Stephenie Meyer is the genius behind twilight. But this story is an idea I got from Trueloveskiss.
I woke to sunlight pouring into my room, through the tiny gap in my curtain. Slipping on my slippers, I stepped out of bed and went to wash up and change. Looking into my wardrobe just made me feel horrible. I had no nice dresses to wear to Mrs. Mason's party, my best dress was a cream and dark blue one, but even that didn't match the other ladies. With an envious heart I slid the dress on and tied it up.
Pinning up my hair was a whole other story. My long mahogany hair was wavy and thick and most of the time untamable. On this particular morning it took about 60 pins just to keep it on top of my head.
I walked down the hall, the wood cold on my feet, even through my slippers. Mother was in the kitchen cooking, oatmeal would be my guess. She turned to face me as I entered. Her hair as always looked perfect piled on her head; her dress was a sunny yellow, with no sign of a wrinkle. The way my mother held herself hinted at our once wealthy status.
"You look wonderful Isabella." My mother said proudly. I had always thought I was plain, my skin too pale, my chest to small, my eyes not the fabulous blue most men loved. I never wore make-up or fancy jewellery, I was a plain girl in a society where the plain just slipped through unnoticed, it seemed as though my mother hadn't yet heard that strand of gossip.
"I don't even hold a candle to the other girls who will be there." My mother sighed and stopped paying attention to the simmering oatmeal, turning her full attention on me.
"Isabella you are beautiful, your friend Mary is plain and slightly ugly."
"Mama!" I cried, how could she say such cruel things about my one and only friend. Mary Stewart had been my closest friend since I was ten; she had brown hair and brown eyes. She was no less than a sister to me. Many people thought of her as plain because she wore no jewelry and make-up, she was also worse off than my family making it even worse. But mAry was far beyond plain, she was absolutely amazing. She can hold an intelligent conversation and can find humour in absolutely everything, if that is plain than most people are below plain. I have never met anyone as free-spirited and caring as Mary.
"Oh, Isabella, You know she's plain, use it to your advantage." I stared at her in disbelief, how my mother could use such cruel words. I walked over and grabbed one of the only clean bowls, grabbing my share of the oatmeal I sat down and ate in silence. I would not talk to someone who would use such horrible words to describe my friend. By the time noon rolled around I was slipping on my shoes and heading out the door. Adjusting my dress and fixing my hair once more.
"Remember, be a lady Isabella!" My mother called to me as she closed the door.
"I see your mother is the same as always." Came a soft voice from behind me. I jumped my heart pounding fast in my chest.
"Mary, do you wish to give me a stroke? You gave me quite a fright." I walked down my front steps and linked arms with Mary as we walked towards the Mason's mansion. Mary smiled at me, knowing that I was scared easily, she usually used it to her advantage.
"I didn't mean to scare you, if you were more aware of your surroundings it wouldn't have happened." She responded her voice polite.
"If I wasn't supposed to act like a lady, I would either scowl at you or stick out my tongue, but since people are around I won't." I said smiling. Mary and I always had these types of conversations. We made it appear as if we were only discussing something simple, like the weather but really we are talking of so many other things, some which men deemed inappropriate for ladies to speak of.
"If I wasn't a lady I would surely be working at a house." Mary said in the same detached, polite tone. Mary often confessed to me that she was going to be a prostitute because no man would marry her.
"Mary, it is nice to know that my closest friend would willingly sell her body, if she wasn't taught not too. I, on the other hand would not go to a house, it is too demeaning." We had, had this conversation more than once. Mary thought she would only be wanted by a man is if he could use her, I thought otherwise.
"Isabella, I will never have a husband, no man would ever want someone like me. You on the other hand are stunning and handsome and you don't even wear makeup or jewellery. You match Susan Green, in beauty, but you far surpass her if she wasn't rich, owning a fortune full of jewellery." I sighed forgetting about our pretense.
"Mary, please for me, wait until you are at least twenty-eight before you start dismissing the chance of a husband." I begged. How quick she was to damn her self to a life of ridicule. How could she say no man wanted her when she hasn't met them all? How could she choose a life like that, when most of the men were over seas.
"You ask me to wait eight years. Eight years of people laughing at me or gossiping behind my back. Eight years of rejection and solitude. Isabella, you will be married in less than a year I guarantee it, but you ask me to wait eight years and watch you with your husband, watch you have your first child. If this is what you truly want form me, than I will wait, but only because it is you who asked."
"Mary this is what I truly want from you." She nodded her head and we walked the rest of the way in silence.
The Mason's house was grand and beautiful, it was white with blue shutters and big bay windows. The front law was green and lush, it was well kept for this time of year. The house was one of dreams. The garden was alive with a variety of flowers that would have made an arboury feel jealous; each hedge trimmed and kept in place. The driveway towards the house was straight and wide, tall oak trees running along the edges. A tire swing hung from one of the oak trees and tribute to the long passed away childhood of the Mason's only child. The house was perfect in everyway, it made a poor girl like me feel inadequate.
"Are you ready to meet the witches who wear expensive jewellery and elegant dresses?" Mary asked. I laughed freely at her before we both composed our faces and walked in.
I'm loving the reviews thank you to everyone who is reviewing, most of you I'm pleased to note reviewed my first story. Please keep the reviews coming, they are the one thing that makes me write faster and gives me inspiration.
LilyAlice
P.S Thanks to Lindsay for your fast work on fixing this up.