created for pictures. Tina and
Jim looked so sweet and happy. It seemed my match-maker record was
going to stay intact. When I was done Tina reached out for my
camera. I shook her off and put it away. There was no reason in the
world to have a picture of me by myself at prom. 

“But you look so pretty,” she coerced.

 I knew she meant well, but no thanks.
“Michael already took some of me at home.” 

She bit her lip and looked sadly at me. Had I
completely dropped my happy façade and not known it? “I’m fine,
I’ve got to go check on things, and I will see you later.” I
quickly hugged her then walked away. “Have fun,” I called over my
shoulder. 

Luckily I was soon caught up in the many
things that still needed to be done, mini emergencies that needed
to be handled. Finally the doors were just about to open to let
guests in and Michelle called us to the center of the dance floor.
After months of planning, the theatre was the epitome of romance
and mystery. We had dimmed the overhead chandeliers until they
barely cast any light at all, letting the flickering of hundreds of
tapers in antiqued silver candelabras on the tables provide the
majority of light. Once the dance got into full swing, then they
would turn on the mirror ball and disco lights. The tables were
covered with black and white striped tablecloths with silver
tableware, and vases with blood red roses. For favors we used
Phantom of the Opera masks and feathered fans. Throughout the
theatre we had created romantic alcoves with crimson curtains and
screens, using only lanterns for light inside of them. The jugglers
and magicians would roam the party as the night went on. It would
be perfect. 

Michelle clapped her hands and drew our
attention. “I want to thank everyone for doing such an amazing job,
especially Shirley, for her grandmother donating the candelabras
and some of the antique furniture. I also want to single out our
honorary senior Alexis Maher for being the mastermind behind the
Masquerade Ball idea; I think, thanks to her, we will have the best
prom ever. Let’s all give her a hand!”

I rolled my eyes at Michelle but tried to
smile in appreciation as everyone around me clapped and took turns
hugging me as they took off to the dressing rooms to change. When
Michelle hugged me on her way to change, I didn’t have the heart to
give her a hard time about anything and let her go with a
smile. The temptation to leave was strong. Technically we were
all done, but if any problems cropped up I didn’t want any of them
to have to miss their own prom to deal with it. So I tucked myself
behind a column near the DJ and settled in to watch everyone
arrive. I was amazed and impressed by how all the seniors
seemed to embrace the theme. Almost everyone had worn masks of one
sort or another. Some people even wore costumes whether it was
medieval, vampire, animal or even super-heroes.

When Michelle re-entered the ball on the arm
of her boyfriend, she was given a standing ovation for helming the
prom party, and when it came down to it the school paper and
yearbook too. She panned the room until she found me, then gave me
a little nod of thanks. I shook her off and pointed right back at
her. She and Craig had dressed as the title characters in Phantom
of the Opera. They truly were the king and queen of the
night. As the music started up I realized I hadn’t hidden
myself very well because soon enough, a couple of Nicolas’s friends
placed themselves in front of me blocking my view. They turned
their backs to me but it didn’t matter though; they made sure I
could hear every word they said. 

“Did you hear that Christian Marino is
bringing Susan Michaels?” Jenny said so loudly I was sure people in
Canada could hear her.

Tom, her boyfriend, leaned down as if to
whisper but his voice bellowed out too. “No, but that’s a good
choice, she’s pretty hot.”

I watched in something close to amusement as
Jenny stared up at him, not sure whether to be happy he was
following along or pissed that he thought some other girl was
hot. I rolled my eyes and moved away. It was hard to believe
they wanted to waste their prom trying to antagonize me. I knew
what they were trying to do and somehow that made it easier to deal
with. Maybe more importantly I didn’t think Christian would be that
cruel. Luckily I was soon wrapped up in minor and not so minor
problems, and I was called away to help the theatre staff resolve
them. 

At one point, a petite girl came up to me
frantic with worry. Apparently someone had spiked the punch bowl
and she was afraid if one of the adults found out, the party would
be ended. I swore to her I would take care of it and went in search
of a theatre employee. After a fresh bowl was put out, I stood next
to it playing guard dog, and scanned for the most likely suspects.
So absorbed was I, that I didn’t even hear the booming voice of the
announcer as he called out more guests as they came in. The prom
had probably been in full swing for an hour or two before I finally
had another chance to breathe and take it all in. That’s when it
occurred to me where I was standing. A feeling of Déjà vu swept
over me, but it wasn’t a mystery why. My vision was once again
unpleasantly coming to life before my eyes. 

Alarmed, I felt dizziness threaten and my
temples start to throb. I beat and railed against it until it
slinked back into the darkness of my mind. Almost as if my turmoil
had called him, I then saw Christian. I wasn’t able to see his eyes
but I felt his glare on me from across the room. I shivered, but
not with excitement. That coldness that I had seen in last night’s
vision seemed to invest his body as he approached me. In a
dark suit and full face mask, I saw and felt very little of the guy
I knew, but then it seemed I had never really known him. He had
slicked back his dark hair which didn’t seem to suit him, but who
was I to say. When he reached me, he extended his hand, his eyes in
shadow. I stared at it awhile, frozen into inaction.

Ultimately I took a deep breath, and without
looking into his eyes I let him lead me into our first and last
dance. I noticed myriad little things as we headed onto the
floor. His hand was not protectively at my back. Instead of holding
my hand he was grasping my wrist, pulling me along, and his always
warm skin was cold. I blocked out whatever song was playing, I
didn’t want anything to remind me of this moment. The absence of
our connection was bad enough. Although I felt him staring at me I
did not look at him once. Oddly we both seemed to be extremely
careful maintaining the distance between our bodies. I wondered why
he had even bothered. After what seemed like an eternity the song
must have come to an end because he was already pulling away.
Unexpectedly, in the quiet before the next song, the announcer
called out another guest’s entrance.

“Christian Marino.” 

My head whipped around to the entrance and I
felt that awareness rock through me as I met his eyes. He was drama
personified; a dark cloak over a classic tux, his straight hair
falling across the simple black eye mask that couldn’t hide the
fierceness of his face. That was Christian. I watched as his eyes
moved to who was holding me, and so did mine. As I looked up,
the light from one of the mirrored balls finally hit his face and I
saw the icy blue eyes of Nicolas staring back at me.

In shock and fear I jerked away but then he
grabbed my arms and drew me closer. He wasn’t even looking at me
but at Christian’s approach. “You’ll be seeing me again,” he
whispered in my ear. 

“Let her go,” Christian warned, his voice low
and quiet but the threat was still there. 

Without another word Nicolas abruptly shoved
me at Christian, and quickly stalked off into the crowd.
Christian’s warm hands cupped my shoulders and spun me around.

“Are you ok?”

I tried to nod my head but I wasn’t sure if I
was conveying what I was supposed to. I could tell he wanted to go
after Nicolas, but I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried
myself so deep into his embrace that he couldn’t break away from me
if he tried, which thankfully he didn’t.

“Please don’t go,” I pleaded
softly. 

He took a deep breath in but didn’t promise
anything. He pulled his cloak around us and wrapped his warmth
around me. Slowly my shuddering eased and I relaxed into his hold.
I heard the small crowd around us dissipate in disappointment now
that the drama had ended. At last I could hear what Christian had
obviously been waiting for. Jim and a couple of my other guy
friends walked back up to us. 

“I don’t know how he got out, he just
disappeared. We checked all the rooms. He’s not here anymore.” I
could hear the puzzled frustration in Jim’s voice.