Have you ever..?

Have you ever thought of who you'd spend the rest of your life with?

When I was little, I dreamt of the day I'd wear an elegant dress for the greatest occasion of my life. I'd be waiting in my dressing room with my long brown hair, braided with flowers and gems. Then I'd walk into the golden room, lit by the rays of the sunset as a glassy melody filled the air. A faint breath of sweet peas would welcome my entrance and silent murmurs would gasp in awe.

The Priest, dressed in vibrant violet, and my one-to-be in a matching blue, would be awaiting my arrival.

"Today, we are gathered here to celebrate the union of Leah Avalen and Ashton Silvera," said the priest in a cool deep voice.

That's right. It may not have been my wedding, but I really did dress up for one of THE most important occasions in my life, my sister's wedding.

"They have invited you, to witness their journey that led them here in the home of eternal promise," the Priest said and continued to ask the couple to recite their vows.

Their eyes, they look so happy.

The priest raises a black glass vial and hands it to the groom and the bride places a black pearl into the vial. The black liquid purifies into a clear crystal and the remaining is a snow white pearl haloed in pale orange and pink gems.

"Now, you may kiss the bride," the priest announces to the couple.

The wedding bells ring and the curtains rise as crowds rush to the dessert table.

"Congrats Leah, congrats Ashton," I say with a smile.

"Oh sweetie, I can't wait for my grandbabies!" says Mother.

"Mommmm...," Leah mumbled in annoyance and laughter," Ashton and I will take our time and choose when we're ready."

"Of course. Like. To. Night," Mother winks. Leah rolls her eyes and they laugh.

It's been a long while since I'd seen Leah and Ashton. Not since they left. They seem so happy now. I'm glad.

Leah is three years older than me. We used to be inseparable, but ever since that day, she stopped talking to me.

I wish we could have done better to reconcile.

On that day.

-6 years ago-

We were packing for a school trip on a snowy day. The windows were engraved with icy lace and blank sheets of snow covered the surrounding fields. I was dressing up the triplets because we were all done packing, except for Leah.

You see, I came from a BIG family of 9 at the time, soon to be 10 after middle school. It's mostly girls: Marie, Sera, Hellian, Leah, me, Julian, Helius, Layla and Alice who was still in Mama's womb. Marie was married, Sera was a University student, Hellian was a senior in highschool, Leah a third year in middle school, me in my first year of middle school and Layla, Helius, and Julian were in kindergarten. Our academy was a linked school from grade K to highschool. There were sister academies that would merge their trips and events sometimes. Like that day.

Serena Academy joined Aurora Academy in our solstice festival. I loved the solstice festival, it was like celebrating an extension to Christmas.

Hellian drove us to school to board the bus, but the triplets had to go into a separate bus. They were worried and wanted to stay with us but the teachers reassured them that we'd still see eachother at the festival. When we got there, we were split into groups of four to a room. Leah and I were in rooms with girls of different ages. I was sad that we were separated, but I made new friends. Renae was a seventh grader who wanted to be a baseball player, Jessy was a ninth grader who wanted to be a painter, and Genna was a fifth grader who wanted to be a firefighter.

We were told to head towards the cafeteria in a long line. The leadership team handed out blue tickets to make teams for the events. I got 5750.

A guy in a yellow shirt holding a sign yelled out, "Anyone in 5750!" I walked up to them and they greeted me with a smile.

"Yay! Now we just need two more," said a girl in a bright pink shirt with a curly brunette ponytail and caramel skin. Then a red head holding a boy's hand joined us.

"Sweet, now we're all here. Glad you can join us Jace. I'm Matthew and this is Rita," said the yellow shirted guy pointing to the ponytailed girl.

"We're both freshmen in highschool and one of the youth leaders from Serena, "said Rita.

"Hey, I'm Jace, I'm a seventh grader from overseas, but I just came for the event with some friends," said the red head.

"Um, I, um I'm Shaun and I'm seven years old. I go to Serena Academy and I like dinosaurs and goldfish," said the little boy.

Awww, he's so cute.

"I'm Julia, also a seventh grader. I'm from Aurora," I introduced myself.

Matthew smiles and says," Cool, now that we have our groups, let's listen for announcements then head onto our mission."

Principal Aurora cleared her voice and Principal Serena spoke," I know it's cold, but what's with a little fun in the snow?"

Everyone whistled as someone yelled," Woohoo! Snow!"

"Ahem, but first let's gather supplies for the events. This year is the first time Serena joins Aurora and that all students from all grades come together for the Solstice Festival," said Principal Aurora.

"In your groups, you will be gathering supplies and making things after the gathering. Then we will split tasks, dress up, dance, eat, and enjoy the night for ourselves. Are you ready?," she asked. The crowd responded with cheerful screams and shouts.

Principal Serena replied to their cries," Follow your leaders!" Matthew points to himself then points the eastern exit. "GO!"

We ran to a wooden plank stand and at some point Jace carried Shaun on his back on the way. Matthew placed our sign into the slot and the man there told us our mission," You guys

are in charge of collecting the stones for the Be Jeweled event, then head back to the cafeteria for the next mission."

"Ugh, rocks, we got stuck with rocks, Matthew. Geez your sense of direction is terrible. Or it's your luck. That must be it. You wore yellow today, and you got us the rock mission," said Rita. Matthew gasped and stared at her with a tease of offendance.

"Yellow is a terrible color for a shirt, "she said. "Pshhh we got the easy job. At least we can adventure and go where-everrrr we want. We just gotta fill 3 buckets. Pshhh easy peasy. So, relax Rita." Matthew said.

"Urggh, I'll show you 3 buckets!" and Rita fixed a ball of winter glitter and threw it at Matthew.

"SNOW. BALL. FIGHTTTTT!!!" announced Shaun in his little man voice.

They ran off and I just stared at them. What about the stones?

Then suddenly SPLAT. Icy cold slurry slided off my face. What. What just- did Jace just-

and then another came smacking onto my jacket. I ran and hurrily made a half decent fort to join the battle. Then after an hour we were all rednosed and returned to gathering stones. "Ugh, it's so cold now," complained Rita. Matthew replied", It's all your fault Rita haha."

"Hey, don't blame Rita, she just wanted some fun," said Shaun with a pouty face at Matthew. "Yeah, plus you were the one who got us the stone job Matthew," Rita pointed out, and everyone stared at him. "Okay, okay, okayyy. I'll make everyone an awesome freshly baked surprise when we're done," said Matthew defeatedly as we cheered and continued our search for stones.

As the sky burned, we found an abandoned cave.

"Guys, wanna check this cave out later?" asked Matthew. "Nah, let's hurry back." says Rita.

I saw a white lustered crescent shaped stone, picked it up and said "Hey, at least we can pick stones we like for ourselves."

Shaun brightened up and plopped down, "Hey look this looks like a stegasauraus!"

"A heart!" exclaimed Rita.

Jace smiled and said," You guys, quit collecting rocks. We're ready for the next mission." We all stare at him and laugh, collect our rocks then return to the waiting spot, the cozy lounge.

"For the students who just got here, go to the kitchen and help bring some cookware and ingredients to the back. You guys are on cooking duty. When group C comes, they'll switch with you and then you guys can head on to dress and do events. When cooking is done, we'll eat and start the dance," said Principal Aurora.