Chapter Thirteen: The Valentine's Ball (Kayla, Yusrah, Jameela, Rachael, Miss N)

The day of the Ball finally arrived and the dorm under the stairs had been transformed into a hair salon, nail boutique and makeshift catwalk. The girls had spent the entire morning trying on Jade’s dresses and modelling them for each other. They had all eventually found their personal favourites with matching shoes and accessories. Calipso was busy giving Charlotte and Annie a French manicure. Jade was straightening Roxanne’s hair with her new GHD hair straightener that her dad had bought for her on one of his overseas business trips. She really did have everything!
“Where is Chelsea?” asked Annie.
“She’s talking to my mom on the phone downstairs,” replied Roxanne.
“Do you think Annie’s dream about Chelsea getting upset at the Ball is really going to happen?” asked a worried Charlotte.
“I think it might,” said Roxanne. “After all, all of our dreams have come true so far.”
“We will have to keep a close eye on Chels and Kyle tonight, to see if we can stop whatever it is that is going to upset her,” said Jade.
***

It was just after seven o'clock when Mary came bursting through the curtain.
“I hope you’re all ready,” she said as she looked each girl up and down. “The boys are here to fetch you!” she squealed.
They all rushed around frantically, applying a last smear of lipstick, a last brush of mascara, buckling up their shoes and they all added one final spray of perfume. Then, just before they were about to leave the dorm, Jade insisted that they all pose so that Mary could take a quick photograph of them all dressed up. They looked absolutely beautiful.
“Before we go, there's something we need to discuss,” said Jade.
“What Jade? Is this really the time? The boys are waiting for us!” scoffed Roxanne.
“Well, I've been thinking. We can't really call ourselves the Fab Five anymore because there are no longer just five of us, are there?” She asked rhetorically and studied each one of the expectant faces in front of her.
“What do you think about calling ourselves the Super Six?”
“That's perfect!” said Charlotte.
The others all cheered in agreement and Jade gave Calipso a big hug. Calipso was so touched and smiled at all her wonderful new friends. She couldn't remember when last she had felt so happy, even after all the unnerving incidents that had happened in the last few days.
The newly named Super Six then made their way up the stairs, walking very carefully in their beautiful dresses and high-heeled shoes. They were relieved that the boys had arrived together rather than one by one so that they could all walk out to meet them together. All the girls in Oak House who weren’t attending the Ball had gathered on the verandah to watch as the older girls greeted their partners and linked arms with the handsome boys dressed in their smart blazers and bowties.
Kyle’s eyes widened when he saw Chelsea walk through the door in a gorgeous pink dress. Her eyes looked so big and beautiful when she wore make-up and her long golden-blonde hair hung loosely on her shoulders. It looked so soft and silky.
“Wow, you look beautiful,” he said, handing her a perfect red rose.
“Thank you, you don't look too bad yourself,” she said, taking the rose and looking for Mary over her shoulder. As she did so, she saw Ben handing a rose to Annie too. Annie's cheeks had turned the same colour as the rose petals! Mary took the roses from Annie and Chelsea and put them next to their beds so that they didn't have to worry about carrying them or losing them at the Ball. The couples then set off down the path to the Ball that they had all been so looking forward to.
The Super Six were amazed at how different the Braxton House school hall looked. The theme for the dance was Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' and the boys on the dance committee had done an impressive job of decorating the venue. It looked like an enchanted forest with strings of ivy hanging from the walls and fairy lights everywhere – it looked truly magical. Eventually everyone made their way to their tables and sat chatting and laughing while eating their dinner and waiting for the music to start. Charlotte and Roxanne were sitting at a different table to the others as they were with the matric boys up on the stage. Once everyone had finished eating, people started to get up and move around the hall. Calipso and Annie were standing in a corner discussing every single detail about their partners when suddenly Calipso froze.
“It's Suzy!” she cried.
Annie turned towards the entrance and watched as Stuart and Suzy, arm in arm, walked through the door arm in arm. Suzy was wearing a beautiful red sequined dress and Stuart was wearing a matching red bowtie and a huge grin.
“You're right! What is she doing here?” she wondered aloud.
They both skipped across the hall and Suzy beamed when she saw them.
“What are you doing here?” asked Calipso, hugging her friend.
