Fairytale Chances

Unbelievably boring as the day was, it wasn’t over yet. The dreaded ringing of the bell indicated the beginning of the next class - gym. The highlight - laps. I don’t think I’ve ever hated a class with such a passion, especially when we had to run laps. The only upside of this frightening, sweat-extracting hour of torture is that I had my tall, blonde and gorgeous bestie, Freya, with me. But of course, being the athlete that she is, this doesn’t phase her.

“Window closing! Window closing!” Freya’s high-pitched whisper brought me out of my thoughts.

“What window?” I replied as she caught my arm, steering me in the direction of potential drama. Looking in her direction, I practically melted in the sight of the chiseled and built six-pack on display out on the field. That golden, tousled hair and that perfect, signature grin always put me in a trance. Oh, Austin Kidd, why’d you have to look so damn hot?

Suddenly, my view was blocked by Freya. I snapped out of my daze while she rolled her eyes. “You’ve got a little drool...” She smiled, touching her lip, indicating the position on my face, “... right there.” It was my turn to roll my eyes.

“So, we were talking about windows?”

She pointed out in the distance, her eyebrow raised. Following her gaze, I watched as Tyra, also known as the Wicked Witch of the Valley, approached my future Prince Charming. Freya created a whole fairytale around it.

“And dark clouds collected in the skies above. Darkness surrounded the tall figure in black braids, black boots and a skimpy black outfit to match.” Freya dramatically narrated, earning her a giggle from me. “The Wicked Witch approached, hips swaying as she strutted towards the dashing Prince Charming, in hopes to attract him. And then,” She paused for dramatic effect. “Poison him!”

I laughed. “You’re weird.” I muttered.

She looked at me and stated, disappointed, “And Prince Charming doesn’t know he needs to find his Princess, who he doesn’t even know exists...” She ended in an expectant tone.

“Exactly.” I said contently.

“... because she won’t let him know she exists. And so her window of opportunity closes.” She glared at me, frustrated. As much as I wanted to make a move on him, or even talk to him, I was afraid. We were from different cliques, which sometimes felt like different worlds. In all fairness, Tyra wasn’t exactly up there in Grenfall High royalty either, but she was far closer than I was.

I turned around and walked to the start of the track to start jogging. Freya followed close behind me. “Come on. Why won’t you just go and talk to the guy? Ask him to the End of Year Dance.” I stayed silent. We’ve been having this discussion for two weeks now, ever since the dance date was set and it was decided it was going to be a Sadie Hawkins dance. “You know it’s a miracle that he’s not going with anyone yet, and this is your chance.”

Considering the dance was in two days, it made me wonder why no one has asked him yet. “Tyra’s moved in. Quick do something crazy. Fake a heart attack!”

I laughed. “Are you insane? I’m not faking a heart attack.” The thought of it made me wonder how we were ever friends. I was just normal enough to be invisible. She, on the other hand, broke all scales of insanity.

“The Wicked Witch makes her play.” Freya continued to narrate while I bent down to tie my shoelace. “And she’s talking...”

“I don’t need a play-by-play.”

“And she’s talking...” She seemed too invested in the story, and for some reason, so was I. “And she’s looking here.” I stood up and got ready to start running while simultaneously trying to distract myself from the situation. “And she’s talking to him again.”

“Dude, they’re gonna live happily ever after. Just let them -”

“And she’s walking away happy.” Freya interrupted me. I turned around to see Tyra looking in my direction, a satisfied grin on her face. My heart sunk. For something that I struggled to not care about, it almost hurt.

“Sorry, kiddo.”

I looked back at Austin, who was gazing back in my direction. Immediately looking away, I started jogging on the track. “We’re still going to the dance, right? We don’t need dates. You and me, kid. We don’t need that loser.” She demanded.

Smiling, I agreed with her. I didn’t have the energy to fight her off, but I do have two days to come up with an excuse. As we continued to do our laps, Freya ranted on about her dress and my dress and the dance. I stayed quiet and minimally responded. I was too distracted by Austin and Tyra running behind us.

Two days can go by in a flash when you don’t want them to pass by. Before I knew it, I was in Freya’s room getting ready for the dance, which I was forced to go to. So, while I sat down in my red dress with a short flared skirt, Freya was bouncing and twirling around the room, doing a last-minute dress montage. All part of her process.

“How does this look?” Freya said, tapping her navy blue and black, medium-length, layered dress. She twisted and twirled in front of her full-length mirror. She looked back at me and saw the boredom on my face. “Fine, fine. Let’s go.”

In about twenty minutes, we were at the school entrance. We walked towards the decorated and sparkling gym. “And so, the Princess walks into the ball, scanning the bright, colourful room for her Prince Charming to save his life.”

“Stop.” I weakly commented. I was looking for Austin, but her narrating does get a little annoying sometimes... and scary. We stood by the doorway, barely inside, looking around at the 

Finding Austin wasn’t all that hard. He definitely stands out. Everyone knows he looks just as gorgeous in a tux. I bit my lip and diverted my gaze once Austin looked in my direction. “O. M. G. The first look. The first mutual gaze from across the room. That’s how it all begins.” She clasped her hands together and motioned all lovey-dovey.

