Another called, “Are the two of you friends now?”
Then it seemed everyone was shouting questions at me. “Are you going to pursue a singing career?”
“How has this affected your life?”
For twenty minutes I answered them while kids from my school skirted around us, eyeing the cameras. Donovan stood by my side, protectively close. He kept his hand on my arm as though he thought he might have to bat the reporters away. Actually, I began to wonder if he would, since they showed no sign of letting us pass.
Finally, Jason and his body guards came out to rescue us. Or maybe Jason came out because he wanted to ensure the reporters got pictures of him with his arm draped around me, demonstrating we had no hard feelings. It was difficult to tell those sorts of things with Jason.
After a sufficient number of pictures had been snapped, Jason’s bodyguards cleared a path into the hotel. Once we went inside, the hotel security kept the paparazzi from following us through the lobby.
We walked into the ballroom, Jason retook the stage, and the crowd cheered to have him back. I’d never seen so many starstruck people. Even the guys at my school who had sworn Jason was no big deal grudgingly clapped. Several girls looked nearly hysterical with happiness.
Hard to understand, since Donovan was hands down the most handsome guy in the room. We danced song after song. We even waltzed a few times.
Some of my classmates gave us odd looks as we waltzed passed them, circling the perimeter of the room. A few whispered and laughed. I didn’t care. Waltzing was fun. And it reminded me of the first time Donovan and I had danced together back at the castle.
Other people watched us enviously. A few clapped for us, and one guy called out, “Do the salsa next!”
“We’ll have to learn that,” I told Donovan.
“Right. Then we can do it at my prom.”
Throughout the night, we mostly stayed on the dance floor. This was partially because I liked dancing with Donovan, liked watching him move to the rhythm. And partially because every time Donovan and I left the floor girls accosted me, asking about Jason. How well did I know him? Were Jason and I ever going to hang out together? If we did, could they come along?
Um, no. After his stint as prom entertainment, if Jason and I ever got together, our conversations would not be ones I’d want anyone else hearing. Undoubtedly they would include fairy queens, dancing princesses, frogs, and mermaids.
The girls I ate lunch with came over to meet Donovan. I knew they were curious about this hot guy I’d shown up with, a guy I’d never mentioned before. They probably thought I’d hired a male model so I’d have a date.
“How did you two meet?” one asked, her gaze bouncing between us.
Donovan gave her his trademark smirk. “We’re both underworld spies. We met at a spy convention.”
“That’s not true,” I said. “I’m a spy, and Donovan is a paid assassin. We met in a Mexican prison.”
“Ah, prison,” he said. “Those were the good old days.”
Then we told everyone the story we’d told my mom. We met when we’d tried out for America’s Top Talent. Donovan told that part wistfully. “If only I’d thought to upchuck on Jason’s shoes, I could have been the one on The Tonight Show.”
“There’s still time,” I said. “You can throw up on his shoes tonight.”
Donovan nodded. “I’ll put it on my to-do list.”
Toward the end of prom, Jason called me up to sing a duet with him. “We’ve done this song before,” he told the crowd. “It’s going to blow you away.”
We sang Love for Two, the song we’d done for Queen Orlaith. And it was good. Jason and I blended well, even if he did like to show off a little by meandering through the chords.
My classmates stared at me with surprise and awe. I think they were awed because Jason said we’d sung together before, not because my voice impressed them. But whatever. Donovan smiled while I sang, and his smile lit up the whole room.
When we finished our duet, I returned to Donovan. Jason sang a new song, one with a tune I recognized from Queen Orlaith’s pavilion. It wasn’t as mystical or melodic without the musical instruments that evoked the elements, but it was still pretty.
Donovan and I swayed to the music. I liked the smell of his aftershave and the way he looked in his tux—polished and handsome.
“This is a nice dance,” Donovan said. “Even if there aren’t glowing pillars, a fountain, or a spread of chocolate flowers.”
“I miss the chocolate. I’m tempted to nibble on your boutonniere.”
He tilted his head questioningly. “Does this place seem hokey after being in a fairy court?”
I glanced around the room at the crowds of sweaty teens, at the hotel lighting and plain walls. “This is much better than the fairy court . . . because I’m dancing with you.”
He grinned at me and we kept dancing.
From: The Honorable Sagewick Goldengill
To: The Department of Fairy Advancement
To the Esteemed Department,
I am in receipt of student Chrysanthemum Everstar’s extra-credit report and have reviewed it thoroughly. I, like the rest of the Seelie Court, rejoice in the return of Queen Titania’s goblet. I applaud Miss Everstar’s creative use of wishes and commend her desire to return our beloved leader’s possessions to their rightful place.
However, I can’t condone Miss Everstar’s reckless methods. She didn’t seek, let alone receive, permission to embark on a mission with possible profound and long-reaching consequences.
Our sources in the Unseelie Court report a high degree of hostility forming there, especially since Queen Orlaith and Prince Kailen feel the sting of being bested by a fairy godmother in training.
I believe accepting Miss Everstar into Fairy Godmother University at this time would be a particularly bad political move. It would be, as they say, Not only chopping down the tree, but using the wood to build more axes.
I suggest we give Miss Everstar another assignment—something simple to keep her out of trouble until tensions die down. Perhaps you could find her a charge with an easily-cured affliction, such as an overabundance of warts, body hair, or optimism. Miss Everstar should be able to easily clear up any of those things.
With staid regards,
Sagewick Goldengill
THE END
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
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Janette
Contact me on-line at my website, JanetteRallison.com (emaiclass="underline" jrallisonfans@yahoo.com)
Other titles by Janette Rallison
Blue Eyes and Other Teenage Hazards
Just One Wish
Masquerade
My Double Life
A Longtime (and at One Point Illegal) Crush
Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Free Throws
Playing The Field
My Fair Godmother
My Unfair Godmother
All’s Fair in Love, War, and High School
Fame, Glory, and Other Things on my To Do List
It’s a Mall World After All
Revenge of the Cheerleaders
How to Take The Ex Out of Ex-boyfriend
Slayers (under pen name CJ Hill)
Slayers: Friends and Traitors (under pen name CJ Hill)
Erasing Time (under pen name CJ Hill)
Echo in Time (under pen name CJ Hill)
What the Doctor Ordered (under pen name Sierra St. James)