Rajakumari, the story of a high school princess

Party Like a Fairy.

"Always be yourself. Unless you can be a unicorn, then always be a unicorn."

I braid my hair into a fishtail, gazing in the mirror to apply the light eyeliner around my eyes. Nandita pops her lips beside me.

"I can't believe we are doing this." She pulls loose some tendrils of hair to frame her face, elaborating her bun that is tied with a sparkling red scrunchee.

"YOU don't have to do anything. This is a senior function." She shrugs, and I shake my head. "Jay is going to be here in a bit. Abhi, I really just want to enjoy my senior year. I barely get to do anything, and Bapi would not have approved of a senior party, especially on a school night."

I straighten my blue and white striped halter quarter sleeve halter top, then pull on my black leather jacket. My tight skinny jeans surprisingly allow for a lot of flexibility.

"You ready?"

She nods, slipping into her grey converse that match her frilly bejeweled blouse. I slip on my white flats and lead the way downstairs. Robert and Julie are conversing at the reception counter.

"Girls, your mother went with your father to his business meeting. She will be back later. Does she know---"

"Yep."

Nandita huffs and puts her hand on her hip. "Don't you have things to do other than monitor us?"

Robert mocks her in a high-pitched voice, and they stick their tongues out at one another as usual.

"Does she know what you're WEARING?" Julie leans on the counter with raised eyebrows. "I know your father can't possibly know. Where is this party anyway?"

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" I spread out my arms for emphasis. "I have on a tank-top underneath."

"Nothing, if your father wasn't as strict businessman, but this isn't going to go over well with him." She shakes your head. "Guess we are going to be seeing a lot of you after tonight because THAT outfit is definitely not going to help your case."

"It's a chaperoned party that is thrown every year as tradition. What could go wrong?" Nandita continues toward the door.

"Besides, Bapi won't be back until morning."

Robert shrugs while Julie goes back to work as a couple comes to check in.

As we finally make our way through the big glass doors, I immediately spot Jayanand's blue classic mustang with the lights out across the street.

As I slip into the car, Jayanand grins and kisses me. "You fine thing, you."

"You both look hot," Roman agrees.

"Thanks, Romeo, you know I do it only for you," Nandita replies.

Jayanand laughs. "Hey, Rome, we have the all-around best girls, right?"

"Oh yeah, and no one better even look at them too hard." A dimpled smile alights on his handsome caramel brown face as he stares at Nandita. They have been together secretly for a year.

"You're too kind," I laugh, finally relaxing as we get to the main road. Jayanand flicks on the lights, and I let out the breath I have been holding.

He finds my hand in the seat beside him. "Have fun, Maddie. I'm not going to let anything happen to you tonight. After this summer, nothing will be the same for us. We are going to medical school, so let's enjoy this time while we have it."

I squeeze our fingers together as we reach the park where the party is being held. Glowing mushroom lanterns float around the Plaza Hotel as students mingle; most of them did not have to sneak out. After all, this party is a tradition that was planned by our student body executive board and is just as popular as prom. Flashing our student IDs, we check-in without a problem.

"Heyyy, J," some girls sing, obviously drunk. I guess they came drunk, or someone has already spiked the punch. I am surprised to see a girl named Erica among them; she is a high-performing student, but tonight, she is obviously reveling in a different atmosphere.

Their pants are plastered to their butts, and their shirts barely make it to meet the rims of their jeans. Since this party is considered a school function, dress-code is still a thing, and I am glad I wore the tank-top underneath my shirt as we pass chaperones headed to confront the girls. Despite my comparatively modest dress, I still capture surprised glances from guys.

"Guess we clean up well," Nandita jokes as she grabs a lantern with glowing fairy-wings.

The president of the student body, Paige, is an art extraordinaire , so the theme was determined to be "Enchanted Forest."

"Very well," Roman agrees, slipping his hand into hers.

"Heyyyy, Maddie," Paige sings, letting an explosion of glitter decorate my hair. "Now, you will fit right in."

"Nice job, Paige. This party is amazing."

"Thanks, but credit to my team as well. I had awesome support. The teachers say this is the best senior bash they've seen since 1995."

The punch glows green. The food is dainty and delicate looking, like something fairies would eat. The DJ plays some kind of modern day pop until Jerry takes the mike, and then a circle forms around him.

"Maddie, let's go!" Nandita squeals, grabbing my hand and dragging me toward the circle. "We should dance..."

"I'm down," Roman agrees, slipping his hands on Nandita's hips.

One of our other friends, Danica, flips her blonde hair. "Let's do it. We can rock this dance circle."

I follow them, finding Jerry's beat.

"OOOH, it's about to get TOO HOTT up in here!" Jerry screams. "Hey, hey, it's senior year, and we are all excited to be here. Paige put together this set, and you better bet, it's the flyest party going on tonight, and ya'll can I say, these beauties are out of sight!"

The spotlight hits us, and Nandita and I do some traditional Bollywood style moves while Danica does a hip-hop/ballet mix. Nandita and I have been dancing since we were young, and the flexible moves come naturally---concentrating on the motions in our hips in line with our waists and bellies. Danica twirls past us as Roman does a spin on the floor and break dances.

As the music starts again, Jayanand takes my hand and leads me in a traditional Bollywood style couple's dance with lots of bouncing and shifting effortlessly across the floor, which is hard to do in boots. The circle cheers, and then other people join us to show off their dance moves. Then the dj makes the mistake of putting on a slow song with a strong beat----Nandita and I grab Jayanand and Roman to join the other couples on the dance floor. As I dance on Jayanand behind me, I suddenly stare up into the piercing blue eyes of Mr. Walker in front of me: "Five inches between dance partners..."

But I barely register what he is saying because I also meet the stern brown gaze of...Mehul...Jayanand's top body guard.

Nandita sucks in a breath and mouths, Oh crap.