The girl looked down at the huge gathering of people with a skeptical expression on her face. "I don't know how to deal with this..." she mumbled to herself; the mantra she had formed over the years. Her palms were starting to feel clammy and she shuddered with apprehension. People, in all honestly, just weren't her thing. After all of the things she'd done, she didn't deserve equal treatment--
She felt the pang of something hitting her on the head, hard enough to knock her out of her thoughts but not enough to hurt. She looked up from the spot on the floor she had zoned in on after her observation to see Maka. Her... friend? She still didn't know what to categorize the strange girl as.
Maka had a slight frown on her face. "Are you okay?" She narrowed her eyes, as if to try to decipher the lankier girl's slump.
Crona looked away from Maka to look at the white dress she was wearing (which, how she had gotten it and was forced into it was a WHOLE different story in itself) in an attempt to hide her discomfort. "I'm fine," she finally got out.
There was a silent moment (which unnerved Crona quite a bit; she didn't know how to deal with it) before a gloved hand touched Crona's shoulder. "It's alright to be nervous about your first dance, you know." Crona looked up again to see the encouraging smile that Maka had exchanged the frown for.
"But, I don't know how to--" "Yes, yes you do. You WILL, at least, by the end of the night if I have any say about it," Maka said confidently. Crona wondered where all of THAT, Maka's courage and confidence, came from. But she didn't have any time to ponder about it before the girl dragged Crona away from her spot and down the stairs.
Crona's heart sped up, anxiety building up in her. She could hear Ragnarok berating her in the back of her mind, and she for once ignored it. Only the reason, she told herself, was because she had to watch her feet (The heels on her shoes made her feel awkward and she stumbled quite a bit in them.) But somewhere, there was that flicker of hope that she had CHOSEN not to listen, and she continued to (attempt to, at least) keep up with Maka's ferocious pace.
At last, the moment of truth. They were at the door that lead into the party. Crona was shaking so badly, she figured Maka would think she was sick (and maybe, hopefully, wouldn't make her go in there.) But instead Maka gave her hand a slight squeeze and turned to look at her. "You'll do fine, I know it." And with a smile Maka pushed open the door.
Crona held her breath, bracing for the worst. But, somehow, nothing happened.
Everything was fine.
Crona blinked, looked around the area (filled with people, she noted with a shiver), expecting something to happen. Slowly, Crona let the breath she had been holding out.
"See, it's not that bad," Maka said. "The girl looked around as well, and then smiled as she spotted something. Crona followed her gaze to see Maka's friends (Crona's friends...?) all in a group by the wall. Maka waved at them, and the gang noticed; one of the girls waving them over. "Come on!" Maka said happily. Her slipped out of Crona's as she started forward.
At first, Crona just stood there, dumb-struck. I don't know how to deal with this. I don't know how to deal with this. But maybe, like Maka said, maybe she could know how.
So, hesitantly, timidly, Crona took that first step.