Chapter 9: The Yule Ball

Christmas was tomorrow, and Nya was still mad at me. It was the worst week of my life. My sister was either glaring at me or avoiding me all together. Jay was mad at me too, because I made Nya upset, and so he automatically took her side without hearing what I had to say. My other friends had no advice for me, except to apologize.

"For what?" I snapped at them, to which they just shrugged. The whole thing frustrated me to no end.

The only thing that cheered up was going to the ball with Skylor. I pulled out my special occasion suit and washed it for good measure. All Christmas day, the dance was all I could think about, much to Cole's annoyance.

"I don't get what the big deal is," he said. "It's just a dance."

"A dance that has been a Tri-Wizard Tournament tradition for centuries," Zane replied.

Cole rolled his eyes. "You sound like one of the professors."

"Do you have a date?" I asked him.

"Are you kidding me?" he laughed. "I'm only going for the food."

Typical Cole. To my surprise however, Zane and Jay both had dates. When I asked who they were, Zane said it was a fellow android named PIXAL, who was from our school, only a year above us, and Jay told me to wait and see.

"The dance is just a few hours away. You can tell me. Who is it?" I asked. But Jay just twiddled with his scarf and said he had to get ready.

Strange. But I shrugged it off and focused on seeing Skylor again. Since I was so busy helping Lloyd, I only saw her in the hallways and at lunch, which wasn't nearly enough for me. The Yule Ball would give us a chance to have some quality time together.

I put on my suit and looked at myself in the mirror one last time before heading out.

"Not bad, if I say so myself," I commented. The suit looked crisp, and I thought the tie was a nice touch. I also put a rose in my lapel, just to add a splash of color to my black and white outfit. Now, it was time to go.

I walked down with my friends. We all wore suits, except for Cole who was still in his school kimono. Once outside the great hall, I began to look around for Skylor. This place was so crowded; I kept bumping into people.

Finally, I just went to a quiet spot on the edge of the hoard and decided to wait for people to start going in. I searched for my friends in the crowd. Zane was with PIXAL who wore a purple dress hanging off her right shoulder. Part of her silver hair was pulled back in a high ponytail. She looked nice enough, but she wasn't really my type. I could hardly make out Jay, and Cole was standing by the door.

I sighed.

"Hello, Kai," someone said behind me.

I turned. It was Skylor. She looked amazing in her simple yellow orange dress that hung off her frame, without looking too baggy or too tight. Skylor also wore a modest necklace that had a yellow pendant. It matched her perfectly.

Skylor laughed. "You better close your mouth before you start drooling," she teased.

I snapped my jaw shut. I didn't even know it was open. I hope I didn't look too foolish.

"You look beautiful," I said, trying to make up for my staring.

She smiled. "Thanks. You look pretty sharp yourself," she replied, gesturing toward my suit.

I flicked the collar. "Oh, this old thing? Yeah, I thought it looked nice enough," I said. After a slight pause, I asked. "Where'd you get that necklace?"

"It was my mother's," Skylor replied, "My dad gave it to me when she passed."

"Oh." I wished I had something better to say, but 'I'm sorry' sounded shallow. "It looks really nice," I said instead.

Skylor blushed slightly. We stood in silence for a moment. This was awkward. I glanced back at the doors, which were starting to swing open.

"We should go," Skylor suggested.

I offered her my arm, and she took it. Success! I smiled wide and walked into the Great Hall. It had been completely transformed. Ahead of us, the champions were walking onto the dance floor. Lloyd was there, although he didn't have a partner. He wasn't planning to dance by himself was he? I felt sorry for the kid, being forced to come to this when he was so young.

The band began to play, and the competitors began to waltz. Lloyd did his best to mimic them, by spinning around the frosty room in careful box steps, as some of the people in crowd began to snicker, but soon, people began crowding the dance floor and nobody even noticed.

I took a deep breath. The music was picking up speed. I'm a terrible dancer. I don't know if I can do this.

"Are we going to dance or not?" Skylor asked.

"Uh, yeah, right," I stammered. Before I could change my mind, I grabbed Skylor's hand, put my other on her waist and started moving.

One two three. One two three, I repeated to myself. I just hoped I didn't step on Skylor's feet. I was just grateful when the song ended. The next song was even faster, but I didn't recognize the music. I did my best to lead the our steps anyway, but I managed to bump into three other couples and trip on Skylor's dress, even though it hardly touched the ground.

"Sorry," I muttered. "I have two left feet."

Skylor laughed. "That's all right. Just follow my lead."

I smiled weakly. Here I was trying to be cool, but I couldn't dance to save my life. Skylor on the other hand was amazing. She was graceful, beautiful, and never tripped once. After the dance was over, I asked if she wanted to get a drink, and fortunately, she agreed.

I went up to the confections line, where I saw a girl in scarlet wrap with a maroon belt and scarlet pants, with her hair cut kind of like Nya's. Next to her was Jay, who grabbed the two drinks before his date had a chance to get hers.

