The Perfect Dress

Once I had finished cleaning the attic, I tip-toed down the stairs quietly, taking care not to make any sudden movements. My step-mother, it seemed, had long forgotten about any notion of dinner. I doubted I would get away with a lack of breakfast so easily. Hoping I would not disturb her, I tried to be as quite as a mouse and get to my room as quickly as possible.

"Isabella!" Astra called as soon as I entered the kitchen. She was leaning against the counter with the blue jay on her shoulder. Sir Lawrence sat next to her. I shushed her, putting a finger to my lips. The star was now fully rejuvenated. Her skin and hair glowed. Her eyes were a honey brown and the gold in them seemed to sparkle.

"Sorry," Astra said. I walked past her and entered my room, letting the curtain fall behind me. Astra, followed by Sir Lawrence and the blue jay, came in after me. She sat down on my bed gracefully. "Now, while you were upstairs I was thinking about your wish. I have been watching you and I think that I have the perfect plan for you to meet the Prince," she began.

"The Prince. I have no intention of meeting any prince," I said tersely. Astra looked at me with a bewildered expression.

"But you wished it." She closed her eyes. "'I wish for a way out of my horrible life, a knight in shining armor, a prince to rescue me.' It was something along those lines I believe." She smiled at me, her eyes fluttering open. "Just think, you a princess, with a wonderful tiara and a beautiful gown and ..."

"No, no, no. Thank you for the offer but I am not the princess type," I said, pulling at a strand of my hair. She took a deep breath, evidently frustrated by me.

"Can you just hear me out? My plan is very simple, surely the Prince will be yours by the end of the night." I rolled my eyes. Who wants to be the princess of some stuck up prince? "Prince Chadwick is holding a ball at the end of this week, you will go and he will fall in love with you. You will be married in no time." Now, all this time Sir Lawrence was listening attentively to our conversation, choosing to not say a word, which must have been very taxing on him.

"That is a perfect plan," the little mouse said, breaking his silence. "Just wonderful, Isabella is going to the ball to deliver me to the king." Astra beamed and I have come to learn she is just as annoyingly happy as Lily is.

"Wait, how do you know the Prince will fall in love with me?" She laughed.

"Stellas are magical beings, you just need to go to the ball and the rest will be taken care of."

"And what about my step-mother?"

"You mean the old dame?" she continued once I nodded, "I put a spell on her. She was not going to let you go to the ball at all, so I made it that if you cleaned the whole house you will be able to attend." She was obviously very proud of herself. "Do not talk to her too much, I do not have enough magic to recast the spell if it is broken." I looked at her questioningly. "I had to cast it quickly, I did not know at what time she would awake and spells are more easily casted when the person is asleep. Don't give me that look, you try falling out of the sky and casting a level 4 spell on someone." She huffed. I yawned deeply and for once did not feel like arguing.

"Okay fine, may we talk about it in the morning?"

"Oh, of course," Astra said, getting up from the bed. At once she gained back her sprightly smile. "Pleasant dreams Isabella."

I only slept for a few hours before the sound of birds chirping brought me to the kitchen door. Astra was sitting by the rose beds, listening to the melody. She turned to greet me. "We have much to do today," she said.

"What are you talking about?"

"As soon as you make breakfast for your family may we go to town? You need a proper gown for the ball." She eyed my cotton dress, disgusted.

"I can't. I have a lot of work to do, especially since you took Ms. Hobe away."

"Hey, that took a lot of magic and it was the best I could do." I looked at her sourly. "She is fine." I nodded, choosing once again not to argue. She followed me into the kitchen, asking if I knew of any dress shops in town.

"We have no money," I reminded her.

"I can take care of that." She closed her eyes and a look of concentration appeared on her face. The air turned static, and then, suddenly, as if out of nowhere, a coin purse appeared. The little blue jay grabbed the purse in her beck and delivered it to Astra's outstretched hand. She smiled at me, proud of her display of magic.

