Dakota's Point of View
The day of Daddy's party arrived. When I left for school that morning, Mrs Wilson was doing her final tidy ups before she could go home for the day. Daddy had hired a catering team for the party.
I was nervous to say the least. A part of me was worried that Alex wasn't going to show up, even though she'd agreed to come. And I was worried about what she would think if she did show up. I'd seen her house, it was quite simple. And they were the kind of people to have barbeques. We were nothing like that. What if she thought it was all too much?
When I arrived home that afternoon, the house was abuzz with people setting up for the party, and the air was filled with the smell of delicious foods cooking. I headed straight upstairs to my bedroom. I didn't want to get in the way. I changed out of my uniform into something more comfy, and started on my homework.
About half an hour later, I snuck downstairs to grab a snack from the kitchen. As I was making my way back up, a packet of biscuits in my hand, the doorbell rang. I made my way over to the front door and opened it.
Alex was standing there. She looked – not surprisingly – out of place outside our house. Her ripped black jeans and faded flannel shirt did not belong in a house like ours – even if she looked quite good. It was then that I came to an almost horrifying realisation.
"Where's what you're wearing to the party?" I said instead of a greeting.
She looked down at what she had on.
"This is what I'm wearing." She said.
"Oh, that'll never do." I waved her inside. "But I'll find you something."
"Who's there, baby?" Mummy's voice came from the sitting room. "Is that you're friend Alex?"
"Yes, Mummy." I said.
"Can I meet her?"
!@#$%^&*
Alex's Point of View
I was not prepared for the sight that met me when the door was opened. Dakota was standing there in a frilly tank top and short denim shorts. Her metal leg and the scar up her arm clearly on display. I had never seen her without long sleeves and stockings before. I knew she had a fake leg, but I guess the saying 'out of sight, out of mind' applies. There was quite a big difference between knowing and seeing.
And then she led me into a sitting room, where an older version of herself sat in a wheelchair. Seeing the damage my father had caused these two, innocent people broke my heart.
"Alex, this is my mother. Mummy, this is Alex." Dakota introduced us.
"It's lovely to meet you." Her mother said with a smile.
"Likewise." I said. "You have a lovely home, Mrs Springson."
"Oh, please, call my Ebony." She said. "And I hardly keep the house in order myself."
I didn't know how to respond to that. Thankfully, I didn't have to.
"I've got to go find Alex something to wear tonight." Dakota said.
"Okay. You girls have fun." Ebony waved us off.
Dakota grabbed my hand and dragged me up the stairs. She was moving so fast, I doubted I'd've kept up if she wasn't holding my hand. I knew she could move quickly, I'd seen her play Frisbee. But that was before I knew who she was. It was quite strange watching her run up the stairs with a fake leg. She moved as if it were real.
Her bedroom was massive. Against the wall to the left was a large bed with a nightstand on either side. Directly across from the doorway was a large window with a desk under it. The wall to the right had a bookshelf of DVDs and CDs in the near corner and one of books in the far corner, with a wall mounted TV in the centre. Either side of the bed was a doorway. Both were open and I could see that the near one led to a walk-in wardrobe and the far one led to a bathroom. Another thing that stood out was how tidy it was. The only thing out of place was the notebook open on the desk.
"So, what do you think?" She sounded nervous when she spoke.
"It's amazing." It truly was. "I didn't think rooms like this existed outside of movies."
"You don't think it's too much?"
"Look at you." I said. "Everything about you is too much. It's just part of your charm."
She closed the door and made her way over to sit on the bed.
"Would you like a biscuit?" She asked, holding up the packet she'd been holding since she opened the door.
"Sure." I sat beside her on the bed.
We ate the entire packet of biscuits – she ate most of them, I'm not even kidding. How can she eat so much and not be fat?
"So, I think you're about my size." She stood up and made her way over to the wardrobe. "What's your favourite colour?"
"Black."
"Black isn't even a colour." She disappeared inside the wardrobe so I got up and walked to wards it. "It's the absence of colour. Don't you know how light works?"
"Apparently not." I mumbled as I watched her dig around in the wardrobe.
"Besides, you can't wear black tonight. It's too depressing." She said. "So, pick again."
"I don't know." I said. "How about you choose for me."