"Allow me," Jay said.

"I can carry my drink myself, you know," his date replied.

Her voice sounded so familiar…No. I couldn't believe it.

The date turned around.

"Nya?" I gasped.

"Kai?" Nya's eyes widened, and she looked at Jay, who stared nervously at me.

"Uh, hello, Kai, don't mind us," Jay stammered.

"Jay? You went to the ball with Jay?!" I demanded.

"Hey!" Jay protested. "I have just as much right as anyone else to ask a beautiful girl to the dance!"

Nya blushed at Jay's praise. I clenched my fist.

"That girl is my sister!" I snapped at Jay. I turned to Nya. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I knew you wouldn't like it. You're always so over protective of me, but I can think for myself!" Nya snapped.

"I never said that you couldn't!" I retorted. I growled under my breath. Nya was so stubborn! "Why couldn't you just tell me the truth?"

"Why can't you let me make my own choices?"

"When have I forced you to do anything?"

"You clearly are trying to force me away from Jay! I love him! Why can't you accept that?"

"You can't love someone! You're only thirteen!"

"Uh, I'm going to set these down at our table, Nya, wanna join me?" Jay asked, trying to diffuse the tension.

"I'll be over in a bit," Nya answered.

I turned to Jay. "Why didn't you tell me either? I asked you who your date was and you didn't answer. I thought we were friends!"

Jay glanced down at his scarf, which contrasted with his blue suit. "I gotta go, bye."

I growled again. "Jay!" I shouted but he was already gone.

"Leave Jay alone!" Nya warned.

"I would if he had just told me the truth the first place!"

"Maybe he would have if you weren't such a hothead!"

"What?!"'

"You heard me!"

I clenched my teeth trying to think of a descent comeback. A loud crunch sounded in my ears. A crowd had gathered, and most of them were eating snacks, watching us like it was a movie. A growl tore my throat.

"Back off!" I snapped at the crowd.

"Back off? I don't think so, Kai!" Nya yelled.

"I wasn't talking to you!" I yelled back.

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah really! The world doesn't revolve around you, you know!"

"Uh, Nya? Your drink is getting cold." Jay had snuck into the crowd, and now he was hesitantly tapping my sister on the shoulder.

"Get. Your. Hand. Off. My. Sister," I warned him, each word biting and cold.

Nya glared at me. "I can take care of myself, Kai." Then she turned to Jay. "Let's go."

I was left alone with a giant crowd of people staring at me. Sighing, I grabbed two hot chocolates, and headed back to the table where Skylor was still waiting.

"Took you long enough," she teased. "Was the line that long?"

I gave her a long stare. "I don't want to talk about it."

"I was only kidding, jeez," she replied.

We sipped our hot chocolates in silence.

"Do you want to dance again?" Skylor asked me.

"No," I replied truthfully.

"You're no fun," she complained.

I sighed. It wasn't her fault, and Skylor didn't deserve my sour mood.

"I got into a fight," I told her.

Skylor's eyes widened. "Oh?"

I told her everything, beginning to end.

"Your sister sounds awful," she said.

Okay, I tilted the story to make me the victim and Nya a stubborn, twisted villain, but Skylor's sympathy meant the world to me. I needed her on my side. "She's not that bad," I defended. "It's just been hard this past week. We're normally pretty close."

"I know family relationships can be hard," Skylor said, and her eyes reflected a deep pain that told me her problems were even worse than mine. "I hope you two make up soon," she finished, her hand on top of mine.

"Me too," I replied, and she squeezed my hand. I smiled at her. At least the night wasn't a complete disaster.

All of January, Nya and I were busy training Lloyd, but she kept giving me the cold shoulder and avoiding me outside of training. The second task was almost here and she still wasn't talking to me unless she absolutely had to. Her silence was worse than her yelling.

Finally, I was so desperate; I even tried apologizing. I couldn't stand this gap between us. It was like the Great Devourer incident all over again.

"Please, Nya. I shouldn't have yelled at you and I'm sorry I forgot about you by the lake and didn't tell you about the clue. I really am just a big hothead. I overreacted with Jay and I'm really sorry," I gushed.

Nya stared at me, considering what I said. I held my breath.

"Kai Umas, your presence is required in my office," a Hogwart's professor announced.

"Can it wait?" I asked. I really wanted to hear Nya's answer.

"Now." The professor left no room to argue. I sighed, and looked back at my sister.

"See you when I get back," I said.

I followed the professor out of the library to a simple room with a desk and single chair, so I was left standing. To my surprise, I wasn't the only one there. A young girl, and the lady who danced with the Hogwarts champion were here too.

"What is this?" I asked.

"All in good time, Kai. All in good time," the professor replied.

AN: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I appreciate you guest reviewers-your comments are very encouraging. And thanks to everyone who favs/follows this story. It means a lot! Until next time!