"Isabella," my step-mother sing-songed, sweeping down the stairs. Her voice sounded too sweet, like a piece of sugary candy that gives you a terrible toothache. I walked into the parlor. "I want breakfast ready immediately." I gave her a small curtsy before turning to go back into the kitchen. Astra kept me company as I prepared a pathetic excuse for a breakfast. I carried it into the dining room just as my step-mother seemed to be losing her patience. Alison and Madison were seated at her sides, eagerly awaiting their breakfast. I was about to go back into the kitchen when Madison stopped me. She cleared her throat, giving me a rough rasping sound.

"You have to serve us," she told me once I turned to her. I walked back to the table and put a spoonful of cold scrambled eggs on her plate. She nodded, a smug expression on her overly made up face. Next I grabbed a roll and placed it next to the eggs. I filled all of their plates in this manner, and was about to leave when Alison stopped me.

"I would jam on my roll." She smiled smugly. Now, at this point I am pretty agitated and let's remember that I hardly had more than an hour's sleep. So, I grabbed the jam and flung it at her ugly little face. Alison let out a shocked yelp. "HOW DARE YOU!" she shrieked. She was about to get up when her step-mother lifted a hand, telling her to stop.

"Now relax darling, Isabella will be punished severely," my step-mother said, her voice altering.

"What a pathetic excuse for a girl," Madison said as I escaped into the kitchen. When I entered it I was fuming.

"What was that?" Astra asked. I give her a look that probably said 'Do Not Ask'. "Isabella, you mustn't do that. Your step-mother almost broke through the spell, it would have ruined everything." I took a deep breath, steadying myself.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." She slumped down on a worn chair, obviously upset. When breakfast was over I collected the dishes and took to finishing off the leftovers. I asked Astra if she would like any and she did not reply, still upset with me. By the time I have finished cleaning the kitchen after my breakfast disaster, my step-mother had gone out, and it was past midday. I decided that I could risk being out for a few hours. I told Madison and Alison that I had to go to town and left briskly, not giving them the chance to ask any questions.

Astra and I left the manor through the kitchen door, ducking to avoid Benjamin. Sir Lawrence and the annoying blue jay wanted to come with us, but Astra persuaded them to stay behind. After we walked for a few minutes without a word, the silence began to bother me.

"I am sorry," I told Astra. She sighed, keeping her eyes cast down.

"I have to fulfill your wish."

"You really don't have to," I said smiling. She turned to look at me, suddenly serious.

"If I don't I'm stuck here. Fulfilling your wish is the only way I can return home." Her melancholy voice trailed off. I taught that over. Stars are such unique creatures, I reasoned, and I wanted to ask more about them but decided to change the subject instead.

"So where exactly is Mrs. Hobe?" She smiled mischievously.

"Well, for now she is away, probably in another dimension. As soon as I leave she will be brought back here."

"But how does that happen?" I asked, not fully understanding.

"I am not exactly sure."

"And my step-mother?"

"She's under a standard spell. She is not under my complete control, that is, her mind is her own. But, if she is going to do or say anything that will go against the spell, the magic will kick in." I thought back to my step-mother's peculiar voice. "Alison and Madison are not under any spells, but don't worry, they won't interfere with our plan." For the rest of our walk she explained this all to me. When we reached the center of the metropolis, it was crowded with people. For a moment, Astra was overwhelmed by it all, but she soon recovered. We wandered into one dress shop after another, and I will not bore you with those details. All the gowns were hideously girly. The worst part was that Astra seemed to love every one of them.

We have been shopping for more than two hours when I saw a raggedy boy pick pocketing an older man. I followed him with my eyes as he ran off. Now, you probably think that I was looking for someone in particular, but I wasn't. Actually I told Astra that the next dress shop was in the direction the boy headed because I wanted to talk to the kid, about where one might be.

So we hurried down the meander and I could barely see the boy ahead of me. I turned into a side street and I had thought he ran down that, but he isn't there. Astra caught up with me. "Where are we going?"

