Obscure hides under the desk in fear of the kind people who have reviewed this story Um.. I mean I am so sorry that it has been what? A year? I guess I need to give some closure eh? With school and work I have been so busy, gomen ne everyone! I was tempted to simply give up but then I reread the reviews and decided to finish what I started, something I don't do nearly enough.

In which Olive works for a change and a change begins to work…

Olive soon found herself walking past Ella's room. She had been here several times before but it seemed like so long ago, although she was certain it was only a couple of weeks. She vaguely remembered begging Ella to tell her a story again and again; she wondered now why she simply hadn't gone to the library.

Ella seemed to be muttering to herself about something. Olive peeked into the room for a moment, and then flattened herself against the wall outside the door. It was hard to discern precisely what she was saying; her mouth was full of pins as she sewed dutifully on the dress Hattie had been yammering on about. She was arguing with herself, "It's stupid really, a stupid party with stupid people and stupid Char." She stopped here and abruptly switched tactics. "Stupid, brilliant, magnificent Char. I want to go, no one will even recognize me with a mask." She changed once again, "But what if they do know who I am? Then I really will be in a fix."

Olive felt bad about spying on her stepsister, but all the new knowledge in her head was screaming at her. Indeed, why shouldn't Ella go to the ball? Why did she have to clean the floors and sew their clothes? She suddenly felt nauseous. She looked down at her dress, it didn't pinch her waist as it had the last time she had worn it, she was thinner but the dress did not seem as large as it should have been. She was decidedly thinner. Someone had fixed it, sewed the dress so that it would fit her. Ella.

Olive bit her lips almost until they bled. She knew what she should do now. A tiny voice wailed in the back of her mind, what will mother think? What will Hattie think? However, it was a feeble voice and soon ignored. Hadn't she gone to finishing school with Ella? Hadn't she learned at least a bit of sewing? Something useful?

She tapped lightly on the rough wooden door that stood open to allow a breeze to pass through and walked in. Ella nodded at her and almost smiled around the pins in her mouth. Almost but not quite. Olive remembered that she had been quite the annoyance. Now she would be a small help.

Without a word, Olive picked up a needle and struggled to thread it with the fine gold thread that Hattie had bought specifically for this dress. She finally worked the end of the thread through the tiny hole and smiling timidly at Ella, went to work.

More tomorrow I promise and also expect a completely revised version once it is completed, I is a college student now and I can do a grammer  check now lol. As always, please review and I know I will get flames for being so late… (::olive bashes obscure over the head with her own crutches:: )

me: 'Hey is that any way to treat the one who gave you life? And besides I am helpless here!'

olive: 'Ha! Helpless nothing, you twisted your stupid ankle by slipping on ice, you'll be fine in a week, I know you got those crutches last year when you were really hurt! Besides G C Levine gave me life not you ya moron! Geez'

me: 'Well… I gave you A life at least, now you aren't a stupid git!'

olive: 'Well I guess we traded places then eh?'

 me: is silent, trying to figure out what Olive just said

Ok that little monologue is over heh…. Go review