Chapter One
My eyes water slightly as I read the concluding paragraph of one of my favorite books. It's a fairy tale that ends in happiness for the protagonist and misery and woe for the antagonist. I usually feel a sense of justice when I read how the antagonist is enslaved or banished. But no matter how many times I read this story, I always feel for the poor villain, who was wrapped into the whole thing not by his own will but his bloodline.
I jump off my bed and place the book back into its revered slot of First Book on my bookshelf. I have hundreds of books. Big thick ones, skinny frail ones, fairy tales, romance novels, fantasy adventures. Everything but reality. As I'm straightening my line of figurines, the door behind me opens and my dad appears in the doorway holding Timmy.
"Knock knock." He smiles. He's a handsome man for his age. he has a head of black hair, barely receding, and dazzling green eyes. And he goes to the gym every weekend, not to mention all the stuff he does at work as a P.E. coach. "My my you look pretty tonight Nessie." He observes, using my pet name to add a "dadly" influence. For some reason my mom decided to name me Wednesday. Whether it was an homage to Adam's Family or simply because she knew I would need an interesting name if I wanted to follow her dreams and go into show business, I'll never know.
"I was practicing my lines. I thought I'd get in character." I explain. My eyes travel to the little ginger headed, booger spewing, slobber slopping infant in my dad's arms. He's one now, but still an annoying baby. I narrow my eyes slightly at him but play it off by scratching my nose to distract dad's attention from my glare to my "itch". Timmy starts whining slightly at my menacing eyes.
"Hey there. What's up buddy? Well I just came up to tell you that you have a caller at the door." He explains.
"a caller? Like a boy?" he laughs at my cynicism. No one has asked me on a date since I was fourteen. Most boys think I'm strange.
"Yes. A mystery boy at that. Don't think I've ever seen him around before." Timmy has started crying now and dad bounces him trying to calm him down. "I'm going to go consult Alison about Timmy's dinner time. Be nice with your man friend." he warns. I glow bright red and he laughs. He doesn't close the door but he doesn't need to. I don't even bother taking off my costume, a renaissance era peasant dress and garland. I simply descend the stairs and stand in front of the door.
I peek through the peephole in the door before opening it. I don't see anyone right off the bat, but he could be leaning against the wall to the left, out of the range of the peephole. I slowly open the door and peek outside. It's a still, chilly evening and everything is silent. Most importantly, I don't see any "caller".
Now I've had some pretty cruel practical jokes pinned on me in my time, but seriously? What would they have done if I had answered and not my dad? 'oh sorry wrong house. I was looking for a pretty, smart, not freaky girl'. Instead they got my dad, who will now question me mercilessly over my visitor who is apparently a ghost.
I sigh and close the door, leaning against it so I can wallow in self-pity for a moment. But then there's a knock on the door. I vigilantly open it again. Standing there is Edgar Vanderlan, the star quarterback of the V Team and the guy I've had a crush on ever since kindergarten. My eyes widen at his smiling perfect face.
"Edgar!" I say utterly surprised.
"Hey doll." He smiles, obviously noticing his effect on me. "sorry, I was sitting on the bench around the corner. Missed you when you first came to the door." He explains.
"Wh…what are you doing here?" I try not to sound mean as I say it, only pleasantly surprised.
"Well, it's about the prom." My heart skips a beat. "I heard you don't have a date." This time it skips two beats.
"Uh…yeah. I'm pretty dateless." I say rather idiotically.
"Great, would you like to go with me?" he asks.
"Really?" I ask quietly. He smiles.
"Really."
"Yeah! I mean yes. I'd love to." I smile, trying not to sound lame.
"Fantastic. I'll be seeing you then." he smiles a soul soaring smile, leans in and kisses my cheek, then turns to walk back to his car.