5: Decorations
I should've known I couldn't leave the posse by themselves. Only a few minutes after they left my company Fujin came running. She told me that Seifer had been beaten up by some SeeDs and to "HELP. HURRY". She and I followed the trail the bullies had made (those jerks had knocked potted plants over) and found them giving poor Seifer a Swirly. Actually, they just had his whole head in the toilet and were flushing repeatedly. Because of this the area surrounding the bathroom, and the bathroom itself, was flooded. Raijin showed up and the three of us scared the bullies away. Seifer was all right and he said he had a "better understanding for how the little guy feels". I think the only thing that was seriously wounded was his pride. Seifer wouldn't say why those guys could beat him up; I guess he was embarrassed that he was a little rusty in fighting.
After that the three of them didn't seem to attract any trouble. That was good, because I was going to check on the Festival decorations with Nida. I didn't have the energy to run all over the Garden yelling at SeeDs. I made them promise that they wouldn't go anywhere by themselves, except when Fujin had to use the restroom, and then the two boys would stand guarding the entrance. Nida and I made our way to the ballroom. He wasn't acting unusual so I assumed he hadn't heard about the posse coming to Balamb yet. Either that or he didn't care.
The hallway leading to the ballroom was blocked off by red and yellow crepe paper. Nida and I stepped over the line and continued. The hallway itself was decorated with crepe paper in the shape of flowers and there were balloons hovering over our heads. Real flowers were on either side of the carpeted floor and as we drew closer we could hear music being played. Some blue crepe paper was on the floor, meaning to be a stream or something. Already I could tell the ballroom was going to look splendid. The door was decorated with flowers and yellow bows decorated the handles. Nida opened the door and I stepped inside.
The music was the first thing that caught my interest. It was a sprightly tune featuring the strings and woodwinds. The song reminded me of the time we put on a concert for Squall. Now that was fun! I next noticed that plants were scattered about the ballroom. Beside the door was a pot of buttercups and I could see other colorful flowers dotted around the area. None were on the dance floor, of course. The fountain was encircled by green plants. Pictures of pastoral scenes hung on the walls. Many of them I could tell were drawn by committee members.
"Nida! Selphie!" I saw Marie coming towards us at a run. I welcomed her hug, then pushed her onto Nida. He smiled meekly and patted the girl on the back. She spread her arms as if to present the entire ballroom. "As you can see, we're not quite done."
"Not quite done?" I echoed.
"Yes. We still have to decorate all of the furniture, and the balcony. We have to make refreshments and… oh, there's just so much to do!" Marie exclaimed. Maybe it's better I'm stuck selling tickets, I thought. This sounds like hard work! "Today we're figuring out where to put the refreshment table. You guys can help."
"Oh, goody!" I cheered, clapping my hands. The table was currently positioned next to the fountain. Committee members stood in different areas of the ballroom, checking angles and that sort of weird stuff. I'm not a decorator but I tried my best anyway. I glanced around idly, not knowing exactly what I was looking for. My eyes landed on a vacant spot occupied only by a vase of daisies.
"I'm no good at this," complained Nida.
"Me neither," I shrugged. "But I think that might be a good place." Marie walked over to us.
"Did you find a place?" I pretended like I hadn't heard her.
"What do you think, Nida?" He shrugged his shoulders helplessly.
"I wouldn't be the right person to ask." Marie sighed in exasperation.
"Selphie, did you find a place? Did you find a place for the table?" I smiled widely and winked at Nida.
"Did I find a place? Did I find…?" I repeated mockingly. "Yes, I found a place. It's right over there!" I pointed my finger proudly at the spot. Marie observed it for a moment, then nodded in approval.
"Yeah, that'll do." She waved her arms at the others. "Hey, guys! We got a nice spot right over here!" She turned to us. "Nida, will you help them move the table?"
"Certainly," he answered. He and three other guys lifted the table and slowly carried it over to the chosen spot. I was very impressed by Nida's strength. I had no idea he could carry a table. Marie and I coached them until they had it in exactly the right spot. I picked up the vase of daisies and set it on the table.
