Belle of the Ball

Today was the day. The debutante ball was tonight. She had waited for what seemed like her entire life for this one night. Clutching her dress with shaky, nervous hand, her mother fixed her hair. The girl's hair was a deep chestnut and it fell into soft ringlet curls. Her mother began to tear up, as she took in the sight of her daughter. As Amelia looked to her mother her olive green eyes shone a smile appeared on her face as she comforted her crying mother. She then kissed her mother's cheek and headed to the carriage to the ball.

The party was to be held at the palace. Upon arrival, Amelia was amazed by the palace's size and elegance. It was even more alluring that she had ever imagined. As she walked through the large doors, all eyes were on her. Amelia was confused for a second, but then she realized. It was the dress. Her dress was a pale yellow color, but its gold beading sparkled just perfectly in the palace lighting. She took note of this as her face flushed crimson and she descended the stairs.

Amelia was swarmed by young suitors as soon as she stepped off the stairs. These young men were handsome, without a doubt, but here eyes were drawn to a young fellow on the outskirts of the ballroom. He wasn't as handsome as any of the other fellows, but Amelia didn't care about looks. She was fixed on his soft eyes, and his gorgeous smile as he read small book by the name of Vanity Fair. Amelia realized that while she was gazing at the young man, the suitors swarming her had begun to argue over who Amelia would have her first dance with. With all this commotion, she knew this was her chance to slip away and she quietly left the crowd of boys, now hooligans, to the fellow reading.

As she approached him, she began to thoroughly examine him. He wore a deep sapphire velvet suit that complimented his tan complexion. His dark, lustrous hair was slicked back and a pair of thick black frames sat upon his nose. He wasn't bad looking at all, but it was the smile he had while reading that really drew her in. He had such a nice smile even though he wasn't in the company of any other ladies or lads or even dancing. It was like he was in his own little world and she wanted to be a part of it.

She had been right about him being in his own little world. The young man had noticed Amelia approaching him until she was almost to him. He was stunned. "Why would such a beautiful young lady approach me?" he thought. Believing he was just deluding himself he began to read once more. It wasn’t until she was standing right in front of him that he realized that she was real.

“Hello, good sir. How are you?” she asked.
“I-I…I’m good. How are y..you feeling on this fine evening?” he choked out.
"It's been pretty good, yet I have not dance at this ball... So I noticed you have been reading, Vanity Fair. How is it?" Amelia pondered.

He began to get quite excited as she mentioned his book. The young man's eyes shone as he talked highly of his book. It wasn't for a little while that he had noticed he had been ranting on and on about his book, probably boring Amelia.

"Oh my! I'm so sorry!" he exclaimed. "I've been probably boring you, talking about this book. You might want to go find someone else, if you want to dance. I-I mean there are plenty of young handsome suitors wanting to take your hand and dance."

Amelia stared at him and then said, "I quiet enjoyed your thoughts on your book. You seemed to get so excited talking about books. Your eyes sparkled when you talked about the,. It was quite refreshing, considering all the other males in the room, could probably not be involved in such intellectual conversations. So why do you talk down about yourself? What's wrong with being the smartest guy in the room?"

He stuttered, "M-Most girls get bored when I talk on about books. They usually approach me out of pity anyway. So when I talk on and on about books they tend to leave as I talk, as they do not enjoy conversing about such things... W-wait... you think I'm the smartest guy in the room?" His face began to crimson. "I-I...I'm not the smartest guy in the room by any means. Y-You must be mistaken."

Amelia's face began to redden as well. "Well, you're definitely more interesting than any other guy who has approached me tonight. And you are most definitely the most intellectual person in this place. There's no need to deny it; we both know it's true! Also you and I both, know everyone is thinking the same thing. And those girls, they're probably nothing but stuck-up, rude people, looking for some charismatic jerk. You deserve better anyway!"

It was at this moment when they looked up at each other, seeing the blush on the other's face. They stood there awkwardly, staring at each other. The silence was consuming.

"My name's Amelia, by the way," she said in a whisper-like tone.

"I'm Chandler. It's nice to meet you Amelia." [Amelia. Such a beautiful name, he whispered.]

"What did you just say?" she curiously asked as she looked up at him. She hadn't realized how tall he was until now. Chandler was at least a good four inches taller than her.

"A-ah.... Nothing! U-um.. Would you like to dance?" he stuttered, his face becoming a strawberry color once more.

"He is so adorable," she thought. "I would love to."

Chandler proceeded to take her hand and led her to the dance floor. The waltz began and they danced and danced and danced. Enjoying each other's company so much, they felt as if they were the only two in the room.

After realizing how late it had become, the two decided to take a walk, away from everyone else.

"You look really... really beautiful tonight," Chandler stated.

"T-thank you. You don't look too bad yourself."

"You don't have to flatter me. I know I'm very plain and considered quite geekish... Thank you Amelia. For approaching me and talking to me and dancing with me. I still can't believe someone like you, would talk to me. I'm honestly in shock. It feels like a dream and if it is, it's the best one I've ever had."

She didn't understand why he talked so negatively about himself. He wasn't plain at all. Chandler was funny, smart, pretty handsome, and so sweet. But he needed to realize this.

"Chandler, I think you need to see something."

Amelia took him back inside, into a corridor with a mirror. She took off his glasses and ruffled his hair, with her fingers. Chandler was very confused at what Amelia was doing. He really couldn't see without his glasses on.

"Chandler, can you see yourself in the mirror?"

"No," he said squinting. "It's too far away."

"Then move closer to it, you goofball," Amelia laughed.

He stepped closer to the mirror and saw a very good-looking guy. "Who's that?"

"That's you!"

"M-me? No way. That can't be me!"

"It most certainly is! Now let's go see what everyone else thinks!" Amelia dragged him into the ballroom and as they walked in, all (female) eyes were on Chandler.

They swarmed him, and started asking him if they could dance with him, shoving Amelia out of the way. Amelia was happy for Chandler, but sad because she really liked him, but now...

She started walking away. Chandler notice this, and pushed through the crowd of awe-struck girls, rushing to Amelia.

"Where are you going Amelia?"

"What are you doing, chasing me? That's the real question, at hand. Why would you come over to me, when there are plenty of other girls, who would love to dance with you?" she stated as she gestured as the crowd of females.

"Because they are not YOU. I don't want any other girl to notice me, but you. They may like me now, because I look 'good.' But they didn't like me when I talked about books, or spent my time reading rather than dancing. They didn't approach me because I was appealing to them, but out of pity. They are not the girls I want to dance with because they aren't YOU."

Amelia, blushed as Chandler talked so highly of her. "B-but, I'm not as pretty as them, and I'm just me."

"And that's what I like. You're YOU. They are all fake and superficial, we both know this to be true, plus they aren't you... so.."

They both stared into each other eyes, smiling wide, with pink tinted faces. Chandler decided to seize the moment and daringly, planted a kiss on Amelia's cheek. She went wide-eyed as he did this

"I-I'm sorry.. It's just you were.. and I was thinking... and I'm sorry!" Chandler ranted, as his face turned to a lobster red.

Amelia still with a pink face, said, "It's quite alright. I was just surprised. I didn't think you would do that, that's all. I actually enjoyed it..."

"Well, what can I say? You're the belle of the ball, the fairest of them all," he responded. Chandler took Amelia's hand once again, and lead her to the ballroom, dancing the night away.