Imagines and One-Shots (Book Two)

Chasing After You (Michael Clifford) - Part 3

Saturday evening

You were looking at yourself in the mirror of the dress you'd created using some of your mother's old clothing that you kept in a chest in your room. It wasn't an extravagant ball gown like your step-sisters', but it was still something you were proud of – and you knew your mother would have loved it.

"Girls!" you heard your step-mother call out for her daughters, "We must be leaving now! We don't want to be late!" You knew she wasn't planning on taking you, clearly just assuming that you hadn't gotten a dress on time, so you hurried out of your room and down the many staircases until she would hear you speak.

"Wait!" you squeaked, making everyone look at you, "I'm ready!" 

"And where are you going?" Clara cocked an eyebrow when you reached the bottom of the staircase.

"You said I could go to the ball if I found a dress on time," you reminded her firmly, "And I did."

"Of course, dear, but look at you," she smiled mischievously as she returned to the stairs, "Do you really think they're going to let you into the palace looking like this?"

"Yeah, Y/N," Kathryn snickered, "It looks like it could just..." She trailed her sentence off as she came to the steps, reaching up and grabbing the sleeve of your dress, ripping it at the shoulder seam.

"Hey!" you shouted.

"Right?" Abigail added, coming up to you as well, "And this belt..." She grabbed the fabric around your waist and ripped it as well.

"Stop it!" you exclaimed, shoving their hands off of you and stepping up a couple steps to get away from them.

"Now, girls," Clara said in a mock-stern voice, "I won't allow this behavior. Go get in the carriage." The girls giggled as they left the house and your step-mother turned to you once again. "I'm terribly sorry, Y/N," she shook her head, sighing dramatically, "Maybe you'll be able to attend the next ball." Your eyes were narrowed as she sauntered away, waiting until the door was closed before you allowed yourself to cry – you refused to give them the satisfaction of letting them see your tears.

You hopped off the staircase and ran to the back of the house, going outside into your garden. The garden had been the one thing your step-mother didn't touch when changing the house – she claimed it was beyond help and it was so far back in the yard that it didn't even matter if it was removed or not – so it became your safe place after your father died. Your parents weren't buried there, of course – how creepy would that be? – but you did spend your time in garden talking to the sky and imagining they were looking down on you.

And you did exactly that on this night – on the night when all you wanted was to see Michael again – you asked your parents what you should do.

But on this night, someone answered back.

"Well, you should go to the ball, of course!" a voice chirped behind you.

You obviously let out a short scream in surprise before you slapped your hand over your mouth and spun around. Your arm came back down, your eyebrows furrowed together as you looked around, unable to find where the voice came from.

"Oh, silly me!" the voice said again, making you jump, "I forgot you can't see me!"

Your eyes widened as you watched a woman seemingly come out of thin air. She was wearing a big, poufy dress and was holding a wand as she smiled at you.

"That's better!" she said, "Now what seems to be the problem, sweetheart?"

"Who are you...?" you asked slowly.

"Well," she chuckled, "I would think you'd know a fairy godmother when you see one!"

"A... A fairy godmother?" you stuttered out, "They're real?"

"Of course! You said you believed in them as well!"

"When I was a kid!" you shook your head, "I didn't think it was actually true!"

"Well then, how about I work a little magic then?" she smiled, "Do you have anything around here that can be turned into a carriage? A watermelon, perhaps!"

"No..." you said softly, "We don't have any of those..."

"A very large tomato?" she asked.

"None of those either..." you said before perking up, "We have pumpkins though."

"Ah! A pumpkin!" she said excitedly, "That will do perfectly!" You led her to the part of your garden that you were growing pumpkins in. "You might want to stand back," she informed you with a shy grin, "It's been a while since I've done this; I might be a bit rusty." You took a large step away from the edge of the garden, watching in awe as the fairy godmother waved her wand at the pumpkin.

It was hard to believe what you were seeing – and understandably so – but the pumpkin began growing and growing until it was three times as big as you were before magically exploding to reveal a golden carriage.

"Whoa," you murmured to yourself.

"Pretty cool, huh?" the fairy godmother smiled brightly, "Now, do you have any small animals running around here? Some mice, maybe?"

"I think so... There might be some in the shed," you informed her.

You then led her to the run-down looking wooden building beside your garden. You pulled the door open and, sure enough, four mice came scurrying out – but they weren't able to get away before the fairy godmother waved her wand at them. You watched again as the four tiny mice turned into four white horses.

"Oh!" she suddenly exclaimed, "We'll need that too!" You looked over as she was waving her wand at a small lizard, watching him turn into a person. "Well, I think that does it..." she said, "We have a horse-drawn carriage and someone to drive it... I think you're all ready to go, dear!"

"Um, Fairy Godmother..." you said, making her look at you. You didn't say anything else – you just motioned toward your torn dress.

"Oh my! We can't let you go in that!" she exclaimed.

You laughed as she waved her wand at you this time, watching your dress turn into a beautiful blue ball gown fit for a princess. She then waved her wand at your feet, and you felt yourself grow a little taller. You moved the dress out of the way to see the shoes, looking back up at her.

"Glass?" you questioned.

"You'll find they're quite comfortable," she chirped, making you smile as she took you over to the awaiting carriage.

"Wait," you said with a worried look on your face before she helped you in, "What about my step-mother and step-sisters? They'll surely recognize me, won't they?"

"No worries!" she assured you, waving her wand again.

You were sprinkled with a little glitter so you weren't entirely sure what that would do, but you trusted your fairy godmother in that she knew what she was doing. She then helped you inside of the carriage before closing the door.

The horses, however, hadn't even made it 50 feet before you heard your fairy godmother's voice again.

"Y/N, Y/N!" she called, hurrying after you as the carriage stopped abruptly, "I forgot the most important thing: At the last stroke of midnight, the spell will be broken and all will return to the way it once was. You must be back before then."

"Midnight?" you asked.

"Midnight," she clarified with a nod.

"Well, that's more than enough time!" you smiled happily, making her grin as well. She stepped back as the carriage took off again, waving as you looked out the window and thanked her.

~

inspiration: Cinderella (2015)