She hummed in acknowledgement and continued digging around in the wardrobe. She pulled several dresses out then shooed me out of the doorway.
"Okay. I've got a few here so you can choose." She dumped the dresses onto the bed. "How about you try them on so we can get an idea of what they look like."
The first dress she handed me was bright yellow and puffy.
"Can I say no without trying it on?" I asked.
"Nope. I want to see it." She pushed me and the dress into the wardrobe and closed the door. "Now change."
I removed my clothes and put the dress on. When I stepped out, Dakota burst out laughing.
"You're right." She said. "That one isn't you at all."
The next one was orange and fell to my knee.
"Do you really wear clothes this bright?" I asked as I stepped out.
"Of course." She said. "But you really shouldn't."
She rejected a few dresses without having me try them on. The next one was a floor-length dark blue gown. It looked nowhere near as ridiculous as the previous two.
"Maybe." She said. "But try this one on before we decide."
She handed a purple dress to me and I changed into it. Even I had to admit that it looked good – and I hated dresses. It was quite a dark shade, tight in the bodice, with spaghetti strap sleeves and a hear shaped neckline, and was loose in the skirt, where it fell to just above my knee. Dakota's jaw actually dropped when I stepped out.
"I think you look better in that one than I do." She said. "That is definitely the one."
"I doubt I look better than you." I said. "But I do like it."
"Okay. Go put your clothes back on." She said. "And we'll finish getting you ready."
I changed back into my clothes and walked out with the dress in my arms.
"First things first." Dakota said. "A shower. Grab some underwear out of the drawers in the wardrobe if you don't want to put what you're wearing back on."
I opened the drawers until I found the one with her underwear in it – you don't put dirty underwear on after a shower. I don't think I'd ever seen so much lace before in my life. Seriously, did the girl not own normal knickers? When I finally found a pair I thought would adequately cover my butt, I checked the size of one of her bras. She was the same size as me so I grabbed one out to wear as well.
"You'll find everything you need in there." Dakota said when I came out again. "There's a clean towel on the stool and I put a new razor on the sink in case you wanted to shave."
I was thankful for her thoughtfulness, I'd been wearing jeans so I hadn't bothered to shave.
"Oh, and just put one of the robes in there on when you're done." She said as I was about to close the door. "And leave your clothes in there for now."
When I was finished my shower, I dried off, put on the underwear I had borrowed and pulled on one of the robes. I tied the robe and folded my clothes, leaving them sitting in a corner on the floor. When I left the bathroom, Dakota was sitting there waiting to go in.
I sat awkwardly on her bed, wearing nothing but underwear and a robe, as she showered. I wasn't entirely sure what to do with myself. As I was sitting there, the door from the hallway opened and a boy, perhaps a few years older than myself, entered the room.
"You're not Dakota." He said when he saw me sitting there.
"Genius."
"Then why are you here?" He asked. "And wearing her robe?"
"Ummmmm..."
The bathroom door swung open and Dakota emerged wearing a robe identical to the one I was wearing.
"Francis, what are you doing in here?" She asked the boy.
"I wanted to know if you had any spare cotton buds." He said. "But there was a strange girl on your bed."
"Hello, right here."
"Exactly." He turned to face me again. "You're here. That's the problem."
"Calm down, Francis." Dakota said. "This is my friend, Alex."
He gave me a suspicious look then nodded his head.
"If you say so." He said. "So how about those cotton buds?"
Dakota went back into the bathroom and came back out with a box of cotton buds. She handed them to the boy.
"Is that all?" She asked.
"Yes." He said. "I'll bring them back when I'm done."
Dakota nodded and he left the room.
"Sorry about that." She said. "That's my brother."
I nodded, unsure what to say.
"Now." Dakota said. "Makeup."
She decided that she was going to do my makeup in her bedroom, where there were no mirrors, rather than the bedroom.
"I want it to be a surprise." She explained. "Do you trust me?"
"Of course."
She went into the bathroom and came out with several shoeboxes, presumably full of makeup. When she sat down across from me, she was sitting quite close. So close, I could see flecks of green in her blue eyes.
I couldn't help it. I found myself leaning in closer. To my relief, she did the same. Our lips were about to touch. I was going to kiss her. Butterflies were doing backflips in my stomach.
It was going to happen.
But then, the door swung open and she jumped back. My heart sunk. What had I done?