Several hours had passed since the yellow Skittle incident. In those hours Chris and Clover talked, shuffled through boxes in the attic, joked a bit, and finally settled down to get some sleep.

"Clover?" Chris whispered after 20 minutes of restlessness.

"What? Go to sleep." She murmured back.

"My mum is going to kill me. I skipped school, never came home, didn't call her, and might not come home until afternoon tomorrow, meaning that I'll be skipping school tomorrow as well. She'll probably send the authorities after me and question Kip."

"I don't know what to tell you, Chris. Only that you can't blame it on me!" she joked. "Now get some sleep. You can't do anything about that, so you might as well not worry about it."

"Ok."

And with that, they both fell into a peaceful slumber.

*Clover's Dream*

Music drifted through the air as she walked around her surroundings. She was in a huge ballroom, and there were many people in it. They were all wearing ball gowns and fancy clothing. As she glanced down to see what she was wearing, she noticed that she, too, wore a gown. It was simple, but oh so elegant. It had a V neckline, but wasn't very revealing. The coloring was silver that shimmered with rainbows when she moved. Her long, curly black hair was piled upon her head in a stately fashion, held in place by silver combs. A glittery silver mask adorned her face and covered just enough to make her unrecognizable.

Someone gently tapped her shoulder and she turned around. Standing there was a fetching brown-haired man. He was dressed in a red shirt, with a white overcoat, and his pants were navy.

"May I have this dance?"

She stared at him with wide eyes, while her body moved of it's own accord. His hand slipped around her waist as her hand snaked up to his shoulder. Their remaining hands met together, and movement began.

His light blue eyes sparkled with merriment as they danced, and soon he leaned down to talk to her.

"I am Sir Reginald of Proxey. Who might you be, milady?"

She opened her mouth to tell him, but was interrupted as the song ended. She kindly thanked him for the dance and raced off, hoping to find refreshments. She entered another room, where people were talking loudly near a long table full of food and drink. Her eyes widened once more at the prospect of there being so much food in one place. She walked over slowly and reached out to take a small cake and helped herself to a glass of what looked to be punch. She finished eating and placed her now empty glass on a close table. She went back out on the dance floor and looked around in wonder. As soon as they saw her, several men rushed up to her, hoping to ask her for a dance as well. A man with dark blonde hair cut in front of the men, and they all backed off. It seemed that his social stature was a bit higher than the others were. He proceeded towards her, wearing black velvet trousers, a black silk shirt, and a dark green overcoat that was dotted with emeralds along the cuffs and buttons.

"You mightn't want to associate with that bunch," he said, indicating the men he had just intercepted, "They are a bit rowdy and they don't see fit to treat a lady how she is supposed to be treated. Will you dance with me, since I so graciously saved you?"

She looked into his eyes and nodded. "Whom do I give my gratitude to?"

"Ah, you do not know me?"

"I fear not, milord."

His mouth broke into a sloppy grin and his eyes lit up. "Why, that is perfect!" He exclaimed. "You may call me Casper."

Clover's eyes slowly opened and her mouth formed the word 'Casper'. A comfortable weight was on her stomach and she looked down to see what it was. Cinders was sitting there and as soon as Clover looked at her, she jumped up and walked away. Clover got up and followed her, carefully stepping over Chris, who looked like he was having a good dream, with a bemused smile on his face and all. When Clover reached Cinders, she sat down in front of the box that the cat was sitting on. Cinders moved and Clover opened the box. What she pulled from the box and found out shocked her thoroughly.

Sorry it was late. I got sick and couldn't get on the computer for a couple days. Anyway, here's the chapter… 11 should be up in the next week. Later.

-Ciara