p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="c96d14f95fe87c21b9d9ae3db4c0f099" span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"BIANA (thought that I'd try something new this time!) POV/span/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="6025e7e3fcbed50c8b15d258ba70ed7b"I wait with Sophie at Havenfield to get ready for the ball. My mom and Edaline STILL haven't bought us our dresses, which I think is outrageous. Unfortunately, it is "tradition" for moms to buy their daughters' dresses for the ball. After pacing for a looooong time, I see the moms walking towards the front door with garment bags. "SOPHIE!" I scream "They're back! They're back! They're BACK!" Sophie rolls her eyes as I drag her downstairs./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="22f5c0490add35a7491048b5ff803812"My mom brandishes hands me the bag and tells me to get changed. Edaline does the same to Sophie. We each find a bathroom and open our dresses. I gasp. Mine is A-MA-ZING! It has the sequiny top and the angled skirt and so on! (span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"This is what I would think that Biana's dress would look like: /spanem style="box-sizing: border-box;" Zoom/17/_ ?fit=fillq=30/em span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"the external link is at the bottom/span) I race out towards the moms and twirl. "I. Love. This. Dress!" I squeal "I TOLD you!" Edaline mutters. We are still waiting for Sophie to get dressed when she ascends the stairs shyly. I gasp. Her dress is PERFECT! "Wow, Edaline! That dress suits Sophie PERFECTLY!" I marvel "The light pink is sophisticated, yet girly, the sparkles are there, but they don't steal the show. Basically, it's awesome." Edaline laughs. "Thanks, Biana." (span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"This is Sophie's dress:em style="box-sizing: border-box;" /em/spanem style="box-sizing: border-box;" albu_910840199_00-1. /emspan style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Just copy paste the link into your search bar/spanem style="box-sizing: border-box;" /em) We model our dresses for a bit before taking them off to do makeup and hair./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="000ca4fb9de1a4e6f96cac2e73a42713"When the moms are finished styling, Sophie and I look fantastic. Our hairdos are flawless, are makeup matches our dress and shoes, and we are ready to go. And, right then, as if on perfect timing, Keefe and Isaiah arrive. Isaiah hooks my arm and light leaps away, not saying a word to anyone. Strange. Keefe brought Sophie flowers, and I can hear her thanking him as we are whisked away. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="a8f21d92e045ca8f8cbaa8788bea55d2"As soon as we get to the ball, Isaiah drags me right in front of a crowd of people. They ooh and ahh. Isaiah nods and jerks me towards his friends. When we get there, I see a girl in Isaiah's grade standing in the middle. "IIIIII-SAAAAAAA-IIIAAAAAHH!" she cries "I had NO idea that YOU were taking Biana Vacker! Wanna dance?" Isaiah looks like he struck gold. "Just a minute, and I'll dance with you." he says and winks. The girl smirks. Isaiah pulls me away. I stare at him, hurt and confused. "Look," he says coldly "I never REALLY wanted to go to the dance with you. You are stuck-up, repulsive, and I have SO many reasons. You are just so popuar and I wanted to take you so that Luinda would want to go with me. I mean, who would really want to go to a dance with YOU?" he bumps against my shoulder as he walks away. I stand there, my heart breaking into a million pieces. Tears start to stream down my cheeks as I race to the outskirts of the ball, where it is dark and secluded and I can be alone. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="ffed023c37a53d2a4ee3bcc970c8d23f"I cry for awhile, watching Sophie and Keefe have fun. They are dancing, completely oblivious to anyone around them. I wish I could have someone like that. Just then, I see Fitz and Linh dance in. It's too much for me to handle and I flee back to my quiet spot. When I get back, I put my head between my knees and cry some more. That's when I hear someone say "Why so sad? It is a ball, you know." and Dex steps out of the shadows. "Dex!" I wail "I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have gone with Isaiah and now I feel like I've hurt you and-and-and-" I dissolve into tears yet again, but this time Dex sits down next to me, wraps his arm around my shoulders, and comforts me. "Shhh, shhh." he whispers as I slowly lean against him "I won't hurt you, I promise. Everything will be okay." he murmurs "Everything will be okay..." /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="4ea6ed1cc0a1f39221eea33d8f4ac2ce"I lay against him for a while, silent. Finally, Dex sits me up and pulls me close. "I love you." I hear him breathe right before he leans in and kisses me. I am slightly surprised, but give in and kiss him back. We stay in our spot for a while before I hear snickering from behind me. I slowly turn around and see Sophie, Keefe, Fitz, Linh, Tam, and Lania (Tam's date) staring at us. We jump apart, startled. "Smooching in the DARK?" Keefe smirks. I blush, and so does Dex. Everyone else chuckles. "Ummm, we were going to request matchmaking scrolls, if you want to tag along..." says Sophie, jerking a thumb over her shoulder. "But you seem kind of busy." Tam finishes. Fitz has a hint of a disapproving stare on his face. Linh and Lania are giggling nervously. "Uh, we'll come." Dex says, brushing himself off. I walk over next to Sophie and we all head towards the matchmaking table. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1a11b6b188f3c13c08b0ec947683caee"Everyone has sent in their applications already, but this is just a matter of requesting one. Our group made a pact that we would all request our scrolls at the same time, at the Foxfire ball. Lania peels off, muttering something about 'not being ready' as we approach the table. Tam rolls his eyes and mutters something about 'commitment issues' as he adds his name and address to the list. After we are all signed up, everyone heads back out to the dance floor. This night may have not started well, but it sure ended on a fine note. