What's Important?
by Marshi

Chapter Four, Grand Ball

A gown had been delivered, by Royce, a pale rose colored silk that make my eyes pop. I fingered the delicate material, traced the intricate stitching and mother murmured over it's lovely color before I took it to my room.

I always detested having to wear a corset. It was tight, and to be bound tighter to make women look skinnier then they usually did. I placed it over my middle and had mother help me. The gown was thrown over my head with careless actions; I scolded my mother for it and she apologized. There were more strings at the back that were tied together before mother left me alone. The corset pushed up my breast, filling the low bodice of the dress with a large amount of cleavage. I looked myself in the mirror, I was more exposed the usual but it was fine by me.

As the clock hit fifteen minutes to eight o'clock the door bell rang. Mother always liked people better when they arrived right on time. Then again, it never seemed to matter when they were either rich or the inheritor of a large fortune.

"Rosalie, come down here, speed it up!" Mother shouted from down stairs. I rolled my eyes skyward and smoothed out a few awkward strands of hair.

I found myself feeling like I was playing Dress Up. Just yesterday, I had come down these same flights dressed up for Royce, and here I was again. He smiled at me, it missed his eyes but I ignored the minor details.

"You are magnificent." He said, grabbing my hand and leading me away.

His car was huge. Fit for at least 6 people at once but was only for Royce and I to use. A grin formed on my face as I thought, this is the way to travel, in my head, as a servant opened the door for Royce and me.

The car ride was silent, the only interesting thing that had happened was the fact that Royce started to hold my hand. This being our first time touching sent me into a state of shock. We both sat in the car silently, not speaking to each other, it was awkward. I tried to think of something to say but by the time I opened my mouth we arrived at the mansion.

Royce wore a black tuxedo. His shirt, jacket, and pants were black while he had a bright white tie and fit a white handkerchief in his pocket. He carried a sophisticated air around him that not many people wanted to get into.

Royce didn't assist me at getting out of the car; he just had his servant come on fetch me.

It was huge. A purple carpet way splayed on the floor leading from my feet to inside the entrance of the grand building. The building had dull, grey walls but all the decorations made it pop out. Not literally pop out, but it stood out of the other buildings around it. Either because it was the enormous size it was or because it was… sparkling.

I jumped 2 feet into the air as a loud voice, boomed, "Announcing the arrival of Mister King and Miss Hale… Excuse the error, to be wed Mister King and MISSUS KING." The voice shouted above all the other voices. Heads swiveled and turned as a silence descended on the crowd. The ladies stared at me with envy in their eyes while the men stared at Royce with increasing jealousy.

A smile was brought to my face as I thought of how much better I was then these people. The girls had loads of make-up on their face while I had only applied a few dabs and still managed to look that much better then them.

I wrapped my arm around Royce's as we walked into the mansion. Classical music was playing; I had no real preference between the different songs that they played. All I knew was that a few songs went slower or quicker then the rest. None has specially stuck out for me so I took no notice.

Everyone took notice of who we were in that room, except for a small group of three people who stood in the corner of the room. I glowered angrily at them and one of them turned their heads.

He had messy, bronze hair and peculiar topaz eyes. He had a square jaw and a strong, yet lean, body. The boy had flawless, deathly, pale white skin that mine lost in comparison to. Instead of searching the group his eyes landed just on me. I gave him a big smile but it looked like he was staring right past me.

Another second later he turned back to the other of pale person he was talking to. My anger flared at him as I started cursing him out in my head. How dare he?

If Royce noticed my anger he did nothing to show it. He left me alone to socialize with people as he walked up to a group of men who were huddled together. I rolled my eyes as I decided to talk to that snob in the corner.

"Pardon the intrusion, would you like to dance?" I asked as politely as I could. He was talking to a man. The man also had flawlessly pale skin and topaz eyes. Curse the place down under, these two men were more beautiful then I was. The man has dusty blond hair and whore a pair of glasses that I knew he did not need to use. He was a tad taller then the bronze haired boy and more muscular but the bronze haired boy was more handsome.

"Sorry, lady, this boy does not know how to dance." He said. It angered me, because I knew he was lying. And he seemed to read my thoughts, "Seriously, I was never taught how to dance."

"Silly boy, introduce us." The other man said, amused.

"This is Carlisle Cullen, my brother. I am Edward Cullen, his brother." He said like it was the most boring thing in the universe. "You must be Rosalie Hale, I've heard about you." Edward said with a hidden meaning I had no way to decipher.

"Nice to meet you, now if you will excuse me…" I scowled at Edward one last time before leaving them alone.

I danced with a few men –the ones that met my approval- who worked up the nerves to ask me to a dance. I never danced with the same man twice, except for Royce. I had to ask Royce for a dance because he was to busy talking with the group of men that he originally went to.

A skimpily dressed waitress came over while we were sitting at the table and laid a glass of some golden liquid beside his plate, leaving before giving him a wink. "Baby, I do not drink champagne." I smiled at him as I took his champagne and downed it.

A few men made me laugh at corny jokes they would crack but I have to say, truthfully, that was not an enjoyable night. I did love being pampered and having all the men drool over me, and I would live on that. On my way home Royce gave me a rough kiss on the lips and told me a quick "Good night."

This is what I wanted but why wasn't I happy?