The tale of the life of a rose through the eyes of a daisy.

The Spring Ball

01/05/4099, Forsythia, Kingdom of Spring:

As every year before, the spring ball celebrating the renewal and the end of the last semester at the academy, took place on this famous first of May. All the students of the prestigious school of the kingdoms were invited. For the first year students it was the very first opportunity to dress in fabulous ball gowns and elegant suits, for the last year students who were preparing to leave forever the splendor of these places of learning it was a celebration in honor of the new chapters of their lives that were opening to them. For the young people who neither entered nor left these immense stone walls, it was simply the time of year that symbolized the end of the end of semester exams. Night had already begun to fall outside, the first stars were appearing in the sky in the colors of fire in all its forms. All the lights in the rooms were on, the young girls were twirling through the bright rooms while getting ready, the young men were humming happily while dressing in their ball attire. The young ladies of the Pavillon de La Rose were in their respective rooms or at least Zephirine was. From the other side of her thick wooden door, she could hear Florette and Agatha laughing and dancing. Yet she had no desire to join them. In Zephirine's eyes, the Spring Ball was just a pretext for her classmates to dress up as children of the nobility and to form bonds between them that would only benefit their parents. Sitting on her bed facing her pink wall, the young girl was reading a book from the institution's large library. The door opened abruptly on two teenagers covered in sequins and tulle, one of them holding tightly in her thin arms an imposing white tulle dress. The beautiful one with golden hair smiled softly as she sat down in front of Zephirine.
"-I thought it would suit you much better than it would suit me." She said, gently reaching out her hand and placing it delicately on her friend's. Her soft eyes full of hope plunged into Zephirine's fleeing ones. While placing the dress on the office chair, Agatha joined her two friends on the bed.
"-We thought you might want to come with us tonight."
Zephirine sighed before looking up at the two lively faces in front of her. It was by letting out a small smile that she answered in their favor.
"-Let me try on the dress."
A whirlwind of perfume and ribbon held Zephirine prisoner, but the young girl said nothing. She let Agatha help her slip into the thick dress, and allowed Florette to lightly make her up. Her eyes were fixed on her reflection, she ran her long fingers through her blond hair. Grabbing one strand after another, she braided her wheat hair into two braids that she knew only too well. The young girl turned towards her two friends who had sat patiently on the bed waiting for her. Out of breath, they contemplated the beautiful child in front of her. Zephirine, wearing small white pearly pumps hidden under her dress, left her room followed by Florette and Agatha. The three students about to leave their house, Agatha rushed into her room and came out holding in her hands a delicate silver flower crown. The young girl approached Zephirine and placed the crown on her head.
"-Like that you look like an angel..." She murmured while observing the beauty of her crown.
"-No it looks like a flower." Florette corrected with a small cry of approval.
"-You are so kind, but now we have to go to the ball otherwise we will be too late." Laughed the beautiful Zephirine.
So finally all three left their rooms in the direction of the ballroom.

During the short walk through the important corridors of the academy of the kingdoms, Zephirine felt her chest tighten. This was the first ball she would attend in Wendy's absence. The Spring Ball was by far the absent girl's favorite. The clicking of her heels on the stone floor echoed in her head. Her breathing became more and more difficult as she got closer to the entrance, the girl could hear the music coming from the double doors open in front of her. However, she continued to follow Florette and Agatha down the stairs under the gaze of two boys dressed in green and white and blue and yellow suits. When she saw her two friends join the two young men with their eyes shining with admiration, she smiled softly. Florette turned towards Zéphirine with a big smile on her lips.
"-We're going to dance, if you too wish to dance you can tell us and we will stay with you."
"-No go have fun you both deserve it so much."
"-Thank you!" cried Agatha who was already in the center of the room in the arms of her partner.
Zephirine watched her two friends dance for a few moments before turning around and leaving the ballroom. She was not running away from the music, nor the dance, nor her friends, no she was running away from the painful memory that still haunts her to this day... Wendy. Skirting the thick stone walls, the young girl was not running, she was floating. Not looking where she was going, she was running. Wishing for nothing more than to find a place where she would not be invaded by her conscience, she ran. Following the sweet melody of the piano, she ran. Passing in front of the sweet melody of the piano, she ran. The sweet melody of the piano... Suddenly Zephirine stopped in front of the music room. She slipped inside silently. As she suspected, she found a boy sitting at the piano wearing a black suit. He had hair the color of the sun and a gaze as soft as spring. Zephirine took off her pumps in order to be as silent as possible. Slowly, she approached the young pianist, this artist for whom her poor heart beat. Without looking up, the young man questioned her.
"-What are you doing here, Zephirine?"
As she joined him, the young girl answered him.
"-I was walking..."
A small laugh escaped Ambroise's lips.
"-You can tell me if you run away from the ball."
"-I wasn't running away from the ball..." The young girl murmured, trying to find a reasonable explanation for her fear.
"-So what were you doing?"
The young man's mischievous smile destabilized her.
"-I don't know how to dance..." She began.

"-No one knows how to dance." Added the handsome artist still sitting at the instrument he was playing.

"-I'm really not a good dancer..." She continued.

"-That's particularly good, because I'm also a poor dancer." He said as he stood up. The young man approached Zephirine slowly while contemplating her. He grabbed her hand, taking her pumps and placed them on the floor. He placed his right hand on her back and began to dance in the most fragile silence Zephirine had ever known. The young girl, her heart pounding, did not dare to meet the gaze of her impromptu partner. Yet she could feel his heavy gaze on her. He twirled her gently across the dimly lit room. Their shadows swayed gently under the moonlight. Neither she nor Ambroise dared to say a word, partly because she was afraid of breaking the magic of the moment and also because he didn't want to disturb her in her world. Only, nothing lasts forever. The young man moved away from Zephirine while continuing to make her dance, then he finally let go of her pale hands. Ambroise delicately placed one of the locks that had escaped from Zephirine's long braids behind her ear. He placed a short kiss on one of her pink cheeks before walking out of the room. Ambroise didn't turn around but he still said a quick goodbye to her.
"-I have to go to the ball, Abigaelle is waiting for me there."
Zephirine felt like a weight was settling on her heart, Ambroise had therefore invited Abigaelle to the ball. However, it had seemed to her that something was happening. Moreover, they had waltzed together this evening, just now. The girl with a heavy heart picked up her shoes and, without even bothering to put them back on, she walked to her room.

During her journey to her pavilion, the corridors seemed much longer and more terrifying than usual. Once she arrived in her room, Zephirine opened the glass door to the balcony and went out to take a breath of fresh air. That evening, she shed only one unfortunate, solitary tear.