The End of Year Masquerade Ball

[Polaris Stormwrath]

Noah stood up and showed her his outfit. "Well, Mister Yves, I do reckon that you did a mighty fine job of dressing up tonight. I couldn't even tell it was you!" Polaris exclaimed with a wide smile, it was true! She didn't reckognize him until he opened up his trap and spoke. She had a good laugh at it though.

Just as Polaris watched the crowd part, only one man could raise such hell with stunning grace and execution. The man that reminded her of Moses parting the great sea. A god embodied in a maturing young man. Only one name could fit this boy. And that name is: Narcissus.

Just as Narc came close to where Noah and herself sat, the girl shed a greeting smile and accepted the kiss to the forehead with a blush. Replying with the same smile, she nodded. "Of course I will, Narc. And thank you.." Her words ended up fading towards the end, revealing a bit more of her shyness that she would have rather not have revealed.

"I do hope Echo will show up soon. No doubt with an entrance like a diva. I'm sure it will be entertaining none the less!" The ravenclaw said with a wide smile, turning to the two boy that accompanied her. Tonight is definitely turning out better than I thought.. maybe I will stay.

[Echo Keir]

Echo debates for a long time whether she's actually going to go to the end of year ball or not. Masquerades, however fun, always end in tragedy of some form or another. One person is wearing the same dress robes as someone else. Someone shows up with the wrong girl on his arm, thinking the masks will hide his affair. Peoples' shadows make them jumpy in all the ecstasy of secret identities… Echo has not been sure whether she wants to put up with it all—despite the fact that she already has an outfit laid out on her bed, just in case she decides to go.

In the end, sociality wins out. Echo takes her time preparing—keeping with her less-than-fashionably late standard—but soon heads down to the great hall. She pauses outside the door, wanting to take in the sight before becoming one herself (if you're going to be late, be late in a BIG way). The decorations are beautiful; deep, midnight blue draperies cover the walls and glittering silver and gold stars dance across the ceiling and floor, reminiscent of the 'Starry Starry Night' painting she learned about in Muggle Studies a few years earlier. The effect is breath taking.

Echo smiles momentarily, then sets her plan in motion.

Echo makes eye contact with one of the band members and the music stops. She pantomimes with him for a moment until he understands what she wants.
A drum roll begins… one of the other band members makes the lights flicker on and off as if a storm were messing with the powerlines (of which we know there are none, which helps with the massive effect). After a few spells, Echo shines a light at the highest point in the middle of the ceiling where her mask is hanging in mid-air.
The band plays and eerie, lilting tune and her mask slowly descends towards the floor; gradually, slowly, elegantly making it's way down, like a feather on the breeze.
When it finally nears the floor, the drummer crashes all his cymbals at once and a huge plume of purple smoke blasts out of the floor just below the mask, enveloping the violet mask and everything within a six foot radius of it. Another cymbal crash, and out of the smoke… comes Echo, riding on an enchanted silver ottoman. It flies in a spiral up to the ceiling, then dives straight back down and gently deposits Echo on the floor.

She stands proudly in the center of the room, a sight to behold in her… unusual ball attire. Her feet are bare, which is strange enough, but when you add the fact that she's not wearing a gown, things only get stranger. Instead, Echo is donned in a pair of black silk pin-striped pants with a purple dragon embroidered on the back of the left leg, a sleek, dark purple satin corset, and a black top hat, under which Echo has knotted and tied and pinned her hair for the past half hour.
To top off this unusual look, Echo has shrunk the white polar bear rug from the Midnight Game room, and thrown it around her shoulders as a wrap.

