The rising sun splashed color behind my dark eyes. Sleep still holds me in its heavy tendrils, so I roll over onto my side trying to wake myself up.
"As soon as the moon has risen, I will be here anxiously awaiting my answer."
My eyes snap open, sleep no longer something I need to fight off. Instead a new feeling rolls over me, one I've never experienced before. It was a mixture of excitement and nervousness with a dash of dread. The prince wanted to meet me again tonight. Tonight Prince Alexander would be waiting for my answer. It was all so strange, why would he want to befriend me? What about me was so enticing to him? It all seemed so fake, so storybook-ish.
But it wasn't fake, it was real. The prince really wanted to get to know me. But the question still remained, why?
I rolled out of bed and dressed for the day, the question still circulating through my head. What if Victoria found out that the prince and I were meeting tonight? What if she found out that we met last night? My heart began pounding, if Victoria found out that would be the end of me. That would mean I would lose my position, Liz, Stephen, my life. Everything would come to an end all because of one person. Maybe I shouldn't go tonight. That would be the smartest decision to make, but why is my heart so heavy at the thought of that.
"Child, it's ten o'clock in the morning and ya still 'aven't even acknowledged the fact that ya skirt is on backward." I look up at Liz and notice that we are standing in the ballroom. I hold a broom in my hand while Liz is kneeling on the ground with her arms elbow deep in steaming water.
I look down and sure enough, the seam line to my skirt wasn't quite facing the right way. I look up at Liz who wears a ridiculous grin on her face.
"What all have we done this morning?"
"Well, for star'ers, we've cleaned the stove and began cooking for the ball. Then we beat the cur'ains, washed the rugs, and swept the entire first floor. I wish I could say you were there for it all, but considering this is the first thing you 'ave said to me all mornin I would guess your mind is in a deep cloud."
I look back around the ballroom, the massiveness overwhelming me. Pineridge Estate really was a grand place. At one point, it almost became the resting place of royalty, but it was quickly dismissed due to the fact that the location isn't the greatest. I look down at the sparkling floor and see my reflection looking back at me, large brown eyes and a thin freckled face look back at me. I looked curious, surprised almost to be seeing myself. I haven't seen my reflection in years, and I was almost shocked to see how much I have grown. It's not like I've been ashamed of myself or afraid to look at myself, I just never have. I don't own a mirror, but now looking at myself I can't look away. Not for self-conceited reasons, I wasn't exceptionally beautiful, but I wasn't ugly either. The reason I couldn't look aways wasn't because of what I didn't see, but of what I saw. I saw a young girl who for the first time in her life felt excitement, someone who felt like they had a chance to be something. All because someone asked them to be their friend, I now felt like I had the world in my hands. A face loomed next to mine on the floor. Liz watched me as I watched her and she smiled.
"You really are beau'iful Mae." She said as she placed a hand on my shoulder, and my heart swelled. Only Liz has seen me as beautiful. My mother did, but she always followed the saying with, 'you are just like your father'. My beauty in her eyes was only what she saw in my father, and he was an ugly man.
"Liz, can I ask you something." I looked up and came face to face with one of the two people in my life I could trust.
"O' course child."
"If someone asked you something, like for instance, becoming their friend. Would you do it? Even if it meant it could come back to haunt you?" I watched Liz watch me yet again.
"Are you serious child?" She placed a hand on my shoulder. I nodded my head slightly, nervousness curling in my stomach, "Are you seriously asking me if you should become friends with someone? Not to 'urt your feelings, but what kind o' question is that? Mae, darling, you don't 'ave to decide to become someone's friend. It's no' a life or death situation. It's just someting 'at 'happens. Friendship isn't a 'ard decision deary, it's just life."
It's just life. Those words haunted me through the remainder of the day, through all the chores and preparations for the arrival of the Prince. Life is something that has always scared me. Something I've never been able to get used to. Life hasn't been easy for me, with my father and mother, with the orphanage. The easiest life has ever treated me have been within the walls of Pineridge Estate, and I haven't been living it, I've only been remembering it. The last time I felt like I lived was when I went to the market. Oh my, the last time I felt like I've lived was when I went to the market and ran into him. Shame gripped my face and looked me right in the eyes, how could going to a market make me feel like I was alive? How could spending time with someone make me feel alive?