Auras-Book One

Chapter 35

           

Kaitlyn returned the next morning, her car full of bags.  "Hey, Katie!  How are you?"  She hugged me as I came out to help her.

"Not bad, I guess.  How was your trip?"  I loaded my arms with bags and boxes.

"Quite successful, I believe.  How is Savannah?"

"I'm just fine, as always."  Savannah opened the door for us.  "Welcome home, Kaitlyn."  She took some of the packages and followed us into the parlor.

"I have surprises!"  She began pawing through her bags, and handed us each a box.

"Kaitlyn, you shouldn't have."  Savannah and I opened our gifts. 

Wrapped inside were beautiful dresses for us both.  Savannah's was white and mine was purple.  They were old fashioned ball gowns, complete with bejeweled face masks.

"I thought we might enjoy an evening in the city."  Her eyes sparkled.  "There's a masquerade ball in New Orleans this weekend."

I looked over at Savannah, excitedly.  "A ball?!"

She grinned at Kaitlyn.  "It has been a while, hasn't it?"

"I thought Katie might enjoy a night out after all the work she has been doing.  We could all use an evening of fun."  She pulled her dress out of a box and held it up.  "What do you think?"  It was red, of course, and had intricate beading on the bodice.

I could feel my excitement growing.  "As much as I like it here, I would love a night out on the town!"

"Then it's settled."  Kaitlyn put her dress back in the box.  "Tomorrow night we masquerade!"

I woke up the next morning, excited for my first fun outing in a long time.  Savannah and Kaitlyn were at the table, enjoying another giant breakfast.  "Katie, we will suspend our training for the day.  We have a lot of preparations to make for tonight." 

She wasn't kidding.  As soon as breakfast was over, I was whisked away to Savannah's dressing room, where a red-haired woman was waiting for me.  "I'm Shannon."  She held out her hand to me.  "I'll be helping you with your hair and makeup."

"Oh, okay."  I shook her hand.

"Go ahead and have a seat."  She gestured towards a vanity with a big mirror.  "How would you like your hair tonight?"

I shrugged.  "I'm not very good at this kind of stuff, so I'll go with whatever you think is best."

She nodded.  "Very well."

I sat in the chair for almost three hours while she transformed me from frumpy to fabulous.  She curled my hair, and put half of it up, leaving some of the curls down to frame my face.  My makeup was done with purples to match my dress.  "You will be wearing a mask over the top of your face."  She informed me. "But let's plump up those eyelashes anyway."

After she was done, she helped me get into my dress.  I stood in front of the mirror, marveling at my reflection, feeling like a princess.  I caught a glimpse of the sparkle from my ring, and held my hand up to look at it.  There really was no point in wearing it, since I wasn't sure I would ever see Dustin again, let alone get married.  Seeing it caused pain to course through my body, reminding me of what was missing on this special night.  I took it off and set it on the vanity.  Tonight, I would be someone else, without the uncertainty of the past few weeks.

"Katie, you look amazing!"  Savannah swept into the dressing room, her white ball gown making her look like a tiny Cinderella.

I smiled.  "This is my first real dance.  I'm so excited.  Where is Kaitlyn?"