Chapter 1: Embarrassing Encounters

"Hurry up! We have to get going soon," My sister yelled up the stairs, trying to get me to hustle. I sighed, not bothering. We had so much longer to get ready until we had to go… she just wanted to get there early so she could flirt with boys.

Continuing to brush my hair, there was a rare silent moment until I heard Drew run up the stairs and bound into my room. There was a frown set on her young, pretty fair face.

"Amelia, come on!" She moaned, stomping over to where I sat in front of my vanity mirror. "You are literally drop-dead gorgeous, so please just let us go now!"

I smiled at the compliment. It was rare coming from Drew, so I knew she was not just saying it.

"Thank you Drew, but you know we still have a half hour to go before we even have to think about leaving."

"Ugh," She groaned, frustrated. This made me smile further. It was always so fun to tease Drew.

I reached up to fix a golden curl that had fallen out of place from a clip. I was always so jealous of how she got the pretty golden locks and I had gotten the plain red-brown hair. She had a few stray golden curls in the front while she tied or pinned back the rest. I merely had a few loose curls in the front, bangs tucked to the side to blend in, and the rest was straight and very long –almost to my waist. It was much more boring than my sister's, but my dad had always denied this and said he liked my long hair.

She huffed, but then sighed, closing her eyes in defeat.

"Okay… well at least let me help you," She took my arm gently, and pulled me up. We walked to the mirror where I looked myself up and down. I liked this dress –it was an elegant floor length dark blue dress with sleeves, and was almost too showy. I was convinced not too many people would notice though… Drew tightened up the corset part at the back. I turned around after, brushing the fabric smooth.

"What do you think?"

I could tell Drew was impatient as she answered, but I didn't quicken my movements any.

"You look spectacular." I looked her over as she said this. Her dress was red, with a corseted part in the front… and, of course, she was busting out of her dress. I sighed. I wasn't that bad, but it was just shameful how much she was showing. I tried to hike up the front part of her dress, failing quite miserably.

"Drew, are you seriously going to wear that dress? You look like a five cent whore,"

Her eyes widened, her mouth forming the shape of a O. We joked around with each other like that all the time, so I knew it wasn't the insult that took her by surprise.

"I thought that this was a very appropriate dress,"

I raised an eyebrow.

"You know, Father is not going to let you out of the house like that."

Her delicate pink lips formed a pout, and I laughed, walking over to my closet. I pulled out a black shawl, and draped it over her shoulders.

"Here –this will due. It covers you better than that dress ever will,"

She seemed sheepish as she let her head droop.

"Okay… well can we leave now?"

I gave her a sceptical look, placing my hands on my hips.

"Are we anxious to court Mr. Thomas?"

She blushed violently, her expression souring. She grabbed my hand.

"All right Amelia, let's get going already."

We ran down the grand white staircase and its elegant spindles, and into the parlour where our father was sitting, quietly reading a book. He looked up and smiled as he heard us tromp down the stairs in our high heels.

"Off to our social gathering I see?" He looked us over as he said this. He had a broad smile on his face as he looked at his daughters.

"You two look dazzling. You are sure to woo a few men tonight, aren't you ladies?"

Drew nodded anxiously, and I had a big smile on my face. I was sure to see a few acquaintances that I had met going into town earlier. Father suddenly buried his face in the book he was reading again, and I didn't know why until it happened. Suddenly mother glided into the room, her manner not in the least bit happy. How my father had intuitive knowledge that mother was about to enter the room was beyond me. Maybe he had a keen sense for feeling aggravation.

She attempted to put a smile on her face though.

"Good evening girls! Are we off to the ball?" Drew and I nodded, and I walked up to mother and gave her a hug. She seemed to melt in my arms –I felt a ton of stress melt off her slight form. She was the kind of person to always be worried about something, therefore anxiety, and thereon, bad moods. I could always tolerate her moods better than anyone else could, and I was usually the one to talk her out of her moods. The whole family admired me and thanked me for this.

Mother looked me over, and smiled approvingly. "You look wonderful this evening, Amelia," A little blush came to my cheeks as she said it. Then she looked at Drew, and her expression slackened. Her eyes looked disapproving as she looked over my sister.

"You could use a better dress, Drew." I had been surprised that this slipped father's attention as well. Drew held her head high as she looked at mother.

