Chapter 2- Dress Shopping

I was getting ready for my date. I finally have a date with Daring Charming, and the thought makes me glow inside. I looked at my phone. My roommate back at Ever After High, Cedar Wood, Raven Queen, Madeline Hatter, Ginger BreadHouse and Rosabella Beauty sent their best wishes. I opened my wardrobe and frowned. All of my dresses had hoods, and now that my secret was out, I no longer had to hide. I looked at the clock. There was about two hours until my date. Enough time to go shopping for a new dress.

When I walked into the Gingerbread Boutique, Blondie came to join me. "Hi Cerise. I heard about your first challenge. How are you feeling?" I noticed that Blondie was holding her mirror pad out.
"I am feeling pretty hexcited because this is my first challenge. I don't mind if I become Daring's Queen, because I will be able to get to know him better."
"Thank you for the interview," Blondie began as she put her mirror pad away. "If you need any help choosing a dress, I'm right here."

At that moment, Apple and Lizzie walked in, bickering. "What's going on?" I asked.
"Personally, I'm not sure if I want to be his queen." Lizzie said.
"But who wouldn't?" Apple asked.

Poof! It was at that point that Kitty decided to enter as Holly and Duchess walked through the door. Well, Holly was walking. Duchess was dancing. "Hi guys." Apple said. "I'm so glad you could make it."
"So, what are we doing in a boutique?" Kitty purred.
"Don't tell me that you forgotten our dates with Daring." Duchess snapped.
"Well, I'm not interested."
"You two, stop bickering." I yelled. Everyone fell quiet. "Apple, how long until our dates with Daring?"
"Our dates are in forty five minutes." Apple answered. "Come on, everyone. There is so little time. We are going to go in pairs to choose our dresses."

"I've got a list here!" Blondie called. "Lizzie, you are with Kitty. Duchess is with Holly and Apple is with Cerise."
"Right, let's go!" Holly said. Myself and Apple linked arms and we walked off together.

"Do you have any idea of what you want to wear?"
"Something that doesn't have a hood. Now my secret is out, I don't want to hide it again." I answered. "What about you?"
"Well, I'll want to wear something with red, as red is my signature colour. Have you heard anything from Headmaster Grimm?"
"I've not heard anything about him since we left."

"Will this do for me?" Apple asked as she held up a long flowing red dress that had black lace sewn onto it.
"Yes, it really suits you." I answered.
"Have you found anything?" Apple asked.
"No, not yet." That was when Blondie came over, Mirror Pad in hand.
"And now we are with Apple and Cerise. It looks like Apple has chosen her fairy tale dress. Apple, can you explain to us why you have chosen this dress?"
"I have chosen this dress because it shows my inner self." Apple told her. "I'm helping Cerise to decide what she's going to wear."
"I think I found something." I said. I held up a dark crimson dress that had black lace sewn round the bottom hem and silver lace round the neckline.
"That will look just right on you, Cerise." Blondie said. "It truly brings out your inner self. Now all of the girls have chosen their dresses, they are going to find some cute accessories to go with them and try the outfit on."

Duchess was looking through the headbands when we went to join them. "What am I going to do?" Duchess asked me. "I can't find a headband that suits me."
"Let me help you." I answered. "We may not be friends while we are at Ever After High, and I might not be very good with fashion, but I'll give it a go." I had a close inspection of Duchess' dress. She had chosen a ballet dress that had a silver top and a black skirt that frilled at the bottom. On the top, there were beautiful pearls sewn on. "Well, this dress has a lot of pearls at the top," I began. "And the skirt is black. Maybe we should look for a black headband with pearls on."
"That sounds perfect. Thank you Cerise."

I helped to pick out Duchess' headband and then moved towards the bags. That was when something caught my eye. I turned to look at it. It seemed a bit hazy, but when I walked closer, I could tell that it was human. Before I could get any closer, Blondie distracted me. "Cerise, what accessories are you going to choose?"
"I'm not sure. I'm trying to look for something with a wolfish look."
"Well, I think Lizzie found something for you."

I went over to join Lizzie. "Hi Lizzie."
"Hi." She replied. "I found something you might like." Lizzie then held up a bag. On the front, it had a picture of a wolf pup. "I thought as you were part wolf, you might want something with a wolf on it."
"Thank you Lizzie." I said as I spotted a red headband with a heart on it. Slowly, I picked it up and handed it to Lizzie. "Thank you." Lizzie said. Suddenly, she shivered.
"You all right?"
"It feels like something horrible is about to happen." She whispered. "I'm not sure what, but something is coming out of the darkness." I hugged her.
"It sounds like you need a distraction." I said, giving her the puppy-dog eyes. I usually only give someone the puppy-dog eyes if they are one of my close friends, and the wolf eyes if it seems like they are threatening me. Lizzie gently scratched behind my ear, and I yelped with surprise. Something had pulled at my hair.

