I am awoken by Mom tapping my shoulder.

"Wake up honey. We have so much to do today!" She says excitedly.

I open my eyes slightly. "What exactly are we doing?"

"I already RSVP'd for the Winchester Ball so we are going gown shopping! Oh this is going to be just the thing to give us a good break from the daily grind. Hopefully you can get over... you-know-who." She smiles and rubs my forehead.

"Sure... in a few hours." I mumble.

"No! We are going now so get dressed." With that, she walks out.

I sigh and get dressed. I wash my face and throw my hair in a messy bun. I look at myself in the mirror. Maybe I was being too clingy? I shake my head and walk out of the bathroom. I dont even want to think about why he did that to me. I go into the living room and Mom is waiting by the door with her purse in her hand. 

"Ready? We can pick up something to eat when we get in the plaza. I got a bonus yesterday." She smiles and I nod.

We walk to the plaza and start at the clothing stores to find one that is right for buying gowns. We walk right past the expensive stores and somehow there is this shop with gorgeous gowns in the window. Actually, the only shop with gowns and tuxedos. 

Odd.

We walk inside and an associate comes by us smiling.

"Can I help you?"

I look at Mom and she speaks for both of us.

"We have been invited to a very special occassion-"

The lady cuts her off. "The Annual Ball! Of course it is this week isnt it? Right this way ladies." She says, smiling.

We follow her and Mom looks at me weirdly.

"So I guess its a pretty big deal around here, huh?" Mom asks.

The lady nods. "Oh yeah. Everyone knows about it, everyone loves to be apart of it, we hear so many stories, but only a select few actually get invited. Ive lived here ten years and never gotten invited. Oh well, maybe next year."

Mom looks back at me. I shrug. Its just a ball. I doubt they will be giving away money, though, these people here may just do something ridiculous like that... The associate stops and turns to us.

"So this is the Royal Collection. People usually dress up during the day of the Ball, even if they arent going, to feel special, but the ones who are invited get a free gown/tux and accessories from the Royal Collection." She says, sounding sad she didnt get invited.

Mom and I look at each other. Free clothes? Wow, what have we gotten invited to? Mom smiles.

"Free is always okay in my book! So we can pick from any of these dresses?"

She nods. "Yes! We will get your measurements and everything in case it needs to be tailored and we will hand you off with the designer to help you pick the perfect accessories and everything. Just so you know, a makeup artist will come to your house on Wednesday to go over some looks for the Ball and the hairstylist will be over Tuesday and Thursday to choose a hairstyle. Everything is basically done for you. They even send you a limo! Ive seen the whole process, with my sister." She looks down.

I touch a dress and look at the associate. "What happened to your sister? Did they give her a house and she moved to a nice part of town?"

She shrugs. "I have no idea. After the ball she just disappeared. She sent me a letter saying that she was off to bigger and better things and that everything she got at the ball was enough to get her on her track to the career path that she wanted. Funny, all she wanted to do was party before the ball. It does things to people. One lady does live in this nice house. She never leaves it though. I guess the ball makes people think theyre better than everyone else. I guess they are, they got invited."

I frown. That doesnt sound right. I dont want to go to this ball if it makes me ostracize myself or just be plain mean to everyone. Mom looks at me as if she really doesnt want to go, but she knows that one ball wont do that to us. She looks back at the associate.

"We will pick our gowns and call you. Thank you for all of the information." Mom smiles and the associate bows and walks away.

"That was weird. Its like everyone is obsessed with this ball that theyve never been to, except for the people who have actually gone. Her sister, that isolated lady, I mean seems like trouble going... but free clothes!" Mom laughs.

I laugh and look at the gowns. "Well if anything weird happens we can just leave."

Mom nods. "Of course. Couldnt hurt to go. Plus, we get to be royalty for a night."

I circle around all of the gowns for a while until my eye lands on this beautiful blue gown. It's perfect! It's not too puffy, but not too form fitting, a corset top and a whole array of beautiful blues. I pick it up. Ive never liked dresses, but Im in love with this. Mom has picked out a black gown with red trimming. She smiles at my choice.

"Its beautiful! I cant believe my baby is going to be wearing a gown as beautiful as this and shes gonna like it!" She covers her face.

