Ella and the Floating City

Chapter 4

Today is the day. The day of magic and happiness. The perfect day for any person in their right minds. Well let me tell you something... I'm not in my right mind. I am completely dreading this day. What have I done wrong to deserve this? Nothing. I tell myself. Absolutely nothing. As I pity myself, I hear my bedroom door open and I know that it is Arabell.
"Good morning!" She sings as she yanks open the soft and delicate curtains, letting the bright sun leak into my room. I hiss as the blinding light hits my eyes and I hide myself under my comforter, praying that the light goes away. I just want to sleep. Is that too much to ask? "Get up lazy bum! We have a date with the ball tonight!"
"Let me think, ummmmmm, no," I say and even though I can't see her I know she's pouting.
"Well, too bad for you because this isn't up for discussion," She says with finality in her voice. I roll my eyes and slowly sit up in my bed, the comforter softly falling to my waist and exposing the silk tank top covering my upper body.
"Fine, what are we wearing for this extremely special event?" I ask. You can hear the sarcasm dripping bitterly from my voice.
"That's just fascinating," She says with a smirk. I give her a confused look.
"What is?" I ask.
"You look so beautiful when you wake up but your looks don't match your attitude at all," She replies with a laugh. I give her a scowl and throw my pillow at her. She has said this for years but I guess some things just don't change. Whatever, I'm just not a morning person. You mess with me getting my sleep, you will pay.
"I suggest you leave before I do something you will not like," I tell her with a hard glare. Her eyes widen and she walks out of my room without another word. She knows not to mess with me when I get angry. The last time she woke me up and didn't listen to my warning about what I was going to do, she ended up on the floor with me sitting on her back and holding her arm behind her. After that she knew not to mess with me when I was tired.
I finally get out of my bed and walk towards the kitchen in my silk tank top and soft, silky, short, sleeping bottoms that stop just below my butt. My body is fairly nice. I have medium sized breasts, a slim waist, wide hips, a big butt and long, slender legs. My hair is a blondish brown color that falls to my waist in soft curls. I have blue eyes, full pink lips, perfectly arched eyebrows, a small nose, long eyelashes and a strong jawline. Some people say that I am as close to perfect as you can get. I don't personally see it.
I walk into the kitchen and start to make breakfast. I walk to the fridge and pull out eggs, milk, bacon and yogurt. When I start to fry the bacon in a pan Arabell makes her way to the kitchen.
"Oh my lord that smells like heaven," She says with wide eyes and some drool making its way down her chin.
"I hope you know that you're drooling," I say to her. She immediately takes her arm and wipes it across her mouth and chin. I chuckle slightly and get back to work.
"I just can't help it! Your cooking always smells so good!" She exclaims.
"I always make this in the mornings. I don't know why you're still drooling over the same meal every day," I say smiling at her. She just rolls her eyes and sits down at the diner table.
"So... about the ball," She finally says after some time. I groan and don't reply. I absolutely do not want to go to this stupid thing. "I have some connections and they got us dresses for the ball. I saw them and they look absolutely beautiful. I think you'll like them,"
"Yeah, sure," I say stoically.
"Don't give me that attitude. You are going to this ball and you are going to be happy about it," She says with a stern look. I scowl at her and then go back to serving breakfast.
"Why do I have to go? It's just a stupid ball. It's not even important," I say. She gasps and looks at me shocked. "What?"
"How could you say that?! This is extremely important! The Prince is going to be picking a bride! You could be picked!" She squeals loudly at me as I set our breakfast onto the table.
"Scream in my ear one more time and see what happens," I say to her with an angry expression. She looks shocked for a moment but quickly covers it up.
"Or what? Are you gonna throw another pillow at my face?" She asks with a smirk. I give her my deadliest glare and the smirk is immediately wiped off of her face.
"Don't test me Arabell," I say.
"Fine. But you're still going to the dance,"
"Ok. What does my dress look like?" I ask her. She looks at me and gives me a sly smirk.
"I'll show you," She says before she leaves to go get my dress. I wait patiently, hoping that I hate the dress and she won't make me go. I mean, why do I have to go? She can go with Frank. I'd be the third wheel anyway. Plus, it's just a dumb ball. Nothing exciting happens there. It's not like I'm going to meet the man of my dreams and we're going to dance the night away and live happily ever after. That's not how it works. There's too much stuff I need to worry about right now and a guy is not something I want to add to my list.
As I continue on my train of thought, Arabell return with a black bag and a small box. I give her a questioning look and she just smiles at me.
"Ok, here they are. Now close your eyes," She tells me. I do as I'm instructed and wait for her to give me the ok. "Now, open your eyes,"
I open my eyes to the most beautiful dress I have ever laid my eyes on. It is a solid, baby blue fabric dress that flows to the ground and has a long cut down the right side so when I were to walk it would show a good portion of my right leg. The upper part looks to be fitted to my chest, slim stomach and waist. The straps are thick and off the shoulder. The top is ironed to perfection, it meets the rest of the fabric right at the waist and then everything else cascades to the ground like a beautiful waterfall meeting the river below it.
I turn my head to look at the box and inside I see part of a heel but nothing more because there is fabric covering them. I gently pick up the fabric and take out one of the heels. They are absolutely breathtaking. They're glass and they have these beautiful floral type designs engraved into them. That's when a thought hits me.