"Perfect!" Marie announced. That's one less thing to worry about, then.
"I'm really impressed, Marie," I commented. "It looks really great here." Marie blushed modestly.
"Thank you. We've been working hard." She smiled slyly. "We've got a whole lot more to do if you guys want to help. It would make the work go faster."
"Well, strange as it may sound, we still have not sold many tickets," sighed Nida wearily. I had sold six in all, which was six more than Nida sold. Apparently there were a bunch of lazy people in the Garden. Maybe I'll forbid them to go, I thought. Then they'd be sorry! As tempting as that was, I just couldn't do that to anybody; it wasn't in my nature. Lucky for them, I guess.
"No one's had much luck," Marie noted, shrugging helplessly. The other committee members nodded sadly. "What if we don't have enough people coming?"
"Then we'll just have the party to ourselves!" I decided. "We're not going to let all this hard work go to waste, even if we're the only ones here to enjoy it!" The others on the committee stared at me dumbly for a moment. Nida was smiling at me. His smile was a lot like Fujin's, shy and uncertain. Only, the shy smile fitted Nida like a glove, and with Fujin it was the exact opposite of her personality. I smiled brightly. "Plus there'd be lots more snacks to go around!"
"I guess that would work," Jacob began, rubbing his chin in thought, "but then what about those we have sold them to?"
"They can come!" I grinned. "We're going to have this Festival no matter what. There can be twenty people here or a hundred! We're still going to have a good time!" Everyone erupted in cheers. Like I said, this was going to be a great Festival. The only thing that could make me happier is if Irvine asks me to the Festival. I knew he would; I would just have to be patient. Oh, to be patient is so hard!
_____
Nida and I walked back to our posts, me humming the tune that was playing in the ballroom. I was happy to see Oonagh waiting for us, the only other person in the area other than us. She greeted Nida with a curtsey, as was proper for a lady. Nida bowed to her courteously. Oonagh's face was radiating with excitement. Nida took one look at her and knew that his presence wasn't wanted. He quietly went to his post and did his best not to listen in on our conversation. He's a nice guy that way. I eagerly joined Oonagh, knowing that her news would be worth hearing. But I first wanted to share my news. It was lucky for me that Oonagh was a nice person.
"I just saw the decorations, Oonagh!" I declared. "I don't want to spoil the surprise, but let me tell you: they're beautiful! This is going to be an awesome Festival!"
"Speaking of the Festival!" she sang, her eyes shining. "I bet you can tell by how happy I am who asked me to go with him!" My jaw crashed through the floor.
"Are you serious? He asked you?" Her head bobbed up and down. "Oh, my god! That is so awesome!" I hugged her. "I was about to ask you why you haven't bought a ticket!" We parted and held hands like any excited girls would do.
"He will be by after his next class lets out to buy the tickets. Oh, Selphie, I'm so excited!"
"I know, I know! I'm excited for you!" We squealed in unison. Nida smiled fondly and shook his head. Oonagh glanced over at him and leaned in closer. I stopped giggling long enough to hear what she was going to say.
"Has Irvine asked you yet?" she whispered.
"No, but he bought two tickets. That's almost the same thing."
"Just two tickets?" Her eyebrow raised in suspicion.
"Of course just two tickets!" She giggled and patted my arm soothingly.
"I was just kidding, Miss Petite. I have confidence that he'll ask you. You'll have to tell me every single thing he says when he does it, all right?"
"Of course! I'll write it down so I'll remember it forever!" She giggled again and waved good-bye. Nida smiled at her and she smiled back. You know, I am so glad that Oonagh got over her weird crush on Zell. I think Instructor Oren suits her better, anyway. I mean, no offense to Zell, but he and Oonagh are complete opposites. Nida and I watched her leave.
"Are you ready to be ignored some more, Selphie?" asked Nida. He didn't raise his voice but I could hear him since we were the only two in the area.
"Sure am!" I replied cheerfully. This job may be boring, but at least I can have fun with it!