“Has anyone ever told you how much of a drama queen you can be?” I smiled at her, rubbing against my arm to force the shivers away.

“Let’s just go dance.” She asserted, pulling my arm and forcing me onto the dance floor. We started dancing, or rather, she started dancing while I silently swayed, stealing momentary glances of Austin as he danced with his intensely goth date.

“I’m sorry, honey.” Freya murmured.

“Let her have him. He’s not going to see me anyway.”

“You’re going to let the Wicked Witch win?” She asked me, practically yelling. “Jeez, you’re the worst hero slash damsel in distress ever.”

“Thanks.” I muttered.

We continued to dance until we got to a slow song when we hopped to the corners of the room, allowing the couples to swallow the dance floor. The both of us picked up a cup of punch each and moved to the bleachers.

“Don’t you just hate slow songs?” Freya grumbled.

“Says the romantic.”

“Sure, but this is supposed to be the end of the story, where the girl gets the guy and -”

She stopped, staring wide-eyed behind me. She kept her cup on the floor “Remember that window we were talking about?”

“We’re back to that now?”

“Second chances, babe. Take it.” 

I stared at her confused. She took my hand and twirled me around. I bumped into a guy’s chest. Instinctively, I responded, “Sorry.” I pushed back and said again, “I’m sorry.” I looked up at the guy to find Austin staring back at me. I looked down.

“It’s Keeley, right?” His voice sent shivers up my spine. I nodded as my breathing fastened.

“Would you maybe want to dance?” Startled, I looked back up at him. ‘Yes!’ I mentally answered. Great! Now all I have to do is answer out loud. I opened my mouth to answer, but couldn’t get myself to force the words out.

“Window, Keeley. Take the window.” Freya whispered behind me.

“I uh-” I stuttered.

“So, you rejected me for this dwarf?” Tyra stepped in, eyeing me up and down. I could’ve sworn my face dropped a couple of tones.

“Of course, the Wicked Witch comes in to ruin the perfect moment.” I heard Freya mumble behind me.

Austin rolled his eyes and simply responded to her, “Yes I did.” As he expectantly waited for her to leave, he looked back at me, “So, I’ve been waiting all week for you to ask me to this stupid thing. What do you say? You. Me. Dance. Now?”

I hesitated to even move. I felt hands move to the top of my head and behind my neck. “Wicked Witch defeated.” Freya muttered. “And now, just a little help from your fairy godsister.” She moved my head back and forth, mimicking a nod.

“Great. I think.” Austin said, confused and smiling sheepishly. He took my hand and directed me onto the dance floor as I shyly followed behind.

Taking hold of my waist, he swayed. I placed my arms on his shoulders as he pulled me close. I was almost certain he could feel my heart beating out of my chest. There were a lot of thoughts going through my mind at the time and I needed a lot of explaining from him, but considering that I wasn’t even able to get a word out, I think I’ll just hang on to the comfortable silence for now.

As we turned, I saw Freya dancing with one of the chess team nerds, frantically and erratically. I bit my lip from laughing as I looked back at my feet, unable to look into Austin’s eyes. The song ended and he let go of me. “I’ll just… find you in a minute.”

I glanced back at him before he walked away and out the door. I turned back around to have everyone looking at me. Freya made her way to me, giddy with excitement. “And the Princess breaks the spell, gets the Prince and they live happ-”

“In case you haven’t noticed, he left.” I interrupted her.

“He’ll be back.” She optimistically replied. And she wasn’t wrong. In a quick minute, he was back through the gymnasium doors, holding something in his hand. “And this my dear, is why you always listen to me and seize the opportunity when you get it.”

He settled right in front of me as Freya strutted off, blending into the crowd. “I didn’t think you were going to come tonight.” I just stared at him, not knowing what to say. He took my hand. I looked down at what he was doing.

Placing a rubber band with stapled red and white craft paper flowers on my hand, he smiled. “Remember this? Third grade?” I smiled. It was an art project for Valentine’s Day. I made it and gave it to him.

“Ms. Tarren’s class. Valentine’s day.” I managed to speak out. I laughed at the thought of it.

“I tried to make my own for tonight, but none of them looked as good.” He laughed. I giggled looking at him.

‘Just go for it.’ I mentally yelled at myself. I shifted my gaze between his eyes and his lips, looking for any signs of rejection or waiting to see if he’d make the move. ‘Screw it. Freya's right. This is my window. My chance.’

Without second thoughts, I closed my eyes and placed my lips on his, and although he was startled at first, he responded, kissing me back slowly. That moment felt like it was going to last forever. We both pulled away as we opened our eyes. A heavy smile was smeared across his face as we fell back into a comfortable silence, dancing again.

I could almost hear Freya’s narration in my head. We’ve been friends so long, this doesn’t seem weird at all. But, all drama aside, this really did turn out to be the perfect ending she, and I, hoped for.

‘Prince Charming kissed his Princess. They danced the night away and lived happily ever after.’