Cissy hangs the gowns side-by-side in her closet. Hers is green and black, mine’s red and gold. “How do you know? Maybe it’s an ancient thrax tradition.”
“Maybe.” With the thrax, you never know. I wouldn’t be shocked if they had a tradition for which way toilet paper falls off the roll.
Cissy claps her hands. “Let’s get dressed!” She quickly shuts the bedroom door, then she and I peel down to our underwear.
A portal appears by Cissy’s closet; Walker steps through. “Good evening, Myla. You have been called to serve.”
Cissy yelps, quickly grabbing her clothes and holding them over her front. I do the same.
“Walker!” I roll my eyes. “There’s a new fad called knocking. Ever heard of it?”
Walker shifts his weight from foot to foot. “You were, um, concerned that I haven’t given you advance warning before a match. You have one this Saturday morning, 5 AM. Since it’s Thursday night, I thought you’d be pleased to know.”
“That’s nice, Walker. You can go now.”
If Walker had blood, he’d be blushing at this point. “I must, um, apologize for the intrusion. I will go inform your mother of the match.”
Cissy nods toward the stack of boxes. “Be sure to say the gowns arrived in time.”
“No!” I try to kick Cissy in the shins and miss. “She thinks we’re hanging out at Zeke’s again, she doesn’t know about the ball.” I turn to Walker, my eyes pleading. “Please don’t say a word to Mom. You know how she gets.”
Walker scans the gowns with an expert eye. “Lincoln invited you to the ball tonight.” It’s not a question.
“They’re friends,” says Cissy quickly. I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time convincing her of that fact. No point awakening her envy demon when Lincoln leaves in a few days.
“I’ll keep your secret.” Walker pulls up his hood. “I only wish I had an invitation to this evening’s festivities.” He closes his eyes; another portal appears by Cissy’s closet. Walker starts to leave, then pauses. He angles toward me, his eyes glowing red under his hood. “You two will cause a lot of trouble, you know.”
“One can only hope.” I stick out my tongue at him. “I’m not worried about a certain dopey Earl ruining my life.”
“Only you, Myla.” Stepping through the portal, Walker disappears.
Cissy tosses her clothes back onto the floor, her focus moving laser-style in my direction. “What was that all about?”
“Do you promise to keep a lid on your envy demon?”
Cissy grits her teeth. “Yes.”
I hold my pointer finger and thumb before my nose in the hand signal for ‘little.’ “There may be a wee bit of sexual tension between me and Lincoln.” Best to ease her gently into reality. “And that Earl guy still hates me because I doused him in green demon goop.”
“Oh.” Cissy screws her mouth onto one side of her face. “But Lincoln’s going back to Antrum, isn’t he?”
“Yup. Saturday.” Normally this fact would be incredibly depressing. But since I’m seeing Lincoln in minutes? Couldn’t care less.
“Got it.” She bobs her head happily, her attention returning to the gowns. I let out a long sigh.
Stepping over to the boxes, I pull out my matching shoes and thrax undies. Mine look like mummy wrappings with thick black lines sewn onto them. “These look even weirder than last time. Do I really have to wear this?”
“Do you really think you’re leaving my room in anything else?”
Well, that’s the truth.
There’s a flurry of makeup brushes and hair spray, then we both slip into our gowns.
Cissy sets her hand on her hip, scanning me up and down. My dress is red and gold brocade with a fitted bodice that leaves my shoulders bare; the low pointed waist has a hole in the back for my tail. The gown’s skirt is floor-length and cut into sections that shimmer as I move. My long auburn hair hangs loose about my shoulders.
I suck in a shaky breath. I’m a curvy girl, and usually I wear sweats that pretty much hide that fact. But in this dress, I’m all hourglass. In fact, the bodice has this corset thing inside it that gives me a waspish waist. Add it all up and I’m feeling mighty awkward. I turn to Cissy. “Okay, what do you think?”
“Myla, you look stunning.”
I exhale. She may be exaggerating, but I need it right now. “Thanks.” I gesture to her dress. “Let’s see yours.” Cissy spins about, showing a shimmering black under-gown with a green velvet overdress and long looping sleeves. The velvet is loosely tied up her chest with long green ribbons, then it falls open at her skirts to reveal the black gown beneath. Her hair hangs in golden ringlets to her shoulders. Her tail swings happily behind her. I grin. “You look lovely.”