The Belle of the Ball

Sophia's First Dance

Sixteen-year-old Sophia Rose is a world derby champion from Kansas, and she lived in Los Angeles with her parents, Ariel and Naveen. Sophia was incredibly thankful for everything she'd been blessed with: her home, her family, her friends, and especially her talents.

Sophia was talented in pretty much everything: painting, playing acoustic guitar, playing the drums, dancing, drawing, climbing, sewing, and derby—of course. She didn't think she would ever be herself if she wasn't this talented at anything.

Sophia was new to Briarwood Valley High School, and to her surprise, she was instantly popular in her own special way. Everybody loved Sophia—even the popular girls, especially Melanie Crenshaw. Melanie loved how unique Sophia was, and she really liked her derby clothes. But not much later in the year, Sophia learned to be careful with whomever she trusted.

It was close to Halloween, and Sophia was really looking forward to her first Homecoming dance at Briarwood—especially because this year, the dance is Halloween-themed, which meant that the students would get to dress up in costumes for the dance. Sophia was really looking forward to making her costume.

Lots of the students were decorating the gym for the Halloween dance. Sophia and her crush, Hugo Hollister, were putting up a banner.

"I'm so looking forward to the dance this year," said Hugo. "It'll be fun wearing costumes for the dance."

"And there's a costume contest, Sophia," said Melanie. "That's the best part."

"That sounds like fun," said Sophia. "Do you know what you're going to dress up as?"

"I'm going to be a fairy queen," said her new friend, Dodie Cummings.

"I'm going to be Princess Aurora," said Marcy Popov.

"I'm going to be Cinderella," said Melanie's friend, Hildegard.

"I'm going to be an angel," said Ivy.

"I'm going to be the winner, just like last year and the year before," Melanie boasted. "I love winning!"

"And you're so good at it, Melanie," said Ivy.

"I know," said Melanie. "So what are you going to dress up as for the dance, Sophia?"

"I'm going to be a safari princess," said Sophia.

"A safari princess?" asked her friends.

"Yes, I'm going to be making a fancy safari outfit that looks like something a princess would wear," said Sophia. "And I'm going to top it off with a fancy safari hat."

"You like to make your own clothes?" Hugo asked. "That sounds amazing. I can't wait to see your costume." He really seemed to have a crush on Sophia, and Melanie started to feel a little jealous.

"I'm glad you feel that way, Miss Rose," said Principal Winston. "To make the Homecoming dance even more exciting, we're making a small change to rules of the costume contest. This year, you all have to make your own costumes yourselves!"

Melanie was shocked. "We have to make our costumes?" she asked.

"Yes, you have to sew and craft your costume by yourself," said Principal Winston, "and so will Hildegard, Ivy, Sophia, and Hugo."

"Us? Sew?" asked Ivy. "Yes, everybody," said Principal Winston.

Ivy, Hildegard, and Melanie didn't like this idea one bit.

"I can't wait to get started," said Sophia happily. But then she saw the anxiety on Melanie's face. "Melanie, are you okay?" she asked.

"No, I've never made a costume myself," said Melanie.

"Maybe there's a manual in the school library that can help you make your costume," said Sophia.

 In the school library, Sophia found a book called The Beginner's Guide to Sewing. "This should help," she said.

"So when should we start making our Halloween costumes for the Halloween dance?" asked Marcy.

"Well, I'm going to start making my costume this Saturday," said Sophia.

"So can we come over to your house on Saturday to make our costumes, Sophia?" asked Dodie.

"All of you?" asked Sophia. "Oh, I was planning on keeping it a surprise until the dance."

"Can't we have at least one sneak peek at yours?" asked Melanie.

Sophia wasn't so sure.

"Please?" Dodie asked.

"Alright," said Sophia. "Well, you'll have to bring your own fabric and thread, and I have needles at home for you to use."