Chapter 23: Girls! Beautify!

Riiiing. Riiiiing.

"Wh-what?"

Riiiing.

"My phone! Um, um, there it is!" I woke up and saw that Serah-chan was calling me.

"Tabi-chaaaan! I'm so excited! Could you stay at my place until later? I'm really excited and I wanted to prepare for later as early as now!'' She said. I looked at the time.

"10:30? Yeah. It is early. But, if you say so, go to my house at about 12. We can have lunch somewhere then go to your house. Is that okay?" I yawned.

"okay! Bye!" She sounded so excited.

I could almost imagine her expression. I rubbed my eyes then went to the kitchen to drink water. I grabbed something to eat then watched tv as I ate. After, I cleaned up then went to take a shower. Today was a special day so I cleaned myself, extra hard. I scrubbed my skin harder and washed my body two times. I shampooed my hair surely and rinsed well. I also used a conditioner. I brushed my teeth twice and washed my face twice too. I just made sure that I was extra clean and fresh that day. I went to my room and looked at the time. Woah. I took a lot of time in the shower. It was already 11:30. I grabbed a tank top and shorts then threw them on the bed. After I dressed up, I slowly opened my little box to get my ring. I slowly wore it on my index finger as I remembered what happened yesterday. I sighed deeply then grabbed another small box. It was the box that contained the earrings Sera gave me. I put the box and a few things inside my little bag. After I fixed my hair, someone knocked. Just in time. I went out then opened the door.

"Tabi-chan! Oh, you're ready! Let's go!" she greeted then grabbed my hand. She let me in her car without telling me where we were going. I just stayed quiet while we were in the car.

"We're here! Come on! I'm starving!" She went out of the car. As expected, we were once again, in a classy place Where I couldn't afford stuff.

"It's all on me! Because we're going to be queens and princesses tonight, we have to eat in a special place!" She held my hand.

"Good afternoon ladies!" A guy greeted.

"Table for two please!" She said.

"Right this way, please." He led us to a table by the mirror. Serah sat down. I helped myself on my seat. A woman handed us menus then left immediately.

"So, what should I have?" She said. I browsed through the menu and saw pictures of food and names of different kinds of food. I had no idea on what to pick though. Iwasn't familiar with the food here.

"Ah! I think I'll choose this!" she closed the menu.

"What will you have?" She asked.

"Um, I don't really know so I'll just have what you'll have. " I smiled.

"Okay!"

Moments later, a waitress asked us what would we order. The food arrived after 5 minutes. As we ate our food, I watched Serah enjoy herself. She told me that she was very excied every time she pauses for a drink. After eating, she pulled my hand and let me in her car. We headed to her house. When I got off the car, I saw a big Mansion right in front of me.

When I looked back, I saw a large grassy area and a wide pathway for the car. The car was parked beside the big fountain at the center, with a pathway surrounding it. The house was very big. When we entered, it was so quiet that you could clearly hear every step. The inside was simple and clean. There were few picture frames on the wall and classy decorations and furniture in the living room. Serah went up on their swirly stairs that had spaces between them that looked like the steps were floating and waved her hand asking me to follow.

I followed her to the stairs. When we went to the second floor, there were many rooms. Almost looked like a condo. She ran towards her room. Her door was eye-catching. It was the only door who had a different color. Hers had a light blue color while normally, the others had a shiny brown color.

When we entered, she hurried to the telephone that had 5 buttons. She pressed one of them and put it in loudspeaker.

"Hello? Please send me two manicurists here! I have a friend with me." She said.

"Hai. Right away Serah-sama." A woman answered.

We lied down on the bed for a few minutes then someone knocked. Serah skipped as she made her way towards the door.

"Oh! You're here! Come in!" She smiled.

"Good afternoon Serah-sama! Will you be going to an event?" A woman asked.

"Yeah! We have a Royal Ball this evening. Oh, this is my friend, Tabiki." She introduced me. The two women went towards me and shook my hands.

"So, what would it be?" One of them asked.

"Tabiki should have a bright red that would match her dark green gown and I'll have black! It goes with my light blue gown!" She smiled.

She pulled two comfy chairs for us to sit on. The two women grabbed their boxes and started cleaning our nails. After, they painted them with the said color. Then after, they let it dry using a blower. But I really thought that air dry is enough. We had our 'beauty' sleep as Serah called it then woke up by 5 pm. Serah pulled me in to her walk-in closet then I saw tons of clothes in there. but our gowns were hanged at the middle. She grabbed her gown and her shoe box. I followed. We went down stairs and put our stuff at the back of the car then went to the venue.

We asked the guy for the keys to room 492. That was the assigned room for us. We wrapped our gowns in black plastics so others wouldn't see. We asked help for our stuff then went ahead to the room. I unlocked the door and saw the room. I ran inside and explored our room. There were two rooms inside for each of us. We enjoyed the place and saw that there were a few snacks prepared for us in the kitchen. We ate a few then slept for just a few minutes and took a relaxing dip on the tub. Soon, we heard someone knock. I opened the door and it was our stuff. I let him place our gowns and shoes on the couch. Before I closed the door, I looked outside.

