Five Years
Chapter 6
Sarah stood in front of the full-length mirror on her bedroom closet door and did a quick turn. She had seen her mother do such a turn on numerous occasions such as premieres, parties and charity events. She would laugh and spin gracefully and ask, "How do I look?" The answer was always the same. Linda always looked beautiful.
Sarah's spin was unfortunately much less graceful than her mother's. Her high heel snagged on the carpet and she nearly toppled over. Regaining her balance and composure, Sarah tossed her newly coiffed hair back and stuck her jaw out defiantly to her reflection.
"Get it together, Williams," she scolded her mirrored image. "This is a big night."
It was more than a big night. It was a huge night. An epic night. Everything had to be perfect.
Sarah gave her reflection another once-over, checking that nothing was out of place or awkwardly situated. The bodice of her carefully chosen dress was pink sequined and strapless with huge satin puffs at the shoulders. The skirt was black tulle and came just above her knees, flaring out in all directions. The dress was dramatic and a bit fierce, both things that Sarah liked. Her satin shoes had been dyed hot pink to match her dress and she wore enormous black plastic hoops in her ears.
Sarah smiled at herself. Matt Corbin, MVP of the school basketball team and her date for the evening was going to go nuts when he saw her.
A rhythmic tapping on her bedroom window drew Sarah away from her mirror and over to the large window near her bed. She walked to the window and opened it, allowing the snowy white barn owl to enter and fly in swooping circles around her ceiling fan before settling onto her bed and poofing into the lean, dark figure of the Goblin King.
"Good evening, Jareth," Sarah said brightly.
"Good evening, Sarah," replied the Goblin King. "I was on my way back from-" He paused mid-sentence and stared at her. "Sarah, what on Earth Above are you wearing?"
"Do you like it?" Sarah asked. She did a quick twirl and her tulle skirt flared out, revealing quite a bit more of her legs than she would have liked.
Jareth was silent for a moment, still taking in the unobstructed view of Sarah's pale, but shapely legs. Her legs were almost always encased in denim aside from the few times he'd caught her in her pajama shorts. The hot pink high heeled pumps she was wearing added to the effect, accentuating her tapered calves and drawing his attention to her scandalously bare ankles.
"What do you think?" asked Sarah, still waiting on his reaction.
Jareth frowned, much the same way her father had when she had modeled the dress for him.
"It's a bit revealing and gaudy, isn't it?" asked Jareth.
"Hmph," grunted Sarah. "This is coming from the guy in the criminally tight breeches and be-jeweled jacket."
She noticed that Jareth's eyes had moved from her legs to her chest and she crossed her arms defensively over her front. The bodice of the dress showed much more cleavage that she preferred, but it really couldn't be helped. She had blossomed—yes, that's the word Karen had used—in the last year, and while her waist was tiny and her hips were slender, her breasts had doubled in size, making her a bit top-heavy. It was a pain trying to find dresses that fit in the waist and hips while keeping "the girls" in check.
Jareth's eyes seemed transfixed by the milky flesh spilling over the top of her strapless dress and Sarah was beginning to wish she had an old lady shawl or Peruvian poncho to cover her irrepressible cleavage. If the almighty king of the goblins was unable to keep from ogling her, what were a bunch of high school guys going to do?
Sarah glared at the Goblin King and he turned his eyes away from her ample bosom and gave her a devilish grin.
"Is there a special occasion, or is this another princess costume?" Jareth asked.
"There is a special occasion," Sarah began, uncrossing her arms and adjusting the sweetheart neckline of her hot pink frock. "It's Prom night."
"Prom?" asked Jareth. He cocked his head sideways in a very owlish way and blinked at her.
"It's a dance," Sarah explained. "A ball."
Jareth smiled and clapped his hands together. "Ah, excellent!" he exclaimed. "I'm happy to know such things still exist amongst your strange lot. Humans have done away with so many grand customs: feast days, Bacchanals, Gladiator events..."
Sarah gave a half-hearted chuckle. "Obviously, you've never been to a Super Bowl party," she retorted.
"So," Jareth said, stretching out and reclining on Sarah's bed as if he owned it, "Tell me about this Prom. What is it like? What will you do?"
Sarah shoved his booted foot aside and sat down on the end of her bed. "Well," she told him. "First we'll go to dinner, then we'll go to the Prom and dance for a while and then we'll probably go to an after-party."
"We?" asked Jareth, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes," Sarah answered, blushing. "My friends and me..."
A knock at Sarah's bedroom door followed by the voice of Robert Williams interrupted the conversation.
"Sarah," called her father. "Matt is here."
"Okay, Dad," Sarah answered. "Tell him I'll be right down."
She turned back to Jareth who was now sitting up and frowning.
"Who, may I ask, is Matt?" he sharply questioned.
Sarah put her hands on her hips and responded just as sharply. "Matt, for your information, is my date."
Jareth's frown deepened. "You mean your escort?" he asked.
"Yeah, I guess," sighed Sarah. "Look Jareth, you're going to have to go. My date is here and waiting."
