Author's Note: Tancred might be a little OOC in this chapter, and so might Manfred. For Tancred, I couldn't help it, but for Manfred, he was upset about the ball and having to go with Zelda. Enjoy!

TO EHREN (RYOKO) HATTEN: Sorry about having the same idea as you with the ball and all, but I kinda thought it would be necessary. And if you check my review, it asks you permission. Hope you don't get mad.

OVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOV

On Tuesday, Emma, Kristy, Charlie, and Gabriel were late in coming to the King's Room and interrupted Manfred in the middle of a speech.

"Did we miss anything?" Emma asked, panting as she and the others sat down. Tancred was pale. Lysander had a horrified expression on his face. Bindi's face was blank. Zelda was as happy as could be. Billy was confused. Asa was sober. Beth and Dorcas were grinning. Manfred was looking pretty down in the dumps.

"As I was saying, we will be having a ball celebrating the 150th anniversary of Bloor's Academy," Manfred said grimly. Gabriel looked shocked. Charlie's mouth dropped open. Emma's mouth clamped shut.

"You're not serious," Kristy said, laughing. "You can't be. A ball at Bloor's?"

"Wish there wasn't, Violet, but there is, and yes, I'm serious," Manfred replied, smiling grimly.

"Aw, come on, Manfred. We're going to have a jolly good time," Zelda cooed.

"Shut up, Zelda," Asa snarled. "None of us are too happy with the ball now." Before Zelda could say anything, Manfred went on with information about the ball.

"The Anniversary Ball will be held three weeks from now, on Friday," Manfred said. "Everyone must dress properly, which means that girls have to wear dresses—"Kristy groaned. "—and boys have to wear 'proper' clothing. No jeans or jerseys. Nice dress shirts and dress pants would do." Tancred, Lysander, and Charlie protested. Manfred either didn't hear them, or did and chose to ignore them. "EVERYONE must go to the ball. Yes, Billy, that includes you. All seniors must have partners—"Lysander whimpered. "—but juniors can just go by themselves." His voice wasn't mean, foreboding, or unkind, but rather exasperated.

"I don't like the sound of this," Emma muttered to herself. "I really don't like the sound of this."

"I don't like this any more than you do, Emma," Kristy mumbled. "Dresses! Outrageous! That's so, um, un-Kristy-ish!"

"I'm glad I was born in August," Gabriel breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm not a senior."

"Lucky Gabe," said Tancred, who was a senior.

"At least you know who you're going to ask, Tanc," Lysander told his best friend sadly. "And I know she'll say yes."

"What do you mean, I know who I'm going to ask?" Tancred said, his yellow hair crackling with electricity. "How do you know who I'm going to ask, Sander? And how do you know she'll say yes?"

"Because it's me," Beth said, batting her eyelashes. She had had a crush on Tancred since the beginning of time. "And I do say yes, dearie."

Charlie snorted. "Everyone knows Tanc's got a major crush on Kristy," he said matter-of-factly. "And it's obvious that Kristy's going to say yes."

"How do you know I'm going to say yes?' Kristy questioned, speaking up.

"Does that mean you won't?" asked Tancred, his blue eyes blazing.

"Well—" Kristy began, but no one heard what she was going to say, for Tancred interrupted her rather rudely.

"I knew it!" Tancred blew up, causing a strong wind to blow and knock Gabriel off his feet. "I just knew you were going to refuse! See, Sander?"

"Who said I was going to refuse?" Kristy snapped.

"So you'll go with me?" Tancred said brightly.

"Now that I think about it, no!" Kristy answered with a growl.

"Horrible temper, that one," Gabriel commented.

"Why would he want to go with that scrawny little git anyway?" Beth wondered quietly at the same time Tancred yelled, "Fine! So be it!"

He turned, stood up, and sat down at the farthest seat from Kristy. That, unfortunately for Kristy, was the seat next to Beth.

"So now will you go with me?" Beth asked eagerly.

"Of course!" Tancred said loudly, surprising everyone in the room. A hurt look flickered in Kristy's brilliant eyes for a second, then she remembered herself and smirked.

"I really feel sorry for you, Beth," she said kindly to one of her enemies. "You have a kind heart, and an abnormally large, warm one if you're going to go with him." Tancred flinched. Kristy could be really cold when she wanted to.

"Twirl—I mean, Violet! That's enough! Everyone start on homework!" Manfred commanded. All of the others, except Tancred, Kristy, Lysander, and Gabriel, groaned, for they would have loved to hear Tancred's reaction to the cold remark.

The next day, everyone seemed to know all about the happenings in the King's Room. Lysander, who, obviously, had been told by Tancred to ignore Kristy, followed the turbulent boy everywhere and never talked, or even looked at the auburn-haired girl with the radiant green eyes. Gabriel was loyal to Kristy, but Kristy wasn't feeling as cold towards Tancred, so the thin boy could talk to anyone he pleased. Charlie, Fidelio, Olivia, and Emma didn't know whose side to go on, so Tancred and Kristy didn't talk to them. Finally, after many, many hours of talking to themselves, Olivia and Fidelio went on Tancred's side, and Emma and Charlie went on Kristy's. They couldn't help it, or their two friends would never talk to them, ever.

