The days swiftly passed for the students and with great relief, they finished their exams. Whether they passed or failed did not matter as the long-waited Harvest Ball was to occur. The halls were filled with excitement as the Harvest Ball would be held in the School’s original ballroom. The original ballroom, could now only hold half of the student population, but there had been two similar adjacent ballrooms connected to the ballroom to comfortably hold the entire campus.

The flowing Cinderella sweeping staircases were at each end of the ballrooms. It was every female’s dream to be escorted by her date at least once and feel like a princess descending into the grand ballroom floor below. The ballroom floors were a mix, the outer circular part of the ballroom floor that typically held chairs or tables is smooth intricate tile and the inner dancing area is sprung wooden floors. The round canopy ceilings were painted with gorgeous scenes of the heavens and of wildlife. The decorations were lavish of course fitting the status of the academy, why even the doors were made from fine oak and the door handles made from real silver and encased in gold. A true ballroom straight out of any fairytale dream.

The ball was set to start at 6 p.m. and last until midnight with dinner served all night and kept warm in an adjoining hall, ready to be served whenever the students were hungry. But most students would arrive at the ball or for an early dinner between then 5 and 6 o’clock not daring to be late. While the female students did their makeup, hair, and tried on their sleek dresses or gowns, the male students joked around dressing rather leisurely in various styles of suits or tuxedos.

In the dorm room, #113, the situation was no different. A fluffy teddy bear checks his tuxedo coat in the mirror. The teddy bear switches between a bowtie or a black tie. Finally, after great inner deliberation, the fuzzy teddy bear adjusts the elegant black bow-tie at his throat. He confidently smooths his collar and shirt cuffs, ensuring that the tiny teddy bear cufflinks from his girl are properly closed. Satisfied at his appearance, Mr. Wilkins turns towards his girl. With a glint of disappointment and frustration, Mr. Wilkins sighs bitterly to himself. Despite his best efforts, he had not managed to get his girl to wear a dress.

Mr. Wilkins studies the reading book figure of his girl. His girl’s hair was neatly pulled back in a hair bun done up. She was dressed in sleek black dress pants, a blue fitted waistcoat and white collar, long sleeve shirt, but at least #017 was wearing sensible black heeled boots rather than her usual combat boots. Of course, when Mr. Wilkins asked the reason for her choice of footwear, his girl firmly replied, “It’s easier to crush a man’s foot with a sharp boot heel.” Mr. Wilkins quickly decided it would be better to make any further comments on his girl’s dressing wear.

#017 glances up from her book and says, “Are you ready to go?”

Mr. Wilkins turns around one last time and checks himself in the mirror. Satisfied once again, Mr. Wilkins replies, “Yes, ready to go.”

#017 sets her book down on the table and says, “Took you long enough.”

Mr. Wilkins sniffs pointedly as his girl picks him up. Mr. Wilkins roguishly retorts, “A man’s look is always best if done with great care.”

“You’re not a man, to begin with, you’re a teddy bear,” #017 drily stated.

Mr. Wilkins chokes and glares up at his girl. “How dare you! I am very much a man! You’re just taking your frustration out on me!”

“Maybe, but either way, keep a look out on things, Wilkins. I do not enjoy social events,” #017 muttered back, closing the door and making her way down the hallway to the elevator.

“That’s because you lack social skills,” Mr. Wilkins loftily declared.

“No, it’s because it’s impossible to protect your target from danger. There are too many hazards, physical bystander obstacles, and what-ifs to allow me to be at ease,” #017 said, as they got into the elevator. Mr. Wilkins is silent as the door closes on them and they descend below, towards the Harvest Ball.

*

In the setup dining hall area across from the three-way connected ballrooms, kitchen staff members hurriedly check silverware and seating one last time. Catering servers, check in with staff members to find their schedule and places. In other areas, buff servers carry last minute food arrivals from a truck into the dining hall.

The dining hall coordinator carrying a clipboard and pencil stomps towards the docking area. Pointing at the buff servers with a pen, the dining hall coordinator shrilly yells, “How many times do I have to tell you, crates are to be stocked in the back and food to the kitchen?!” Tapping his foot impatiently, the workers stare at each other for a long silent moment. Some of the workers rub their irritated eyes with their fists trying to alive their eyes. A worker finally steps forth and carefully says, “Our apologies, sir-.” The foreman leads the line of heavy laden workers further into the building as instructed.

The dining hall coordinator nods with a great deal of satisfaction and checks the last-minute items as delivered on his checklist. Stomping back towards another area, the dining hall coordinator points at a group of florists. “NO, NO, NO! Flowers are supposed to be arranged in a symmetrical order not square! Redo them again!”

The already nervous and overworked florists hastily do as they are told. The dining hall coordinator doesn’t have a moment to rest when he spots another error in the folding pattern of the folded napkins on one of the dining tables. Rushing forward he begins to shout for help from the never wrecked dining hall workers. And alas, work is not even close to being done, the meals must be prepared and be ready to be served at a moment’s notice.

*

In the mirror, Albert Cross adjusts his designer suits black tie. From the mirror Albert watches Jonathan Walker, making a mangled mess of tying his tie. “Screw it,” Jonathan muttered and tossed the tie onto the bed. He wasn’t going to wear a tie to the Harvest Ball.

Albert turns around and says, “If you want I can tie it for you.”

“Hell no, I have my pride and dignity as a man to consider. If the tie won’t tie itself, then I am not going to wear it,” Jonathan cheekily replied.

Albert shrugs and mutters back, “Suit yourself, you, lazy bum.”

Jonathan playfully reaches for the tie and tosses at Albert. “Nope, it’s color clashes with my outfit and I went to look my prettiest for the ball,” Jonathan impishly said as he flutters his eyes damsel like at Albert.

Albert dodges the flung tie that flutters to the ground like a dead snake. “Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you or offer,” Albert grumbled back with a wide grin.

Jonathan raises his muscled biceps and kisses each of them. “I think I’ll take my chances with these babies,” Jonathon bragged.

Albert shakes his head as Jonathan asks, “So how did you ask to the ball? Or were you overrun by the ladies and weren’t able to decide?”

Albert pauses for an instant as he a certain nervous girl’s face flashes through his mind. Shaking his head, Albert replies, “I don’t really fancy anyone at the moment, but I thought if I asked someone, that I would be overrun before I could. I think I’ll just take my chances at the ball.”

Jonathan shakes his head in pity. “Poor misguided fool, you’re like an innocent lamb in front of a pack of ravenous wolves. The girls are just going to eat you up,” Jonathan sympathetically said. “But don’t worry, I’ll be your knight in shining armor and rescue the foolish prince. That is my job after all.”

Albert in reply firmly kicks Jonathan in the shin causing Jonathan to wince in pain. “Jeez, talk about being a drama queen,” Jonathan snapped back.

Albert snorts and flips Jonathan the bird. Jonathan sagely nods his head and says, “Now, that’s more like it. Anywho, let’s go.” Jonathan leads the way out of the room as Albert trails out after him. After all, it was about time they had some fun.