Shun
It was the day of the party and I pulled out my rental tux out of the plastic bag they used to protect the clothing from dirt and so on. It was just a basic black tux with a green bow tie. Alice was still at work, and her grandfather had left ten minutes ago to go and pick her up. I opened the car door of Dr. Michaels' car he had let me borrow, while he left in Alice's car. They had worked out some kind of agreement where he would drop Alice off at work, then pick her up and drive her to the party while he let me use his car as a means of transportation. I put the key in ignition and backed carefully down the driveway.
I looked into the rearview mirror and thought of how odd I looked in a tux, especially from my everyday clothes. Well, this thing is formal, and I don't want to show up looking like I just walked off the street. In twenty minutes I found the building that Murucho's parents rented out for the night. It turned out to be a huge, fancy dinner hall used by anyone from politicians to celebrities. Once I made sure I had anything and locked the car door, I walked into the building and was greeted by Dan and the others.
Dan was wearing a tux as well, but just had a long red tie on, while Murucho was in kind of a baby blue tux. "Hey buddy! Almost thought you weren't showing up. Where's Alice?" I explained to Dan that she was still at work and would be here in a few minutes. Then Murucho ran up to us and said, "Well, how bout we go downstairs to the main hall?" Sure enough, leading into the main hall was a huge staircase that fanned out the further it went, and right above the center of the room was a giant crystal chandelier. "Wow Murucho, you're parents really outdid themselves on finding this place." Murucho thanked me for my compliment as we descended down the steps.
Alice
I hadn't the fact I had lied to Shun, but I didn't want him to see me in my dress until I was at the party. When my grandfather had dropped me off, it wasn't at the grocery store of course, it was at a make-up and hair salon. After I had gotten my hair and make-up done, I went into a store with a changing room and put my dress on. Now, I was waiting for my grandfather to pick me up and drive me to the party. Soon I heard the rumbling of my car's engine, and he drove into the parking lot. I opened the door and hoped in. "You look nice Alice. Shun's lucky you know that right?" I giggled and thanked my grandpa as we drove we off. When we arrived at the location, I was completely shocked at the size of the building.
I can't even begin the think of what the size of this place is inside! I saw my grandfather's car that Shun had borrowed parked a few spaces down. Good, he's here. "Thank you so much for letting me go grandfather." I leaned over and kissed my grandpa on the cheek and climbed out of the car. I went through the front entrance, and was directed by some guy in a tux to go and find the staircase and go to the main hall. I saw the stairs and took a deep breath. This is it Alice. Your time to shine. And your chance to surprise Shun. I then found myself at the top of the stairs with everyone's eyes on me.
Shun
While I was speaking to Rafe and Murucho, Dan hit my shoulder with his hand. "What is it Dan?" He shook his head in the direction of the stairs and said, "Alice is here and you should see her." I looked up at the flight of steps and literally had my breath taken away. Alice had her hair done up in an elegant ponytail with a purple bow where the ponytail was tied at. But what really caught my eyes was her dress. It was a silk purple spaghetti strap dress that came just above her knees and fluffed out slightly at the bottom. I met her at the bottom of the stairs and grabbed both her hands in mine.
"Alice, you look stunning." She blushed through her make-up and said, "I wasn't really at work. I had gone to get my hair done and didn't want you to see me in my dress till the party. I hope you're not mad at me." I smiled and shook my head. "Now how can I be mad at something as beautiful as you? Oh, I see you decided to wear the necklace I got you." She gently placed her hands on the white flowered necklace I bought her at the gift shop at the hospital. "Of course. It's special to me, and goes with the dress." Dan then jumped between us out of nowhere and said, "Hey, you two get a room later! We're here to party!" Alice started blushing madly, and I could feel my own face turning red. Grrrr…..Dan! "I'm going to go talk to Runo and Julie, kay Shun?" I told her go on ahead. While Alice and the other girls were talking, I walked over to the refreshment table and fixed the two of us a glass of punch. When I turned around, a bluenette haired girl in a long gold formal gown caught my attention. Fabia. I thought she was back in Neathia now.
I suppressed a growl that was trying to escape my throat. Just ignore her Shun. That's all you can do. "Hey Alice, I got you something to drink." She turned around and took that drink from me. "Thanks Shun. I was getting thirsty." I guess I can go over and talk to Dan and Murucho. While I was walking off I caught a little of the girls' conversations. They were mainly complementing Alice's dress and such. When I walked up to Dan, he immediately said, "Dude, Alice looks great tonight. I mean, she was always cute, but I've never seen her dressed up like this." I looked back at Alice and she turned her head slightly and waved at me. I smiled and waved back. The whole night at the party was mainly all talking. Although there was music playing over the speaker system, nobody could hear it. Finally around midnight the party had fully diffused, and all that was left was Me, Alice, Dan, and all the others that came with Murucho on this trip.
We all stood outside and said our good-byes, then climbed into our cars. When I walked up to Dr. Michaels' car, I opened Alice's door and waited for her. I noticed she seemed to be moving a little slow. She must be exhausted. I helped her into the car and then got into the driver's side and turned the vehicle on. We were halfway back to her house, I looked over at her. She had leaned her head against the window and had fallen asleep. After ten more minutes, I pulled the car into the driveway. As I turned the car off and placed my hand on Alice's shoulder and shook her lightly. "Alice. Hey Alice wake up. We're at your house." She only moved and mumbled. You're gunna make me pull you out of this car, aren't you? When I walked over to her side and opened the door, the light on the inside of the car revealed that Alice's cheeks were slightly flushed. I placed the back of my hand on her forehead.
Ah man, she's warm. I need to get her inside and out of this cold. I threw her arm over my shoulder and pulled her out of the car, then helped her to her feet. Her eyes were still closed, and when she took a few steps she would either stumble or her legs would buckle. There's no way I can get her inside at this rate. I need help. I saw the light on in the kitchen and Dr. Michaels silhouette in the window. I called out his name and he immediately ran outside. "What happened to Alice?" When the weight of Alice was bearable for me I said, "I'm not sure. All I know is she's running a fever." When we finally did get inside, we placed Alice down on the couch. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the blanket Alice had given me when I fell asleep on the couch a while back, and covered her up with it. Dr. Michaels then walked back into the room and placed an ice cold damp cloth on her forehead. The elder man then spoke. "Shun, how about you go on to sleep. I know it's been a long day and you're probably tired. I'll take care of Alice while you sleep, and give her some medicine when she wakes up." I looked at him and said, "Thank you Dr. Michaels. If I wasn't so tired, I'd stay up and take care of her, but a good night's rest and I should be able to tend to her tomorrow." The man nodded and I headed upstairs and crawled into my bed, practically falling asleep the instant I laid down.