A short, thin as melting ice, crystal blue dress

Though missing scraps of fabric in several certain significant places, accentuating curves she never knew she had

Baring flesh she had never dared nor felt comfortable enough to share-

Not with herself or her sister or her mother or anyone else for that matter

At least not throughout her first two years of high school

Now? It was different...

She had never thought herself beautiful

A short, freckled nose Mama said wasn't from her branches of the family tree; probably her father's, passed down through genetics of her paternity, but she couldn't ask him because he was just a number in the sperm bank

Just a donor, giving sperm, but never intending to be a father; father her; father in the verb tense (present), dictionary definition meaning "the raising of a child"

On her birth certificate he was not even written, her mother didn't even know the man, had never even met him

There would be no great story of reconnection because she didn't even know his name

But maybe... she looked like him

Her skin- pale in comparison to her sister's glowing olive

A tin of Tuscan whole milk, in which her eyes round and dark like walnuts sit

Hair, a sheet of chestnut silk, draping down over the angular curve of her jaw, diagonal to a rosebud mouth

A streak of peppermint pink painted on with the paintbrush of the One holding the great palette, the Creator

She had never considered herself beautiful...

He said she was

He said she was amazing

He said she was God's greatest creation

He said she was brighter than the sun, moon, stars- the constellations

He said she was a being worthy of adoration

A girl with eyes that could cause him to commit crimes with just a little persuasion

He said, he said, he said...

He spoke small whispers in her ear, sent shivers down her spine

His hands about her shoulders making her want to cross the line

Sweet breath across her earlobe saying, "Will you please be mine?"

Yes! Yes. Yes.

She wants to say yes, but her mind is screaming in protest, her heart is beating in earnest

He says he wants to love her, but are his intentions honest?

His eyes, so deep with longing, settling to rest upon her chest

And in that moment, that action, he flunked the silent test he didn't know he was taking

Because yesterday, she wasn't beautiful

Yesterday, he passed by her without saying hello

Yesterday, she was just another girl in blue jeans and a shirt, nothing special or amazing about her at all

So when she takes off the dress, will he still think she has assets, will he see what's underneath?

When she covers her body, hides her curves with a big, baggy sweatshirt, will he still think she is amazing?

When she wipes off the makeup, will he suddenly wake up and see what gives a girl true beauty?

Because beautiful isn't skin showing, temporal flawlessness, curvaceous body, embellished features

The most important beautiful is the parts of her she can't cover up with foundation, can't disguise, can't hide with concealer for a single night

The most important beautiful is the beauty she holds on the inside

So when the clock strikes 12 and Cinderella goes back to her norm of button-down plaid, The Walking Dead tees, and ripped up jeans, will he still view her as beautiful, will he see the most important part of her being- the uncut gem of her soul- the parts of her truly most amazing of all?

The greatest question to ask before giving in to his hints, before falling in love begins...

Will he see- will he love- who I am within?