On My Way To Mr. Right

Chapter 45

“Are you ready?”

Beatrice turned the chair around to reveal my dolled up face. I looked at the tall mirror before me, stunned and a little surprised. A little blush on and highlighter did wonders for my face shape. The red lipstick was spot on. I was terrified of wearing it. Seeing the deep, lush red shade was daunting. But it softened once paired with my angelic outfit. I look like I came straight out of a magazine. A local one. But a magazine, nonetheless.

Beatrice held magic in her hands.

Speaking of, Beatrice was clad in her equally mesmerizing dress. Her lips tainted with a lighter shade of red, pairing beautifully with her look.

“Well, hot damn,” I let out a low whistle as I took in our elegance in the mirror.

We had called Ross before starting the makeup process. Just to catch up. I took the phone from my dresser and faced her in the mirror, showing our reflection.

“Who are those girls in the mirror? I don’t recognize them. Their hotness is reaching me right now. I think I gotta melt, bye.”

“Well, thank you, Rossalyn. Wished you could have joined us and looked pretty stunning, too. But anyway, damn, I also wish we could doll up like this every day.”

“What do you mean? You literally could, Beatrice,” Ross retorts, rolling her eyes.

Beatrice rolls her eyes in return, “Nobody wants to spend one hour on their hair and makeup, and even more time on choosing a cute and fiery outfit every day before school only to have it ruined by gym class or a science experiment.”

“Or even by literal girls throwing a glass of water at your face.”

“High schoolers are mean,” I exclaimed.

“They are,” B agrees in a sad tone.

“I miss you, guys,” Ross exclaims in a downhearted tone.

“Aww, we miss you too.”

“When are you coming home, anyway?” I asked as we gathered our belongings and got ready to leave.

It was ten minutes before six. My parents were already bustling in the kitchen. They have prepared us dinner even though I’ve told them countless times that we have snacks and drinks at the venue.

“Snacks don’t fill you,” My mother would say.

I’d hate to be full anyway. This dress is far too white and skintight for me to look bloated or to have it stained in the bathrooms.

“Are my girls done preparing?” Mom giggles, entering the room.

“Yes, we are mom,” I exhaled, picking up the pieces of tissue we had used all over the room.

“Can I sneak a peek?”

“Come on in, mother.”

“Awww,” She squeals at the sight of us. “My girls look so beautiful.”

“Thank you, Aunt Lizzy,” Beatrice mumbles as mom takes us in for a tight embrace.

“Mom, the makeup!” I exclaim worriedly as she tries to kiss me on the cheek.

“Oh, nonsense. I will show my affection for you in any way I like, because you just look stunning. Aw, my heart,” She clutches her chest and for a moment I thought she was having a stroke or something. Turns out, she was just feeling very emotional at the sight of us dolled up.

“Mom, we have winter formals every year until senior year. Even then, I’d have a Prom. This isn’t the last time you’ll see us this dressed up.”

“Boo! Let Aunt Lizzy wallow in her emotions, Lottie,” Rossalyn yells from the phone that I had put down on the dresser.

“The boys are here, by the way.”

“They are?”

“Well, why didn’t you tell us?”

“I wanted to be the first one to react to your outfits. If I waited downstairs with the boys, they’d have swallowed me whole with their swooning and glimmering eyes. No, I’ll have my moment up here with you.”

“Aww, Aunt Lizzy, why are you crying?” B offers her a hanky, which she gladly takes.

“Oh, it’s nothing, dear. I just never thought to see you all glammed up and, boy, have you aged. It just seems like yesterday when you were flicking each other’s temples in hopes of pissing the other off.”

“That was me, Aunt Lizzy!” Ross exclaims.

“Yes, Rossalyn, that was you. In kindergarten. I wish you could have been here with Beatrice and Charlotte. Oh, how times have changed.”

“I know, mom,” I sympathized, giving her a quick embrace.

“Well, let’s not keep the boys waiting. We certainly don’t want you to age further in here,” She wipes away her stray tears and heads on out the door. “I’ll get them waiting by the stairs. I have my phone on standby for their reaction. I would not want to miss your dad’s jaw drop. I’ll bring Rossalyn down, as well.”

Mom scurries out of the room with my phone and I felt unnecessary anxiety.

“Are you ready, B?” I asked Beatrice, who looked as nervous as me.

“Let’s do this.”

The second floor of our house was a long ten-stair-level walk. The doorway and stairs were wide enough for us to walk together. We walked out of the room hand in hand. The moment my eyes met with James, I swear to God, I felt time stop. He was clad in a fine tux. His jaws drop at the sight of me. I heard my mom laughing at their expressions, but James’ charming grin caught my eyes in a trap.

His lopsided smile made my heart flutter for a moment. Regaining my bearings, I reached the bottom of the stairs. Charles was standing alongside Daniel Lee who held a bouquet of flowers. He handed it to B, who blushed redder than her makeup.

