Luna of Light

Golden Goddess

Gaia

The room was filled with the smells of perfume and hair products as my friends got ready in my hotel suite. My dad had rented the room for me to get ready in, but of course when I had told my best friends Haley and Chen about it, they had insisted on getting ready with me. And as Haley changed the song playing in the room for the hundredth time, I knew I wouldn’t want it any other way.

“So,” Chen plopped onto the bed, watching me finish my hair. “Rumor has it, we won’t be seeing Jake tonight!”

“What?” Haley called, popping her head out of the bathroom where she was doing her makeup. “Why not?”

“A little birdy told me he’s mega grounded.” She waggled her eyebrows knowingly at me in the mirror as she rolled off of the bed and grabbed her ruby red dress off of the sheets, stepping into it.

“s**t, really?” I set my curling iron down, turning to face her as she pulled the dress’ one sleeve over her shoulder.

“Gaia, what did you do?” Haley stepped out of the bathroom, fanning her mascara dry with her hands.

I rolled my eyes, going to the closet and unzipping the garment bag that held the sparkly gold dress I had chosen for my party. “His dad may or may not have caught me sneaking out of his room…”

“OH MY GOD!” they shouted in unison.

“Nothing happened!” I snapped defensively. “We were just hanging out, and we lost track of time!”

“Hell of a reason to get grounded two weeks before graduation.” Haley noted, sliding her floor length black gown on and turning to get Chen to zip her up.

“I’m so bummed he’s not coming.” Chen commiserated as I wriggled into my skintight dress. It hugged my body tightly, not needing anything to hold it up, though three thin gold chains rested just off each of my shoulders for decoration. I picked up the spiky gold headband that was practically a tiara and settled it into the mane of curls I had cascading around my shoulders.

Chen and Haley gasped as I turned to show off for them. “Oh, Gaia, you look incredible!”

“Like a golden goddess!”

I had played up the gold tones of my hair and skin with my makeup and the dress. I had lined my eyes with black and dusted my skin with gold as well. I stepped into my gold gladiator heels that came up to my knees, and grabbed my purse, checking my phone.

“Oh my God, you guys, it’s nine thirty!” My party had technically started at eight. The girls squealed, grabbing their purses and we clambered out of the room, taking the elevator up to the roof. The party was pretty much in full swing when we walked through the glass doors and into the warm night. People moved on the dance floor, sipping drinks, talking and laughing. The roof looked beautiful, decorated with gold and fluffy white peonies. The sky was clear, filled with stars, and a brilliant moon lit up the night. I beamed, feeling giddy with excitement.

“I thought you girls would never come up.” My father stepped to my side and I jumped on him, throwing my arms around his neck. He laughed, squeezing me tightly.

“Dad, this is awesome! Thank you so much!”

“I’m glad you like it, baby girl.” He kissed my cheek, smelling faintly of whisky. “Happy birthday my princess.”

The whole crowd seemed to realize I had arrived at the same moment and cheers and whoops began to go up. A couple of guys from the football team grabbed me up, and put me on their shoulders. I laughed, stretching my arms up towards the starry sky as they carried me towards the stage and the DJ.

“I love you, Gaia!” Someone yelled as I passed.

“I love you too!” I screamed back, giggling. We reached the stage and the boys set me on my feet on the raised platform. Someone thrust a mic into my hands and the music quieted.

“SPEECH! SPEECH! SPEECH!” The crowd chanted. Breathless and grinning, I held up my hand to quiet them.

“Wow! Hey everybody! Is everyone having a good night so far?!” The crowd roared in response. I couldn’t stop smiling. “I can not thank you all enough for being here tonight for my birthday! It means so much to me that you would all come out to celebrate with me!”

“We love you, Gaia!” A group of guys, the basketball team, I think, called from the right side of the crowd. I laughed, blowing them a kiss.

“I wanna take a quick moment to thank my wonderful father, Layton James for throwing me this amazing party!” A cheer went up and my father winked, raising a glass at me. “Anyways, this is a party! Eat, drink, dance, celebrate my awesome! I love you guys!”

The crowd cheered raucously as the music started up again. I jumped down from the stage, and was instantly flanked by people, offering me a drink, or asking for a dance. I couldn’t remember ever being so happy. I felt like howling at the moon in joy. This was my kingdom, and here, I was Queen.