White Dress, Black Mood

[Odette Madison]

The Valentine's dance was supposed to be a happy occasion, and that happiness was mirrored on the many other students Odette could see in the Great Hall. She herself, however, wasn't feeling very happy. It had been months since her plan backfired, but it was still all people seemed to think about when they saw her. If she hadn't been worried it would look weak if she hadn't come, she would have stayed in her dorm and enjoyed a peaceful night. It was annoying that the situation with Harley had been taking over her entire first year. Her grades had suffered, she hadn't made as many friends as she wanted, and now she was here at the ball trying not to die from boredom.

But she looked like she wanted to be here, her confident smile in place. She was wearing the same white dress she wore at the Yule Ball. Some girls might feel the need to dress up in something new and flashy at every chance they got, but Odette knew she didn't need clothes to make an impression for her. She had herself. She tried to spot Margo or Beaubelle in the crowd, but she didn't see them anywhere. There weren't many things that were more pathetic than seeing someone spend the entire dance looking for a friend, so she didn't. Thankfully she didn't see Harley either. Her stunt with the rose was still fresh in Odette's mind and she hated herself for how she had reacted. If only she had managed to play it cool and pretend she had gotten a real red rose, that would have looked a lot better. Instead, she had gotten angry and destroyed it in front of others in the Great Hall. She needed to get her temper in check.

With a small sigh of boredom, she got herself a drink. It was somewhat amusing to watch other people trip over themselves in proximity to their crush, but she was counting the minutes until she could leave again. Maybe something interesting would happen, but she didn't count on it.

 

[Hayden Lavish]

Hayden had considered skipping the Valentines dance, it wasn't something that really interested him and would have been much happier staying in the common room. But in an effort to be more social with his annoying peers, he put on a suit and dragged himself to the great hall. The ball was in its early stages so there was only a handful of couples on the dance floor, most were scattered around the tables at on the sides, sipping drinks, making small talk. There was even a few couples being love dovey in the corners of the room, it was all very sickening. Hayden grabbed himself a drink and looked around the room for a familiar face, not that he was bothered about being mistaken for a hapless lonely loser.

After some time, Hayden did spot someone who peaked his interest. She looked familiar but he couldn't place her face so he went over to her. She looked very pretty in her dress, not that he would tell her that. "Hi, do I know you? You look familiar,"

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette was surprised that someone had come up to talk to her, a boy especially. She hadn't talked to many boys at school yet, and certainly not this one. She eyed him, trying to place him. He looked like he may be from her house, but she couldn't remember every face she had seen in the common room. One thing was clear, though, he wasn't in her year so he had to be older.

She tilted her head slightly in response to her question and took a sip of her drink before answering. Even though she hadn't really interacted with boys much, she knew the rules. You shouldn't look too eager or too happy to get their attention. "Probably." She replied as she looked at him. "I'm Odette Harper. I'm afraid I don't know you." She gave him a small smile to soften her words, she didn't want to come across as too cold. She didn't really see the point in boys and dancing and things like that, but she knew that it looked good to be here with an older boy. It made her look mature, powerful. The longer they talked, the more people would see.

 

[Hayden Lavish]

When the girl told Hayden her name he remembered why she was so familiar to him. She was the girl who was made to stand up in the Great hall and apologise for putting up some posters insulting another girl in his year. Hayden had found the posters to be quite funny, he didn't really care if what was written was true or not, he just liked to see people arguing, which was probably one of the reasons he missed home so much, seeing his younger siblings bicker always amused him. "Yes, you're the girl who had to apologise in front of everyone, that was unfortunate for you, though I admired your work with the posters," Hayden laughed. "I'm Hayden by the way," He added, he didn't bother to offer his hand as he suspected she wasn't the type to accept the gesture.