"Mom... cmon we're going to a ball Im gonna have to wear a dress. Dont start crying like prom.." I say, hoping she doesnt cry.

"Okay! Let's go find that crazy lady." Mom says.

We find her and get our measurements done by the tailors. They said the dresses will be ready and delivered Thursday afternoon. We agree on the accessories and shoes and leave for food.

"Mom do you even know how crazy this whole Ball is?" I ask.

We walk into a nice restaurant and sit in a booth.

"Well yes honey, but we got invited and if they want to give us all of these things to make the experience great for us then fine! Like you said, we can just leave if it seems like something shady is going on." She says, looking at the menu.

She's right. Im not going to think about this anymore. No matter how weird. We order our food and our waitress delivers it to us in a very short skirt. Its hard not to notice when someone has something below normal on. She walks away with a switch and talks to another waitress about her date tonight.

"He's gorgeous! I thought he was taken but thank God he isnt! I feel lucky, like Im dating a celebrity or something! You know, everyone wants him." She says excitedly.

I start eating slowly, Mom trying to talk to me and me just nodding, occassionally making eye contact. The Claire situation should be occupying my mind, but somehow this Roman thing is bugging me to no end. There could be many explanations for what happened that night with Claire, most of them terrifying, but what happened with Roman... I just cant understand. Did he not like me? He said he likes me. He just doesnt want to be my boyfriend. So then what does he want? The way he kissed me he doesnt just want to be friends! So now he expects for me to go back to being friends when he  made his advances and reeled me in just to shoot me down! I deserve-

"Angel!" Mom pulls me out of my thought.

I look at her. "Yes? Sorry. My mind is just really occupied right now. The ball.. Claire... other people..."

"I think this ball will be great for you. It will take your mind off of this. Do you want to go to the spa right before the ball on Friday?" She asks.

I nod.

"Honey Im sorry this is happening, but there are about 4 billion other men in the world.. I think.. someone else will come along." She says, trying to comfort me, I guess.

I smile a little. "Thanks Mom. I will be okay. Just still processing everything."

She holds my hand and I smile. We eat our food, making small conversation and the waitress gives us our check.

"Hope these people hurry up. He will be here any minute and I should have clocked out about ten minutes ago!" The waitress says, impatientely.

We stand up and Roman walks through the front door of the restaurant. I stop and Mom looks at me.

"Just keep walking." She whispers. 

I walk slowly to the front and Roman walks right past the greeter and straight to our waitress! I stop walking and just stare at the scene. Oh so thats her hot date, huh? I clench my jaw and Mom pushes me a little bit.

"Dont start anything in here honey just go."

Our waitress starts laughing and Roman looks over in my direction, meeting eyes with me for a moment. I just glare at him and walk to the cashier. Mom pays for the meal and we walk out. We walk back home in silence. Once we get in the house Mom pats me on the back.

"You okay?" She asks.

"Yeah. I see what happened." I say, spiteful, but also uncaring.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tuesday came so quickly and Im off of work today. There is a knock on the door as Im waiting for Mom to come home. I open it and two women are smiling at me.

"We're here for your first hair appointment for the Royal Ball!" They say excitedly.

I smile and let them in. Mom walks in ten minutes later and they get started on her hair. They go through three hairstyles each and we pick our favorite.

"See you Thursday!" They wave us off, smiling.

I look at Mom. "Im starting to like this ball."

I get home from work on Wednesday and there are two people standing in our living room with Mom. I look at them weirdly.

"Umm.. hi?" I say.

Mom smiles and claps. "Angel! These are the makeup artists!"

I nod. Right. Reminds me of Claire's vanity closet. I get this creepy feeling thinking about Claire. Mom has still been trying to get to the bottom of the Claire situation, but still nothing solid. The makeup artists try a few different techniques and looks on us before we pick two that we like. They said they will try both  when our gowns arrive Thursday because one always looks better with the dress on. We nod and they leave. I lay on the couch.

"Well this is becoming fun. Its a nice thing to look forward to after work." I say.

"True. Honey, tomorrow is Thursday! Two days till the ball." She claps.