"This dress will have to do. It's the only appropriate one that isn't dirty,"

Mother sighed, and walked over to Drew. She tied the shawl in a knot around Drew's rather exposed chest, frowning.

"I guess this will have to do. Whatever you do Drew, do not take this shawl off. The boys will be all over you even if you don't show yourself off."

I giggled, and Drew shot me a glare of death. But just before I thought I would have my head ripped off, a servant ran in. Saved by the servant.

"Ladies, your carriage awaits."

Drew squealed, extremely excited, and completely forgot about my apparent misbehaviour. I smiled, actually getting excited myself, until my mother stopped me.

She grabbed me by the arm lightly, looking me in the eyes seriously.

"Now, Amelia, before you leave," I sighed, closing my eyes. I knew what was coming.

"I would just like to remind you of your age, and what comes with being this age,"

I nodded, embarrassed and dismayed.

"Please try to find a suitable man soon. I know men don't particularly interest you still, but please Amelia. We need to find you a husband and marry you off so you are assured a safe and secure life."

I nodded once more, blushing vigorously. My cheeks must have been the colour of Drew's dress by the time I kissed my mother on the cheek good bye. After that, I quickly ran back into the parlour to wish my father goodbye. He stood up to give me a hug.

"Don't worry about your mother's words. You still have plenty of time to find a good man –so don't go all willy-nilly and pick a man that is not good for you."

I smiled and hugged my father tighter. He always knew what to say to me.

"Hurry up Ms. Weathers! The carriage is due to leave soon, and your sister is not too keen on waiting any longer either," The servant ushered me out the doors, and to the carriage where Drew was impatiently waiting.

"That took you long enough," She mumbled as I sat across from her in the carriage. I merely rolled my eyes.

And then we were off down the bumpy gravel road towards town. And Drew began to talk a storm; mainly about the boys we were going to meet there. She was always excited by the prospect of boys, because really we had only our father and our brother Benjamin to know what boys were like. We were raised and taught at our estate, and rarely left for town. Tonight was big for us to be going out to such an event.

She was at an age, I suspected as well. She had just turned sixteen, and she thought she was ready to face the world. Mother sparked her interest in boys, I guessed, when we went out on a trip to town and saw some handsome boys walking down the street. I sighed. Why did we need men again? I already had the two men that made me happy.

I found I couldn't concentrate on Drew's words like I normally would have. I would actually be the one talking over her, and talking more than she was, because I was the chatterbox of the family. But right now all I could think about was my mother's worry over me getting married. I was only eighteen for heaven's sake –I still had plenty of time to find a man. My whole life I hadn't been that interested in boys. I only knew and loved my baby brother Benjamin and my father. Benji was thirteen, and very quiet. He was so sweet though, and would listen to me talk for hours.

I merely said to people who found my lack of interest in boys alarming, that I had had time to focus on other, more important things like hobbies and schooling. I considered myself well educated, and on top of that I loved reading, playing the piano and other instruments, and drawing. These were the fine points of my life, besides talking. And I absolutely loved going into the city to meet people, boy and girls alike, but not to find any romance. I just loved socializing –it was a strong suit of mine.

Rain started pouring, and this brought me back to reality as my eyes glanced out the tiny window of the carriage.

"… Amy, have you been listening to anything that I have been saying?" Drew interjected, her tone clearly annoyed. My eyes flashed to her, and I nodded, smiling.

She still appeared sceptical.

"What did I just say then?"

Well, that wasn't too hard to figure out.

"You were saying that Mr. Thomas seems like a good match for you, and you hope that he talks to you tonight," She blushed slightly, smiling, and nodded.

How did I ever guess?

"Well, with that dress Drew, I think it's a sure fire thing that he will talk to you."

She laughed, almost hysterically since she was clearly nervous.

"All right ladies, we are here," The carriage driver yelled. The carriage slowed to a stop, and I heard the rain pour down even harder against the wood of the buggy we were in. I pursed my lips –how exactly were we going to get out of here without getting wet and ruining our hair? It was perfectly sunny before we left, so I didn't know if the carriage driver had brought an umbrella along with him.

Suddenly the door opened, and I saw a man finely dressed, with fairly long copper locks framing his thin face. He smiled at us with chocolate brown eyes, and I had to steady my sister beside me as he looked in at us. I smiled back at him.

