Over the Wall: A Collection of Short Stories (NaNoWriMo 2014)

Day 14: Debuts and Tuxes

Note: This is kind of a short one but I hope you like it. Also, this is dedicated to bri1128 for all her help during NaNoWriMo :)

“If I had a son who looked like that in a tux, I would have him wear one all the time.” She said. I rolled my eyes.

My aunt and I were sitting on a bench watching the escorts for the debut get ready. I was not being presented, my cousin was. Technically I was the proper age and breeding to be presented but I had dodged that bullet. Now I was just here helping my cousin get ready and keep my aunt from drinking too much.

I did not understand why debuts were so important. We were in the twenty-first century not the 1800s. Girls did not need to be auctioned off to potential husbands as soon as they reached the age of sixteen. Didn’t the DAR know that our lifespans were longer now? It was pretty revolting to watch.

Each girl wore a fancy ballgown, a white ballgown, as if to remind all the young men what the young girl would like as she walked down the aisle at their society wedding. As if the young men cared. They were more interested in getting under the girls’ dresses, not what they looked like in them, The whole thing was a joke.

I did have to agree with my aunt, however, at how nice some of the young men looked in their outfits. They were very regency appropriate, of course, but they made the young men look very dashing. I cringed at the thought. They were hormonal teenaged boys, not Prince Charming. I needed to get a grip.

The young man my aunt had been talking about in particular was maybe about ten feet from us and was being berated by his date, the “fragile” creature she was. For such a short girl it was impressive how well she was able to get in his face. Poor boy, I thought. I felt bad for him. Just not quite bad enough to intervene at all. Even if I knew either of them I doubted I would.

Finally, the girl let the boy escape as she went to fix her make up for the millionth time. It was still another hour and a half until the ball started but apparently all the girls had to be ready as soon as possible so the most people could see them when they looked like they did. Me, personally, would do the opposite and make sure the least number of people see me. That is, if I was coming out like I should. But I’m not. It still makes me so happy to know I’m not.

I was snapped out of my little reverie by my aunt poking me in between the ribs. She looked shocked and when I looked at her like she was crazy she pointed at what she was looking at. I followed her gaze.

“Oh god.” I said.

In the doorway of the prepping room was my cousin’s father, my uncle, and also my aunt’s ex-husband. He was not supposed to be here, he refused to be here actually, but there he was. This was not going to be good.

He looked around uncertainly and paused when he saw the two of us sitting there, staring at him. He took a deep breath then walked over, keeping his eyes on my aunt the entire time.

“Charlotte.” He said to me while looking at her. “Vi.” He said to her, his voice sounding like a breath as he said it.

“Uncle Nat.” I said, putting on a smile. He smiled like he saw me smile but he was still looking at my aunt. The smile looked like it was as forced as mine.

“Nat.” My aunt said, with no expression on her face.

“How are you?” He asked.

“I’m fine.” She said, then turned to me. “How are you Char? Holding up?” I nodded, feeling like I should go somewhere not here.

“That’s great.” Uncle Nat said, watching her every move, taking her in. Aunt Vi said nothing, she was staring back at him now. While his gaze was full of emotions I couldn’t decipher, hers was blank, almost curious.