She poses—hand-on-hip, hip popped out, and smiles. "Well, hello," she says airily to the room, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She turns and tries to find anyone she knows, to see if her entrance made the scene she had hoped it would, and soon sees a duo which could only be Narc and Noah… it's two guys sitting on each other, it's not rocket science.
She strides over and realizes the girl finishing out the trio is none other than Polaris from Mythology class. "So how do I look?" she asks sarcastically as she reaches her compadres. "Seems like a pretty swanky shoe hop so far, eh?" she laughs at her own poor attempt at old muggle slang terms, then sits by Polaris, "Nice to see another girl taking interest in these two, Pol," she confesses, "I really can't handle them on my own." She gestures to the two boys, still arguing over the painting, and sighs. "Noah's pretty okay to deal with," she makes sure they can hear her, "Just a bit of a man who..." she looks over her shoulder at the Gryffindor boy and gives him an innocent look, "Haha, hey Noah. Don't worry, I'm not saying anything that everyone doesn't know already." she jests. "Hey, nice suit, Narc," she mentions as a side note. "Is that velvet?"

[Bradyn Reed]

Even after all these years of knowing her, Bray still couldn't comprehend Fay's sudden boost of energy and excitement as soon as any event popped up. And a huge school ball nearly sent the girl into overdrive and he was tempted to carry around a fire extinguisher in case she suddenly busted into flames as part of some weird veela thing. Nah, he was just being over-imaginative which was surprising considering that he'd been bummed out for a good few weeks now. No one who didn't know him well would notice, though, since all he did was just sit around quietly, and not sarcastically, reading books. Bloody books, Bray never read anything unless he absolutely had to.

He could tell she was worried about him, even though she put on an excited front with the hopes that her excitement would seep through to him even though it never has after all these years. Yes, Bray enjoyed a party, but he certainly wasn't bouncing off the walls beforehand. He suffered through the immense torture of shopping with two veelas who were more interested in fashionable than his comfort and nearly lost his temper when Fay tried to talk him into wearing a kitty mask. There was no way in hell he'd do that, even as a joke. In the end they settled on matching masks, as if it didn't hurt his pride enough already that he didn't have a date besides Fay, who was insisting to call it 'going as friends'.

He was never one to put much into his appearance and today was no exception. Bray labored stupidly through putting on his tux, feeling that having to wear two completely different ones in one year was hurting his pockets, even if the veelas paid for this one and his sister the last. His hair was simply straightened and lightly trimmed up so it didn't completely cover his eyes, a l=change that would be hard to notice especially with his simple mask placed over his eyes. He didn't even go near the girl's dorms this time, quite sure that she wasn't going to be ready.

Instead he just went out with the intentions of heading straight to the Great Hall and wasn't quite paying attention. The path was well-known through all his years here with the need to eat but it was a good ten minutes later when he realized where he was. The hufflepuff common room. Now wasn't that absolutely pathetic? Gritting his teeth in annoyance at himself, he took the longest way possible from the Puff territory to the Great Hall in the attempts to calm himself.

By the time he was there, he was beyond fashionably late and reached Typical Bray Late, not that he cared much. He skimmed the crowed for the abomination that he knew was the dress her mother somehow allowed her to wear... hell, some of the dresses Christi suggested were far too short and he had to intervene himself with a 'Hell no, Fay'. She wasn't hard to spot since she seemed to attract attention more than all the other girls and, of course, she was surrounded by arrogant-looking guys that he figured to be her Gryffindor friends that figured so highly of themselves. Not paying to many other people as he went towards there, afraid to see a curly set of hair dancing with another guy, he went straight towards them.

"Fay."

The word was simple, quiet and emotionless and his lips were pressed tight together so he was neither smiling or frowning, not trusting his face to display the proper emotion. Instead Bray just focused on looking incredibly bored.

[Mafelda Hundar]

The Ice Queen

Deciding that it might be a good idea to embed herself in the school--for the time being, anyways--Mafelda makes her way from her sleeping quarters down to the Great Hall. As she reaches the door, some sort of commotion seems to be going on inside... The lights are flickering, and a mad drum beat precedes cymbal clangs and crashes. In the middle of the room a girl explodes out of the floor in an... odd purple haze. However, realizing that it's just a seemingly attention hungry student that set up the whole display, Mafelda makes her way fully into the room.

