Hey! So first of all I'm not going to tell you to outcome of the vote. I want you to be surprised. I'm not even going to tell you as she's getting ready for the ball. Not until she actually goes to the ball. I'm cruel, I know :)

I'm not even going to start to name everyone who reviewed/PMed and voted so I'll just say this:

Thank Thank Thank you for voting! It really helped. We'll see who wins later in the chapter.

I also want to thank Dl9571, for starting the whole voting! I was just going to do Green without any opinion from you guys! But she reviewed and suggested a gold dress, not knowing I already chose. I liked it so much I wanted to see what you all thought! Some other people also voted some other options I really liked! So we'll see who wins later in the chapter! Thanks!

I wanna thank the people who also suggested what everyone should do before the ball. It really helped!

This is Part One of the Christmas Gala. Enjoy!

"Lady America! Lady America!" Mary woke me up.

"Huh?" I asked drowsily.

"You're getting a spa day!" She said excitedly. I got out of bed and threw on some clothes. They sent me to breakfast. I ate with my family and Kriss and Elise's families and Amberly. Maxon wasn't there for some reason. I hope he's not getting cold feet. Maybe he's changing the ring to something Kriss wants instead of something I want…

I followed everyone to the spa. I remember last time. My skin was glowing for days afterwards.

I couldn't wait to relax once more while they take care of me.

We were all separated. I'm kinda sad about not being able to be with my sisters and mom when they experience this for the first time. But I'm glad to be left to my thoughts. Now's the perfect time to just think. The maids worked quietly so I could do just that.

They scrubbed me head to toe. And put something sweet smelling on my body. Then they scrubbed my hair until my scalp tingled. They also put sweet smelling something or other in my hair, scrubbed it in, then washed it out. But the smell stayed.

Then they led me over to sit in a salon chair. They put that green stuff on my face that I had last time. They put cucumbers on my eyes like last time, too. They gave my hair a short haircut.

"What color is your dress? So we can do your nails."

"It's (insert color here)" (A/N: HAHA! YOU THOUGHT I WAS GONNA TELL YOU! I know the color. I'm just not gonna tell you!)

"Beautiful! That'll go beautifully with your hair!" The maid said. Another started playing with my hair, shooting off ideas for hairstyles. I loved with all of them. The first maid who asked about my dress, started shooting off ideas for my nails. Finally, they took the green stuff off of my face and sent me to lunch. Where was Maxon? Was he avoiding me? He probably changed his mind. He remembered all the mistakes I've made, all the things I've done, and changed his mind.

May couldn't stop talking about her day at the spa. I answered excitedly, but my mind was on Maxon.

After lunch, they sent us to our rooms for hair, makeup, nails, and accessories. Anne Mary and Lucy were so excited to help me with the three.

My nails were white, but the tips were the same color as my dress, and sparkly. They did my makeup to match the dress and we chose my jewelry. All I had was a simple gold chain bracelet. I couldn't find anything else to go with my dress. My hair was beautiful. My long red hair, which was naturally straight as a board, was curled. It went up into a mess of curls on the top of my head, then went down into a cascade of curls down my back. A knock came at my door right when I was about to put the dress on.

"Is everyone decent?" Maxon joked from behind the door.

"Yes!" I answered. He opened the door. He was holding a large velvet box.

"I have a present for you." He handed me the box. I opened it and gasped. "I wasn't sure what your dress looked like, but my mom assured me it would go fine with it." He sounded unsure of himself.

"Oh, Maxon! They's beautiful!" I threw my arms around him.

"Let me help you put it on." He offered. I turned around and lifted my hair gently so I didn't ruin one single strand.

The gold on the necklace made little tiny branches that went down into a V shape. Little diamonds and big emeralds adorned the gold branches as leaves. The earrings above them were diamonds set in gold. The large chandelier went down into one single emerald teardrop.

"They've been in my family for generations. And now we're the next generation."

"They're beautiful. Thank you." I hugged him and kissed him sweetly on the lips. "Now go!" I said playfully. "I need to finished getting ready." I pushed him out the door and shut it. Then I gingerly touched the necklace hanging around my neck and smiled.

My maids helped my into my dress and I slipped into my strappy heels and my earrings that Maxon gave me. I left my room. I was to meet Elise and Kriss at the bottom on the stairs. We were to walk in together.

Elise was beautiful. Her dark hair was up in an elegant twist. Her dress was shiny and silver. It wrapped around her body then flared out into a full skirt. On one side, there was a pretty silver accent at her hip that looked like it was holding the entire dress together.

Kriss was perfectly elegant. Her dress was a burgundy red. The bodice was simple. Just a little bit of silver accent along the top. The full skirt had many silver and diamond accents, bunching the skirt into many little diamond shapes. (A/N: I'm sorry. I'm really bad at describing dresses. At the bottom of the page, there are links to all the dresses.) Her hair was down and plain. Somehow, simple always looked stunning on her.

"You look amazing!" Kriss said as I walked down the stairs, my hand elegantly gliding along the rail.

"Thank you! You both do!" I made it to the bottom of the stairs. I smoothed a hand over the sparkly and shiny fabric. We walked into the ballroom together.

"Ladies Elise, America, and Kriss." A man over a loudspeaker announced everyone looked at us. For once in my life, I actually felt confident tonight.

(A/N: HERE IT IS!)

My dress was sparkly and shiny. It sparkled beautiful in the lights. The fabric was simple on the top. No accents adorning it. It was strapless with a sweetheart neckline. The gold fabric made me feel like royalty. The emeralds at my neck and ears gave it a Christmassy look.

So here's the vote:

Gold: | | | | | | | (7)

Green and Gold: | | | | (4)

Green: | | | (3)

White/icy blue: | | | (3)

Black with gray lace: | | (2)

Winner: GOLD

America's ball gown::

America's necklace that was a gift from Maxon:

lotfinderimages/D55470/an_emerald_diamond_and_gold_necklace_

Elise's ball gown:

.

Kriss' ball gown:

.

I'm sorry I couldn't find a picture of what I was looking for in earrings. So use your imagination for that!

So if you guys really liked some of these dress ideas but they didn't win and/or if you guys liked the idea to vote for a dress then I can do it again for like her wedding dress and stuff like that. Just tell me! Thanks for voting, guys! I hoped you like this chapter!

The next chapter will be the ball and it might even go into the chapter after that. I PROMISE they will be engaged somewhere in those two chapters.

I hope you like it!

Thanks!

~C.A.M.3