Another Fairytale - Sacrificed to the Beast ✓ (completed)

Chapter 4- Long Lost Friend

   "Bella!" Miss Larissa hollered from her room down the hallway. "Are you ready?"

   "Almost!" I grunted back as I tried to pull up the tight bodice of the dress I was told to wear.

   Apparently all of the people that entered the Choosing had to wear identical outfits.

   The girls were stuck wearing pastel pink dresses with a tight bodice and the boys were put in slacks and a white dress shirt.

   The past few weeks went by in a blur. Lee was working with the officers and as much as I hated the thought of him working with the corrupt officers in this town, he was taking in good money. I was proud of how hard he was working, and it was paying off for him too.

   The only thing I wasn't proud of, was how friendly him and Bennett had become. Every time I saw my brother, he was with Bennett. And every time I saw them, I would pull Lee in for a hug and scowl at Bennett over his shoulder. Bennett just smiled at me and had a coughing fit – to cover up his laughter, I presume.

   I smiled triumphantly as I finally got the dress on. It was actually a very pretty dress, my mother's design no doubt. Ever since she got Marla to help her with the sewing, her designs have been selling like crazy – but it still wasn't enough to live off of. Considering how many of these dresses had to be made, I'm assuming she sold the design instead of having Marla make them all. A good deal for the town, but not a good deal for us.

   The bodice of this dress was tighter then most and had a beautiful sparkling spiral design embedded in it, the sleeves were puffier and hung off the shoulder but tightened as they went down the arm, cutting off at the wrist, the skirt was a shimmery pink and fluffed out gracefully, barely skimming the ground.

   I sat down in front of my mirror and idly played with my hair, trying to decide what to do with it.

   I saw movement in my peripheral vision and turned to see Miss Larissa who was dressed in a sleek royal blue dress.

   "You look beautiful," I told her as I played with my hair.

   Miss Larissa tsked at me. "No, Dear. I am pretty. You are beautiful. No. I take that back. You are stunning."

   I blushed at her words and watched her fix my hair. She put part of it up and stuck in a butterfly clip to hold it. She gently pulled some strands out to frame my face and twirled the brown locks around her finger, leaving them in loose spirals.

   "There," she said as she nodded her head. "Now you pay more attention to your beautiful face."

   I blushed and looked down again, mumbling my thanks.

   Miss Larissa's finger found its way under my chin and pulled my face up. Her eyes met mine and she started speaking slowly to me, as if I was just a young child.

   "Bella. You are beautiful. You need to get used to complements. One day you will find a man that will do nothing but complement you. How could he not? You. Are. Beautiful."

   "Thank you," I whispered past the newly formed lump in my throat.

   I was bullied as a child and always thought complements came with a catch or some sort of punch line, but Miss Larissa was right. She wasn't those girls and no one had poked fun at me for a long time. One day, I would find a man that was as kind to me as he should be and then some.