The next day was Saturday. So Marisa was able to sleep in for a change. By the time she woke up, it was mid morning. With a big smile on her face, she laid in bed and stretched her arms out. When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see Kimmiekoe laying at her side.
“Hey there, Kimmiekoe. Sleep well?” Kimmiekoe purred as Marisa stroke her fur. After getting the day started by brushing her teeth and hair, she walked down the stairs.
“Morning Mom.”
“Good morning, dear.”
“Where’s Conner?”
“He’s still sleeping. I think he stayed up all night playing video games again.” Marisa rolled her eyes as she reached in the fridge and pulled out an apple.
“Why am I not surprised?”
“Seeing as how this is your day off, do you have any special plans today?”
“Well, I thought I might run to the bookstore in the mall to see if they have this one book I’ve been waiting for.”
“That sounds like a plan. You should go and enjoy yourself, dear. You hardly ever take the time to do fun things for yourself.”
“That’s not true, Mom. I do plenty of fun things during my spare time.” Marisa’s mom giggled.
“Whatever you say, dear.” With that being said, Marisa put on her clothes and headed out the door. As usual, the mall was a little crowded on Saturdays. As Marisa looked at the clothing displays, she spotted some cute things.
“Maybe after I run to the book store, I’ll stop by and try some things on. It’s been a while since I bought some new clothes.” With that being said, she walked into the bookstore. Walking up to the section that had the kind of books she loved to read, she looked for the book she wanted.
“Yes! It finally came out!” She squealed as she held up the book she had been waiting for. After paying for the book, she walked out of the store and went back to a couple of the clothing stores. As she browsed through some things, she couldn’t help but look at the manikins that were displaying the latest fashions. They all looked really cute, but she just couldn’t see herself wearing them. Out of curiosity, she picked out one of the dresses that was on display. It was a black dress with a diamond pendant in the middle.
“This is really cute, though it’s a lot different from what I’m used to. Than again, it’s just like May May said. Sometimes you’ve just got to take the plunge.” With that being said, Marisa went into one of the fitting rooms. A moment later, she came out wearing the dress. As she admired herself in the mirrors, she twirled around to make the skirt spin.
“This dress is beautiful, but...” The more she looked at herself, the more she thought it just wasn’t her.
“It’s no use. I’m just not used to wearing fancy clothes like this. Besides, where would I wear it?” Sadly, she took the dress off and put it back. Realizing there was no point in trying anything else on, she walked out of the store with her head down.
Looking up, she realized she had made her way to the center of the mall. In front of her, there was a little set of stairs that led to a pretty fountain. Marisa admired the lights under the water as they flashed the colors of the rainbow. The fountain was surrounded by long vines with blue and purple flowers on them making it even more beautiful. Just then, a young couple climbed down the stairs and sat by the fountain. The girl blushed as the man kept going on about how cute she looked in the dress she was wearing. Marisa just smiled, but it wasn’t a happy smile.
“Everything around me seems so beautiful. But as for me, I’m...I’m just so plain. That’s really the only word I can think of to describe myself. I’m just too plain...Oh well, not like it’s a big deal or anything. I’m happy with the way I am. I don’t care about the fact that I’m not super pretty. Really, I don’t need anyone to tell me I’m cute or anything. I’m perfectly fine with that.” Just then, Marisa felt something roll down her cheek. Placing her finger on her cheek, she realized it was a tear.
“What?! What is this? Why am I...” Quickly so no one would see, she wiped her face off.
“I think... I think I just need to go home. I have my new book to read anyway.” Just when she was about to take her first step, she heard the sound of laughter coming from behind her. She turned to see two boys chasing each other running towards her. They weren’t looking where they were going.
“Boys, watch out!” A man behind them, who appeared to be their father, shouted. But it was too late. The boys crashed into Marisa. Before she realized what had happened, she found herself falling. In a terrifying split second, she realized she was about to fall down the stairs and land on her head. Suddenly, she felt someone grab her wrist and pull her back up. Much too scared to open her eyes, she grabbed hold of whoever it was while her whole body shook.
“It’s okay. You’re safe now.” A warm voice spoke up. Cautiously, Marisa opened her eyes to find herself in the arms of the one who saved her. It turned out to be a young man with short blonde hair and blue eyes.
“Am...am I...”
“Don’t worry. You’re alright.” Just then, the father appeared.
“I’m so sorry, miss! My boys were being careless! Are you alright?!”
“I...I...” Marisa was too shaken up to answer. She couldn’t help but to think about what would have happened if she really had fallen. Trying to sharpen the image out of her head, she grabbed hold of the one who saved her. Realizing she was still shaking, he let her cling to him.
“She’s alright. Just a little shaken up. I’ll take care of her.”
“I’m so sorry. I assure you, my boys are going to be dealt with properly for this.” With that, the father walked away to deal with the boys. Slowly, the young man urged Marisa to the bench next to the stairs. As Marisa sat down, she tried to pull herself together. While she sat there, he walked over to the vending machine to get her some juice.
