𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐄𝐒 | 𝐠. 𝐛𝐥𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐞

| 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄: 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 |

| 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 |
𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒

"𝐈 𝐂𝐀𝐍'𝐓 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐕𝐄 𝐖𝐄'𝐑𝐄 𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐆𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎 𝐀 𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐋" Anne said enthusiastically as she went through Adelaine's closet, analyzing every dress hanging there carefully. "Are you sure you're not going to wear any of these?"

Adelaine shook her head slightly, sitting straight over the comfortable mattress of her bed. " My dress has already been chosen. I'm sure Ethan will be here any second with it."

"Ethan is your friend, right? The one that was at school the other day?" Cole asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. Adelaine nodded once with a playful smile.

"What do you think of this?" Diana inquired, stepping inside the room with a long, baby blue dress.

The three friends watch Diana twirl around in it with big smiles. The dress was simply beautiful. It was tight in the places that it needed to be, and fell perfectly loose until it reached the floor. She looked like a princess in it, and from every dress she had tried today, it was definitely their favorite.

"That's the one." Adelaine confirmed, followed by words in agreement of the other two. "So, what's the color of your dress, Dela?"

Adelaine shrugged softly, standing up from her spot and walking towards Anne to help her pick an outfit. "I don't know, I don't usually pick it. Frederick is always the one who takes care of that."

Her three friends turned their heads towards her, a confused frown over their face, not understanding why she didn't get to choose her own dress.

"What do you mean?" Diana asked, sitting on the bed and tilting her head to the side.

"Well... The Christmas Ball is like a tradition in my family since I was born. Frederick started to implement it as a birthday party and, since I am the person to honor, my dress has to much the theme of the party." She explained, making her friends even more confused, as she passed through the hangers to find the perfect dress for Anne.

"Wait a second, you're birthday is on Christmas?" Diana asked with wide eyes, a surprise tone on her voice.

Adelaine simply shrugged it off. She was never the type to actually want to celebrate her birthday. She hated being the center of attention and that was exactly what the ball meant. Frederick always had the idea that big parties brought important people so he would take this opportunity to make her look the prettiest she could and introduce her to every single male candidate that he thought was worthy to marry a Donchaster. That's why she hated this ball, because it wasn't to celebrate her birthday. Every year she felt like her uncle was putting her on sale.

The only good thing that came from those balls was that she got to meet Ethan in one of them. Frederick was so eager to introduce her to an Irwin, yet it took Adelaine one single dance with him to know that he would never look at her that way. They spent the whole night together after that, laughed and danced, and that was the first and only party she actually enjoyed. They've become best friends ever since.