The Mystics Of Valenthia

20. A Night Of Surprises

"I am having me a party!"

Nova exclaimed two hundred and fifty seventh time. (I know. I was keeping count. And getting tired of that song, too.)

I looked up from my textbook and caught Bex rolling her eyes.

"It's just a party, Nova. Nothing extraordinary," Eva said, her eyes glued to her second-favourite laptop screen.

The room was a sight with the wardrobes wide open and clothes strewn everywhere. It was smelling of the strawberry shampoo that Nova used and you could literally see the smoke rising from the curling tongs that had been kept on for too long. Nova was taking this party business seriously.

It was decided during breakfast time to hold a midnight party to celebrate the victory of Brandon in a silly bet against Carter. They decided to hold it in the Dining Hall itself. I had pointed out the major flaw in their plan that the Dining Hall was quite prone to other students and teachers when they all burst out laughing.

"We have a plan," Julian had said, grinning.

Apparently, the plan was this: Bex was to cast the Silentium, that is, the spell of silence around the Dining Area which was to form a sound-proof shield around Hall and Clara would cast the Issem, which will trick any outsider to think that the Dining Hall is empty. As a safety measure, Lena was to sweet-talk Warmage Wimbsky to sign a permission card that allows us to use the Dining Hall at midnight for whatever purpose.

And now, here we were watching Nova go ga-ga over this party.

"Show me what you guys are wearing!" Nova ordered us.

Bex, I saw, held out a short black dress with a strappy back which would totally show off her muscles whereas Eva was fidgeting with a short navy blue skirt and white top.

"Not bad, not bad. Renna?"

I stand up and gesture to the shorts and the loose Beatles top I was wearing. "This," I said.

Nova's eyes widen as she said, "You're kidding, right?"

I frowned as I replied a definite no.

"You can't wear that!" Nova protested vehemently.

"Why not?"

"No, no, no, no, no!" She said over and over as she dug around the pile of clothes and pulled out a chiffon navy blue dress. It was knee length with a silver belt to go with it.

"Here you go," she said.

I stared at the dress and said a bit suspiciously, "I distinctly remember Taylor Swift wearing this same dress at a photo shoot."

Nova nodded her head in approval. "As much as I hate to admit, she's got style."

"Now go, get dressed!"

• • •

"There you girls are! I almost thought you are missing this party!" Brandon called out.

Bex and Eva had long gone, though Nova stayed back to "help me dress up."

And I have to admit that she did a great job. My hair was hanging loose, one side pulled back loosely with a pin. I refused to put make-up, though. Just a light lip-gloss because Nova was insisting a lot.

I scanned the area and noticed that almost everyone was present.

I spotted Eva and Julian sitting on one of the benches. Eva, as usual, was blabbering and Julian was listening with interest. I smiled to myself thinking that they do make a cute couple.