Being that it's a masquerade, Mafelda trades in her billowy black robes for stiff, starched white taffeta and lace. What better way to hide a wolf among sheep? Her short, dark hair is tightened and twisted into a black wreath around her head, like a dark shadowy halo; like an icy angel of death.

In spite of herself, Mafelda can't help but be impressed by the party decorations; glittering stars, moving and shifting shadows around the dark blue room; as if everyone were dancing through the night sky itself. Professor Hundar almost floats through the room, past the love struck couples, past friendly clusters of giggling party goers, all the way through the room she glides, her icy expression emphasised by her cold-white mask.
She reaches a table, near the band, by a window, in the shadows, her white gown like a beacon in the dark corner of the room; like the first chilled snowflake of a dark winter's evening. So is Hundar; the icy prism of the ball.

[Alice Simmons]

Alice was sitting on one of the many sofas in the Hufflepuff commonroom. She watched with a smile as her house mates jumped around with excitement and scurried out to the ball. Swinging her legs back and forth as they hovered above the rug covered floor the small Hufflepuff waited for Marcus to appear from the tunnel that led to the male dorms. Alice had been so hyped up about the ball so had demanded that her and Marcus went together as that was just the proper thing to do, they did not have to stay together all night long but she could not help but feel that Marcus would be following her all night long.

The sound of someone entering the commonroom made Alice turn her head and lo and behold there was Marcus slowly coming into view. Standing up and straightening out her gold and black dress the young female Hufflepuff looked over at her masked comrade. Marcus was looking particularly dashing tonight, although Alice would never tell him that, in fact she paid no real attention to his comment about not being able to see and instead caused a small huff.

“Come on.” She snapped as she pulled on her mask “We’re gonna be late!”

And with that Alice was storming out of the common room, her arms vigorously swinging at her sides as she stomped her way up the corridor towards the Great Hall. She could hear the footsteps of Marcus behind her so did not worry to much, he would find his way eventually. However as she lingered by the entrance of the Great Hall it dawned on her she could not walk in alone and so would have to wait for the slow walking Marcus to catch up, eventually he did although seemed to be unaware that he was standing next to Alice.

With a small ‘humph’ Alice reached out, taking hold of Marcus left arm and started to drag him into the hall, almost as if it was against his own will. When she wanted to be Alice Simmons could be a very determined little sole and this was being shown as the small second year made her way through the crowds of towering masked students until she found a small area which they could claim there own. Coming to a stop Alice letting go of his arm and turned to face the ginger haired boy.

“Come on Red don't just stand there, this is when you get us both drinks ain’t it.” She rolled her eyes behind the mask. "Some date you are."

[Professor Daniel Hubbles]

It was great to have a chance to actually have some fun, the pressures of being Headmaster had been getting to Dan and so to be able to kick back for a night and let his hair down was great. Grinning madly at Dia as she accepted his invitation for a dance he twilled her into position, pulling her closer to him so that their bodies were almost touching and the familiar smell of her perfume surrounded him. With the slow waltz being played by the live band Dan started to lead Dia around the dance floor as they fought for a clear path against the tide of other couples who were too lost in each others eyes to notice where they were going.

“Everything seems to be going well.” Dan stated as he sent Dia off into another spin before pulling her close to him once again. “I mean nothing has happ…”

It seemed that Dan had spoken to early as suddenly from the middle of the dance floor an explosion occurred and a purple haze started to spread across the dance floor covering everyone standing on it. Tightening his grip on Dia’s arm Dan broke out of their dance hold and reached inside his jacket and pulled out his wand from its inner pocket. The trick seemed to have got everyone’s attention and suddenly a female student flew out of the smog on a flying footstool. Dan did not know if he should be furious or astounded by the level of magic that was going on in front of him.

