Prologue
Planning your own sweet 16 party is no joke. Cassidy, in fact, had taken the task very seriously. If truth be told, she had been planning it since she was 13, when she was made aware of the pending event.
After her parents died in a tragic car accident , Cassidy had been shipped to her GiGi's house , where she was forced into an immediate life of seclusion.
Besides her large and lazy black cat, Whiskers, she had no interaction or life outside of GiGis vast Eastern Shore estate in St Michaels, Md.
Home schooled online and forbidden to leave the waterfront property , she had no friends. When she was little she turned to her imaginary fae friends in the gardens. She was the Princess of the fairies and her Kingdom lived in peace and joy. Her magical world was her safe haven. But when she was forced to grow up at the age of six , her GiGi had harshly announced childish games were a thing of the past. Life was not meant to be fun. She boldly denounced magic , her imaginary friends and the like. Her world became very sad and lonely.
As she grew older she learned to adapt and threw herself into her studies. Intelligent, witty, well mannered, and clever, she became the epitomy of the perfect child. Yet she remained lonely.
At 13 she had begged to visit the local mall or beach to meet others her age , but her grandmother had told her when she became a woman, at the ripe age of 16 , she would only then be introduced into society and not before. She was not allowed a cell phone or social media , not that she knew anyone to call or befriend anyway. So she spent the next 3 years planning and awaiting her 16th birthday.
The promise of an event with others her age was a dream she had focused on for years . Her grandmom had kept her grounded with the promise ( bribe) of this "COMING OUT" PARTY, in which the occasion could be planned entirely by Cassidy, her grandmom only carrying out her directives.
Her GiGi had stated the guest list would be compiled of only the most elite and respectable teens from the area. She didn't care that she wouldn't know anyone on the guest list, she was just excited to have the promise to meet others.
She had planned every detail, chosen a wide variety of classical, rock, jazz and even some new pop music to ensure everyone's tastes were met. It would be elegant , yet modern. She, of course had to have everything approved by her GiGi, but oddly enough she had been very appeasing. In fact overly so, which was very much out of character for her grandmother, but Cassie certainly wasn't questioning her sudden kindness.
Sometimes it was as if she was just approving whatever came to Cassie's mind. And Cassie took advantage of that. Creating list after list, planning every detail, down to the color of the confetti that would drop at the conclusion of her party, when everyone would convene to the gardens for fireworks.
Months and months of submitted written requests and lists. All of the planning was over now though. Tomorrow was the big day.
Cassie had falling asleep with her big fur ball friend, Whiskers cuddled next to her, purring in perfect contentment .
She had practically collapsed on to her silk sheets spread across her four post brass canopy bed, with a smile of anticipation , excitement and exhaustion.
She had spent years planning a party ...that was never meant to be.
