*** Picture above of the three girls in her ball dresses and song for this chapter "Just a Girl" by No Doubt ***

Holywood, November 1998

"Hey Millie!"

"Hi!"

I greet a smiling Kelly, she's got a card in her hands and the inside of her locker is full of white roses. I instantly feel happy for her. I guess she got invited to Winter Ball. Every year our school hosts a ball to welcome winter for the two last grades of school and we are over excited to be part of it! I haven't gotten invited yet but the ball is in a couple of weeks so I still have hope that a certain someone will invite me. I snap out of my train of thoughts when Kelly hands me the card.

"Isn't he dreamy?"

Who? Shoot! She has been talking about her date and I've spaced out. I quickly read the card's signature to learn Kelly's date identity.

Mark Thompson

I hand her back the card with an approving smile. Mark Thompson is the captain of the water polo team, he's also part of the swimming team, he is very tall and has broad shoulders and his blonde hair and blue eyes add dreamy to his handsome self.

"How wonderful Kelly! He's very handsome! I didn't know you guys were friends"

She gives me her lovely smile and shrugs.

"Just like me, he also lives at school so we've seen each other around the cafeteria at lunchtime and the multimedia room, he's from London too and his parents travel around the world which is why he stays over on most holidays and we just hang around"

We start walking towards our Geometry class and she keeps talking about Mark when my eyes catch a glimpse of Jamie, he's against his locker holding a handful of heart shaped balloons with the words 'Ball?' and 'Be my date' written on them and my heart stops when I see the girl he is smiling at.

Orchid Lu.

The most beautiful girl in school. She's half Irish half Chinese. A big mixture, I know! But she's just stunning! Jamie has been friends with her since they were little and he has mentioned her a lot, he calls her Orchie! I immediately feel a wave of jealousy and I suddenly hate balloons, I hate orchids and I hate Orchid Lu!

Kelly senses my stopping on my tracks and follows my gaze.

"Oh no! I thought she wasn't going to ask him after I told her he was inviting you!"

That brought my attention.

"What?"

Kelly sighs.

"I overheard Orchid telling one of her girlfriends that she was going to ask Jamie to be her date so I told her she was wasting her time because I was sure he was going to ask YOU"

"Oh Gosh Kelly! He hasn't asked me and by the looks of it he won't be doing that anymore"

We resume walking when Jamie's eyes meet mine.

My heart stops a bit.

I saw many emotions in his blue eyes, being regret the main one.

The bell rang letting us know that Geography class is almost starting. I make myself stop looking at Jamie after Orchid reaches up and kisses him on the cheek.

Great! Just great! Now I need a date to go to the bloody ball and make me forget this uncomfortable feeling in my heart.

Kelly and I start walking towards the cafeteria once Geography is over, I couldn't pay attention to a thing that was said in class but Kelly tells me not to worry because she will give me her notes.

As soon as we reach the food line, I bump into Orchid.

Just great!

"Oh hello there Kelly!"

She looks at me from head to toes and addresses Kelly.

"So guess who is going to the ball with ME?"

She grins at me and before Kelly could answer Simona is next to us.

"Hey there Carnation!"

She rolls her eyes and Kelly and I giggle. Leave it to Simona to find a sarcastic way to greet the enemy.

"It's Orchid!"

She wines and Simona shrugs her off.

"Whatever. So I heard you've lured Jamie into taking you to the ball?"

The line kept moving and I saw irritation and anger flash over Orchid's hazel eyes.

"If you must know, he loved my invitation, he said he wasn't planning to go but he would love going with me, after all, I'm the prettiest girl in school"

I couldn't help but rolling my eyes at that neither could I help myself from commenting.

"Pretty and humble"

She walked towards me and put her face in front of me.

"What did you just say, you ugly bitch?"

Oh hell no!

"I found it incredibly funny how you find your ugly self pretty!"

She gasped and as she advanced to hurt me physically there's someone clearing his throat.

"I wouldn't do that"

She turned to find a mad Tommy.

Simona clapped seeing that my big brother has come to my rescue.

"What Warner? Are YOU going to hit me?"

He chuckles.

"Oh no, Daisy! I would never hit a girl, I'm just saying that I might not be able to hold my sister from using her Kung Fu techniques"

"It's Orchid! And I would love to see this bitch trying!"

As I'm about to show her what a bitch I could be, Teresa, the cafeteria lady, asked us to move out of her line that there were people who wanted to eat. Orchid moved to the side and pointed at me before leaving.

"This isn't over Warner!"

I shake my head and chuckle.

