Carly gets invited to the ball, but because she expects her neighbors to give her grief, she has no hope of going to the ball. But when May and Yosef work together to get her ready for the party, will it be a dream-come-true?.

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The next morning, Carly hid her invitation in her apartment. She knew she would not be able to go anyway; knowing her neighbors, she would probably be stuck doing all of their work once again.

"I'd better not get my hopes up," Carly muttered. "I won't be able to go anyway."

She resigned herself to the fact that her neighbors would dump a load of work on her and then she would not be able to go. While her heart desired to go, Carly felt that it would be impossible.

*Ding-Dong*

Carly sighed before going to the door; opening it, she saw the people she expected to see.

"Carly," Giselle began. "You got an invitation, didn't you?"

"Invitation? To what?" Carly asked.

"Oh, good, you weren't invited," Marie said, sneering. "The ball at Nobel Michel Castle would never invite someone as lowly as you."

That insult was like a dagger to Carly's heart, and then she stated, "Get to the point; what do you want?"

The girls parted and the had a bunch of clothes, linens, and such piled up high on the ground.

"Do all of this for us," Marie said. "You don't have anything better to do, right?"

Having had it, Carly said, "Do it yourself."

"What was that?" Giselle asked.

"Do. It. Yourself." Carly stated again, slowly.

"So, you were invited, then?" Giselle asked, getting into Carly's space.

"No, I'm just tired of you two constantly dumping all of your work on me." Carly said, before going to shut the door.

"Listen up, you," Marie began, also getting in Carly's space. "You are going to do all of this! Giselle and I are going to the ball to seduce a prince and get his cash! Then we can finally leave you behind and we'll have others doing this for us! You just have to put up with this until tomorrow! So, do it if you know what's good for you!"

"Gold-digging isn't very becoming of a royal." Carly began.

"Forget you," Giselle said. "You're not even allowed there! You have too much work to do!"

The girls shoved all of the piles of clothes onto Carly before leaving.

But this time, Carly was not going to tolerate the behavior. She merely put the clothes and linens down before changing into her uniform and going to work.

"Those two... I've just about had it with them!" Carly griped, as she kept washing dishes.

"Your neighbors again?" Yosef asked.

"Yes," Carly said. "And I lied to them, telling them I wasn't invited to Nobel Michel Castle's ball tonight. If I just show up, they'll immediately make a scene and ruin my chances for a nice night to myself."

"And for those two to be merely hunting for rich men to marry, too. You deserve better neighbors than that," Yosef said. "So..."

"It's not like I can go anyway," Carly said. "I have all of that work to do and they're expecting me to go through with it. They're so dead-set on charming a prince that they're telling me this is the last time."

"I don't care what those two are trying to do to you; you are going to that ball," Yosef said. "I won't just sit and let my surrogate daughter suffer this way."

"Are you sure? I don't even have anything to wear." Carly said, in response to Yosef.

"Just trust me," Yosef said, with a wink. "If you go and get your invite from your place after work and then come back, I'll be sure that you can go."

There was something strange in Yosef's words that Carly detected, but she trusted Yosef, so she decided to comply with what he was asking. However, Carly just decided to focus on her work for the time being.

Yosef, on the other hand, went into the back, took out his cell phone, and called someone.

"Yes... I asked her to. Good, we'll see you tonight," Yosef said, over the phone. "I hope this works. She needs a break."

Carly failed to notice the conversation Yosef was having, but she knew that she needed to pay attention to her job.

"Carly, can you mind the register?" One of her coworkers said.

"Got it." Carly said, as she went out to the cash register.

The other coworker winked at Yosef; he was asked to distract Carly while Yosef was making the preparations for whatever he had in mind for Carly that night. They were all in on whatever Yosef was planning.

As the day wore on, Giselle and Marie were at a luxury boutique to buy the dresses and accessories that they would need to try and capture the heart of the prince of their choice.

"Oh, Marie," Giselle said. "Once I put on this dress and bat my eyelashes at Prince Hayden, I'll be Queen of Philip in a heartbeat!"

Giselle was holding up a burgundy-red victorian-style ballgown that had a décolleté neckline. It had ivory, wrist-length butterfly sleeves. The skirt was a burgundy, floor-length, tiered skirt with vertical knife pleats in the center. The dress came with an ivory choker that had a burgundy rose in the center. The dress was a hip-hugger to make sure that her curves were being shown off.

"Sheesh, you'll look great in that! We'd better get our hair, nails, and makeup done, too!" Marie said. "So, what do you think of this one?"

Marie had picked out a navy blue A-line, lower calf, halter neckline dress. The neckline had baby blue ruffles all over it, and it had a long, navy blue train. The sleeves were puffed cap sleeves in baby blue, and the bodice had clear beads on it. There was also some baby blue ruffles on the skirt that started up in the middle and spread out as it reached the hem.

"Oh, that's perfect! Who are you planning on seducing?" Giselle asked.

"Prince Ivan," Marie said. "Someone like him, someone cool and poised makes me look like a fabulous princess next to him!"

"Let's pay and get to jewelry!" Giselle said, as she and Marie ran to check out.

