Tales Black and Gold

Bella came downstairs at 7:45, dressed in her new golden ball gown; she was wearing the mask that her parents had bought for her. Bella was surprisingly wearing a bit of makeup, her hair was slightly curled and a diamond tiara was in it, her nails had been painted a deep rose red, and fixed in her hair were a couple of fresh roses she had picked from the garden. She looked like a totally different person than who she was this morning. Bella smiled at her family, it was almost time for people to start arriving. Bella sat in the drawing room while she heard people coming through the front door and heading to the ball room. She heard Allie's voice when Robert walked in. She also heard her mother quietly tell the head guard to double security at the main entrance, Belle didn't want Parker to come to this party, but Bella knew he would. She just knew it before long it was 8:15 and time for her grand entrance.

Bella's father came to escort her to the ball room. As they neared the ball room she could hear the people talking in the ball room, suddenly the trumpets sounded.

"Presenting, her royal highness, Princess Bella." The room went silent as Bella made her entrance. She made her way to the center of the dance floor when her father gave her a kiss on the cheek and turned her over to her friends. There Bella turned to face her guest.

"LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!" Bella said to her guests, and then there arose a big cheer from the crowd. Every one began dancing. The crowd had many different groups just like the town. In one section was Allie and Robert, dancing together, flirting, a lot. And then in another corner, a guy by the name of Alex Rajaniemi was being fought over by Tasha and another girl in from the town named Raquel Fullinwider. Tasha ended up winning the fight. Bella being the princess who had just come of age was forced to dance with almost every boy in the entire town. Unknown to her, Belle and her Father were watching Bella seeing if she liked any of the boys she danced with, those boys could be a possible husband for Bella.

"Wait, is that a smile?" Belle asked her husband, he looked over at Bella

"It was a wince,"

"Tiny little smile?"

"You wish," he said teasingly, they kept watching there daughter.

After a while Bella grew tired of dancing with so many boys so she took a break and just watched them from her spot near the orchestra. Allie came over to her friend.

"Did you find him yet?"

"No not yet," she said with a sigh. Then, suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. Bella turned around to face a young man, in a black suit with a black mask, a beautiful brown eyes, "you made it!" she said to Parker enveloping him in a giant hug and a kiss.

"You look beautiful," he said to her and kissed her forehead.

"Thanks," she said blushing slightly.

Then a voice came from the middle of the dance floor, "And now my friends! Princess Bella will be presenting the Waltz with her chaperone." The guests all stepped back to watch the dance. Parker looked at her.

"You have a chaperone?" he asked her

"No I was hopping that you would be mine," she said smiling at him.

"I'd be honored," He said like a gentleman. He led her out to the dance floor and they began dancing. Bella had forgotten for a while that people were actually watching them, especially her parents.

Belle leaned toward her husband and said, "Who is that boy dancing with Bella?"

"I'm not sure, but she's actually smiling at him," said the master

"Are you sure it's not a wince?" Belle asked him sarcastically.

Bella snapped out of her trance and looked around the room, "every one is staring at us," she said shyly; Parker didn't take his eyes off of her.

"Really? I forgot that there was any one else was in the room," he smiled at her, she smiled at him. They kept dancing, Bella was very graceful, apparently her two left feet syndrome from this morning was gone. Very slowly more and more couples came on to the dance floor. Among the first ones were Allie and Robert, then Tasha and Alex, and then more and more until all of the guests were dancing. Eventually Belle and the Master made their way onto the dance floor too.

"May I cut in?" said Belle to her daughter. Bella and Parker suddenly both got tense, if Belle figured out that Parker was here she would do two things, 1) ground Bella for the rest of her life, and 2) she would probably kill Parker. But on the other hand they couldn't say no to the crowned Queen of France either. Bella stepped aside and began dancing with her father while Belle danced with Parker.

"So young man what is your name?" Belle asked him, Parker had to lie.

"My name is….. James" James? What the heck am I thinking! She'll never buy that! Surprisingly Belle believed him. They talked a lot during that song. Parker never giving up his cover. Man, was he a good actor. At the end of the song Bella reunited with Parker in almost an instant. After the little unplanned event with Bella's parents, the night went so very smoothly, and not just for Parker and Bella, but for every one! Allie got her first kiss from Robert, out of all the girls Robert had courted, Allie was the first one he kissed, this had to be progress! CJ found a girl too; her name was Ivy, one of the funniest girls in the entire village. And Chip met up with an old friend whom he had met just after the spell was broken, his friend's name was Journey and he was the older brother of Ivy. Laurette was recognized for the fabulous work she did with the decorations, and was offered a part time position at the local flower nursery making centerpieces. But during that whole night Bella and Parker were inseparable.

Bella and Parker never left each other's side the whole night. After a few hours of constant dancing, they went out onto the balcony. The fresh air did them both good. But there break was short lived, for when Parker looked at the clock that was set into one of the towers, he realized that it was getting late and his father would be so mad at him if he realized that he was gone.

"Bella, this has been the best night of my life, but I have to go. I'm sorry," as he turned to go Bella caught his arm.

"No, please, I can't keep living like this. Going from one secret meeting to the next. I want to be with you forever. I love you," those three little words stopped Parker and Bella both. He turned around and faced her. They looked into each others eyes.

"I love you too, Bella, I always have. But we can't be together, our parents won't allow it," he touched her cheek.

"I can't live without you, Parker," she took his other hand in hers.

"Well what should we do? Run away?" They looked into each other's eyes again. And from that moment they knew that the only way to be together was to run away together.

"We don't have much time; the party will be ending soon. If we want to get away with out any one noticing we'll have to go now," they both nodded their heads, and started to plan their escape. They would spend a night in the garden, and then early in the morning they would be able to ride off on Gaston's horse to another town where they would be safe, together forever.

Once the plan was made, they went back into the party. There was an exit to the garden through the kitchen. Bella knew no one would be in there because people would already be starting to clean up the mess left by the guests. And sooner then you can say, VAMOOSE! The princess and Parker were out in the garden on their way to freedom. Or at least that's what they though.