As she ran home, Ella's dress began to slowly dissipate. Luckily she was at least wearing an under dress so she wasn't stripping.

A strange thing occurred and the golden shoes that Ella wore did not disappear with the rest of her radical fit. In some ways it was good because she didn't get rough rocks digging into her feet but she was also running in heels.

Eventually she arrived at the manor she lived at and sighed in relieve as she saw that her step-family's carriage wasn't there.

Ella beamed and ran toward Jacquelyn's place in the woods to thank her, but then she paused, Jacquelyn said she would be asleep.. "should I really go and thank her? I wouldn't want to wake her up." Ella thought. "It would be creepy if I went and didn't wake her up, though." Stuck at a standby, Ella decided to just go to sleep.

After an hour of laying in bed with her eyes wide because of recalling the spectacular ball Ella heard the front door creak open and her stepsisters' voices chatting excitedly.

"Did you see the prince?" One squealed.

"He was so sexy!" The other said.

"I got to dance with him!"

"I danced with him twice!"

Ella frowned and turned her face into the pillow. It was early morning and they were being so incredibly loud.

She was nearly relaxed again when her stepmother said, "but neither of you held his gaze." Her voice was stern and a little bit pissed. "After that mystery girl left he was distracted and didn't care whom he danced with."

"Mystery girl?" Ella quietly asked the darkness around her. "Was she wearing a mask, or something?"

"You two will have to do better; lower necklines, more skin. He's a man, he'll love that." The stepmother said. "If you can't romance him the seduce him."

"I would love to have his babies!" One stepsister said.

Ella gagged. Just the thought was disgusting.

"Yes, you would." Stepmother said, matter-of-factly. "Both of you would. Now get some sleep. Another long night tomorrow."

Deciding to follow the advice, Ella turned on her side and tried to sleep again.

.

Early the next morning Ella heard a few quiet taps at her window.

She ignored it.

The taps repeated.

Once again, she ignored it.

For a moment it was silent, then Ella heard the window creak open. She sat up quickly and looked over to where the sounds had come from.

Jacquelyn had a single leg through Ella's window and was staring at her with wide eyes. "I tapped the window!" She said in her defense.

Ella nodded and went to assist the young witch through the window. "How did you get up here? There is at least a thirty foot drop."

"Magic." She said simply.

 Once Jacquelyn was all the way inside Ella's room she sat down on the floor and looked at her friend expectantly. Ella shrugged.

Jacquelyn obviously wanted to know about the ball. What was there to tell? Ella had danced with an attractive man, eaten a crème puff, and that was about it. She had enjoyed herself, but there wasn't really anything big that happened.

"Did you dance with the prince?" Jacquelyn asked excitedly.

"Nope." Ella responded.

"Ah poo." She pouted. "That would have been pretty amazing, even if you don't want to marry him."

The prince was sort of like a celebrity. Getting to even exchange words with a celebrity would be crazy braggable. If someone were to get multiple encounters with the prince then their status would increase tenfold. It could help businesses or help to find a rich spouse.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. "Cinderella!" The stepmother's voice shouted.

"Shit!" Jacquelyn muttered. She leapt back out the window a mere moment before the door opened. Ella ran behind her to make sure that the super hot and sexy witch wasn't splattered on the ground.

Ella felt a tap on her shoulder. "Cinderella. Do you know what time it is?"

"No. I do not." Ella said softly.

"Past breakfast. You slept in, you fool." Stepmother scolded. "My daughters had to make something themselves, they've never had to cook before so it turned out terribly. I only managed to get down a single bite of food because you were lazy and forsook your responsibilities."

"I'm.. sorry." Ella whispered.

"What was that?"

"I'm sorry..." she repeated a bit louder.

"Yes, you are."

.

Ella had to work harder and faster to finish all of her chores because she woke up late and lost entire hours. She did finish, though, just in time for her stepfamily to leave.

She ran out to her and Jacquelyn's meeting place to find the young witch sitting next to a tree reading a fancy book but when Ella arrived she looked up and smiled. 

"Good evening!" She said brightly.

Ella grinned. "Right back at you."

Jacquelyn waved her hand and the yellow dress appeared again. "This won't work.." she muttered.

"What's wrong?" Ella asked.

"You can't go wearing the exact same dress." She responded. Jacquelyn stood and fingered the dress. "I can change the color, I suppose." Without waiting for Ella's input she made the dress a pale blue. Still the same design.

Jacquelyn pulled at the hem and extended the dress a tad bit. She then took a higher part of the skirt and pulled it with both hands to either side making the skirt fuller. She moved her hands to the torso part and pulled the neckline down and shaped the waist. Jacquelyn pulled the sleeves around to make them capped rather then flowy. 

(Picture of the dress available on my insta)

"Do you like it?" She asked.

Ella twirled and saw how HUGE the skirt was, it billowed and seemed to float as air came beneath it and supported it using gravity or physics or whatever. "Yes! I do!" Ella said happily.

Jacquelyn sighed in relief and said, "I'm so glad." She handed the dress to Ella. "Now put it on so that you can leave!"

"Yes! Right! Yes, I should. Yes. Be right back."