Slowly the purple smoke began to fade away, the noise level rose again and everything seemed to return back to normality as if that little display had not occurred. Dan however still stood in the middle of the dance floor with his wand held limply at his side wondering what he should do. He was in no mood to punish anyone tonight and risk tainting the atmosphere of the occasion and so in turn that had made the decision for him…he would catch up with that attention seeking student tomorrow. Slipping the wand back into his pocket Dan turned around to look once more upon Dia, his face showing clear signs of bewilderment with a bit of anxiety thrown in.

“I need a drink.” He stated rather bluntly as he glanced over the shoulder of Dia, through the blue feathers that protruded from her mask and towards the bar where many a student was crowding around getting refreshment. “They best have something strong.” His gaze diverted back to Dia and had it not been for the mask the pinch of a frown would have been present in his brow. “You did allow them to have something strong at the bar right? For the adults among our numbers?”

[Prof. Hannah Edgecombe]

I'm not going, I'm not going she kept telling herself when she had heard the staff discussing this party. Things had been so stressful lately her father and her were simply no longer speaking, her mother kept threatening to come visit, if that happened Hannah knew she wouldn't last five minutes without breaking down to tell her the truth. Julianna continued to anger her on sight and she hadn't really heard much from Will. All in all Hannah was finding it hard to keep herself together. For weeks she hadn't been eating much loosing a considerable amount of weight. After one hard look at her rail thin figure she knew she was just hurting herself. So she went back to her healthy eating and gained back her curvy figure. But she still didn't feel like dealing with a party.

That was until she had been asked by the one man who made her feel good, the one man who could make all that pain and stress dissolve even if only temporarily. Will wanted to take her to the ball. To that Hannah could not say no. She accepted without thought and now her thoughts had been filled with what am I going to wear her closet over flowed with dresses but she had to have the right dress the kind of dress to make him take notice of her, the kind of dress that made him see only her. Hannah looked around all day until this pale green[/url] dress caught her eye. It was perfect making her look like a fairy princess. He had to notice her then just had to. She spent forever on her makeup trying to make it look like she didn't have too much on, it was a lot harder than it looked. Her hair she chose to wear down and loose but with a slight curl at the ends giving it a ton of body. A spritz of her favorite perfume finished the whole thing.

A pretty flowered[/url] mask held out in front of her face had her hoping he would recognize her and that she would recognize him. She soon found the way to the Great Hall, the hour was late and the the ball was well underway already through a sea of people she knew in her heart that she would be able to spot him. After looking around for several moments she felt a pull the pull she constantly felt when in his presence, as if moving of their own accord her feet moved they took her to him..."Will" she whispered in his ear.

[Professor William Vaid]

Fussing with his cravat, he eventually got it perfect. Looking back in the mirror he took a deep breath and sighed before looking down at himself using the mirror as guidance. He didn’t scrub up too badly, at least he thought it was alright, but only time would tell. He had asked Hannah to the ball and she said she would meet him there. The thought of her made Will’s blank face beam into a huge grin as he began to fuss with his shirt, wiping out the creases. His SUIT was an elegant yet manly style, mainly one that would be seen at big events such as this, and his MASK was slightly odd yet dashing. A mask that meant hope, and has wings on either side while being blinded. Of course it has the smallest slits in to be able to see, but that was the whole point of a mask wasn’t it, not to be seen? Placing it securely over his head, he ascended the stairs from his office and made his way over to the entrance of the hall.

Looking up the stairs, he checked to see if she was coming, but he guessed like a typical woman they would take a while to ready themselves. Smirking, he shook his head and entered the masquerade that was already underway. As soon as he entered the room was filled with laughter and music, and Will could feel the energy pumping around the room. Tonight was going to be fun. Spying the bar, he promptly went over and ordered a beer before turning around to view the display once again.

Hearing his beer be placed down, he turned around and smiled, accepting the beer gratefully before watching a few students dance. A couple nearby were arguing as the girl seemingly wanted to dance but the boy did not. Smiling, he caught the gaze of the boy and nodded over towards the dance floor. The boy seemed to understand and let her pull him up onto it. Giving a small laugh, he saw Dan from the corner of his eyes and was about to shout him over when he heard his name be whispered in his ear.