Meanwhile, the sun was about to set, but Carly had just gotten her invitation before running back to Patisserie Brown. Coming in through the back, Carly saw that everyone else had gone home, and the lights were dimmed down a little bit.

"Yosef? I'm here, and I brought the invitation," Carly said, calling into the room. "What's going on?"

"Hey, Carly," May said, coming out from the kitchen. "Where have you been?"

"May? What are you doing here?" Carly asked, shutting the door and approaching May. "What's going on?"

"Yosef and I are working together for this," May said. "To help you go to the ball and enjoy yourself."

"But what about..." Carly began.

"Forget those two," Yosef said, bringing in a few packages. "You need to enjoy yourself. So, we're here to help you get ready to go to the ball and have a good time."

"Thanks you two," Carly said, wiping away her tears of joy. "You're the best."

"Now let's get started! I got the makeup, the shoes, and the accessories!" May said, as she started to open the boxes and begin sorting them by priority.

"Wait, what? If I go to the ball, Giselle and Marie will torment me!" Carly said.

"Leave that part to me," May said, smiling. "Because I took precautions."

Carly smiled; she knew May always had her back.

"The limo should be here in a little while," Yosef said. "Get going, girls!"

May started with the makeup, and she made it look perfect on Carly. She knew exactly what shades of makeup and what types to use on Carly, foundation included, and she even was allowed to use some of the outlets in the kitchen for hair. Carly's hair was then done in an up-do bun with some of her hair going down her neck. She looked perfect.

"Now for the dress!" May said, as she took out the dress that she had picked out for Carly.

It was an ombre baby pink, one-sleeve, one-shoulder floor ballgown with taffeta beading. The sleeve was an angel butterfly sleeve. The dress had a vine appliqué with knife pleats hanging down. The dress also had rose embroidery on the skirt. The color graduated from the darkest pink on the bottom of the hem of the dress and it gradually got paler as it went up. The bodice had pink beadwork on it, and it was just Carly's size.

"This is perfect!" Carly said, crying tears of joy.

"Get going, girl! Change!" May said, as she shoved the dress at Carly.

After about five minutes, Carly changed into her dress and she came out of the room. Walking into the locker room where Yosef and May were, she showed off the dress.

"Oh my gosh, that's perfect! You look great!" May said.

"Just like a real princess!" Yosef said.

Carly, however, merely looked down.

"What's the matter?" Yosef asked.

"Won't Giselle and Marie recognize me?" Carly asked.

"Like I said, I came prepared," May said, taking out a few jewelry boxes. "This is a pair of earrings and a necklace to go with the dress, a pair of matching vinyl shoes in pale pink..."

Putting on the shoes, they seemed to sparkle and shine in the light of the room. Putting on the earrings, which were pink rose studs, and the necklace, which were pink rose quarts, Carly looked even better.

"Okay, almost done," May said, before presenting Carly with one more thing. "This is so you won't be recognized."

"A mask?" Carly asked, taking the item.

It was a masquerade mask. It would cover the upper half of Carly's face. It had lace embellishments for inlays on the mask, and there was a pink rose on the upper right half of it. There were also pink fringes on the mask, too. For the most part, she would not be recognized if she wore the mask.

"This will really make you an unknown!" Yosef said.

"But it's not a masquerade ball," Carly said. "I'll stick out like a sore thumb."

"Better sticking out like a sore thumb and having people talking about how cute you are in that outfit and not knowing who you are. You wouldn't want those neighbors of yours to figure you out, would you?" May asked.

"True." Carly said, putting on the mask, and the shoes.

Yosef looked outside the window and said, "The limo is here! Carly, go!"

"Thanks," Carly said, as she went into the limo's backseat, and rolled it down. "Thanks for everything, you two."

"Just make sure you're back in time to get some sleep for tomorrow." Yosef said.

"I will," Carly said. "Before midnight, hopefully."

"That should be perfect." May said.

"Thank you!" Carly said, as she rolled the window up and the diver started the car.

Meanwhile, the ball was getting under way. All eight of the princes had shared a dance with at least one young lady. Granted, the women they had danced with were suck-ups at the least, complete snobs at the worst. Sadly, the worst had yet to come for them.

"Oh, Giselle, you look great!" Marie said, as she and Giselle were waiting for their turns to dance. "Hayden will be swept off of his feet!"

"Ivan won't be able to resist you in that outfit, either!" Marie said.

Once Hayden and Ivan stopped dancing, Giselle and Marie immediately took their chance. They ran onto the dance floor like a pair of stampeding elephants.

"Out of the way!" Giselle shouted, as she shoved another girl aside, and took Prince Hayden's hand.

She gave him a seductive purr and batted her eyelashes. Needless to say, Hayden was fairly grossed out at this. He did not let it show on his face, thought. He resigned himself to a dance, and Giselle's confidence started to boost up higher.

Marie, on the other hand, took the less aggressive approach. She merely approached Prince Ivan and curtsied to him. Ivan's facial expression did not change, but he merely took Marie by the hand, and they began to dance.

'This is going perfectly!' Both girls thought at the same time.

Or is it? When Carly arrives, what will happen? And who will be her prince charming?