Open to everyone Butterflies and Excitement

It was, finally, the day of the autumn ball. Rita had been waiting for the ball since early September when she first heard about the ball from the gossip among Hogwarts students. She knew students from other students would also come to the ball to dance and enjoy other activities, so it was definitely a great opportunity to meet up with new people, try to make some new friends, or even find a love interest or develop a crush. As an extroverted and open Hufflepuff who always enjoys interacting with new people and making new friends, it was of no question that Rita could not wait for the ball. "Even some introverts may also take this opportunity to come out of their shells a little bit and try to interact with people." Rita thought when she carried a bag of her clothes and other decorations to the lavatory to get ready for the ball. When she arrived at the lavatory, she found out Lily was already there chatting with Bailey, whom she had met at the cat party, while combing her hair and putting on some makeup. While Rita was also combing her black hair to make it straighter and have some style, she came over to the two girls and attempted to start a chat with them, "Hi, Lily and Bailey! My name is Rita, do you still remember seeing me at the cat party, Bailey? How are you feeling today? Are you excited about the upcoming ball this evening? Do you have any idea who will be your dance partner at the ball? Have you got anything interesting about the ball to gossip about? I am hoping to see some drama this evening when the ball begins!" After attempting to join their chats, Rita continued to comb her hair while waiting for them to respond.
(Word count: 308)
@Bailey Glade @Lily Blaze

I hoped that no one found me wandering the Hogwarts halls right now! I didn’t have any classes at the moment, and I had been trying to make it back to my dorm room in time for curfew, even though it wasn’t late yet. Yet again, I was lost, and I had a feeling that I was going to be wandering around for quite some time! I then came upon a door. I didn’t know what it lead to, the doors all look the same here! So I pushed it open a crack, and then I heard voices. Something about a ball…wait, seriously? A ball? I didn’t dare go inside, because these students were probably not first years. I heard the 3 girls inside asking questions about the ball, and I wanted to ask about it so bad, but I was rooted to the spot. It would be so fun to go to a ball, I thought. But wait, who would go with you? The girl who talks too much? The girl who knows so little about the Wizarding World? The girl who is so clumsy? The girl who doesn’t have enough courage to go into the lavatory to face a bunch of older years? I felt my heart sink. Maybe this wouldn’t be the amazing fairy tale I had wanted it to be. I sighed and turned away from the door, right before I heard someone yell at me…

Looking up, Bailey spotted Lily Blaze, a first year Slytherin whom she had met a few times and quite liked.
“Hey Lily! Yep I’m getting ready for the ball! Just some basic makeup and such, nothing too much. Just a little eyeshadow and blush! And I don’t mind the questions, I do tend to ramble when I’m excited too!”
Blushing, Bailey smiled and then continued.
“I’m going with… oh hey Rita! How are you? I was just telling Lily that I’m going to the ball with @Marcel Wheatley! He’s another third year Ravenclaw, and we agreed since neither one of us had like a romantic date or anything for the ball, that we’d go together!! And I’m wearing like a silver and gold gown, and I’m so excited!!! And I did my nails earlier, blue and gold with silver accents!!! They literally fit in perfectly with my dress!”
Taking a deep breath Bailey smiles again and asked “Sooo… do you guys have a date or anything for the ball? And what are you wearing?”
As she was rambling on with all of the excitement, Bailey heard a sound like the door closing.
“Hey! Who’s there? Come join us! We’re just getting ready for the ball, you should join us!!!” Bailey almost yelled, trying to get the other person to come back.

Rita also smiled at Bailey seeing her showing a warm smile to her and blushing maybe because of feeling shy while continue to brush her black hair, "Hi, Bailey! I am good, thanks! I like your gown and nails; they are so pretty! You look gorgeous today! I am going to wear a blue princess dress with blue high heels, kind of like Cinderella. By the way, I don`t know about Marcel, but I suppose he must be a nice boy to dance with! For me, @Tesla Stone, a first-year Hufflepuff and a nice, considerate girl, agreed to dance with me during our chats in the Hufflepuff common room, just as friends, not as romantic dates. What about you, Lily? Have you got anyone to dance with? What are you wearing tonight?"
Suddenly, Rita heard someone closing the lavatory door, and Bailey was almost yelling at that mysterious person, telling her to come back and join their chat. "Who`s that person? Why is that person closing the door? Is that person too shy to join us?" Rita thought and stepped closer to door to see who the person closing the door was, and tried to approach her in a friendly way, "Hi, could you please tell us your name and why are you closing the door? We are extremely friendly girls and we welcome anyone to join our chats, so please come and join us! " Rita waited beside near the door, waiting to see how that person will respond.
Word count: 250
@Bailey Glade
@Lily Blaze
@Aurora Griffith

Seeing Lily messing around with her wet hair and brushing her ponytails while trying to respond to her, Rita returned to the original place seeing the person behind the wall had not responded to her, and replied to Lily with a friendly smile while still combing her black hair to make sure it looks perfect to herself since Rita has a lot of hair although it is still not long enough to make a ponytail, "Hi, Lily! Hope you have been feeling good today! It`s cool that you are trying for a dark theme! I cannot wait to see your purple dress; purple is my favorite color and I believe the dress will look good on you! As for Clair, I don`t much about her, but I have seen her several times on campus, and she seems to be a nice girl. Hope you will have fun with her! By the way, I believe the person who closes the door is just too shy to join us. I have attempted to ask her to join in, but she hasn`t responded to me. Let`s wait for that person`s reaction while continuing our chat." After responding to Lily, Rita turned to Bailey and tried to ask for her idea, "Bailey, what`s your idea? Would you speak to that person again, or we can just wait for her to respond? You decide!"
Word count: 230
@Lily Blaze
@Bailey Glade
@Aurora Griffith

I had just closed the Lavatory door when someone yelled,

“Hey! Who’s there? Come join us! We're just getting ready for the ball, you should join us!!!”

