I woke up to a faint tapping sound. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes thinking it was just an early morning meteor shower outside my bedroom window, but the sky was still dark purple like the stone that filled the inside of the silver crescent moon necklace around my neck.

“I need your help,” a deep voice whispered behind the door.

I rolled my eyes and walked over to the door before opening it to see a tall young man with a thin heart-shaped face. He was handsome with a slightly darker tint to his skin that always reminded me of the syrup I poured on my pancakes every morning. He had long black hair that was pulled back into a ponytail, but two long strands framed his face. He stared at me with light blue eyes like the water in a clear lake. He was wearing simple gray pants that looked like he won them in a fight with a wolf. The truth is, however, he probably grabbed them off the floor of my sister’s bedroom in the dark so he wouldn’t get caught in bed with my sister. We wouldn’t want anyone questioning whether or not she was a virgin. That ship had been sailed about two years ago, and her legs have been spread open ever since.  

“It’s still dark outside,” I commented with a hand on my hip as I tapped my foot against the cold, dark marble floor annoyed. 

“We live in space. It’s always dark outside,” the young guard commented as he pushed past the large door, and I just looked at him with my mouth hanging open as the young man fell back into the soft golden comforter that made me think the blanket was made of marshmallows. 

“Careful, Gina might get jealous,” the young man looked at me and smiled. 

“We wouldn’t want that now, would we?” He asked, chuckling bitterly.

“You know Dad likes you. I could try to convince him to promote you to my personal guard detail.”

I dragged a dark brown wooden chest with a dark purple horse positioned above the brass lock. I close my eyes and focused on the lock. I pictured the lid springing open to reveal a deep chest lined with a deep red velvet fabric that felt rough to my fingers. I coughed as a cloud of dust formed around me. 

“They couldn’t spring for new luggage?” The young man asked as he watched me continued to cough and sputter. I glared at him, my cocoa-colored eyes narrowed into slits as if I could shoot him with ice sickles. I walked over to my closet and opened it carefully. I held up a red dress against myself.

“Isn’t that asking a little much for a first date?” The young man asked. “You should pack it though.” 

I folded the dress against myself calmly and tossed it the chest carefully.  The young man walked over to the closet and helped me pack clothes in the trunk gently.  

I arched an eyebrow at him.”What are you doing?”

 “Well the way I look at it, if I get caught in here I can say you tried to escape.” I chuckled, the sound came out as a choking sound as if I took a sip that went down the wrong path down my throat.

“So you’re going to make me face my parents alone?” 

“Well you are leaving in a few hours so what can they do to you?” he asked as he put another dress in the chest.

However, a large part would probably be that if my mother heard the shower running she would be outside the bathroom door asking me questions about what the Prince’s favorite food was, or something stupid like that. As if knowing the Prince’s favorite food was the key to a successful marriage. I climbed out of the bathtub and looked around for a towel. I spotted a fluffy white one on the silver towel rack and used it to dry off before using my powers to quickly dry my light brown hair. I slipped the dress on and adjusted it so that everything looked okay, and I would be causing a royal scandal by having my breasts in the Prince’s face during our first meeting.

I ran my fingers through my hair to avoid any knots. I knew that I probably should brush it in order to make a good impression or whatever. He’s stuck with me though so I’ll just brush my teeth. I walked over to the sink and grabbed a blue toothbrush from off of its marble countertop. I squirted the toothpaste onto the toothbrush carefully so I didn’t get any on my dress.

 I was just starting to run the brush across my teeth when suddenly I heard the doorknob turn. “You alive in here?” Yoshi asked as he poked his head in the doorway. 

“Yes, if you are going to keep bothering me can you at least zip me up?” I asked with a mouth full of toothpaste. 

“Oh, that’ll win Daisuke over in a heartbeat,” Yoshi commented as he chuckled amused. His laugh reminded me of my dad’s. It was deep, and warm like cocoa. I glared at him before turning on the sink and made a cup with my hands so I could rinse my mouth out. 

“You’re lucky I didn’t spit on you,” I commented as I wiped my mouth with the same towel I used to dry off.

 “Yeah, he’s going to love you,” He commented, the sarcasm dripping from his voice like water from a leaky faucet. 

“Would you rather be Gina’s boy toy?” I asked, keeping my voice as calm as possible. 

“Okay, I’ll shut up,” He said as he zipped up my dress. I smiled at him as I pushed past him out the door as I put some silver sandals with straps that crisscrossed over my foot. I look around my bare room one last time before looking at Yoshi, 

“Shall we?” I asked as my trunk floated behind me. “You don’t want to say ‘bye to your parents and Gina first?” He asked amused as he arched a dark eyebrow. 

I shrugged my shoulders, “I wouldn’t want to interrupt Gina’s beauty sleep. How else will she find someone to replace you?” I asked as I fluttered my eyelashes playfully. 

“I’m sure she’ll manage. Probably blackmail them with incriminating photos that would get them put in prison,” Yoshi commented as he looped my arm through his. 

You can read about Daisuke’s wedding jitters here