"M-misa-chan?" I mumbled. I saw her enter a room, following Usui inside.

5 pm at Misaki's house.

"Misa-chan. I'm in front of your house. Come out and we'll have a royal ball to attend to." Usui told her on the phone. He saw her look on her window then went out right away.

"Seriously?" She said.

"Yeap. I got your outfit and everything. They're already in our room. Just come with me." He said.

"Ugh. Okay." She went back inside to tell her sister that she'll be leaving. She came with Usui and soon arrived at the venue. When they arrived, Usui guided her to their room. 495.

"What are you waiting for? Go in!" He held her hand then let her inside the room.

"Serah-chan! I'll be right back!" Tabiki said then went in front of the room 495.

knock knock.

Misaki opened the door as she was the nearest to it.

"Tabi-chan? How did you know I was here?" She said.

"I just saw you from our room! We're 492! Um, why are you two here? I didn't know you'll come?" She asked.

"Tora invited us. It was all of a sudden but Usui told me he has stuff ready for me. I don't really know about him." She said.

"Misa-chan. Look." He appeared holding her gown in his hands. It was a red velvet gown. The top was only a tube looking like a corset and the bottom had a petticoat inside making it look big.

"Wow. You have nice taste, Usui-kun." Tabiki said.

"Thanks. Here's your shoes too." He raised his left hand, showing the shoes.

"Wh-what? I didn't tell you my shoe size!?" Misaki said.

"I asked your sister for your shoes so I could know." He smirked.

"So, I'll get going. See you two later!" She left.

"Now, I have to get your hair done. Let's go." Usui pulled her hand then led her to a salon.

"Serah-chan! I'm back!" I called out.

"Right! Let's go to a salon and get our hair done!" She said, pulling my hand.

Once again, I rode her car then she brought me to an expensive place to get our hair fixed. Serah's hair was tied in pig tails and had big curls. I could imagine her and she looked like a gothic loli. I think she'll look cute! While I had a small portion at left side of my hair braided then all of my hair turned to the right that had big curls. We also had our make up done at the salon. We smiled at the mirror as we looked at ourselves. Suddenly, I felt excited after seeing myself. We hurried back to the car and to our room. It was already 7:20. As soon as we got to our room, We went to our own rooms and dressed up.

I opened the plastic of my gown. I opened the neck part then removed the ribbon at the back. I put on cycling shorts before I wore the gown. I slowly slipped myself in the gown. I buttoned the back of the collar then grabbed the ribbon and knocked at Serah's room.

"Serah-chan! Little help please!" I said. She opened the door and she was also half dressed like me.

"Sure. I need help too!" She laughed. She took the ribbon from my hands then tied them on me back all the way down, making a long ribbon just at the end of my spine.

"Tie mine now!" She turned. I did the same to her dress.

We returned to our rooms to fix ourselves again. I didn't look at the mirror yet. I opened the shoe box then admired the shoes for a while. I sat down, crossing my right leg over my left, exposing my right leg too much because of the slit. I slipped my foot on to the shoe then wrapped the material around me leg. The length was about eight inches. 12 including the heel. I did the same to the left.

I stood up then walked to my small bag, grabbing the box of earrings. I sat at the side of the bed then grabbed a small mirror and turned it to my direction. I went close to the mirror then opened the box. I smiled as I saw them. they were Ruby earrings. It had silver outlines around the big round ruby. I hanged them on my ear. As I moved, I see them sparkling.

I went back to the end of the bed and grabbed the arm pieces from the plastic. I put them on then moved my arms around for a while, examining them. Lastly, I took my ring and wore it on my index finger. I smiled as I held up my hand and looked at the ring. I breathed deeply as I made my way towards the mirror. I closed my eyes. I slowly opened them, seeing myself.

"Wow.." I said. I had a wide smile on my face. I went outside then saw Serah. She was beautiful as well. I was used on seeing her in her braids but she was prettier today.

"You're so beautiful Tabi-chan! I can't wait for Shiroyan's reaction when he sees you!" She clasped her hands together.

"Thanks, Serah-chan. You look beautiful as well." I said. We hugged each other.

"I love the earrings Sera-chan. Thank you very much! Thanks for everything.." I said.

"That's nothing! I'm happy that you liked all these! Now, let's go!" She held my hands and smiled. We went out and saw the others going out of their rooms. I felt uneasy as I noticed people staring at me. I held Serah's hand tight.

"Serah, is there something wrong with me?" I asked.

"What? No! You look perfect! They're just staring because you're so beautiful!" She said. I smiled and felt more comfort. We went on the elevator. I breathed deeply as we arrived the floor of the main event. Serah and I looked at each other.

As we entered the ball, Something popped out of my mind..

"I made my decision.." I mumbled and smiled as I looked around at the beautiful and elegant place.