I am asleep before she can express anymore excitement.

~~~~~~~~

It is almost time for me to get off of work on Thursday and I am closing off all of the computers that people arent on. Glad no one is in here. I can go home smoothly. I close the last computer and the other librarian goes in the back. I put my papers together and turn my back, putting them away. I get the feeling that someone is behind me and I turn around quickly, seeing Roman standing right in front of me. My whole demeanor changes and I instantly get angry. I turn my back on him.

"Janice! I need some help over here." I yell to the other librarian in the back. 

"Angel.." Roman's deep voice makes shivers go through my body. That voice I havent heard in a while. 

I dont turn around.

"Janice!" I yell again. 

She walks to the front. "Whats wrong?"

I point to Roman, still not looking at him. "He needs help." I say, walking away.

"You couldnt have helped him?" She asks, but I am already in the back. 

I collect myself as I wait a few minutes before I think it has been enough time Ive waited. I go to the front and Janice is closing the computer.

"Thanks. I finished everything in the back." I say, grabbing my bag.

"What, were you star struck or something? Why didnt you want to help him?" She asks.

"Because I didnt want to. I have my reasons. Goodnight Janice." I say sternly and I begin to walk home.

I walk faster than normal, even though its still light out, feeling like Im being watched more than usual. I get home and I see Mom hanging up the gowns in the main closet. I smile. 

"Theyre here!" I clap excitedly.

Mom looks at me and smiles. "Yes! Isnt it great!"

I smile and nod. "Im actually pretty excited about it." I admit.

The makeup artists and hairdressers come back and we try our dresses on separately so we dont get to see the finished look until tomorrow night. We both choose our complete looks and they wish us look, leaving with a smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wake up the next morning feeling like this day is the most odd, yet interesting day of my life. Thats just a feeling Im getting. Im excited for the ball. I eat cereal and watch the cartoons in the morning while Mom is cleaning everything. 

"What time do you want to go to the spa?" Mom asks me.

I shrug. "Maybe like a few hours before."

She nods and finishes cleaning. "Let's take a walk before all of the craziness of today starts, okay?"

I nod. I change my clothes into something comfortable and we walk to the bowling alley Roman and I went to on our first real date. The one he forgot about. Brings back memories I wish I didnt care so much about. We sit on one of the benches and Mom looks at me.

"I just wanted to talk to you before this starts. I dont believe everything that girl said, but its not so far fetched, considering how normal people are around here. We obviously got chosen for something important and with that comes people that are jealous and its easy to let that go to your head. No matter what happens I want you to remember how I raised you and what you believe in. Dont let it change you and dont believe everything you see. Just stay you, Angel. Thats the best advice I can give you." She says, holding my hands.

I hug her tight. "Thanks Mom. I will remember that."

"Alright. Wanna go bowling before the spa?" She asks.

I smile and nod. 

We play a quick round and Mom beat me. I yell.

"Mom! How did you learn how to bowl like that??"

"Where do you think you got it from?? Your father was a champion bowler. Passed it down to you, I guess. Dont worry, I wont tell anybody I smoked you." She jokes.

We walk out laughing and head to the spa. It's more relaxing than I could have ever imagined. They give us manicures, pedicures, facials, waxing, and massages. The works. I feel like I have a new body afterwards. I look at Mom and she looks happier and more relaxed than I have seen her since Dad died. I smile and we walk home.

"Are we ever getting a car or a bike?" I ask.

"Maybe, but its kinda pointless around here since there are so many people walking around and everything is so close. If you feel more comfortable with a car, I will get one." She says.

"I was just wondering. We dont have to get one." I assure her.

We get home and all of our personal helpers are here. They split us up so Mom is in her room and Im in mine. They help me into my dress and do my makeup and hair. They put big, fluffly curls in my hair. I shake it a little and smile. I never wear my hair down and I definitely dont style it. Havent had much reason for it lately anyways...

I put all of my accessories on and the shoes last. I try to look in the mirror before I leave but they rush me downstairs. Mom is at the door and she looks at me.

"Oh Angel.. You looks so beautiful!" She hugs me loosely since she doesnt want to undo all that they did for us and I smile.

"You look beautiful too Mom! Im more nervous than excited now." I admit, laughing.

She holds back tears. "Dont be! Its going to be fun."

