2

'Mother! Mother, help me please! I have no idea what to wear, mother! Gosh, what if he doesn't like me?! What if I'm not good enough for him? I mean, I'm sure he's been out with plenty of beautiful girls before… have you seen the girls they normally have at the house? This must be a joke… MOTHER!'

I couldn't believe it when he'd asked me out. You know that dream you have as a girl? The one where somehow a handsome prince walks up… no, gallops up. They're always on a horse for some reason. Anyway, the handsome prince gallops up to your house, gets down on bended knee and instantly knows you are the girl he wants to marry. We all know the dream. When Johnny drove up to the house to invite me to a dance his parents were having, I really could not believe it. I'm pretty sure as I played it over in my head, he became a handsome prince, his ford became a graceful white horse, and I wasn't invited to the dance. Instead, in my mind he had proposed there and then. It seems so silly looking back at that night, remembering how I acted the whole evening. I was so convinced he'd made a mistake, and so worried he was far too good for me, I acted up the whole night. I was sure he must want a debutante, so what good was I?

Mother helped me choose a suitable ensemble; a floor length green gown and her best shoes; a low heel. I never was very good at walking in heels. Mother even lent me her mother's pearls. They were a little old-fashioned then, but I thought I looked rather grown-up. I was to arrive at 6, no earlier, no later. Mother joked that he should collect me himself if he were to have any chance of my turning up on time. Unsurprisingly, I didn't find this quite as amusing as she may have hoped. I turned up at the house on time, not a minute before, not a minute after (there may have been a little 'exploring' to ensure this happened.) I walked in with my nose in the air, hoping this would give the impression I was used to this lifestyle. I wasn't. I had to remind myself every few seconds that nobody else was admiring the ceiling, the floor, the damned glasses. Johnny met me with a kiss on the cheek, at which I blushed furiously, and we walked on to the floor.

Oh how I wished I had paid more attention in dance lessons!

Any perception he had built up, any belief in my ladylike qualities disappeared with that dance. As he led me around, it was all I could do not to fall right in to the couple next to us. I was terribly embarrassed at the time, but gosh am I glad it happened now. We laughed and laughed and barely noticed the end of the song. As a slightly slower song started, I lent closer, standing cheek-to-cheek with the man I would grow to love. As he lent in to whisper in my ear, I felt the other guests disappear. In my world, I was alone with a handsome prince in the most beautiful palace ever built.

'All the other girls here are stars. You are the northern lights.'

I was his from that moment.