Mature. Viewer Discretion is advised.
*The people inside of this work are FACE-CLAIMS. This has no correlation to any IRL individual.*
*This is messy plot. Made when I was a teen. Beware.*
The story of a young woman who finds her style, self worth...
"Puts on a smile and breathes it in and breathes it out..." ♫ The Great Escape by Patrick Watson.
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On June 12th, 2010 - I received a pink parchment paper invite tucked in my bedroom windowsill, formally inviting me to a fairy, princess, pirate tea party for one Arabella Silver.
It was her welcome home to where she belonged; with her family.
After four more days at the hospital in New York to help her get stronger, we all, including her, caught a flight back to Chicago. Bella was airlifted to a hospital in the city and today, after a brief checkup, she was home for real, ready to spend her last day or two, surrounded by the people who loved her the most.
When Koi told me the bad news about Bella back in New York after an emotional phone call with a sobbing Niko, I was in shock. I was devastated.
Not just for me, but for Cosette and Harlow. For Niko and Mike.
It was surreal to imagine Bella not being alive.
It felt wrong, even for me, to accept that she'd be really gone this time.
She was seven, with cancer, with trauma, with a past filled full of neglect and harm.
If there was a fucking god, they were doing a shit job.
I wanted to string a rope around their neck and kick the damn chair.
The past month had been an unfair life to live.
I couldn't see past this cloud of hurt.
It hung over our heads; Harlow and I, pouring rain and hail down on us until we were black and blue all over - wet and sick. We had each other, we held hands in the horror of it all, but it never stopped.
I needed something good.
I needed some happiness again.
Which was why I was going to that party, despite my anxiety and paranoia, and I was going to be there for him and her, and all of them. I was going to draw on a smile with red lipstick and play pretend until it came true.
Koi and I, by Harlow's request on the invitation, made Tinkerbell themed chocolate cupcakes with green, iridescent, edible glitter and chocolate filling. We packed up makeup, wrapped up gifts in pretty green bows, and brought enough candy to rot the teeth out of your mouth. We dressed up per tea party attire, and headed right across the street to a home covered in balloons.
"Ready toots?" Koi squeezed my hand as we stood on the porch step.
"Ready." I smiled.
We knocked on the door, hearing music inside, and when it was opened to Niko with an eye-patch, a hook for a hand, and a KISS style wig on his head, I knew this was going to be a day to remember, "Hello there, fairy princesses! Are you by chance here for a magic tea party in the palace?" He leaned against the door frame and spoke in the most posh accent he could.