"Well hello there, Mr. Thomas!" I said in a bubbly voice, which made him smile more. Drew was swooning.

"Please ladies, call me Will." He held out a hand, which Drew immediately took. In the other hand he held an umbrella. Both Drew and I scooted out of the carriage, holding up our dresses as we stepped out onto the cobbled street of Fairhaven. Drew huddled in close to him and me even closer into Drew as we ran for the door of the Grand Hall. We barely fit under that one umbrella, but we had all made it into the building without a drop of water on us to account for. I shook his free hand thankfully.

"I was wondering how on earth we were going to get in here and not ruin our outfits."

He nodded charmingly at my words, and winked.

"It was a lucky coincidence that I was there to accommodate you ladies wasn't it?"

Drew nodded, and a natural blush spread on her cheeks as she stared adoringly at Will. I shoved my elbow into her side, making her look at me. It was so apparent she was goo-goo over this boy; it was almost painful to watch. She might scare him off if he happened to notice it.

All of a sudden, I was slammed into as someone's arms wrapped around my waist. Taken by surprise, and the wind knocked out of me, I turned around to see Sarah Michaels squealing in delight. My eyes widened, and we both jumped up and down in place, huge smiled on our faces. We were making the loudest, girlish noises as we reunited. Sarah and I hadn't seen each other since last summer, but it was a summer we both obviously hadn't forgotten. We also wrote to each other all the time, so our reunion was that much sweeter.

She took my hands, a huge grin on her face as well as on mine.

"I'm so happy to see you Mel! It's been too long… remind me again why you don't get out much?"

Sarah was just as much a mouthpiece as I was, and just as hyper. We literally exploded when we saw each other. She hadn't changed as much as I expected she would, appearance wise, since the last time I had seen her. She still had the long, layered dark hair, the same fair white face, and was exactly the same height as the last time. She was two inches taller than I was, and this I remembered only because I was always jealous of it. I hadn't grown any taller, and I knew I never would. I was five feet five inches without heels on. She was just as beautiful as the last time I had seen her. And she said I was way more beautiful since the last time we had seen each other.

This made me blush and giggle as we burst out into conversation.

Will and Drew had faded into the background of conversation, though they were standing next to us, forming a circle. Will seemed a little intimidated by how much Sarah and I were talking, and Drew just stood there nervously, looking up at Will hopefully every once in awhile. This made me feel horrible, but what could I say. I was a talk-a-holic, but there wasn't much I could say to Drew until Sarah and Will left our presence.

Sarah and I chatted for three quarters of the hour while more and more people started to file in. By that time I could tell she was antsy to meet other people, so I let her go, giving her a hug. I promised I would see and talk to her more later. Drew seemed relieved some that I was finally free to talk to. She shifted nervously from foot to foot, and was probably in need of a chair to sit down. Will seemed mostly at ease, his eyes focused on me. I took no notice of it however, too much running through my mind. As I guided Drew over to a chair against the wall, all I could think about was how I wanted to continue to talk to Sarah again, and how much I wanted to see other acquaintances and meet new people. This was a rare occasion that I got out, so I wanted to live it up as much as possible.

Violins had started to play a while ago, and actual dance music was starting up. We stood there, Drew sitting, for a couple awkward minutes before I finally spoke up.

I set my hand on Will's shoulder to get his attention. He was staring aimlessly off into the crowd, so I thought I would set him free until I pep talked my sister.

"Will, why don't you mingle with the others here? I'd feel bad if we stole you away all night."

He seemed a little surprised at first, but then he smiled and nodded.

"I'll see you two later,"

Drew smiled dreamily at his voice until he faded into the crowd of people. I sighed, taking her shoulders and looked her square in the eyes.

"Why aren't you talking Drew? I thought you wanted to talk to Mr. Thomas?"

She huffed, her face troubled while her eyes were smitten.

"I don't know Mel… it seems so hard to talk to him! I really want to, but when I try I just can't. I've basically been waiting for him to talk to me this whole time," She admitted, her voice disgraced.

I pursed my lips.

"Well I guess I will have to help acquaint you two better. Don't worry dear; your sister will always be there to help,"

She smiled at my words, but I could tell she was very troubled on the inside. This was a prime example why not to waste your time over boys. It just causes so much stress.

I tapped her shoulder, something suddenly catching my attention. An idea dawned on me.