I stopped and turned back to the door. Oh! I stopped. I listened closely. They were wondering if I was too shy to join them. Well, I certainly am not! Another person yelled,

"Hi, could you please tell us your name and why are you closing the door? We are extremely friendly girls and we welcome anyone to join our chats, so please come and join us! "

At least they were extremely friendly(and they were girls)! I could not believe they wanted me to join them! But I was going to wait for just a second longer, though I was really itching to open the door. Then I realized that a third girl had shouted at the same time as the other two were. It sounded like they all wanted me to come back to them. They were deciding what to do. At last, I could not take it any longer. I slowly opened up the door and took a peek inside. 3 girls were there. One of them was standing by the door. The second I noticed was all the makeup. Oh, right. They had been getting ready for the ball, hadn't they? "Uh, hi," I said. "I'm Aurora? But you can call me Ro. Sorry it took me so long to respond. You said that you were getting ready for the ball...?"

@Lily Blaze
@Bailey Glade
@Rita Su

Rita had just returned to the original place to comb her black hair and continue to chat with Lily and Bailey about clothes and dance partners when the person behind the door opened the door to join them. That person, whom Rita had never seen before and a little shorter than her, was wearing Hufflepuff clothes and introduced herself to Aurora. Aurora asked them to call her Ro and apologized for taking too long to respond to them. While waiting for Lily and Bailey to react to the newcomer and respond to her question, Rita turned to Aurora and attempted to start a friendly chat with her, "Good evening, Aurora! My name is Rita, a second-year Hufflepuff," Rita pointed to Lily and Bailey, "and in terms of these two girls, the girl wearing a silver and gold gown is Bailey, a third-year Ravenclaw, and the other girl is Lily, a first-year Slytherin. I suppose you are a first-year student too. Rita stopped for a second to see Aurora`s reaction, and seeing Aurora nodding her head, she continued, "You don`t need to apologize. We still have plenty of time to prepare for the ball. We are just talking about what clothes we are going to wear and who will be our dance partners. So, have you decided what to wear for the ball and who to dance with, Ro?"
Word count: 230
@Aurora Griffith
@Bailey Glade
@Lily Blaze

Right. Ball. Dress. Hair. makeup. Stress. Reena sat on her bed at read a book instead of getting ready. In fact, there was plenty of time. The girls in her dorm were running around and accessories were flying everywhere. A shoe landed on her bed and Reena's cat hissed at it. Reena brushed the shoe off and continued reading her book. She didn't understand why everyone was getting ready so early.

When girls called out for help with zippers or ties, Reena pretended she went deaf and flipped through her book even more. She honestly couldn't believe the fuss. And it was mostly first and second years who were so excited. This was Reena's first ball, she didn't go to the last one. But for some reason she decided to go to this one. Even though she's heard stories about happenings, which is why she wanted to be prepared. So instead of spending her few hours getting ready, she was reading spell, self defense, and safety books.

About an hour later she noticed the time and sighed. She might as well get ready. She slowly crawled out of her bed and stared hopelessly in the mirror. She knew what she would be wearing but wasn't she supposed to- wear makeup or something? And do something with her hair? She grabbed her brush and brushed away all the knots. She flattened out her hair with lot's of spray and magic combs. She used her metamorph abilities to grow it longer. That was as good as it would get.

After grabbing the duffle bag that held her wrapped dress, she slowly headed to the bathroom since the strong smell of perfume was getting to her head. She opened the door and saw a handful of girls chatting, gossiping, and giggling. They crowded the mirrors. It was like every bathroom in those cringy high school movies. They had glittery, shiny faces. Reena had bags under her eyes and dry lips. She forced a tiny smile. "Does... anyone know how to do - makeup?" She might live to regret that question.

I was about to answer Rita's question about my outfit and date for the ball(which I didn't quite have) when another girl opened the door and asked,

"Does... anyone know how to do - makeup?"

Goodness, this lavatory is getting quite crowded. I waved and said, "Oh, hi! I'm Aurora, but I go by Ro. That's Rita, Lily, and Bailey..." I trailed off when I realized that I was getting off-topic. So, I answered the girl's question. "You were wondering who here knows how to do makeup? Well, I don't, but I think these other girls do." I mentally yelled at myself. Oh, that piece of information was so useful, Captain Conspicuous! You really do have a penchant for stating the obvious. I mentally told myself to shut up, then turned around to face Rita. Oh, and to answer your question, I don't have a "date" to the ball...but, I do have a dress that my mother gave me, it's black silk." And then I muttered to myself, "Fanciest thing I've got, too..." I ran my fingers through my unstyled, long red hair and asked, "Er, you don't mind if I use some of your things, do you?" I felt like cringing a little, for I never took the time to get all done up like these girls were. I do think that there's a good reason for that, though.