All of our helpers walk us to the limo and help us get in. We wave them off as we are driving to our destination. The windows are so dark we cant see where we're going.

"Can we roll down the windows?" I ask the driver.

"No ma'am. Hostile pedestrians during this time, because they didnt get into the Annual Ball. Its safer if the windows are down." he explains.

Oh wow. People are really upset about not going. I would just as easily give them my invitation if it would eliminate some of this hostility. The car stops and Mom looks around.

"Are we here?" She asks the driver.

"You are. Your dates are going to join you inside. Enjoy." The driver says, tipping his hat.

Dates?

Our doors open in unison and butlers escort us from the limo into the mansion. We take our first look at the palace that the ball is being held at. This place is HUGE. It has a tower made of brick with a bell on the inside. There is a flag perched atop the tower with a black background and a white globe with a red infinity symbol in the middle. Mom and I look at each other in amazement. The butlers walk us into the palace and there are a lot of other people here. Compared to all the people I see everyday, this is pretty exclusive. I kinda feel special for getting invited. They walk us through double doors and we are standing in line. I look ahead of us and its a staircase. Wow, it is like a real Ball. Royal entrances and everything. I watch Mom walk down the large staircase and my butler lets my arm go, motioning for me to walk down the steps. I place my hand on the rail and slowly descend into the flood of people staring and snapping pictures in awe. I dont notice that a man is introducing everyone's names over the microphone until he starts talking in a booming voice.

"I present to you. Angel Roberts!"

Everyone smiles at me and I cant help but smile back. There is a large, lovely chandelier hanging above the dance floor and the golden decorations are beautiful! The man's voice comes through the microphone yet again.

"I present to you her date. Roman Anoa'i!"

I snap out of my trance as I look down to see that I am approaching Roman at the bottom of the steps. I look in the crowd for Mom and I look at the top of the steps. I cant get out of this. Who the hell decided that he is going to be forced to be my date??

I swallow my pride and take my last step, not even looking at him. I stick my hand out and snake it around his arm blindly. We walk to the middle of the dance floor. I stand there, holding in my anger, but feeling a little embarassed since Im trying to avoid my date and I cant find my Mom. I watch some other girls come down to join their dates and Roman doesnt seem to be pushing conversation. Good. You could cut the tension with a knife. After the last woman joins her date the man gets back on the microphone.

"Everyone line up for the first dance." He claps.

The butlers guide us to our positions. They send a couple in the middle right after playing the music and they demonstrate the step that we are doing for the first dance. I pay attention, trying way too hard to keep my mind off of Roman who is attached to me at the moment. What a real low blow from the Winchesters to make Roman my date. Im sure they didnt know, but, it could have been any guy. They decide to pick Roman. Of all people.

They start us in the middle of the song. Girls and guys on opposite sides. We do a little step on our own side and then we walk over to our dates. Roman slides his hand into mine and I avoid eye contact yet again, trying to mask how much I enjoy him holding my hand. We circle and tango. The beat changes and Roman pulls me closer, to the point where we are body to body. I inhale sharply and finally take a good look at Roman. Damn he cleans up nice and... he's wearing a suit that matches my dress? Blue silk tie, cufflinks and shoes with a black tux and a blue and white vest. Thats kinda weird... I fight the urge to stare into his bright eyes, but they are willing me in as our eyes meet for the first time tonight. Roman spins me, a sign of his approval of me giving him the time of day, and I let go of his hand. I cant do this here. Not right now.

I ask one of the butlers where a bathroom is and he takes me out of the ballroom and out into the very long hallway. He points down the hall and I thank him. I walk slowly down the corridor and see a million doors on the way to the bathroom. I open a door to my right and walk in. It is a dressing room. A very large dressing room that is decorated with red and gold and has at least ten closets on the left side of the room. On the right is ten floor mirrors. I turn to a mirror and look at myself for the first time tonight.

Wow.

I dont even look like myself. I look like royalty. I smooth out my gown and feel in my hair. I cant even believe how I look! This makeup, this dress, its a whole new me! I try to figure out how I feel about this for a minute. I guess I like it.

"Beautiful."

