Annabella, a not so Cinderella Story

I had this dream once that inspired a story about what would happen if Cinderella went to a ball and didn't fall in love with the prince. Instead of it being Conderella, I decided to make it a girl named Annabella who had a wizard for a godfather, rather than a fairy godmother. This is the scene where she realizes that the prince is in love with her, but she is just not feeling it.

The major domo smiled at me as I walked through the doors. “May I announce you Madam?” he asked kindly.
“What? Oh, uh. Annabella.” I said a little dazed. I looked around the ballroom and it was beautiful. Candles and flowers were everywhere, a light fragrance floated through the air, mingling with the gentle sound of the music. It was the most beautiful place I had ever been in.
The Major Domo pounded his staff on the floor, “Annabella,” he announced in a loud clear voice.
Have you ever had the eyes of a thousand people trained directly on you? The moment my name was announced and all the guests turned the look, the room stopped. It is a very intimidating feeling knowing an entire kingdom is watching you. A murmur ran through the crowd as I descended the staircase. I felt completely vulnerable and very self-conscious. Why was everyone staring at me? Did I look funny, or did the crowd just do this to everyone that walked into the room? Finally I reached the bottom of the stairs and the major domo again pounded his staff. The trance of the room was broken and everyone went back to their business. I still kept getting strange looks and felt the whispers of people around the room as I walked by.
Suddenly I was forcibly spun around. Prudence was before me, her eyes ablaze with anger, her teeth clenched in fury. “What are you doing here?” she hissed.
I smiled at her pleasantly. “I’m attending the ball,” I said as sweetly as I could and feeling very satisfied with myself.
She looked as if she was about to slap me. She moved to towards me then abruptly her face turned white.
“Excuse me madam,” I heard someone say. I turned to find myself face to face with the prince. “May I have this dance?” he asked me.
I must say that I was startled when I first looked into those clear blue eyes. I curtsied in the appropriate way of acceptance. As he lead me onto the dance floor I looked behind me to see Prudence still standing in shock.
Here, I am afraid, is where the similarity to the story of Cinderella almost entirely disappears. For although the minute the prince laid eyes on me, he fell in love, I did not. He was very sweet, and an excellent dancer. The first dance finished we kept dancing. In fact, we didn’t stop dancing for another half a dozen songs. And only then because I said I was thirsty. He seemed to be missing something behind those incredibly clear blue eyes.
“Wait here,” he told me eagerly. “I will get you something to drink.” Maybe it should have occurred to me that he would have people to do that for him. Why was he paying me so much attention, and why wouldn’t he stop staring at me? I didn’t have time to think about it though.
“Annabella,” I heard a cold voice say.
Uh-oh, busted! I thought. I put on as carefree of a face as I could as I turned to meet Gwendolyn. “Hello,” I said simply.
“What are you doing here?” she asked. The calm in her voice was most unsettling.
“I’m dancing.” It was all I could think to say. I saw Prudence and Roseland rushing over.
“See mother,” Prudence said out of breath, “she’s here and keeping to prince all to herself. She should be home cleaning the basement. The little vixen.”
“Yes,” said Roseland, “the vixen.”
I could feel the color rising in my cheeks, anger swelling just as fast with just as much heat. Vixen? Just who did they think they were? After all, they were the ones that were throwing themselves at Connor. What right did they have? “The basement is taken care of,” I said as calmly as I could. “And since you never forbade me to go to the ball, I came.”
“Where did you get your dress?” Prudence demanded.
“I’ll bet she stole it!” Roseland piped in.
“Were did you get the dress?” Gwendolyn asked me.
“My Godfather gave it to me,” I said defiantly. “He wanted me to go to the ball.” Suddenly Gwendolyn began to smile. I looked over at Prudence and Roseland. They were smiling too. What the-?
“Annabella.”
Oh no. The prince was back. I put my smile back on and turned to greet him. He wasn’t alone.
“Annabella,” he said, “May I present to you my mother and father. Mother, father, this is Annabella.”
“Your majesties,” I said bowing. Why was the prince introducing me to his parents? Something was up.
“Is this your family?” the prince asked looking behind me.
“Oh, yes,” I said. I couldn’t very well ignore them, and maybe introducing them to royalty would spare me some of their scolding. “May I present my step-mother, Gwendolyn and my step-sister, Prudence. Also, Prudence’s friend, Roseland.” They each bowed in turn.
“Your majesties, Prince Casper,” said Gwendolyn extending her hand. “Thank you so much for inviting us into your home.” She was the epitome of grace.
“Yes,” said Prince Casper ignoring her outstretched hand, “Enjoy the rest of your evening.” And before another word was said, he whisked me away and we were dancing again. He was like a little puppy, eager to please and not understanding when you didn’t want attention. We just kept dancing. Soon, we danced ourselves into the garden. I hadn’t even gotten my drink. “You are so beautiful,” he told me.
I don’t think that I had ever been called beautiful before. Not by anyone besides my father anyway. It was nice to hear. And then we stopped dancing. He took my hand and led me deeper into the garden. A little warning sound went off in my head screaming DANGER, DANGER! GO BACK NOW! But it was too late. I found myself in a beautiful grotto, and still the prince kept staring at me. I looked around at the flowers, trying not to notice.
“It is beautiful here,” I said, trying to banish the discomfort. “The flowers are gorgeous.”
“Do you think so?” said the prince excitedly. It sparked something in him that I had not seen up until that point. That thing that was missing behind his eyes suddenly appeared. “This is my section of the garden,” he said. “I grow these plants myself.” So that was it, this was his passion.
“They are some of the most beautiful I have ever seen,” I said, and I meant it.
Then he gave me a look that struck fear in my heart. The look that couples get when standing in the moonlight. “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” That is when it hit me, hard and fast; romantic setting in a garden, dancing all night, meeting the king and queen. Was he in love with me?
“I love you.” He said.
Uh-oh, I thought, I’m in big trouble now!
“I’ve already talked to my parents. We’ll start planning for the wedding immediately.”
WEDDING! What was I supposed to do with that? I had known this man for about an hour. And although he was sweet, I certainly didn’t love him, much less want to marry him. I tried to leave subtly thinking if I could make it out of the grotto I could make a run for it, but disaster struck! As I tried to get away I stumbled and he caught me in his arms. Apparently he took this as an invitation because after he caught me he drew me up and kissed me. BAD, BAD, VERY BAD! I was stunned, to say the least. “I have to go now,” I said, and ran away as fast as I could.
What else was I supposed to do? I could feel Prince Casper behind me.
“Wait,” he called to me.
“No time,” I said, “I have to go.” I dashed through the ballroom, again causing murmurs and whispers to go through the room. I was going pretty fast, but he was gaining on me. Not fast enough! I thought. I kicked off my shoes and kept on running.
“Wait,” The bewildered prince called again, “You forgot your shoes!”
I ran outside and looked around. Why hadn’t Godfather Marlin given me transportation to get home! I could here a crowd of people rushing after me. I darted into the nearby woods and waited for them to pass me by.