Hopeless

XVI

"Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering 'it will be happier...'" –Alfred Tennyson

On the road to the venue, my mind was going to wild places, imagining scenarios as if I were in a Hollywood movie. My newly found confidence and the ego boost that was given to me by Anthony's not-so-genuine, confession, had made me believe that I was the center of the world. Picturing myself on the top of the stairs while everyone at the ball was staring at me open-mouthed and dazed by my beauty was one of the over-the-top, unrealistic scenarios that played on repeat in my head.

But, of course, in a realistic New Year's Eve party no one actually cares what you wear or how you look if they do not know you. So it was kind of a big disappointment when we arrived at the venue and, first of all, there was no wide, marvelous staircase that descended to the main dancing area where everyone would be and that I could stand on the top of, and second of all, no one was paying attention to me. Every person on the ball was either dancing to the song that had been playing or calmly conversing with each other; all with a smile on their faces, lifting a sizable weight off Hannah's shoulders.

The place was wonderful, though. From the outside, it looked like a normal building, and to be honest, it was quite ugly; a grey, tall building with a wide glass door in the middle of it. There was a guy waiting at the entrance who wore an all-black suit and pants and held a small pack of papers on his hands with the names of the people invited to the ball. Hannah told him our names and he let us in immediately. We stepped inside quickly, and for the small period of time that took Hannah to open her phone and message her mom, I had the chance to observe the place properly.

The whole space was resembling a hallway; a not so long and unnecessarily wide hallway. The walls were as white as paper but with a gleam of shimmer in the color, and decorated with numerous large, gold-framed mirrors. The floor was covered with a thick, red, velvet carpet that was incredibly beautiful to look at but insanely difficult to walk on. At the end of the hallway I saw a big black door that had a small, circle shaped, tinted window that seemed to be pointless since we could not see through them and they projected no light to the other side.

Hannah suddenly grabbed my hand and, together, we walked to the main venue. Her mom was no longer standing near the second entrance to greet the guests and Hannah insisted that we go looking for her, so she can meet me. I agreed, not really paying attention to her but to the incredibly well decorated space I had just walked in. Right up front I saw the very large empty space to where people were already dancing at. Across from me, I noticed the big, oval shaped stage on which the band was playing and next to it and all over the sides of the room were placed quite a few circular, seven-seat tables that were clothed with white, cotton covers and that carried a set of, what seemed like, rich plates and whatnot, for every person. Christmas decorations were hung all over the walls and hanging from the ceiling such as big, glowing snowflakes and Santa with his slay and reindeers.

It was very crowded; the place was almost crammed with people. Guests, waiters and waitresses, people who took videos and photographs. I got blinded by the cameras' flash over a hundred times over the span of a couple of hours. The music was over-the-top loud, yet people seemed to be having the time of their lives.

Hannah led me through the crowd of people dancing to a door next to the stage where the band was playing. She took a weird looking, rusty key out of her purse and opened the door, dragging me in the room. Once it was closed and locked again, the music and talking had been muffled into a quiet whisper. The room was obviously, very well soundproofed and the only noise that could be heard was the silent talking of Hannah's mother with another person. Hannah coughed to get her mother's attention and the talking came to a halt. Joanne's face shot to our direction and Hannah's body stiffened. Her head might have been high up, staring at the man next to her mother with spite, projecting confidence but her body felt sulky next to me.