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="98490d91d9f050e4f36c45a5b658af7e"Now, I just need to wait for our matchmaking scrolls.../p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="6025e7e3fcbed50c8b15d258ba70ed7b"I wait with Sophie at Havenfield to get ready for the ball. My mom and Edaline STILL haven't bought us our dresses, which I think is outrageous. Unfortunately, it is "tradition" for moms to buy their daughters' dresses for the ball. After pacing for a looooong time, I see the moms walking towards the front door with garment bags. "SOPHIE!" I scream "They're back! They're back! They're BACK!" Sophie rolls her eyes as I drag her downstairs./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="22f5c0490add35a7491048b5ff803812"My mom brandishes hands me the bag and tells me to get changed. Edaline does the same to Sophie. We each find a bathroom and open our dresses. I gasp. Mine is A-MA-ZING! It has the sequiny top and the angled skirt and so on! (span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"This is what I would think that Biana's dress would look like: /spanem style="box-sizing: border-box;" Zoom/17/_ ?fit=fillq=30/em span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"the external link is at the bottom/span) I race out towards the moms and twirl. "I. Love. This. Dress!" I squeal "I TOLD you!" Edaline mutters. We are still waiting for Sophie to get dressed when she ascends the stairs shyly. I gasp. Her dress is PERFECT! "Wow, Edaline! That dress suits Sophie PERFECTLY!" I marvel "The light pink is sophisticated, yet girly, the sparkles are there, but they don't steal the show. Basically, it's awesome." Edaline laughs. "Thanks, Biana." (span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"This is Sophie's dress:em style="box-sizing: border-box;" /em/spanem style="box-sizing: border-box;" albu_910840199_00-1. /emspan style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Just copy paste the link into your search bar/spanem style="box-sizing: border-box;" /em) We model our dresses for a bit before taking them off to do makeup and hair./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="000ca4fb9de1a4e6f96cac2e73a42713"When the moms are finished styling, Sophie and I look fantastic. Our hairdos are flawless, are makeup matches our dress and shoes, and we are ready to go. And, right then, as if on perfect timing, Keefe and Isaiah arrive. Isaiah hooks my arm and light leaps away, not saying a word to anyone. Strange. Keefe brought Sophie flowers, and I can hear her thanking him as we are whisked away. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="a8f21d92e045ca8f8cbaa8788bea55d2"As soon as we get to the ball, Isaiah drags me right in front of a crowd of people. They ooh and ahh. Isaiah nods and jerks me towards his friends. When we get there, I see a girl in Isaiah's grade standing in the middle. "IIIIII-SAAAAAAA-IIIAAAAAHH!" she cries "I had NO idea that YOU were taking Biana Vacker! Wanna dance?" Isaiah looks like he struck gold. "Just a minute, and I'll dance with you." he says and winks. The girl smirks. Isaiah pulls me away. I stare at him, hurt and confused. "Look," he says coldly "I never REALLY wanted to go to the dance with you. You are stuck-up, repulsive, and I have SO many reasons. You are just so popuar and I wanted to take you so that Luinda would want to go with me. I mean, who would really want to go to a dance with YOU?" he bumps against my shoulder as he walks away. I stand there, my heart breaking into a million pieces. Tears start to stream down my cheeks as I race to the outskirts of the ball, where it is dark and secluded and I can be alone. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="ffed023c37a53d2a4ee3bcc970c8d23f"I cry for awhile, watching Sophie and Keefe have fun. They are dancing, completely oblivious to anyone around them. I wish I could have someone like that. Just then, I see Fitz and Linh dance in. It's too much for me to handle and I flee back to my quiet spot. When I get back, I put my head between my knees and cry some more. That's when I hear someone say "Why so sad? It is a ball, you know." and Dex steps out of the shadows. "Dex!" I wail "I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have gone with Isaiah and now I feel like I've hurt you and-and-and-" I dissolve into tears yet again, but this time Dex sits down next to me, wraps his arm around my shoulders, and comforts me. "Shhh, shhh." he whispers as I slowly lean against him "I won't hurt you, I promise. Everything will be okay." he murmurs "Everything will be okay..." /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="4ea6ed1cc0a1f39221eea33d8f4ac2ce"I lay against him for a while, silent. Finally, Dex sits me up and pulls me close. "I love you." I hear him breathe right before he leans in and kisses me. I am slightly surprised, but give in and kiss him back. We stay in our spot for a while before I hear snickering from behind me. I slowly turn around and see Sophie, Keefe, Fitz, Linh, Tam, and Lania (Tam's date) staring at us. We jump apart, startled. "Smooching in the DARK?" Keefe smirks. I blush, and so does Dex. Everyone else chuckles. "Ummm, we were going to request matchmaking scrolls, if you want to tag along..." says Sophie, jerking a thumb over her shoulder. "But you seem kind of busy." Tam finishes. Fitz has a hint of a disapproving stare on his face. Linh and Lania are giggling nervously. "Uh, we'll come." Dex says, brushing himself off. I walk over next to Sophie and we all head towards the matchmaking table. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1a11b6b188f3c13c08b0ec947683caee"Everyone has sent in their applications already, but this is just a matter of requesting one. Our group made a pact that we would all request our scrolls at the same time, at the Foxfire ball. Lania peels off, muttering something about 'not being ready' as we approach the table. Tam rolls his eyes and mutters something about 'commitment issues' as he adds his name and address to the list. After we are all signed up, everyone heads back out to the dance floor. This night may have not started well, but it sure ended on a fine note. /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="98490d91d9f050e4f36c45a5b658af7e"Now, I just need to wait for our matchmaking scrolls.../p