Villainous

Chapter 28. She's dead!

December 15, day of the dance

"You look beautiful!" My mom says while doing the finishing touches on my hair. She curled the ends and tied it to an elegant side ponytail, decorated with some of the little white flowers she planted. 

I took multiple attempts at trying to touch my own hair, but mom just slaps them away, saying I'll ruin her "masterpiece". 

Knowing better than to argue with her, I sucked it up and sat still. 

Then everything falls silent except the sound of mom's makeup brush against my cheeks. Causing me to fall deep in thought. I can't help but remember what Mrs. Scarlet said...

"Hey mom?" I looked up into the mirror, and saw that she was already looking at me.

"Yes?" She lowers her eyes again and starts to spray on some perfume-like thingy onto my hair.

"Did you cast a love spell on dad?" I finally asked.

She froze for a second. I looked at her face hard, but her expression was unreadable. "Who told you that?" 

"Mrs. Scarlet did..." I looked down for a second and twiddled my fingers. "...before she tried to kill me." I said the last part quietly, knowing how much it pained mom when I bring that part up.

 Mom looks forward into space, emotionless. 

She already heard the entire story. I told her the moment I got home safely on that dreadful day. But after a few weeks, that topic doesn't seem to be brought up anymore. Not until now...

"So..." I begin, but then unsure of what to say.

"It was complicated." She said.

"Please just tell me." I begged. 

She looks at me with her big doe-like eyes. "Yes, I did cast a love spell on him." She admits. And I felt my hands tighten around each other.

"But soon after I reversed it, knowing it was wrong." She said while glancing down at the floor. "And believe me, he was pissed when he found out." She smiled.

"So how did you two end up together?" I slid forward in my chair and sat up straighter.

"Um, a lot happened after that." She said while smiling as if that was the best memory she had. "Too much to say for now, I'll tell you next time okay?" She helps me up. "It's time for you to go to your dance." 

I was tempted to push further for answers, but seeing how much mom struggled to talk about it...maybe this isn't the right time for the story.

So I shrugged it off. "Yeah, this dance will probably be boring." Hiding the fact that I was actually beyond excited. 

Mom laughs like I just told a reallllllly funny joke. "Yeah right, lots of 'interesting' stuff happen at these kinds of dances." She winks. 

I recoil. "Whatever." and turned away.

I eyed myself critically in the mirror. I'll admit, I look pretty good. 

Ugh...that sounded lame. Time to move on.

I got my dress and high heels on, ready to rock the dance. Not sure how I'm supposed to survive the cold weather though.

I throw a jacket on, taking my time to zip up the front. I carefully opened the front door, only to have it be forced open by strong winds. A blast of freezing air hits me. The snow was falling harder than ever!

Hell, how am I gonna walk all the way to Starlight in my outfit?

"Where are you meeting Sasha and Crystal?" Mom asks as I take a tiny, daring step out the door.