The NEWBIE

Chapter 24

***24***

ELSA

Days were passing by so quickly. Halloween, Thanksgiving, and now the Winter Dance. Just as I walked in to the hallway, tarps were already posted on every corner. At one corner was the bulletin board. A lot of students, mostly girls, were crowding around it. A large sign, that took up almost every space of the board, was posted. I craned my neck and tried to check what was up.

THE ANNUAL WINTER DANCE

Gotten a date already?

When: December 16, 7:00 PM

Where: The Student Dance Hall

Seniors and Juniors only

(Invited dates by Sr. and Jr. are allowed)

Girls will be in their proper dresses/gowns in the colour blue. Boys are required to wear their tux with a blue bow/necktie.

The King & Queen of the Night will be announced at 11:30 PM after the announcement of minor awards and by twelve midnight, The King & Queen of the Night will be having their Midnight Dance and the most awaited part which is The Midnight Kiss. The candidates for The King & Queen of the night will only be voted by the Student Council during the ball so make sure that you and your date are presentable on the occasion. Let's all make winter the best season of our lives!

"The cold never bothered us, anyway."

"Did Mark Johnson ask you yet?" I heard a girl asked another.

"Not yet." She answered. "But he's been giving me signs. Sooner or later, he'll ask me."

"I'm going to wear a chiffon gown, maybe I'll be the next Queen of the Night."

Their side comments were making me more and more nervous. I badly want to go but the fact that no one had ever asked me yet and I don't know when actually made my stomach do a back flip. When I was about to go, something caught my ear.

"A lot of girls had already asked Jack Austin to go to the ball with them but he all had the same answer." Said a girl with straight brunette hair that lengthens about her shoulders.

"When is he gonna' attend the ball for the first time?"

"Jack Austin in tux? I might die. He's so handsome." Another one said in 'awe'.

I thought it was kind of wrong for a girl to ask instead of the guy. It should be vice versa. Oh yeah, I forgot he was famous and all the girls seem to want him. I didn't say anything and bawled out.

Jack still hasn't attended any balls, yet? I asked myself. Surprising... not. He doesn't seem to care about anything.

"Good morning, Elsa." Hans appeared out of nowhere, his camera hanging on his neck, as usual.

"Hello, Hans." I greeted back. Hans had been around me ever since it was October. At first, I thought of him as weird but the longer he'd been tagging along with me, I just try to be kind to him. He was actually nice but I still don't like his habit of taking pictures of me without my consent.

"Cheery, the atmosphere, ain't it?" he said, his focus on the camera.

"Is it like this every December here?" I asked him.

Hans nodded, "Yeah. This is also a great time for the school paper. The Student Council assigned us for news about the dance and the students are buying it."

"Well, been taking a lot of pictures?" I asked him, having a peek on his camera.

"A lot." He answered. He quickly changed the subject after that, "So, anyone asked you out yet."