Turning to the voice he grinned widely and he didn’t need to ask who it was. Her beautiful eyes gave her away and he picked her up, glad to see she was lucking healthy once again.
“Hello beautiful, would you like a drink before we dance?” he bowed, kissing her hand.

[Prof. Hannah Edgecombe]

She had been right it was him though it wasn't exactly the pull that drove her in his direction. Earlier she had a vision of him standing in just that spot. It was more romantic for her to say it was her attraction that guided her over there than to say I saw you in my mind. But even her vision couldn't prepare her for the real thing he looked simply amazing. The suit was dashing and the mask odd yet it seemed to fit him. Hannah felt a little breathless because boy did he clean up nice.

Then the way he looked at her made he want to swoon but she didn't. As he spoke Hannah's bright green eyes sparkled the simply compliment sent her sailing on cloud nine. He thought her beautiful, it wasn't the first time she had heard the words but they never really meant anything until then. Hannah knew she was starting to fall a little too hard a little too fast but she couldn't put the breaks on despite wanting to.

Trying to find slow the beating of her heart she looked down at her shoes a moment thinking them he safest things to behold just then Will had other ideas as he kissed her had. Hannah's head snapped up and her breath caught in her throat. He asked her something else but she had no idea what that was blood was rushing to her head as she tried to resume breathing. Gulping she bit her lip at that moment she very much felt every bit the school girl. All she wanted now was for him to wrap her in his arms. "Take me out onto the dance floor Will," her voice came up to barely a whisper. Still holding onto the handle of her mask Hannah looked at him dreamily feeling every bit the princess she had intended.

[Professor William Vaid]

As her green eyes sparkled under the crystal chandelier, they seemed to emit a more ominous glow than they had done the past few months. She was back to her old self again, and the thought made Will smile up at her before standing up once again. She looked simply stunning in her pale green dress and hand held mask. It screamed elegance with beauty and was the perfect choice for her. Catching a glimpse of Dan and Dia laughing and joking, he caught the eye of Dan and gave him a small nod in greeting. It seemed that the look on Dan’s face was egging him on, and so he knew it was now or never.

Guiding her over to the dance floor, he held her close as they began dancing. Will was not a dancer, and he was one of the typical men with two left feet so it would be an achievement worthy of some sort of an award if he managed to get through this dance without tripping up or standing on Hannah’s toes.
He was glad the mask still held some sort of mystery even if may of been slightly obvious who he was. Looking down at Hannah, he smiled at her a dreamy look planted firmly on his face. His face may have looked calm but his head was nowhere near how his face pictured. It was racing with a hundred thoughts all at once of what to say to her and how to say it.

As the pair continued to dance close the only thing giving him away was his sweaty palms in which, reluctantly, he had to let go of Hannah for a split second to wipe them onto his trousers before grasping her grip once again. Feeling quite at home with the woman in front of him, his mind settled and the words seemed to settle in line for him ready to say without seeming dumb.
"You look stunning" he whispered into her ear, catching an aroma of her perfume. It smelt like heaven. He waited a moment before he continued, simply listening to the music for a while.
“Hannah” he simply said.
“Will you be my girlfriend?” he asked, stopping dead and awaiting her answer. It seemed easier somehow talking behind the mask somehow.

[Prof. Hannah Edgecombe]

How could she not have wanted to come to this affair tonight? What had she been thinking? Her parents' problems were their own problems and she was making herself sick over them. Being so distraught over lying about Julianna Hannah hid herself away from everything and everyone that's what made her not want to come to the ball she was still hiding. If she hadn't changed her mind because of Will look at what she would have missed, being led onto the dance floor by the most handsome man in the room.