“Well, it's thanks to you that I'm here actually. After you went to Mrs Sheraton on Monday morning, she made a few phonecalls. It turns out that the security system at 'Glitz and Glamour' was faulty. Because the alarm had been going off erratically since the weekend, the store decided to double check their records and their stock. They soon realised that nothing had actually been stolen from the shop,” Suzy explained.
“I hope they feel awful about falsely accusing you, I know I do,” said Annie, feeling ashamed after hearing what had really happened.
“It's not your fault, Annie, I can imagine how it must have looked – the alarm went off and at that moment I was running away from the shop. The truth is that I had taken so long to choose a dress and my mom was waiting for me in the carpark, so I was running to meet her. It's my fault for having lost the receipt. I must have dropped it so I couldn’t prove that I had actually paid for the dress. But it was their fault for just assuming that something had been taken without actually checking right there and then.”
“I hope they've apologised to you and your parents Suzy. I hope they realise what a mess they caused!” said Calipso, feeling very upset for Suzy.
“Oh yes, they’ve made up for it quite nicely actually. They gave me a very generous voucher for the store and they wrote me a sincere letter of apology. If it hadn’t been for you Calipso, I would have had to carry out my punishment for something I didn't do and everyone would always have thought of me as a shoplifter.”
Suzy gave Calipso another hug and thanked her again before Annie and Calipso rushed off to find the others and tell them the good news. Calipso had been right about the dreams – they really did come true. Suzy was obviously meant to be at the Ball and it was thanks to Calipso’s efforts that she was. This time Calipso hadn't done something to stop what was going to happen, she had made it happen without even realising it. It really was a mystery but she found these strange and unexplained powers quite exhilarating.
All of a sudden the Black Eyed Peas blared from the sound system and everybody cheered. The couples rushed to the dance floor to dance and they all sang along loudly to “I’ve Gotta Feeling”, the first song of the evening. Even Mr Walnut and Miss Jiggleweed were shaking an ankle amongst the students, they really were doing some very interesting dance moves. Chelsea and Kyle went to join Roxanne and her partner James when suddenly the music changed to a slow song.
“I love this song!” said Chelsea.
“Me too,” replied Kyle. He looked around nervously and then back at Chelsea.
“Would you like to dance with me?” he asked, holding out his hand.
“Of course,” she said, her heartbeat quickening as their hands met.
And so they danced, one of only a few couples on the dance floor now. It seemed that the other boys were still feeling a little shy so early on in the evening and not many of them had plucked up the courage to slow dance in front of their friends yet.
“You see,” said Charlotte who was standing on the side of the hall with her friends. “I told you they would dance, it's happening exactly as I dreamt it. I can't imagine what could possibly upset her after this.”
When the song ended, Kyle led Chelsea off the dance floor and they walked hand in hand towards the punch bowl at the back of the hall. While Kyle was pouring the punch, a Grade Eleven boy bumped him and he spilt the drink all over Chelsea's dress.
“I'm so sorry,” he said to Chelsea, diving across the table for a napkin. He looked mortified. Chelsea laughed at his reaction.
“It's really okay, it wasn't your fault. I'll just go and clean it up in the bathroom,” she said, patting his arm and thinking what strong muscles he had.
Jade and Charlotte saw what had happened and followed Chelsea into the bathroom. They both thought that this was the moment when Chelsea gets upset. But over spilt punch? They weren't convinced. Chelsea was dabbing the wet patch with a damp paper towel when they walked into the bathroom and she didn't seem upset at all. Quite the opposite actually.
“Did you see how terrible Kyle felt about spilling the punch on me? And it wasn't even his fault. He really is a gentleman, and he asked me to dance during the first slow song!”
Chelsea was bubbling with excitement and the other two felt relieved. The punch was now a faded smudge that could barely be seen so they decided to go back inside and dance. But when they walked into the hall, there was another slow song playing. Chelsea scanned the crowd looking for Kyle and then she finally spotted him. He was on the dance floor, dancing to the slow song with someone else. It was Holly. She was in Willow House and had a reputation for stealing other people's boyfriends. She was in Grade Eleven and she didn't have many friends. Holly looked up and saw Chelsea staring at her. She held Chelsea's gaze and then wrapped her arms tightly around Kyle's neck. And then Holly gave Kyle a kiss on the cheek! Jade and Charlotte had spotted Ben and Annie on the dance floor. They were busy commenting on how different Ben looked without his glasses on when Chelsea ran past them and disappeared into the crowd. Just then the song ended and Kyle turned around just in time to see his date rushing out of the door, tears streaming down her pretty face.