Chapter 17: the ball

I sat in my room, carefully curling my hair with the hot curling rod. Once I was finished, I blew out the candle light and allowed the stick of metal to cool. I was trying to delay the process of actually going to the ball as much as possible. I pinned it up and stuck the flower pins in it. I dabbed on a bit of makeup and fastened the ribbon necklace around my neck and put matching purple earrings on. I slid the dress over my head and put my shoes on. I walked downstairs and sat at the kitchen counter. I had made myself some coffee so that I would at least survive and not fall asleep in the middle of the ball.

Grell had rented a car for a day because I had told him that there was no way I was getting on a motorcycle in a dress.

"You look so pretty, Lee-lee"

"Thanks."

"You should really wear dresses more often."

"Yeah, thanks but no thanks." I said as we got into the car. It took us roughly an hour to drive to the green city though it wasn't that long of a trip. There were random people crowding up the streets for no reason, but then again they usually were.

We walked into the huge light green tinted manor to find people already dancing and talking. The laughter of many voices could be heard from the manor as we walked in. The ballroom was huge, and full of people. Thankfully, every other woman was wearing a dress, so I fit in perfectly and didn't stand out in the slightest bit. I tried to look for William in the crowd, but I didn't see him. I wanted to walk around and look for him, but I was immediately asked to dance by some random shinigami. Grell had walked off somewhere and had left me completely alone. What choice did I have?

I found Ronald in the crowd and we talked for a little bit and danced together once.

"Hey, have you seen William?"

"Yeah… I think he was somewhere over there, last time I checked."

"Ok, thanks."

I headed off in that direction.

"Oh look who it is! Leah Ariadne Hayes. You're probably the last person I'd think would be here."

"Why hello, Ashlyn Clarisse Redwood." I said, mimicking the way she had said my full name out loud. Ashlyn's perfectly tweezed eyebrow twitched. She hated her middle name as well. She was dressed in a practically neon orange dress that yelled 'look at me!' to the entire crowd. As usual, it was far too short to be considered decent and she tottered along on impossibly tall orange high heels to disguise the fact that she was only 5'1. Even still with her ridiculously tall heels, she was shorter than me, though I was wearing such a small heel that I might as well have been wearing my favourite boots. I was roughly the usual height, five foot four.

"It sure is nice to see you here." She said, with a look that completely said otherwise. "Tell me, darling, what made you come this year? Did you finally become less of a loser? I didn't think you would like to go to a party as cool as this."

"Truth to be told, I wouldn't have come. But I just became a grim reaper so I had to come."

"A grim reaper, huh? How interesting" Her eyes told me that she didn't believe me. "Do you have a real death scythe?"

"Yes" And I'm dangerously close to pulling it out and using it on you. I thought angrily.

"How nice to see that you've finally unlocked something you're good at. Now tell me, where did you get your dress? It's so stunningly old and far too long. Did you go to the human world to get it? You could wear something more attractive once in a while. This is hardly a change." She said, waving a dismissive hand at my dress.

"Well if you'll excuse me, I don't want to look like a prostitute. I like this dress, and unlike some people, I don't want guys to be staring down my shirt everywhere I go. Now, if you'd be so kind as to allow me to try to enjoy this evening without butting into my life, or you might just find a machine gun aimed at you in the next thirty seconds."

I turned my back on her and walked away.

"Is that a threat?" She yelled after me.

"Think of it as you want." I said. I ran straight into William. "Oh, William. Hi"

"Hello Leah" He said. He was smiling slightly, like he'd just heard something funny. My heart sank.

"Don't tell me you heard all of that."

"I did. I must say I didn't think that you were capable of standing up for yourself."

"After everything I said to you on the first day we met?"

"Well… that was me. I've seen her around. Not the nicest person."

"I'll agree with you on that one."

"You look lovely this evening. Well… you look lovely every day… today especially."

"Thank you" I tried not to blush. I'd never been told that before, especially not by someone I liked increasingly more and more each day.

The band began to play. Many people walked out onto the dance floor again.

"Ah, the music has started. What do you say we join them?"

"Sure."

He offered me his hand and I took it happily. We danced for a while, and it was actually fun. I found that I was enjoying myself quite a bit. The entire evening, I didn't step out of his arms. He looked happy as well, as much as William could look happy.

The ball ended at two in the morning.

"See you tomorrow at work then?" I asked. He nodded.

"Oh, Leah" I turned around. He seemed to be struggling with his words, something you didn't see very often with a guys like William. "Thank you for the dance. This was more fun than I thought it would be."

I smiled and nodded.

"Have a good night." I said before I got into the car with Grell.

"Aw isn't that so sweet." Grell said, smiling. "You love him so much."

I choked on the coffee that Grell had given me so that I stayed alive until we came home.

"What?" I asked, coughing and spluttering.

"Aw come on darling, don't try to hide it. You're in love with him, aren't you?"

"Um well…." I fidgeted uncomfortably. How could I say this…? "Yes" I finally admitted. AAAH! What the hell was I doing, telling Grell this? Grell was the last person who could probably keep it a secret. I bit my tongue as I waited for his reaction. He was still smiling.

"Well, why didn't you tell me sooner?" He asked as we pulled into the driveway. "He loves you too, you know."

"What? No he doesn't. He probably just thinks of me as a friend, if even that. Besides I wouldn't want to… well… I don't know…."

"Lee lee, are you happy right now?" The question took me by surprise.

"Well… yes. I guess I am."

"Then nothing else matters! Let your passionate romance take you into the stars, immortalizing you two like Romeo and Juliet forever!"

"Erm… didn't Romeo and Juliet both die?"

"That's beside the point. They loved each other more than anything else in the world."

"We're not even dating yet. Besides, I'm not even sure if he likes me."

"Trust me, he does. I've known William for a long time, and I've never ever seen him act like that around anyone. I've never met anyone who could get off the hook with him the way you do… I can't believe he didn't fire you on the spot for not wearing your glasses… much less make him smile. You two are meant for each other! Oh, I can just smell a love story coming!" Grell said excitedly.

"Hmm… maybe. Good night, Grell."

"See you later"

I walked into my room, not letting him see how much I wished that it was true.