Jareth swung his long legs over the side of her bed and stood and strode over to the window without even a backwards glance. He paused between the curtains and turned back to her. "Sarah," he called.
"What?" Sarah asked, becoming annoyed. She tapped the toe of one bright pink shoe impatiently on the floor.
"This party..." Jareth began somewhat sheepishly. "Is it chaperoned?"
"No, it's not, Dad," Sarah sarcastically replied.
Jareth gave her a hard look. "No need to get snippy, silly girl. I was only asking."
Sarah dropped her shoulders and sighed. "I'll be fine, Jareth," she said with a reluctant smile. "Matt is a nice guy and my curfew is midnight. I'm not a little girl anymore, but..." she lowered her eyes. "Thanks for being concerned."
"You do have a knack for getting into trouble, you know," Jareth told her. "Are you sure you don't want Sir Didymus to tag along?"
"Oh yes," answered Sarah, rolling her eyes. "That's what the Prom needs, a tiny fox/dog/knight picking fights with anyone who so much as looks at me."
"Great," Jareth said brightly. "I'll summon him."
He moved to pull a crystal from the air, but Sarah put her hand over his.
"I was being sarcastic, you-" Jareth's hand grasped hers, cutting her off mid-sentence.
He gazed deep into her eyes. "Be careful," he said softly.
"Y—yes. I will," Sarah stammered. After a moment, Jareth released her hand and she moved hastily toward her bedroom door. He watched her, her slender legs starkly white against her black skirt. The sequins of her dress shimmered as she walked and he had to admit that he had almost never seen her look lovelier. The only time she'd looked more beautiful was at his Dream Ball where she had appeared as a wide-eyed vision in white. He couldn't help but smile at the memory of the way she had stared at him, full of innocence and wonder. She was right about not being a little girl anymore. At 17, she was closer to woman than girl. Yet, Jareth knew she could still be a bit naive.
"Have fun, Sarah," he called to her before she disappeared out the bedroom door.
Sarah turned and gave him a little smile and then went down the stairs. Through the open door, Jareth could hear the oohs and ahs from Sarah's stepmother as she fussed and fixed and took pictures of Sarah and her date.
With a keen smirk, Jareth stepped out onto the window ledge and launched himself into the night, changing form mid-flight. On swift wings he flew home and called out to the goblins that were lounging about the throne room. His bargain with Sarah barred him from interfering with her outside her bedroom, but there was nothing in the agreement that said that someone else couldn't.
"Where's Squibble?" the king bellowed.
The crowd of goblins parted and several pairs of grimy hands pointed to one big-eared goblin in their midst.
"Der he is!" cried a goblin wearing a broken teapot as a hat.
The king of the goblins bent down to the little creature and smiled.
"Squibble," he began. "How would you like a chance to make up for using my best pants as a parachute? If you're successful on this mission, I'll give you your tail back."
The little goblin began to bounce up and down excitedly. "Yes yes!" he cried. "I do! I do!"
"Excellent," Jareth said as he settled onto his curved throne. "I'll tell you what you need to do."
The next morning...
The door of the throne room burst open and the little goblin stumbled in. He teetered back and forth as he made his way to his sovereign's boots.
"I's back!" he called proudly to the king.
Jareth leaned down studied the small goblin. His eyes were glassed over and he smelled even worse than usual. Jareth wrinkled his nose at the peculiar scent of cheap alcohol and fruit-flavored drink mix.
"How did it go, Squibble?" he asked.
The goblin beamed. "I did good," he answered, swaying like a hula dancer with vertigo. "Just like kingy says. I make sure pretty bossy lady doesn't drink the booze."
Jareth smiled, pleased. "Good job, Squibble. How did you manage to make sure Sarah didn't drink?"
"Easy peasy," replied Squibble. "I drinked all da alky-hol up! None left!" He puffed out his little chest, but lost his balance and fell forward.
Jareth was just about to congratulate his little subject on a job well done when the creature belched and then hurled purple vomit all over his right boot.
"Sorry kingy," squeaked the goblin, trying to clean up Jareth's boot with the soiled sleeve of his shirt.
Jareth rubbed his forehead and sighed. "Better you than Sarah, I suppose," he groaned.
A/N:
I know, I know... I've been gone for like, forever. I'm back and I truly apologize for not being better about updates. I got... um, distracted.
Anyway, I am up and running again and I hope to remain so for a while.
For those who may be wondering, Squibble is just fine. His Nibs was fairly easy on him seeing as his efforts were quite valiant for a goblin. Besides it gave the king the perfect excuse to get new boots.
Sarah had a lovely time at Prom, though she and her friends were rather put out by the strange incident involving a wild animal breaking in and drinking all the beer and wine coolers the upper-classmen had illegally purchased.
Unfortunately, Matt and Sarah didn't work out. He stopped calling soon after Prom, having been warned (in what he hoped and prayed was a dream) about bad things happening if he continued to date Sarah Williams.
I think that's it. Is that all? ... Jareth says that's all. Okie dokie then.
