The Reluctant Cinderella

Missy remained longer at the Santiago's house than expected. By the time she arrived the coffee table in the living room was cleaned, the television was off, and the radio was brought out blasting rock music. Oso had been moved to the other side of the room, so that he doesn't get in the way. Not that he really cared since his full attention was still on the chew toy.

The two best friends sat on the couch just chatting for a while before Missy had brought out a purple folder. Inside was the mayor's letter, some drawn out costume ideas, and a few pictures of masks and accessories. When needed Missy can work fast. Dawn was surprised when her enthusiastic friend brought out the different sheets of paper.

"How did you get all of this stuff already?" she had asked with her eyebrows up.

"Oh, you know, just a quick search on the computer," Missy had replied while leafing through a few pages.

Dawn nodded but stopped when the drawings were pulled out. "Okay, then how did you have enough time to draw these pictures?" she said while gesturing towards the small stack in front of her.

Missy stopped her current tasked and looked at her friend. "You know I can't draw, Dawn. These were done by my aunt," she explained. "She has a costume shop a few cities over and had given these to me the last time she visited. They were Halloween costume ideas but I thought they would be more appropriate for the balls."

"Hmm," Dawn said while nodding. She was impressed by the drawings. "Tell your aunt that I think her work is great."

"You should just tell her yourself. We will be visiting her in a few weeks."

"What!" Dawn dropped the paper that was in her hand. "And tell me, when did you have time to arrange this?"

"Before I left. I called her, gave her some ideas, then she invited us over," Missy said while grabbing her folder and placing it beside her on the couch. She then turned her gaze to Dawn. "If you're worried about bothering her, don't be. She doesn't mind doing this for her favorite niece. And her favorite niece's best friend," she added with a grin.

Dawn had opened her mouth to say something else but Missy covered it with her hand. "Now no more talking. Just pick the outfits you like and then we'll go from there."

With the hand still over her mouth Dawn nodded.

The two spent most of their time just going over ideas and picking costumes that they liked. They decided to start with the first ball and picked an outfit that fit the theme. The first night's theme was animal, the second night's was black and white, and the third night's was a traditional Venetian ball. It was that night the two were most excited about.

Time seemed to fly by and before they knew it the sun was going down. Missy looked on the clock hanging on the wall behind her and sighed. If she was late returning home than Aidan would complain and she didn't feel like having a headache. Dawn heard the sigh and looked up at Missy.

"What's wrong?" Dawn asked.

Missy's green eyes turned from the clock and onto Dawn. "It's just that I have to get home soon. You know how my annoying little brother can be."

Dawn chuckled. "Yeah." She paused, "I guess we should call it a night then."

Missy agreed and they began putting the stuff away. Just as they finished the heard the sound of a lock then the door opening.

"I wonder who's home," Dawn muttered to herself.

Her question was answered when Sky's face came into view. Without saying a word he walked over to the table, picked up the letters, and after not finding anything for him, dropped them. He then looked up at Dawn.

"Any messages for me?" he asked her.

"No," she replied.

Nodding, he turned away. His backpack swung, almost hitting Dawn on the head. She quickly ducked then glared at his retreating figure.

Suddenly a bark rang out followed by Sky calling out Oso's name. Dawn and Missy watched as the dog wagged his tail wildly as he was being pet. A smile was on Sky's face and he laughed when Oso tried to lick his face.

"I missed you too boy," they heard him say. "Come on, let's go to my room." He took a step but stopped when Oso began to whine. Sky's head turned to Dawn then he asked, "Did you feed him yet?"

"No, I forgot," Dawn said, apologetic.

"Figures you would forget," he muttered loud enough for her to hear then proceeded to the kitchen.

Dawn sighed as she shook her head. "Can you believe him?" she asked to no one in particular.

"Well, he does really care for the dog," Missy said, once again defending him.

"Yeah, but he cares for that dog more than me."

So much for nothing ruining her good mood.