I turn around quickly and almost have a heart attack when Roman is walking through the door.

"You shouldnt be here. When a woman leaves you dont follow her, you leave her alone."

"Look, Angel, I know Ive been a jerk lately, but thats only because Im trying to protect you." He says, walking closer to me.

"Protect me from what Roman? My stalker? I havent even seen this invisible threat and look I dont want a stupid apology or anything from you. We can get through this night cordially and be done with each other tomorrow. We cant be friends again Roman. Not after what happened at the lake..." I say, trying to get everything I want to say to him out right now.

"I understand that, but you have to understand that I didnt reject you because I didnt like you. I like you a lot Angel."

He is so close to me now I can smell his cologne. His big eyes are boring into me, putting a spell on me. "I rejected you because I had to, but I couldnt get you out of my mind. I didnt want you to get involved.. with me... " He says as if he is hiding something.

"What is so bad about being with you? We went on dates. We've been places with each other! Is it that waitress girl?" I ask, clearly jealous.

He rolls his eyes. "She will not be seeing me ever again. Look, I really want to be with you. I want to know you better. Its-"

A butler opens the door and looks at us. "Dinner is ready. Your presence is requested."

Roman holds out his arm and I put my arm through his arm and hold onto his bicep firmly as we walk out of the room and into the Dining Hall. My God its huge. The butler seats us and I see Mom down the table. She looks at me and smiles then points to her date smiling. I laugh and she points at Roman, motioning that she is going to punch him after the Ball. I smile and give her a thumbs up. I turn to Roman who is fixing his bun.

"Im really going to need an in-depth explanation after dinner." I whisper.

"Consider it done." He replies.

There is a tap on the glass and a man and a woman are standing at the head of the table. The man begins speaking.

"Welcome,welcome honored guests! We are the Winchesters and thank you for joining us for our Annual Royal Ball. We are so pleased you could make it and hope youre enjoying yourselves. The dinner will be three courses with appetizers so please dig in! Dont worry, there are more festivities to come so from my family to yours, enjoy!"

We all clap and they bring out little breaded chicken and cheese bites with seasoned asparagus and a water bowl for our hands. Im not hungry, especially with Roman playing with my emotions saying that he likes me but he doesnt want to be with me. How does that make sense? I nip at my asparagus and then just decide to dip my hands in the bowl, done with appetizers. I look down the table and Mom is talking to her date, smiling. Look how happy she is. I want her to stay this happy, even if it means that I will be miserable because I like a guy who wont commit. I dont notice when they bring out the first course, my mind is so occupied. They set down a glass of water and I just stare at it.

"You gotta eat Angel." Roman says to me when he sees that Im not touching anything on my plate.

"Unless youre explaning why you've been a jerk to me I dont want you to talk to me." I say calmly.

I feel him staring at me and I hold my gaze on my glass of water. I can feel his gaze drop and he eats his food silently. The second and third courses come and go and I am still sitting there, not eating. I actually do decide to eat some of their seasoned salmon, but thats it. The only food that brings me solace is the double chocolate ice cream sundae with whipped cream and a whole load of toppings. I guess Im eating my feelings with this, but I dont care as I dig in. I look down at the table at Mom and she gives me a small smile, her gaze shifting from me to Roman. I keep digging in until its gone and I gently wipe my mouth off.

The Winchesters stand back up with another announcement.

"Thank you for joining us for dinner. We will be having the Annual Magic Show in the next coming hours. As we get the show together please head to the right hall to recieve your envelopes. It is a gesture from our family to you for joining us this evening. Thank you."

The butlers show us the way to the hall and I grab onto Roman's arm robotically. I dont wanna be near him at all, but Ive got a couple more hours to get over that. At the same time all I wanna do is hold him. I really need to get my emotions together. We walk into the hall and there is a stage where a nicely dressed man is standing. Next to him is a man with a large basket of envelopes. He begins to call names for people to pick up their envelopes. He urges everyone that they cannot open the envelopes until after the Magic Show is over. 

"Layla Roberts and her date Matthew Holding."

Mom walks up there with her date, which she seems to have hit it off with, and they take their envelopes smiling.

"Angel Roberts and her date Roman Anoa'i."

