They had found the dress. The dress that Ora just knew would catch the prince's attention. Then he'd be clay in her hands, letting her mold him to her liking.
"Daddy, I want this one. It's perfect." Ora had found a dark blue dress. It was made of leather and hugged her body tightly, it hung on noodle straps leaving her shoulders showing, and it stopped right before her knees.
She knew most of the girls would pick out red dresses as they were supposed to be the most eye-catching, but it only made them blend into the red sea of other girls with red dresses. She knew she'd be the most eye-catching in a dress that wasn't red in color. Her breasts were smaller than Valerie's, which was one more thing to hate about her. She planned to put on five push-up bras to make her breasts look bigger.
Valerie had just made it to her secret garden, Malphus was already there waiting on her.
"Hey Val, I need to ask a favor from you."
"Oh no, what is it? You only use Val when it's something serious."
"So my family is hosting a ball next month, and I'd like for you to attend the ball with me."
"Of course, I'd love to accompany you to this ball, but I don't have-"
"Don't worry Mi'lady, I've already got it covered. Here, don't open it until next month, ok?"
"Why thank you 'prince charming'."
"Haha, very funny. You know I hate when you call me that."
"Well, you seem like a prince charming, your caring and cute."
"Yes I know, I still hate it though."
Valerie sat the box down and went to play hide and seek with Malphus.
Though Valerie wanted to know what the dress looked like, she resisted opening the box, but in order to keep it unopened, she slid it under her bed to hide it from the other orphans. Just in case they happened to be playing hide and seek and looked under her bed she covered the box with patches of fabric, to make it look like the blanket she used for the picnics with Malphus every day.
It worked, it had been a month since she received the box from Malphus and it hadn't been open or moved at all. It was the day of the ball and right before school, she took the box and shoved it into her school sack, just in case.
She arrived at school and no one was in their school clothes. She wondered what was going on and if she should have dressed out today.
She walked into her classroom and there Dorthy was in a dark red dress, it was beautiful.
"Hey Dorth, what's going on?"
"Hey, didn't you know? There's a party the school is going to today!"
"No.... no one ever told me..." Valerie's eyes went from curious to full of sorrow, if she had known they were going to a party she would have tried to sew herself a dress.
"Cheer up doll, I'm sure you'll be fine. No one will notice, we'll be having too much fun!"
"Wait, hold on I have something, I'll be right back."
Valerie slipped away before class started. She put on the dress she had got from Malphus for his ball. She figured if she could keep it clean it wouldn't make too much difference. It was pale and stopped at the middle of her thigh. It was made from the finest silk in China.
It had flowers sewn into the dress and the sleeves hung from her arm, leaving her shoulders bare. She also had a pale bag and white heels in the box, right along with a necklace and a tiara. she put everything on and she was stunned. She looked better than the high-class students outside the bathroom.
When she walked into her classroom all eye's turned to her, at first they thought they had a new student they didn't know about, then when they realized it was Valerie they all gasped in unison.
She went to sit down at her seat and the boys she passed whistled and hooted at her. Oscar even told her that she looked great, It made her blush.
When they left for the ball, Ora hadn't seen Valerie because she was looking for a girl in her school clothes, or a cheap dress, or even a hand-sewn dress. She didn't realize when Valerie walked right past her because Valerie's hair was normally frizzy but in order to prepare for the ball she had braided her hair so that it would form loose curls when taken down.
Valerie was amazed by how large the carriages were, yet only 4 people were assigned to one carriage. In this carriage was Dorthy, Valerie, Oscar, and a boy from their class named Edwin.
They agreed to go into the party with the person sitting right across from them lucky enough for Valerie she was sitting right across from Oscar. So, when they arrived the boys took their dates into the castle where the ball was being held. Valerie got nervous as she had promised the prince she'd go to his ball with him but then again this could have just been a ball for the school, and not the one the prince was talking about, except it was.