"No, you are not."

"Yes we are. It's already been arranged."

"Christmas is family time."

"I know. That is why we are going to spend it with you." Emily argued.

"No, you are going to spend it with your real family. I'm staying because I… don't have a family to spend it with." I struggled to finish. It's almost been a year Ana. Get a hold of yourself.

"Don't you dare say that." Teddy glared at me. "You have a family, you just don't want to spend Christmas with them."

I couldn't tell why, but Teddy had gotten really strange lately. He seemed to always be annoyed around me, and sometimes even would ignore me, and say something in private to Wilbur. I tried to ask Emily about it but she had no idea, and Wilbur seemed to always avoid or get around the question. All I knew was, he only acted like this when I was involved.

"Ana," Emily broke in, noticing my discomfort. "Did you here about the dance?"

I sighed, there was no way to get around this one, "Yes."

"Aren't you excited?"

"Nope." I tried to say something to change the subject, but I could tell Emily wasn't going to leave it at that.

"Why not?" She asked incredulously. I noticed the guys were whispering something to each other. Wish I was in on that conversation.

"Because it's a school dance. I've never been to one of those. They probably want us to dress up and stuff."

"Of course they do. It's formal. I know of this place in Hogsmeade, that sells some nice dresses we could wear. And, I have some make-up and… Do you still have the hair supplies I gave you?"

"Yes, but Emily isn't it a partners dance? Meaning you need a date?"

"Yes, that's why we'll go as a group. Right guys?"

"Huh?" Wilbur looked up confused. I smiled. If I was going down, at least they were going with me.

There were a lot of people in the shop when we got there. "Man, is everyone going to this dance?"

"Of course. Its the first dance this school has had since the Yule Ball."

"Why?"

"Why don't they have dances?"

"No, why are they starting now?"

Emily looked like she wanted to say something, but then noticed some dresses on the back wall. "Ooh."

At least they're simple. I thought looking at the extremely ruffly and sparkly dresses many others were looking at. Emily pulled one down that was black on top, with long sleeves and a V-neck, and light blue on the bottom, which was shorter in the front (reaching just below her knees) and longer in the back (touching her ankles).

"Doesn't it look great?" She put it over herself. "And you can wear that one."

The one she pointed out for me had the same top, but the bottom was purple and uneven. The longer corners of the skirt went to about halfway down my calf. The shorter bends ended below my knees. It was nice I had to admit, definitely something I would wear. I pulled it down.

"Great! You go find shoes, then change into it. I'll be getting ready as well." Then she scurried off to the changing rooms. I turned to the shoes section. Heels, heels, more heels, and… ooh. I found a nice pair of black combat boots. They were fat and leathery and I knew Emily would hate them. I grabbed them off the shelf and hurried to find a room myself.

"Oh no." She said when I walked out. "You are not going to the dance in those shoes."

"I can't believe I let you buy those shoes" She said as I walked out of a bathroom stall. Emily was doing her makeup and I couldn't help but notice that she looked stunning. But it's Emily, I thought. She always looks stunning. It was true. Emily had one of those faces that everyone loved.

"So. How many boys did you have to turn down so that you could come as a group with us?" Emily looked taken-aback by the question.

"Uh… 4?"

"Uh… You're lying?" I mimicked her.

She looked down. She probably felt bad because she knew no one asked me. "Seven." She finally answered.

I smiled at her. "So the boys are finally learning you're not interested? At least you only have seven to worry about now."

She laughed at this. I knew Emily was uncomfortable about her looks. It just ran in her family I guess.

"Okay, so lets talk about hair and makeup."

"Oh, lets." I said statistically. Emily just rolled her eyes.

"Okay, so I have some pecan colored eyeshadow that will match your hair perfectly."

Pecan? I looked at my hair. Is it pecan?

"Put your hair down. Now what are we going to do with it?" She looked over me critically, making me uncomfortable.

"Hey aren't we supposed to be meeting the boys soon? Why don't we head over?"

"No, the boys can wait. So what do you want me to do to your hair?"

"A bun." I sighed. She had put her hair up in this complicated braided thing, and all I could come up with was a bun.

She got to work on my hair as I looked through her makeup. "So out of all this, what do you plan on forcing on me?"

She laughed. "I was thinking some concealer, foundation, mascara, eyeshadow-"

"Never mind, I don't want to know. I'll just close my eyes and trust your expertise."

That is basically what happened. I just did as she told me to. "Open your eyes", "Close your mouth", and my favorite, "I DON'T CARE IF IT ITCHES DON'T TOUCH YOUR FACE!"

Once she was done she pushed me over to the mirror. I didn't even recognize myself. My hair was tied back neatly. My lips matched my hair, and my eyelids matched my lips. Well some of it, because the middle of my eyes were purple, like my dress. The black mascara and eyeliner made my grey eyes stand out boldly.

"Do you like it?" Emily sounded unsure.

"Are you kidding? It looks amazing… I look amazing."

"Teach you to make fun of my makeup obsession."

I laughed, then realized what time it was. "Oh, we've got to go." I hurried to the door.

"ANA! DON'T YOU DARE RUN!" but I was already gone. I hurried down the hall, took a right, then took a left and almost ran into them.

"Wow. Ana in a dress, never thought this day would come. Though I must ask: How did you get Emily to let you wear those boots?" My boots were muddy and worn in by now, but I honestly didn't care.

"I TOLD HER NOT TO!" Emily yelled from around the corner, and I could hear her heels hit the floor as she walked quickly towards us. "Don't they look awful?" She said to Wilbur.

"I think she looks lovely." Teddy said quietly. I could feel a slight blush rise to my cheeks and hoped those layers of makeup covered it very well.

"Well whose going with who?" Emily asked.

"I thought we were going as a group?" I asked, looking at them.

"It is a partners dance Ana. We can act as a group, but if anyone asks we need a date."

"I say we switch houses. I'll go with Emily, and Teddy with Ana." Wilbur answered Emily's original question.

"Okay!" Emily said cheerfully and took Wilbur's arm, almost dragging him away.

I looked over to see Teddy offer me his arm. I took it and we walked in silence for a while.

"Do you think they will ever get together?" He asked, nodding to Emily and Wilbur.

"Oh I'm counting on it." He smiled at me and I realized he didn't seem annoyed at all. But he still wasn't acting normal. In fact, he seemed kind of nervous. He wouldn't meet my eyes. I grew very worried about him. I would ask Wilbur about it later.

Hi guys! I am doing my best to update, please don't kill me. School dance? What's wrong with Teddy? What happened with Justin? Christmas time? All will be revealed shortly... Well I hope shortly, I can never really tell.