I turned around without replying and decide to go back to Avenue G, where we originally were. I was trying to think about where the boy could have gone, when I see him. In an alley that is the back entrance to a pub, he was seated on a crate with three men around him. The men are speaking to each other but he is not, he is not even listening. Some of his companions looked quite spirited, so I debated whether to go talk to him or not. (By this point you should realize that he is not the boy, no, I have no idea where the boy is, whom I am looking at is none other than Chris Hood.)

Astra was pulling at my sleeve, obviously nervous about this situation, and was making an awfully lot of noise. One of the men turned around to face us, nudging Chris. Chris looked at me and smiled when he caught my eye, causing my entire face to light up. He said something to the men and then walked towards us. Astra and I followed him out of the alley. Once away from the men's sight, Chris bowed.

"It is a pleasure to see you again." He took my hand and kissed it.

"And you," I said quietly. He took my chin in his hands, and pressed his lips to my cheek. When I backed away he laughed.

"How did you find me?"

"I didn't, I was completely accidental," I said hurriedly.

"Sure. I was hoping I would see you again," he whispered, coming close to me once again. His blue eyes stared straight into my hazel ones. My heart was beating out of my chest and I could not think of anything to say. He took a step back then, breaking the intimate moment. "Who is your friend?" he asked, looking at Astra.

"She is my cousin."

"I thought you had no relatives."

"My step-cousin." He stared at me. It is horrible when someone knows you are lying, like he did, but you cannot tell them the truth.

"Are you hungry, I know a great place we can go?" he asked, after an awkward silence, looking at me and then Astra.

I was about to say yes, when Astra cut me off. "No thank you, we have to be home soon and we still have not bought anything." I glared at her menacingly.

"Oh, you are shopping," Chris said, clearly not interested in going with us anymore.

"Yes, we have to get a grown for the ball," Astra replied. Chris flicked his gaze to me and they show hurt for a moment.

"Well, that is certainly very important," his teasing smile is back. "I wish you the best of luck." He swept into a bow for Astra and I. "Goodbye, ladies," he said. Chris then hurried down the street. I was a little hurt that he left so quickly. Plus the fact that he seemed to be taunting me. I wish I would have gotten time to explain why I was going to the ball, but then again, I do not think telling him I was going to make the prince fall in love with me would have come out right. Astra questioned me about Chris and I told her very little. I walked to the last dress store I know of sulking.

"Welcome! How can I help you today?" The owner of Beauty is a flamboyant woman that is about 40 years old. The woman wore as much makeup as Madison and Alison combined and her dress was a sultry red. While I tried not to touch anything for fear of frilly contamination, Astra dived right into the stacks of gowns. The woman began to measure me.

"What are you looking for?" she asked. Until this point only Astra has spoken but now I was fully recovered and frankly not in the mood.

"Something unique."

"Something simple."

Astra and I said at the same time. The woman looked between us and laughed. "Well you have come to the right place. You can find anything at Beauty." I decided to lean on the only wall void of dresses while the shop owner and Astra rummaged through the gown.

"How about this one?" the shop owner called after a while. It was hideous and pink but Astra made me try it on anyway. The dress was huge with a deep boat neck and several layers of tulle. Did I mention it was PINK.

"No, it's not the one," Astra said. I sighed. "Don't worry we'll find one." It seemed like we were going to be there for a while.

Hi readers, I am so sorry I did not update last week, I have a good reason, and I am feeling much better now. I have a couple of things I want to say so bare with me through this long AN:

First thank you to Irene and Tiger_Lily21 for your awesome gown ideas, I loved them. Second thank you to everyone who is reading this story I so very much appreciate it and to everyone that has reviewed. Third I will probably not have a new chapter next week, because I am taking the time to edit all my stories. And Finally like always please tell me what you think, what you like/dislike, any errors, je no sais quoi. ~Iris Lily~

P.S. Chris Hood is back as you can see for all of you that love him.