"Kristy, don't you think you should apologize to the T-person?" Emma asked Kristy at the King's room a Thursday evening. She was not allowed to say his name.

"No. It's not my fault and I'm not sorry," was Kristy's stubborn, whispered reply. Charlie, who had overheard, sighed. Emma smiled sadly, and talked no more, because she knew it was no use. Her friend was like a stubborn mule.

"Hey, Tanc, don't you think you should talk to Alexandra?" Fidelio asked Tancred in the garden on a Friday morning. It pained him to call Kristy 'Alexandra'. He remembered his old friend's announcement. He winced.

"No," Tancred replied sternly. "You know very well that I will never speak to that person again."

"But I don't get it," Olivia complained. "One day you're crazy about her, and the other, you hate her guts." Lysander silently agreed with her.

"We all must forget about our past, and focus on the present," Tancred answered, his blue eyes cold.

"It's no use. Charlie and Emma and we split up into groups to try and get them back together, but obviously, they're trying to forget about each other. This is really hard," Fidelio whispered to Olivia.'

"I know," Olivia muttered. "It's like doing the impossible."

Yet Kristy and Tancred knew what there was inside themselves, but were too stubborn and idiotic to admit it.

It was a sunny Saturday morning when all the children at Bloor's Academy went home. Kristy was in high spirits, and Gabriel was happy to see his friend like before all the tragedy arose.

"Bye, Em! I'll see you on Sunday!" Kristy called to Emma as the blonde-haired girl hopped onto the green bus, waving.

"C'mon, Kris. Let's go," Charlie said to his friend, tugging on her sleeve.

"'Kay, Chazz," Kristy answered, smiling as she walked up the steps of the blue bus. "I can't wait to see Auntie Tris. It's been such a long week." Her eyes darkened. Charlie was too busy searching for empty seats, so only Gabriel saw the glint of sadness in the green wonder.

They reached Filbert Street first. "Bye, Kris! Bye, Gabe! See you on Monday!" Charlie called as he jumped out of the bus, grinning. Kristy and Gabriel waved.

Next stop was Darkly Wynd. Kristy got off, smiling. "Bye, Gabe. You coming on Sunday?" she asked. Gabriel only had time to nod before the doors shut.

The green-eyed girl skipped up the steps to the newly painted door of periwinkle blue. She took a ring of keys from her jean pocket and opened the door. Kristy dragged her suitcase into the house and faced a grinning Tristan Ghost.

"Alexandra! You're back!" her aunt cried, hugging the thirteen-year-old girl. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too, auntie. I have loads to tell you. But I'll have to put my stuff in my room before everything. Giving Tristan a kiss on the cheek, she climbed up the steps to her room. It had blue-and-white striped wallpaper, a desk, a bookcase filled with novels, a closet, and everything else that her old room had. Kristy sighed happily and put her burden down before thundering down the steps again to her wonderful aunt.

"So how was school?" Tristan asked after fixing up cups of tea and biscuits.

"It was fine, auntie," Kristy answered. "I had the most lovely time there. I had time to run around and talk with my friends, time to make fun of Manfred, and---"She paused. She wanted to tell her aunt everything about what had happened with Tancred, but she couldn't. The words filled up in her throat.

"Alexandra? Are you okay?" Tristan asked her niece, worried. She noticed the depressed look on Kristy's face, and the teary eyes. "Come on, dearie. You can tell me about it. It'll help, little Alex." Kristy nodded slowly.

"Well, you know the guy with the yellow hair and blue eyes, Tancred?" Kristy asked. Tristan nodded. "Well . . ." She told her aunt all about the ball, Manfred's speech, the argument, her friends taking sides, everything being unfair, how she couldn't live anymore without all her friends, it all blabbered out.

Tristan listened carefully, understanding what Kristy was going through. "I'm sorry, little Alex. Come here," she said, and gave her niece a big, motherly hug. "Now let's have a little talk, woman-to-woman. These things happen in life, and I want you to be ready for what life has in store for you."

Kristy nodded. "Okay, auntie. Now tell me," she said softly, looking up at Tristan with those big, wet pine-green eyes.

"What you need to do, Alex, dear, is to apologize to that Tancred boy. I know it's not your fault, sweetheart, but if you do, you'll gain all your friends back," Tristan said. Kristy's smile dropped to a frown.

"But I can't, auntie. I won't. That's the only thing I have in common with my mother, except for my looks. I'm as stubborn as a mule. Besides, if I'm not truly sorry, then the apology won't count, would it?" she asked sadly.

"I suppose you're right, Alexandra," Tristan said with a sigh. "It won't count." She stroked her niece's auburn hair so like her own. "We'll have to come up with something else."

"Auntie," Kristy whispered. "I think I want to be alone for a while. Just for a while. To think it over."

"Are you sure? You'll be okay, right?" Tristan asked. Kristy nodded, her green eyes deep with thought. "Okay then. Call me when you need me. I'll be in my room."

So Kristy was left alone for five hours of thinking before she went off to bed.