Even having his face slightly obscured by his mask William still looked gorgeous especially to Hannah. She only had eyes for him now, everyone else on the dance floor seemed to dissolve away. The only thing she could hear was the music and the sound of their breathing. Hannah had no idea something as simple as dancing could feel this powerful, this good. He held her close making her feel safe and wanted at the same time. Their bodies swayed as one to the rhythm of the song. He was light on his feet, such a good dancer Hannah never would have guessed.

Every few moments she would glance up at him he looked from what she could see under the mask cool as a cucumber. Her face was glowing and she seemed to be in a dream state. How she wished she could access his thoughts, know what was going on inside that mind of his. She had been trying to figure out a way to ask him when he pulled away for a second to wipe his palms on his dress pants. Hannah hadn't even noticed he had sweaty palms so into the moment she was. He took hold of her once more and all was quickly forgotten. Hannah placed her head on his shoulder ready to resume loosing herself in the moment with him.

When he told her how stunning she looked Hannah had been grateful she picked out that dress, it was just what she wanted him to think. Could this night get better she wondered. His next words to her proved that they could. "Will you be my girlfriend?"[/i] He asked then he stopped dead and so did she. She spent a good 60 seconds replaying the words in her mind willing her brain to process them. When it finally did she realized he was waiting for her answer so with no further ado Hannah broke into a brilliant grin took the mask away from her face so he could see her properly and said "I would love nothing more than to be your girlfriend William Vaid."

[Ellie Rook]

Ellie sat infront of her mirror, a makeup brush in one hand and a curling iron in the other. She sighed, a grimace on her face. Why was she putting herself through this torture. Ellie had gone through an emotional roller coaster throughout the day. First, she had woken up early, excited with anticipation, however, after breakfast, a deep pain in her stomach, a nervous pain, made her dread ever thinking she would go to the ball. However, as the day wore on and her stomach eased, Ellie looked at her dress hanging from her bed canopy.

The Hufflepuff had opted for a simple dress in no other color but black. The back was to die for with silver gems cascading down her back. It was very elegant. Looking at the dress Ellie couldn't help but get reexcited. Time was being wasted. She immediatly started to work.

The ball had already started as Ellie sat in front of her mirror, curlers and makeup in her hands. Ellie was horrible at cosmetic magic, so she opted for the old fashion way. She sat gentle in her dress, her makeup done fresh, her eyes standing out a stormy blue, her shadow dark and smokey with a slight sparkle. Her cheeks were pick and her lips a natural color. Her hair was simply done, elegantly waved, yet not over done. She took a deep breath and slipped on her silver shoes. Picking up her gorgeous blue and gold plumed mask she fit it on her face and looked in the mirror. She sighed.

The best part about the night would be that her identity would be somewhat concealed from a certain person which she was currently trying to avoid. It hurt, but Ellie was stubborn and that was that.

Ellie walked down to the common room and noticed it was empty. She must be slightly later than she thought. She walked out of the common room and down the hall. Her shoes clicked on the stone as she walked. Finally she got to the ball and took a deep breath. She walked in, her shy demeanor taking over. She instantly looked for someone she knew. Fay and Bray were somewhere she knew it, but it wasn't the time to see them yet. Ellie breathed a sigh of relief as she saw what she thought was a familiar face.

Ellie walked up behind one Lucas McGuff and clamped onto his arm. "Ahh! The squids got me! Ahh!" Ellie said, laughing a she did so, her smile wide as she looked at the Gryffindor.

[Rieko Daniels]

Rieko was definatly running on the 'your late' scale of things, but she didnt mind too much. In all honesty, the girl was nervous. Formal wasnt exactly her best area of expertise, in fact she knew next to nothing about it and had debated on whether or not she should go or not. With a sigh, she ran a hand over the fabric of the yellow dress she was wearing as she gazed into the mirror. Her hair was pinned up, with some bangs flowing freely down her face. Letting off a sigh, she realised she wouldnt get much better than this, she hadnt exactly given herself much to work with had she? Slipping on her yellow and gold mask, with some green feathers, she walked out of the dorm and began to slowly make her way down to the great hall.