We walk up there in silence and the man hands me my envelope, smiling. I give him a small smile and take the envelope. We walk down from the stage and there goes that cuttable tension in the room again. We stand, taking our positions and I glance up at him.

"Explain." I whisper.

"You dont know about me. There are a lot of things that are happening and it is just in your best interest to stay far away from me because... I dont know whats going on, but I know I wont be able to control it." He says, just as mysteriously.

"So youre saying you cant control the things you do? That is a terrible excuse! And you dont seem that dangerous to me Roman so stop trying to toot your own horn. You know when push comes to shove you wouldnt purposely hurt me or anyone. Youre a gentle giant."

"I'd like to believe that too, but you have no idea whats been happening to me lately. You think you have paranoia? You have no idea what paranoia really is." He says terrifyingly.

We are now looking in each other's eyes. I can tell that he is sincere and I can see the fear in his eyes. 

"Roman, what is going on?" I ask, very concerned now.

Roman looks into my eyes, trying to will himself to tell me, but almost scared to say another word.

"Angel-"

"Everyone please make your way back to the ballroom for the Magic Show." The man on stage says as the butlers escort us out.

Roman drops his gaze as we walk back into the ballroom. I get the overwhelming sense of paranoia as we are walking back into the ballroom. So Im not the only one with a stalker? Im not the only one who has had these weird inexplanable experiences going on since Ive been here? At least Im not alone, but Roman seems genuinely afraid. If he's afraid, Im done for.

"I told you to stay away from that girl." Roman says sternly.

"I was mad at you and she was offering me a free night to forget my current woes. Im sorry. You were right. That girl just... I dont know what happened, but she disappeared and they are trying to figure out what the hell even happened to me." I whisper.

Roman looks at me protectively. "You mean something happened to you?"

"I woke up with some kind of weird hangover and no memory of that night at all. I mean Im still drawing a blank. I dont know how thats possible, but it is."

"Damn." Roman says, smoothing his hair back. He stares blankly for a moment then looks at me. "We did have a conversation that night."

I look at him weirdly. "Huh?"

"When I spent the night! It was storming and you washed my clothes and we... we had a conversation but you also had a blackout. We found flashlights..." He is busy searching his mind for the memory and my face is flushing thinking about what came next. When we almost kissed, or maybe we did kiss and I blacked out after. 

The lights go down and I hear people screaming. I hold onto Roman's arm tightly.

"Im right here." he says in a calming voice.

Four lights come up in every corner of the room and a spotlight is shone on the stage. Everyone calms down a little bit and the show starts with a stereotypical magician coming out with a hat and cape. He doesnt a few tired tricks like napkin up the sleeve and a bird in his hat. Then, he spits on the ground. I make a face.

"Eww." I whisper.

Roman chuckles from my response and I look at him, giggling also.

The floor suddenly lights up where he spit. Fire shoots up and we take a step back.

"Cool." I say.

Suddenly, little spurts of fire surround all of us and we stand extremely still. This is crazy. The magician takes his cape off and throws his hat in the middle of the ballroom floor. He walks through the fire unsinged. I reach my hand out and pull it back immediately after I feel the heat on my hand.

"Must be some fake fire where he is." I whisper.

Roman smirks at me. "Leave that to the professionals."

The magician spins the hat quickly, it keeps spinning without assist and he smiles at all of us.

"Let there be light."

The flames are put out and he forces his hands in an upward motions, making a strong beam of light come out of the hat. We clap and he points to all of us, light shooting our way. I cover my eyes and when I uncover them I look at Roman. His suit is glowing. I laugh and cover my mouth.

"Youre glowing." I say.

Roman looks at me. "You too. I mean, more than usual." I blush and look down at my dress. My mouth drops. This magic show is cool! I feel on my dress and the lights suddenly come up. The magician waves his wand.

"This next trick... is going to be unbelievable. But first, open your envelopes."

I pull out my envelope and rip it open. It is a folded piece of paper. I fold it up and I hear people screaming, happy screaming and some people looking confused. I look down and on the envelope it says:

You have been chosen.

I frown and look at Roman, who is looking just as confused as me.

"Chosen for what?" Roman says.

I see a bag go over Roman's face and I scream as one goes over mine. I dig my nails into Roman's arm to try and hold on, but my consciousness is fading until I am laying on the ground, blacked out.

~~~.~~~