"Drew, I have an idea," I nodded in the direction of three boys standing on the opposite wall from us, all ogling Drew. Why not factor jealousy in? I was sure that if Will saw Drew dancing and having a good time with other men that he would be even more interested in her. It was always a popular theme in romance books, so why wouldn't it work in this situation?

After a minute she noticed what exactly I had tried to point out to her, and she immediately turned her head towards me: partially in embarrassment, and partially in glee was her mood. She liked being stared at, but was ill at ease when three handsome men were staring at her.

"Amelia, they are gawking at me!" She squealed, her voice worried.

I nodded.

"I know, and we are going to use this to our advantage. Mr. Thomas is sure to be jealous if he sees you having fun with other boys. I am sure if he sees you like that he will want you even more and ask you to dance even. Then comes the fun part of getting to know him,"

Her eyes brightened, and she beamed at me.

"Okay Mel. So what do I do?"

I pulled her up off the chair, and whispered in her ear.

"Go out into the middle of the dance floor, and look around aimlessly. One of them is bound to come up to you. Remain cool and collected –and don't hold back if they ask you questions about yourself. Be yourself, and they will most likely cling to you more."

She nodded, and gave me a huge hug.

"Thank you, Mel!" She squealed, and restrained herself as she did a half-run towards the dance floor. I sat down myself after I saw her reach the middle of the dance floor.

It didn't take long before one man with ebony black hair walked up to Drew, and asked her to dance. She remained calm as I watched her accept his offer, and he took her hands. She was really showing how much composure she could muster, and I was a very proud sister at that moment.

I sighed and closed my eyes, taking a momentary break, but then reopened my eyes quickly. I always needed to be watching Drew. Slapping myself on the cheek, though not full force, I woke myself slightly. I shouldn't be this tired already. I still had so much longer to be here.

I went to slap myself again, but a hand reached down and caught my wrist before I could. I looked up in shock to find that the hand that had stopped me was attached to the body of Will. My eyes widened.

"Why would you want to damage that pretty little face of yours dear?" He murmured, his eyes sparkling due to the reflections of candles all around us.

I shuddered slightly as he called me 'pretty', and pulled my hand away gently. I smiled.

"Oh I am just tired, is all; I needed to wake myself up." I stretched my arms up and out, yawning as I did so.

I wanted to get his attention on Drew. I felt increasingly uncomfortable in his presence alone every second more I was there.

"Umm, have you seen my sister anywhere?"

He nodded.

"You mean that girl that came with you here, right? She's really your sister? You two don't look anything alike,"

I didn't want an explanation for why he thought this –I just wanted him to find her so I could escape. I had never felt so uncomfortable with anyone in my life.

"Yes, I saw her –she seemed to be having a good time with a man she was dancing with."

My heart dropped slightly –did he not care at all, and was my plan backfiring?

"Why don't you go ask her to dance? I'm sure she would enjoy your company as well,"

He shook his head slowly. I wanted to slap my forehead –he wasn't getting the hint.

"She's not free at the moment… may I ask you to dance?"

I had been looking away from him, trying to find Drew, but my eyes shot back up to his face in surprise as he asked me this.

"Sorry Will… I don't dance,"

He snickered, a sly smile on his face.

"Then why did you come to a dance?"

I almost started to stutter. I was losing my grip on this situation –I didn't know what to do.

Suddenly Drew walked up beside me, and I took a deep breath. Saved by Drew.

"Uhh, Drew? I need to step outside for a minute; I'm not feeling all that great."

Her brows furrowed, and she touched my arm lightly in concern.

"Do you need me to come with you?" I shook my head vigorously, blood rising to my face. I suddenly felt really hot, and it either felt like I was going to throw up or pass out.

"No, you stay here and have a good time. I just need some fresh air, and I'll be back in, in a minute."

She nodded, kissing me on the cheek before I left. I glanced behind me as I walked towards the general direction of the doors we had come through before. Drew was looking up at Will, expectant. It appeared like his lips moved, so obviously he was talking to her. I sighed in relief, but due to a disturbance in my stomach, I ran to the door even faster.

"Amelia Weathers, are you all right? You look deathly pale!" I heard some people call from the crowd, but I could not stop to look back at them.

I pushed open the wooden doors, and slammed them behind me, only to run to a nearby hedge, get on my knees and make the most hideous sounds as I vomited everywhere.