A/N: another chapter finally, yayyyyy

school started up again for me recently so that and severe writers block is the reason for my not updating anything for a while.

This chapter is structured a bit differently in that it jumps back and forth a little bit. Forgive me if any of the characters are a bit off, some of them I haven't written in a while.

Enjoy!

As Mike sat there, disheartened, in pain, unsure what to do, he wondered what the dance was like for everyone else who was able to attend. He would hear about all of it later, right now he tried to think.

His friends were attending, of course. Duncan and Zoey were going together and looking ever so the married couple that they were as they approached the front doors of the familiar palace. "Do you think he'll be here?" Zoey asked her husband quietly. Her dress was a nice red and her hair was out in waves, pinned back on one side by a flower.

"I hope so," Duncan replied in the same tone. He wore a simple black and green suit. His facial hair had grown out more; he was sporting a small beard and goatee. "Manitoba said he looked awful last time they ran into each other."

"Let's keep an eye out…" The two showed their invitation at the front and entered.

The royal important people who have been absent for eight or nine chapters were in a raised space above the large ballroom.

Topher seemed excited and also was nervously fixing his hair and blue jacket every few minutes. Sky was bored right now but was mostly interested in the dancing portion of the evening that wouldn't come for a while, and not the meeting of all the people coming in to try and impress her dad. Ella sat next to her sister and hummed to the music being played by an orchestra across the way while she watched the guests file in. All three had grown in the past year. The girls were even more beautiful and their father, who was currently chatting with some of the people running things for him, was impatient to get them some partners. As for Topher...he stayed about the same, though his voice had gotten lower.

Mike's other friends were attending too, at least the ones who had done that year's show. Mani, Trent, Dakota, Brick, all came on their own but met up at the front and entered together. Brick and Dakota seemed to be walking closer together.

Noah, Scott and Vito arrived later. Noah was determined to get Scott and Vito an audience and so he split from them at the gate and went scouting for someone. The two of them, meanwhile, roamed the ballroom.

Now back to Mike.

After sitting for a good while and his pain had partly subsided, he stood up and walked slowly through the house, wincing every few steps.

Something caught his eye as he did this. Noah's bedroom door was cracked open. He went over and peeked inside, then saw his bag sitting under the bed. He entered carefully and crept over. Bending down was hard and painful but Mike grabbed the bag and opened it up. His stuff was all inside, intact. Mike almost smiled. However, he knew he couldn't wear it. If he went in the whole outfit, he was bound to be noticed by Noah and Scott and subsequently forced to leave. He soon figured that he could take pieces of it and try to figure something out within the house. He got to work.

About half an hour later Mike checked himself in the mirror. The outfit he'd put together wasn't terrible. However, he still had a bit more to do.

The main thing to tackle now was disguising his face. The scars and bruises were easily recognizable, as was his spiky hair. He looked in the mirror and started brushing his fingers through his hair until it draped down. Already he was reminded of Mal. He moved his hair so it was over one side of his face, covering the deformities. He took a deep breath in and out as he stared at himself for a few minutes, as if he'd seen a ghost, then headed towards the front door. He'd be walking.

Meanwhile, the suitors were being introduced to the royals for inspection. Sky, Ella, and Topher hadn't been impressed so far.

After Noah had pulled strings to get them an audience, Scott introduced himself to the trio and then Vito pushed him aside to make his own introduction. Topher laughed to himself as the two started arguing and fighting in front of them. Sky rolled her eyes and Ella was just concerned. Noah dragged them away and began to scold them. "This can't get much worse, right?..." Sky asked her sister, clearly bored and annoyed.

"No, it will get much better soon, I'm sure…" Ella tried to convince her, though she was uncertain too. "After all, the dancing will begin in a few minutes!" She smiled.

"I guess that's true…" Sky adjusted her dress. "Hopefully whoever I end up dancing with isn't completely terrible at it."

"You can always dance with me, Sky!" Topher pointed out with a toothy smile. He wasn't a great dancer and she knew it.

"...that's my last resort," Sky said with a small frown.

Mike will arrive next chapter :P that should be fun.

Please review if you have anything to say about this. See ya next time :)