I turned to dad’s awestruck face and mom’s giggling expression for a hug.

“Well, I’ll be damned. My baby looks like an angel,” Dad throws a quick compliment which I shy away from. “You look beautiful, sweetheart.”

“Thanks, dad.”

I turned around to James with his hopeful look. His eyes were full of wonder. His lips were waiting to speak. I feel my heart beating faster than usual.

“Lottie,” He licks his lips, looking everywhere but my eyes.

“Hey,” I tilted his chin slightly for his eyes to meet mine. It felt even more incredible seeing him see me.

“You look perfect.”

“Why, thank you. You look mighty fine yourself, mister.”

I stared at his handsome blue eyes. As deep as the ocean, they went. Swallowing me whole. Showing a whole other world as they stared straight back into mine. For a moment, it felt like the world revolved around us, and no one but us was in the room. I wanted to kiss him.

“Don’t dilly dally now, kids. It’s ten past six. We need thirty minutes, at least, to have your pictures taken decently,” Mom flings the Canon camera on the coffee table while dad fixes us in positions in a row.

“Here, hold Rossalyn. We’ll have group pictures first, alright.”

“Hey, Charles, where’s your date?” I asked in the middle of smiling like a lunatic.

“Uh, she’s waiting in the car. She doesn’t like pictures, she said so.”

“Well, we had better hurry then.”

“Lottie, um, I actually forgot to give this to you,” James turned back to me, grabbing my wrist and placing the sweetest lily corsage around my arm. “I know you like lilies. I thought we could match.” He raises his arm and shows me the same lily armband as his corsage.

I squeal internally. He was beyond cute and perfect. Damn, I feel like I have the perfect boyfriend.

“Hey, doofus,” Rossalyn yells from the phone. “Where’s the rose I told you to get her?”

“You got me a rose?” I raised an eyebrow. He wasn’t holding any roses. Moreso, Rossalyn was butting in again.

“Oh, I forgot it in the car,” he says in realization, rushing out of the house.

“James, it’s picture time already!” Mom shouts after him.

It didn’t take James more than five seconds though. He returns with a single rose in hand, attached with a note.

“Ross and I think you deserve only one rose because you are my one and only.”

Ross cracks up loudly. Everyone else in the room stifles laughter. Dad wasn’t good at the stifling part though. Even Daniel Lee tried to hide his snickers. Mom places a hand on her temple, disappointed or embarrassed. I’m not sure.

“Oh, honey. Who in this household has taught you to be that lame?” She remarked, taking the rose from his hands and placing it in mine. She grabs James’ shoulders and places us accordingly on the stairs to try and attempt the pictorial once more.

“You’ll have your moment, Rossalyn. You better not come back here,” James whispers to Ross on the screen which I held in my hand.

Dad took multiple shots of us in groups. One with Daniel Lee. Ones with me and B. Ones with Rossalyn, who I, unfortunately, had to cut the call about ten minutes into pictorial because I ran on a low battery. Of course, we could never leave without pictures of our dates.

It went as typically as any school dance event could go. James and Charles posed like in a James Bond movie, on their backs and holding their hands like pistols. The relentless angel I was also insisted on that picture. And we did. Although dad looked more reluctant to take that one picture. While taking pictures by dates, though, Charles was too afraid to call Sarah Lynne. So, he skipped that part.

The entire photo shoot took about thirty minutes. The arranging part and thinking of different ways to pose actually took longer than the actual camera shoots. Mom was too involved with the whole thing to let us pose in random directions. She had to choreograph and place us in our ‘right’ positions.

It was so long, however, that once it was over, and we saw the light at the end of the tunnel, all of us whisper-yelled a relieved sigh.

“Are you sure you’re not hungry, Charlotte? How about you, Bea? Charles, James, other kid, you need to fuel up before your big night. Dancing can be tiring. James, you for one should know that. I have plenty more bread and sandwich fillings in the fridge. I could whip one out as fast as you can sing me a ‘Happy Birthday.’”

Mom was persistent about us eating before leaving. We were already sweating enough with the photoshoot that ran long. The last thing I need is a reason to dump shirt in the school comfort rooms.

Tonight, I am an angel.

Angels do not poop.

“Elizabeth, leave the kids alone. They’ll eat when they’re hungry, all right?” Dad interjects. “Charlotte, here are some bills. Make sure to eat and be fully satisfied with your night before coming home. I don’t want to smell alcohol on either one of you, though.”

“Yes, sir,” I smiled back at my father, who had just handed me a roll full of twenty-dollar bills.

“We love you, sweetheart,” Mom shouts as James guides me out of the door.

“I love you, too, mom, dad.”

“Don’t worry, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, I’ll take good care of Lottie. But she can take care of herself fine, too, of course. She’s kind of resilient. Takes from you, I think,” James winks at my mom, who acted swooned by my boyfriend’s antics.

Although, I admit. James’s winking is a separate charm in itself.