"Are you all right?" Lizzie asked, pulling away her hand.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Someone was pulling at my hair."
"But there's no one there."
"I know. As you Wonderlandians would say, curiouser and curiouser."
"Come on. Let's keep looking." After Lizzie helped me find a ring, we had to get changed.

I was fairly surprised. We had to show our dresses so that Blondie could comment on them.
"That looks just right on you, Apple. Perfect accessories."
"Thank you, Blondie."
"Holly, you're dress looks amazing."
"Thank you Blondie."
"Kitty, yours looks a little… um… over the top."
"Why do you think I'll care? I don't want to do this, anyway."
"Kitty, that's rude." Lizzie said.
"Yeah, what if Daring's watching?" Duchess asked.
"So what?" Kitty snapped.
"So, you'll hurt his feelings." I growled.
"Well, sorry for not caring."
"Uh… moving on." Blondie said. "Duchess, that tutu suits you. All of the right colours and it shows your inner self."
"Thank you, Blondie. I have a true passion for dancing."
"Lizzie, your dress looks perfect for the next queen of hearts. It shows all the magic, the wonder."
"Thank you Blondie. Actually, Cerise helped me pick out the headband."
"That shows that she is a true friend." Blondie replied. "Cerise, your dress looks just right. It really brings out the best in you, and the cuteness of your ears."
"Really? You think they're cute?" I asked.
"Yes, we all think that." Apple said.

Soon, we were ready for our dates with Daring Charming. The presenter, Darling Charming, told us to wait in the corridor. Daring was in the Throne Room with his little sister, Darling. "Hello fellow fairy tales." Darling said. "Today, we are back on Daring's Next Top Queen and Daring is preparing a date with his six chosen girls. Let's bring them in." Two servants opened the doors and we all liked arms and walked in.

"You have met our chosen girls last week, but if you are new, then we'll introduce them again. Apple White, daughter of Snow White." Apple waved at the camera. "Lizzie Hearts, daughter of the queen of hearts." Lizzie waved at the camera. "Kitty Cheshire, daughter of the Cheshire Cat." Kitty disappeared. She reappeared a few seconds later behind Daring, and set off a smoke bomb. "What… Kitty!" Daring yelled.
"What? Did you think that I'd behave?" Kitty then disappeared and reappeared beside us.
"Duchess Swan, daughter of the Swan Queen." Duchess waved. "Holly O'Hair, daughter of Rapunzel." Holly waved. "And Cerise Wolf, daughter of the Big Bad Wolf." I waved at the camera. "Now we are introduced to our girls, let the dates begin."

First, Daring was dating Kitty. We watched backstage as Daring tried to woo her. Kitty suddenly let off a stink bomb. We could tell because we could smell it. We all covered our noses.
"A queen does not let off stink bombs." Darling said. "Especially when they are pranking their husband. Kitty, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
"But…"
"Now, Kitty." Kitty sulked and disappeared. "Next, Duchess Swan." Duchess danced into the room.

Duchess was talking to Daring when she accidently began eating the flower on their table. "A queen does not eat flowers." Darling told her, sternly. Duchess knew what this meant. She stood up and bobbed Darling and Daring a curtsey. "At least you weren't as bad as Kitty." Duchess nodded and with elegance and grace, danced out of the room. At least Duchess took it with dignity.

"Next is Holly O'Hair."
Holly was very polite the whole way through, but she had forgotten to braid her hair, so Daring accidently tripped over it. "OW!" He yelled.
"I'm so sorry." Holly said. She helped Daring up. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah, I'm all right. No broken bones."
"I'm glad to hear that."
"Miss O'Hair, you should remember to put your hair up whenever you go on dates." Holly got up and nodded.

As she passed us, she whispered: "Is it me or can you still see that smoke bomb?" We all nodded.
"I can smell it." Lizzie said.
"Apple White, it's your turn now." Darling said.

As we watched Apple and Daring, Kitty appeared behind us and set off a stink bomb. We began spluttering, holding our noses in a very un-lady like fashion. "What's that smell?" Daring asked as he got up. He threw open the doors and we ran out. Kitty was still inside.
"Kitty, I'm pretty sure that your pranks are not very helpful." Darling said. "I think we can all agree about that."
"Why do you do it anyway?" Lizzie asked.
"Do you not know my story? I'm a prankster. I want to be exactly like my mum."
"Well, you're doing a very good job of it." I growled.