"Whenever you're ready, Lu"

And with that I left walking towards the other side of the cafeteria. I wasn't feeling hungry anymore. As I walked out I could hear Kelly calling my name.

"Let her go. She needs to steam it out"

Tommy knows me well.

As I walked to sit next to my favorite spot in school, this old oak tree, I couldn't help but asking myself where Jamie was during all this exchange with his date? She's annoying and she will be a pain at the ball so maybe I shouldn't go.

As I'm making my decision to not to go, someone greets me and when I look back I can see Raoul Leroy, our exchange student from France who also plays at the soccer team alongside Tommy.

"Bonjour Raoul"

I greet him and he gives me his handsome smile. His messy hair and his cigarette hanging on his lips adds up to his bad boy looks.

And he looks dreamy.

"Ça va, ma belle amie?"

I smile because he has just called me his beautiful friend.

"Ça va"

He sits next to me and offers me his apple.

"No, thank you!"

He nods and takes a bite into it and then he asks me while chewing.

"Are you going to tell me who has made you this mad?"

I look at him with confusion in my eyes.

"How do I know? I can tell by your body language"

I blush at this. Has he been checking me out?

"It's nothing. What are you doing out here? It's cold!"

I shiver. It is cold.

He stands up, throws his cigarette away and reaches his hand out for me to take.

"Actually, I was looking for you. Come with me"

His thick accent does things to my stomach, it's like all kinds of butterflies are flying inside me.

I take his hand and follow him towards school. Once we are inside, he takes me to my locker.

"Open it, please"

I frown. What does he want? I comply his request and once I open my locker I am greeted by a big snowman Teddy bear with a card hanging from his neck with the words 'Ball' written on it.

I smile like a looney. I turn around and he's smiling back at me.

"So?"

He's waiting for a response. I debate for a few seconds, I've just made my mind for me not to go to the ball, but his eyes are hypnotizing me.

"I would love going to the ball with you, Raoul"

He nods and kisses me on the cheek, the bell announcing the end of lunch rang and he bid his goodbye.

"I must go. I have soccer practice. Seat with me at lunchtime tomorrow?"

I nod and he winks at me and disappears.

I guess I have a date for the ball now.

Two weeks later...

"Simona! My dad would never let me leave the house with this much makeup!"

I cry out as I try to remove some red lipstick.

"Leave it Millie!!! It looks great on you!!!"

"Yeah Millie! You look beautiful! I can't wait to see the look on Jamie's face when he sees you wearing that in the company of Raoul Leroy! He might have a heart attack!"

I giggle while looking myself on the mirror, my mom helped me pick this dress, it's red and the soft satin clings to my body with its siren like form. I am in love with this dress! And I certainly hope that Jamie loves it as much as I do. My hair is curled and held upwards with some loose strings. My makeup is a bit overdone to my liking but I have to admit I look good.

Simona comes to stand next to me and I admire her beauty, her dress is black with two white stripes that model her already perfect figure. Her blonde hair is loose and curled up. She looks like a million dollars and my brother is one lucky man. I still can't believe he got the guts to invite her to the ball. They have become closer friends and I am truly hoping they will be more than friends after tonight.

Kelly finishes applying her makeup and comes to us, she is in a magenta dress that is a bit fluffy from the waist down. Her hair is styled in a side braid, she looks like a princess. Mark surely is a lucky guy.

My mom comes to the door with a camera in her hands.

"Girls! The boys are ready!"

She gasps at the look of us and starts crying.

"Oh mom! Please... Don't!"

She composes herself and starts taking pictures while murmuring how beautiful we look.

After what it seemed to be like a thousand photos, we head downstairs where the boys are waiting for us and my heart just skipped several beats at the looks of Raoul.

He is wearing jeans, a white shirt opened up at the collar and a jacket, not the attire for a ball but his ruffled hair and his bad boy attitude add a charm that makes me weak on the knees.

I smile at him and he gives me a nod of approval. I can see my dad from my periscopical view and he's not happy with my date. Well dad, I like him, that's all that matters right? And tonight I intend to have fun.

Tommy takes Simona by the arm and leads her towards the limousine, Mark follows him with Kelly by his arm, after giving daddy a quick kiss on the cheek and hugging mom I went to Raoul who was giving me his gorgeous carefree smile.

"Vous êtes belle"

Raoul calling me beautiful doesn't help my nerves so I blush deeply and thank him.

"Merci"

He senses my nervousness and squeezes my hand reassuringly.

I might like going to the ball after all.

*** Hello my dear readers!!! I know, it's been a while for this story! But please let me know what do you think of our new characters???

Please let me know what you think by commenting and voting, next chapter: The Ball :) Xoxo-Z ***