Prom was less than a week away and John still hadn't asked Pocahontas to go. Pocahontas wasn't sure what to do at this point. Was John planning on not going? Was it just supposed to be assumed they were going together?
Pocahontas let out a frustrated groan collapsed face first on her bed. Stupid boys, she thought.
Someone knocked on her bedroom door.
"Come in!" Pocahontas called out, her voice muffled from her face being pressed against the bed.
The door opened and Pocahontas sat up to see her aunt walk in. She had a dress bag draped over her arm.
"What's that?" Pocahontas asked her, pointing at the bag.
Her aunt smiled at her. "I took Nakoma dress shopping for prom today. We saw this and knew it would be perfect for you."
She unzipped the bag, took the dress out and held it up for Pocahontas to see. Pocahontas had to admit it was perfect. It was strapless and form fitting. The whole thing was made of a beautiful sheer, golden brown lacey fabric. The modest top and bottom of the skirt were a darker shade while the rest was a lighter, almost tan, color.
"It's beautiful. Thank you." Pocahontas didn't have the heart to tell her that she may not even be going to prom.
"I'm glad you like it. I also got you this." Her aunt held out a small box that Pocahontas hadn't even noticed she was holding.
Pocahontas took it from her and slowly opened it. Inside was a golden brown mask that matched her dress. "Thank you."
Her aunt gave her a hug. "John won't even know what hit him."
The doorbell rang throughout the house and her aunt went to answer the door. Pocahontas stared at the dress that was now hanging on her closet door. She really hated thinking it would go to waste.
"Pocahontas!" her aunt called out. "You have a friend here to see you."
Pocahontas sighed and made her way to the door. She was surprised to see John standing in the doorway.
"Hey," he greeted, flatly. "Can we talk?"
Pocahontas nodded and stepped outside, closing the door behind her.
"Look," John began, "I've been thinking about this whole prom thing."
"Oh yeah?"
John nodded and ran his hand through his hair. "Here's the thing; I wanted to plan some romantic way of asking you to go with me, but everything I came up with just felt fake and forced. So, I figured I'd just straight up ask you. So, will you go to prom with me?"
Pocahontas stared at him for a moment. He had barely taken a breath making that all sound like one long sentence and it took her a second to realize he had just asked her to prom. She smiled at him. "Well it's about time you asked me, Mr. Smith. Of course I'll go with you."
XXX
"I think this is it. This is the one!" Ariel announced from her dressing room.
Before stepping out to show off the dress, she took one last look at her reflection. She managed to find the most stunning mermaid dress. The bodice was strapless and the dress hugged her body tightly. The bottom of the dress was layered and gradually fanned out until it reached the floor. The dress had an ombre color scheme; starting with turquoise and gradually flowing into darker shades of blue. She completed the look with dark blue, full-length gloves and a blue and yellow mask with a dark blue feather on the side. It was a daring look for her, but it was her first prom and first masquerade and she wanted to take a little bit of a risk.
Ariel took a deep breath and stepped out of the dressing room. Her father was sitting in one of the waiting chairs and stood up when he saw her. He stared at her for a few moments and Ariel started to feel self conscious.
"You don't like it?" Ariel asked meekly.
Triton smiled at his daughter. "I love it. You look beautiful."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Thank you for taking me shopping, daddy. I'm sure you have other things you'd rather be doing than sitting in the waiting room of a dress store all day," Ariel said.
Triton took her hand. "You're growing up so fast, Ariel. Sometimes I feel like I'm missing it. But, I didn't want to miss my youngest daughter getting her first prom dress."
Ariel smiled at him. "You haven't missed anything, daddy."
"You haven't even told me if you have a date for prom."
"Eric asked me. You remember him, right?"
"Of course. The fisherman."
"Yeah."
Triton cleared his throat. "Listen, Ariel. I know the expectations most boys have for their dates on prom night and I-"
"Whoa, daddy! That's not... Eric isn't like that. You don't have anything to worry about."
"That's what Adella said..." her dad muttered.
"I'm not Adella. Eric and I aren't going to hook up on prom night."
"Hook up..." he repeated slowly. "It's times like these I wish your mom was here."
Ariel gave him a reassuring smile. "You're doing fine, daddy. Don't worry."
XXX
Thirteen days and counting. In just under two weeks Aladdin would be moving. Aladdin and Jasmine didn't want to think about it, so they went to Pleasure Island to get their minds off it. It wasn't working. At least, not for Jasmine; it was all she could think about.
"Cotton candy?" Aladdin asked, holding out the cotton candy to her.
Jasmine had just recently learned that Aladdin's guilty pleasure was cotton candy. He had been snacking on it for the last couple minutes; it was mostly gone now and his tongue was now stained blue. Jasmine took a piece and stuck it in her mouth as she watched him finish off the rest of it.
"What do you wanna do now?" Aladdin asked.
Jasmine forced herself to be in the moment. "Um... The midway games?"
Aladdin smiled at her. "I like your thinking."
He took her hand and led her to the games. The first one they came to was a pie throwing game. They waited for a little boy to take his turn. He picked up one of the pies and threw it, but it fell short of the target. He tried a couple more times, but never got close. The man working behind the counter gave him a small stuffed animal anyway. When it was their turn, Aladdin handed the man some money and they each picked up a pie. Aladdin hit the bull's eye, but Jasmine's pie barely hit the side of the target.
"Hey, babe," Aladdin said, trying to get her attention.
Jasmine looked over at him. "What?"
Aladdin swiped his finger over the topping of the pie and then wiped the whipped cream on the tip of Jasmine's nose. "You need to relax."
Jasmine raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you sure you want to start this?"
"Start what?" he asked innocently.
Jasmine scooped up some of the whipped cream off the pie next to her and smeared it over Aladdin's face. Aladdin laughed and picked up his whole pie.
"No!" Jasmine cried out, laughing. "Don't you dare!" She quickly grabbed her pie and held it up, ready to strike. "Put it down, Aladdin," she warned.
"Or what, princess?"
Without thinking, Jasmine threw her pie at him. It hit him square on the chest and the slid down the front of his shirt before landing with a plop on the ground. Aladdin stumbled back, slightly, caught off guard. Jasmine took this opportunity to steal his pie out of his hand.
"Surrender!" Jasmine demanded.
"Never!" Aladdin moved towards her.
"Hey!" the man behind the counter called out. "You kids aren't supposed to-"
Jasmine ignored him. As soon as Aladdin was close enough, she smashed the pie in his face.
Aladdin laughed. "Okay. Truce!"
"Okay." Jasmine set the tin back down on the counter.
Aladdin wiped the pie off his eyes and then gave Jasmine a flirty smile. "Give me a hug."
"Yeah right! I don't want to get pie all over me."
Aladdin grabbed her and forced his body against hers, getting pie on her clothes. He then pulled her into a kiss. She kissed him back, but when she pulled away she had pie smeared over her face.
Note: Pocahontas' and Ariel's dresses were designed by Hannah Hood. You can see her designs on my Facebook page (link on my profile).
I'm getting closer to the end of this story. Only ten chapters left.