     "Won't these hurt my feet?" I ask Arabell.
     "No. I asked when I purchased them from my friends. They said they might look uncomfortable but they feel and fit like any other high heel," She says.
     "So they're uncomfortable," I mutter under my breath. Arabell gasps and I chuckle in response. She knows that I don't do this type of stuff so she should have expected that type of comment from me.
    "Well? What do you think?" She asks excitedly.
"They're fine I guess. I would like them a lot better if I wasn't being forced to go to this stupid ball," I reply as I scrunch up my nose to show my dislike for this situation.
"Don't do that. It'll cause wrinkles," She says as she pokes my nose. I frown and stop making the face.
"Look, I will go with you to this dumb event but you owe me beignets for a month," I say as I strike up a bargain. She smiles like a mad man and squeals.
"Deal!" She runs up to me and gives me a bone crushing hug, yet again.
    "You know... I kind of need to breathe," I try to say through gasps of air.
    "Oh sorry. You know how I get when I'm excited," She says as she laughs. I wonder how bad you're going to be when Frank asks you to marry him. I say in my head. I chuckle slightly at the thought. "What's so funny?" I whip my head to look at Arabell. I completely forgot she was there.
"Nothing. I was just thinking about something funny. So, what are you wearing to the ball?" I ask quickly, trying to change the subject.
"Oh! I almost forgot to show you mine!" She exclaims as she runs to her room. Phew, that was a close call I mentally say to myself as I let out a sigh of relief. I almost just ruined everything for Arabell and Frank. Arabell returns seconds later with another black bag and small box. She opens the black bag first and inside is a gorgeous pink dress. It has a low V-cut, the sleeves are long and at the end of them is a little piece of fabric looped in the middle so she can put it around her middle finger.
    The dress is fitted perfectly for her smaller chest, slim waist and flat stomach. The top of the dress is lacy, the fabric is cinched at the waist and then it delicately flows down to the floor but it doesn't go any further than her feet. She opens the small box, takes off the wrapping around her heels and pulls out a beautiful pair of sparkly, silver high heels. The heels seem to be about 3-4 inches tall but that doesn't surprise me. Of course she would get us the same sized heel. She wants me to suffer through this whole event.
    "These are beautiful Arabell. You are definitely going to steal Frank's breath away," I say with a proud smile. I know that may sound weird but I am proud of her. She's going to get married and she has grown into this beautiful, strong and intelligent girl. I never could've asked for a better friend and sister figure than the one that is standing right in front of me. We're both 26 but I am older by a few months. I never let her forget it either. I mean, if she's going to mess with me I'm going to mess with her. Fair is fair.
    "Thank you. I really needed to hear that. I just hope he likes how I look," She says as she looks over the dress she is going to wear.
    "Frank is a lucky man and he loves you more than anything. Never doubt that," I say to her. It's true. When he looks at her he has this sparkle in his eyes, and you can instantly tell that he is head over heels in love with her.
    "I love him too. More than anything. Well, besides you. Because I love you," She says as she showers me with kisses on the forehead.
    "Arabell! I'm going to kill you!" I yell at her. She stops and gives me an evil grin.
    "Only if you can catch me!" She yells as she runs out the sliding glass door that leads to the stables. So she wants to play this game does she? Well, she is going to lose. I grin mischievously and run after her. She makes it to Harlow and takes off into the air. I run towards Maybell, jump on her and tell her to go as fast as she can. She neighs in response and we bolt off.
    I watch as we gain on Arabell and Harlow by the second. This is one of my favorite things. I have always loved flying with Maybell but it's even better when Arabell and I are doing it together. It just gives me a sense of feeling like I'm home when I'm in the air with the ones closest to me.
    Arabell looks but just in time to see Maybell and me speed past her and Harlow. She gives me a perplexed look and then a look of realization when she finally realizes that she just lost the race. I smirk at her and then tell Maybell to turn around and head home. She grunts at me. I know what that means. Don't get an attitude with me. I understand that you want to keep playing by we have to go back. Arabell and I need to get ready for a ball," and with that said, Maybell turns around, Arabell and Harlow in tow, and we head back home.
    We get back after a few minutes and Arabell and I get our Pegasus ready for when we leave for the ball. After that we go into our little cottage and get ready for the evening. I take off my pajamas, wait. I'm still in my pajamas?! I just flew around town in clothing that barely covers me up! Well, let's just hope that no one recognized me or my Pegasus. Anyways, after I undress, I slide into the gorgeous dress and I gently put on the glass heels. When I'm done doing that I brush my naturally soft, curly hair and apply some eyeshadow for dramatic effect. I'm hoping that the eyeshadow will make it a bit harder for people to recognize me. Once I'm done I give myself a once over and I leave my bedroom.
    "Ella let's go we're already la-" Arabell stops what she's saying once she sees me. "You look amazing! The Prince will definitely notice you and sweep you away!"
    "Let's get one thing straight. I'm not going for the Prince, I'm going because you're making me and because you are going to buy me beignets for a month. Also, you look beautiful as well. Frank is going to be blown away. Speaking of Frank, where is he?" I ask.
    "He said he's going to meet us at the ball. Now let's go!" She yells. We rush out of the house, jump onto our Pegasus, and leave for the ball. This is going to be a nightmare.