Mer Tales 01 - Everblue

thought Mom was calling you out to see him, not to get a lecture. And she is on a roll today.”
    “ This day has totally turned around,” she said, sounding jovial for the first time since arriving. “I’m going to be laughing about this for days.”
    “ Me, too.”
    With a hard flick of our tails, we sped off towards the palace, laughing like we use to in Tahoe.

15
ASH

    I spun around in front of the mirror, wearing my new emerald-green gown. A solitary sequined strap crossed over my collar bone and looped around my neck, hugging my shoulder like a big hook. Never did I imagine a sleeveless dress would complement my overly muscular shoulders, but it did. The soft silk against my skin and the elegant way it hung to the floor made me feel like royalty. For a moment, I wished Senior Ball could have been tonight—not in two weeks.
    The girls waited noisily downstairs for the fashion show as I slipped on my shoes. With small steps, my ankles wobbled as I traversed down the stairs. When I came into view, Mom brought her hand to her mouth and Lucy gasped.
    “ Aye, aye, aye,” Gran said with a golden gleam. “Aren’t you a picture?”
    I smiled—just the reaction I’d hoped for.
    “ So who’s your beau?” Gran asked after I came into the room and twirled a few times.
    I twisted my lips and looked at Mom. “Bow?”
    “ Beau is another word for your date, or guy friend ,” Mom said, as she walked over and tugged on the seam under my armpit. “Is that comfortable?”
    I nodded and she inserted a straight pin from her pincushion.
    “ His name is Callahan. He’s the pitcher on our baseball team and a really good snowboarder.” Joy burst from my heart as my feelings flowed freely from my mouth. For once the conversation revolved around me and not Lucy, who was still mute at the moment. “He’s got brown hair and big brown eyes—” I daydreamed for a second, imagining us dancing together in the center of a dimly lit room.
    “ Well, in my day,” Gran said with a sparkle in her eye, “things were very different. My parents were strict. In high school, they wouldn’t let me go to a dance alone with a boy, but I could tag along with my older brothers.”
    I looked at Lucy and smiled evilly. She’d die if Mom and Dad did that to her when it was her turn.
    Gran put her hand on Lucy’s knee and squeezed. “So, I’d go with my brothers and meet up with your grandpa at the dance. We didn’t do the wild moves you kids do now, more like dancing cheek-to-cheek or jitterbug. I was pretty good, but your Grandpa . . . he wasn’t coordinated. Maybe it was his big feet, but we’d have a good time anyway.”
    “ I’ve never heard this story,” Mom said, pausing from pinning up my hem.
    “ Oh, I’m sure I’ve told it before,” Gran laughed.
    And this is how her stories surfaced. Out of nowhere Gran would pop out a story none of us had heard before, as if she kept them for special moments such as these. I’d resorted to studying the pictures scattered around the house to fill in some gaps of what their life was like together. The sparkle in their eyes told me they loved each other very much back in the day.
    “ Did you ever wear any pretty gowns like in the movies, Gran?” I asked while eyeing a particular picture where Gran pushed Mom in a baby stroller while Grandpa walked next to her, arm draped over her shoulder.
    “ Oh, no,” she said with a chuckle. “We wore our everyday dresses and saddle shoes, not those—” she waved her hand at my strappy ones. “But I would have loved to. Boy, are you stunning.”
    I felt my cheeks grow hot. “Thanks, Gran.”
    “ Oh, that reminds me. I have something for you.” She rose from the couch and headed toward her room.
    I looked at Mom who smiled knowingly. She returned with a brown garment bag. From inside she pulled out a white fox stole. “It was my mother’s. I’d like you to wear it on Saturday.”
    My mouth dropped open as she draped the soft silky side over my shoulders and fastened the jeweled clasp front. I rubbed my cheek against the luscious fur, instantly enveloped in warmth. “Really?”
    “ Of course. The weather is supposed to be dreadfully cold, so it’s perfect.”
    “ Can I wear it?” Lucy asked, standing up and dragging her hand across the front of the stole.
    “ When you have a special occasion, darling, I’ll let you borrow it as well.” Gran took her arm and guided her back to the couch. They sat and she pulled Lucy into