You see, the dress she was going to wear, a slick red one which hugged her nicely, had mysteriously dissapeared and no matter how much she searched for it, she just couldnt find it. This was no doubt some obscure joke, she had found all the accessories needed for it, her mask, well her other one, some jewelerry and a nice boa. Though, strangely and without warning, they had dissapeared. "I wonder where they could have gone." Still, it was lucky Rieko had gotten a choice of two things, rather than just one thing. When she had left, Max was still downstairs faffing with his hair, Rieko had laughed and told him not to keep Laney waiting for she would have started to have fun without him.

Once she got to the main stairs, she placed a hand on the rail and intaking a deep breath, began to slowly walk down the stairs. Reaching the bottom, her shoes clicking softly on the floor, but annoying the hell out of her, she tried to ignore it as she walked into the great hall. People. Hundreds of people, or so it seemed. All looking similar. Especially the boys, "How in the world am I going to find Blake in this mess?" She asked herself, looking at about eight different people who could have been Blake. "Seriously, we should have wore name-tags." Deciding it was pointless running upto every boy in the room and pulling his mask down to check the face, then apologizing to each person when she got the identity confused, she walked over to the drinks and got one of those instead. Leaning her back on the wall and watching the world pass her by. "I dont get it. Not one bit." She confirmed to herself. How much confusion could this make? Loads of boyfriends could be dancing with other girls, getting all cosy, and not knowing its not their girlfriend. Or maybe that just happened in her mind?

[Sarie Thimble]

Sarie was staring at what she was wearing. She was dressed in a long gown. It had light blue beads across the chest and down the right side. There was a slit with blue fabric showing with the same blue weaving up the slit. Her hair was pulled half way up. The hair was pulled back was one large curl then the rest was curled also.

Her mask was also black and pale blue it only covered her eyes. Which she put on so she could could see the full effect. Now here came the hard part. She took a deep breath and left the dorm. She walked down the stairs. She hoped she wasn't late. She didn't want to be the center of attention.

She made it to the Great hall. It looked wonderful. It was dressed up all the tables had been moved. A stage had appeared and there where colors midnight blue, gold and silver. She looked up which made her curls bounce. The ceiling which mimicked the sky outside was a blanket of stars.

Sarie headed to a table. She didn't have a date or even a firend she came with. She was alone as always. She knew it wouldn't last long but what if it did and she had gotten dolled up for nothing. No one would ask her to dance she was little Sarie the book worm who knew to much. She sighed and waited from some thing to happen.

[Alexis Heart]

She imagined what would happen if she simply stayed in her room. A poor pathetic girl with a sad face wondering what was going on downstairs floated into her mind. The sad pathetic looking girl was her. Balls and dances not really her thing because they were awkward for her she wasn't all that popular around school and felt like she'd just be standing around watching everyone else around her have a good time. Perhaps that was because she chose not to have a good time.

A dress and mask had been laid out on her bed while she simply sat on a chair across from them staring. What had gotten into her lately? She wasn't this shy a girl well not normally anyway. Tonight was her night to be bold to be noticed. That wouldn't occur with her sitting up in her room like some sort of fraidy cat. Standing quickly she crossed the room in two strides and grabbed her dress. It wasn't too long, it was a dark deep rich red[/url] undressing she slipped it on. Tying the brown belt around her waist. She turned to see herself and was pleasantly surprised. Her hair was placed in an elegant bun with just a hint or red on her lips. Placing a pair of gold shoes on her small dainty feet. Slipping a pretty feathery red[/url] mask on her face she left the comfort of her room for the chaos of the Great Hall.

The dance was already in full swing it was packed in the room Alexis already felt lost in this huge sea of people. Her room suddenly didn't seem so bad compared to this. So much for thinking she'd get noticed. Perhaps she would go to the food table maybe she'd run into someone she might know so she didn't feel so alone.