The Echoes of Rivalry & Ruin (The Acamancy Series I)

Chapter 11: 3 Days Until Year One

Bee has been busy with Callie getting all of the flower arrangements set for the Banquet tonight. Mal has been doing afternoon training with Winona, who is an exceptional Wind Mani and Mal has been eager to soak up all of her knowledge. Mitch joins them sometimes too, occasionally I will tag along as well, but one of Mitch's roommates is a Year Two Water Mani, named Theodore, and he has been helping me train and teaching me new things. That has been helping to pass the time.

The banquet starts at 6:00, dinner at 7:00, toasts and speeches at 7:45 and open dance floor at 8:00. I have always been one for timeliness. Summer says we need to be "Fashionably Late," and show up around 6:30-6:45 but Bee and Callie have to be there by 5:00 to finish setting up so I may just go with them. Being a Year One I cannot be on the planning board, and the only club that has started already is gardening club, for the sole purpose of Banquet decor. That means i have no excuse to be there early, but may I can pose as a Garden club member. I can be their designated plant watering person or something.

I would just go with Mal but she's riding with Mitch and as he's my "date" it's Banquet bad luck to meet up before you enter the hall. You are supposed to take "first look" photos, as if this is a wedding or something, and walk in together. June isn't going, Winona is coming late with Summer and Lylah. Theodore isn't going since Year Two's only go if they have a date to go with and no one asked him, and he's too shy to ask someone. So, I'll either have to walk over there solo or go with Bee and Callie and meet Mitch outside at 6:00.

As far as dates go, we decided to go together since neither of us have a real date and I've danced with him before and all of that. Mal is going with his roommate Finn because he wanted to come along and being a Year Two couldn't go otherwise. His roommate EJ has had his eyes on Bee since they met but she isn't interested, but Callie is so he agreed to go with her. Bee agreed to go with Tyler, who has been taking turns with EJ flirting with her, so she didn't hurt Callie's feelings if she said yes to EJ. She doesn't like Tyler either but said it was not socially acceptable to go without a date and insisted we all find one. But because Lylah was too sad about not being able to bring Spencer she just agreed to go with Winona. And that left Summer who hasn't had her sights set on anyone yet, but she got word from Bee's sister, Remi, that the groups have been made, and Summer is in Light Mani Group 2 with group leader Ryker. So, she insisted on meeting him, and Remi introduced them. He agreed to go with her since he wanted to scout out the first years in his group and see who would cause him trouble. None of us are going as full-on couples. All of us are single, aside from Lylah who cannot bring her date, so we just decided to go as a group as well. We will take the mandatory couple photos for fun and memories but the only one with any crush worthy feelings towards their "date" is Callie, but EJ is too immature, and too much of a flirt to settle on one person anytime soon.

It's only 2:00, but I have been rereading the same book for the fifth time this week and am getting antsy. I head away from the fountains; I met Theo earlier to practice drop transference with and make my way to the dorm. I figured I would be way too ahead of the game if I got ready now, but as soon as I walked in the door I was scolded by Brynn.

"Where have you been? Do you even know what time it is? You should have been here over an hour ago to do your hair with us," Bee looks seriously offended.

"I was at the fountain. We still have 4 hours until the Banquet starts, and even if I go with you and Callie, we have over two and a half hours to get ready before we need to leave," I say.

"Only! We have only two and a half hours, you mean!" Bee corrects.

"Em, I love your hair, you know I do! But those natural waves are not Banquet material! We need to get them into some heatless rollers hours ago for a blow out! Now I am going to have to risk ruining your curl pattern with heat on your hair! Come here so I can get started. I know you, of all people, don't want to be late," Callie rushes me over.

I honestly couldn't care less about how my hair is styled for this event. With my dress on I am plenty fancy for a school banquet with a group and fake date, but I let Brynn have her fun with my hair, makeup and whatever else she sees fit.

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Two hours, some curlers, a curling iron, a few rollers, a blow dryer, and more makeup on my face than I've worn every other day in my life combined, later and I am finally walking, arm and arm with Brynn, toward the Meeting Hall at school where the Banquet is being held. I will admit Brynn did a nice job. My hair has a ton of volume, the big, loose curls make my hair look much thicker than it actually is. She ignored my protests to all the rhinestone clips she wanted to add but still allowed me to tie a ribbon in my hair too. The smoky color of my makeup brings out the blue in my eyes but offsetting the gray, despite my thoughts the opposite would happen. I allowed the blush, highlight, contour, and whatever else she saw fit, but drew the line at lipstick or gloss. It's not that I'll be kissing anyone, or even worried I'll get it on my teeth or something. I just don't like the way it feels. I am super sensitive to anything on my lips, lipstick feels sticky, and lip gloss is even worse. Plus, my hair tends to get stuck in there and it drives me crazy!

Brynn looks stunning. As if she didn't already look enough like Rapunzel, she decided to fully embrace the parallels and go all out. Brynn spent hours curling her pin straight hair into gorgeous loose ringlets, then tied them up into an intricate braid that starts on one side of her head and goes across the back of her skull and over her opposite shoulder. She has loose waves falling out to showcase her curls, small braids weaved through her large braid, and of course, flowers pinned all over her hair. The blossoms she chose for her hair match perfectly to the blossoms on the skirt of her dress. The pink tones in her make up complement not only her complexion, but also her whole outfit. She is wearing false lashes, lipstick, and even more makeup overall than I am. And despite our decently long trek across campus to the Banquet Hall, Brynn is strutting in her 6-inch pink rhinestone heels that match nicely with her bracelet and matching choker necklace. Callie and I opted to wear sandals for now and swap to heels before we meet our "dates" out front.

Speaking of Callie, she looks gorgeous as well. She pinned her natural brown curls into a stylish updo, her dress is even more perfect on her than I remember, with the jewels on the belt perfectly matching her glasses and the large sunflower she has clipped into her bun. She went simple with the makeup, getting ready with Lylah, Summer and Winona in their rooms seems to have benefits in that way.

While Callie and Bee got the flowers all set and helped the rest of the Planning Board with all of the decorations and the tables and things, I just sat in the corner watching. I tried to help a bit but felt like I was in the way, so I just watched from afar. Right at 6:00 Callie and Bee came over to walk with me outside and meet the rest of our group.

All of the girls looked beautiful in their dresses, with their hair and makeup all done up. The boys were well dressed as well. A few of them got ties to match the color of their "date's" dress, but most of them went with a simple black or gray. Mitchell opted for a bow tie and even though he got navy blue and not an aqua color, it was still a nice gesture that he even asked the color of my dress and tried to match me. Mitchell looks very handsome, he has his dirty blonde hair slicked back off of his forehead, his gray suit jacket and pants are a nice color on his. He went with a black button-down shirt, and black shoes with his navy bowtie. It is a nice surprise to see his hair styled, he always rolls out of bed and goes everywhere with his mused hair. It's charming in a way, but I do love the effort some men put in daily to style their hair.

When Mitch sees me his eyes light up. I am actually grateful for the picture Bee snapped of our "first look" because Mitch looks great. In every other picture I have of him, or have seen of him, he has a pleasant look on his face but no smile. Mitch is confident in himself for the most part, but he's self-conscious of his teeth. For reasons I don't understand, since they look perfect to me, but he says they are too big. So, Mitch never smiles in pictures, but this "first look" photo has a real time, genuine smile and I will cherish it forever. It's a beautiful moment frozen in time.