“Here, drink this.”
“Th...thank you” As Marisa drank, her body slowly stopped trembling.
“I...I’m sorry. It’s just...I was really scared.”
“There’s no need for you to apologize. It’s completely understandable why you’re all shaken up. Just take your time and rest here for a bit.” Marisa took a deep breath.
“Yes, you’re right. Thank you for saving me. I’ll be alright now.”
“Not a problem. Are you sure you’ll be okay by yourself?”
“Yes, I’ll be fine. I just need to rest for a bit. Thanks again.” The man smiled.
“Any time. After all, it’s not everyday I end up rescuing a beautiful woman from a dangerous situation.” On hearing that, Marisa’s face turned bright red. She watched as the man walked away wondering if she heard him right.
“B...beautiful? Did he just call me...beautiful?”
When Marisa got home, she laid on her bed trying to figure out what exactly happened at the mall. As the images flashed through her memory, she couldn’t stop thinking about that guy.
“I...I did hear him right, didn’t I? I know I was shaken up, but I couldn’t have been that badly rattled.” Standing up, she walked over to sit down in front of her vanity and stare into her mirror.
“I have no clue who that guy was. I didn’t even know his name. And yet, he actually called me... beautiful. But, he wasn’t really serious was he?” Just then, her cell phone started ringing. Marisa recognized the ring tone. It was the tone she picked for Maggie.
“Hello? May May?”
“Hey, Macy, what’s up?”
“Well, actually...” Marisa told Maggie the story about what happened at the mall.
“Oh my gosh! Don’t stop now! Tell me what happened next!”
“Nothing. He just walked away.”
“What?! You’re kidding! So he just called you beautiful and left?! Why didn’t you go after him?!”
“Well, what was I supposed to do? I was too busy wondering if my ears were working right.”
“Oh man! You totally blew it! First of all, you shouldn’t have told him you’d be fine on your own. That was like telling him to get lost.”
“What?! That’s crazy. It’s not like I was being that rude. After all, I said thanks and everything. Asking him to stick around would have been really rude.”
“That’s not the point. The point is that you just had a guy call you beautiful for the first time in your life and you totally let him walk away. You should have asked him something like ‘you think I’m beautiful’ or ‘why would you say that’ instead you just let him walk away.”
“Well, what was I suppose to think? Besides, I was still too shaken up to move.” Maggie sighed.
“Oh boy, you’ve got a good head on your shoulders, Macy. But you still have so much to learn.” Marisa just rolled her eyes. She didn’t even want to think about what Maggie meant by that.
“Anyway, the reason I called is cause we’re having a family dinner tomorrow night. Want to come?”
“A family dinner? Oh yeah, Lindsey mentioned something about a family reunion this weekend. But, are you sure it would be okay for me to be there? After all, I’m sure you’ll want to spend time with your relatives whom you haven’t seen in a while.”
“Of course it’s okay. Why would I invite you if it wasn’t? Besides, Jarred invited several of his friends too.” Marisa thought for a minute.
“Well, I suppose so. I don’t have anything else planned for tomorrow.”
“Great, it’s in Russell’s barn.”
“Huh? Russell’s barn? But he never has anything big going on in there. Even though it’s big enough, he says he doesn’t want any big messes in there. And if there is going to be as many people as you say, there’s bound to be a huge mess afterwards.” Maggie chuckled.
“I know. Somehow Mom talked him into it. Don’t ask me how? Although I’m sure she had to promise to wipe everything spotless after everyone leaves.” Marisa rolled her eyes.
“Oh boy, good luck with that.”
“Well, I'd better jet. I’ve got a lot to do before tomorrow.”
“I’m sure you do. See you there.” After that, Marisa put down her phone and sat back on her bed.
“A dinner party with all of May May’s relatives? That will surely help me take my mind off things. I just hope she doesn’t jump on me about it when I get there. Nah, she’ll be too distracted for me to have to worry about that. Besides, it’s not like I’m ever going to see that guy again. I’m sure I was just jumping to conclusions. I know there’s no way he said what I thought he said. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have just left me there. Yeah, that’s right. My head was just playing tricks on me.” With that said, she stood up and clapped her hands.
“That’s it! Chapter closed. As far as I’m concerned, it was just a fairy tale.” Just then, Marisa’s mom called.
“Marisa, dinner’s ready.”
“Coming.” Quickly she rushed downstairs. When she got to the table, she realized they were having one of her favorites, roasted honey ham with mashed potatoes and peas.
“Yeah! Real food! Real food!” She was so happy she just kept repeating herself.
“Hey, sis, you okay? You’re acting kind of weird.”
“What are you talking about? I feel just fine.”
“That’s good to know. It has been a while since we’ve had such an exciting meal. You just enjoy yourself, dear. Eat as much as you want.”
“Thanks Mom.” With that, she took a bite of her ham.
“Ah, what a wonderful time to be alive.”