Cora lifted a rectangular hand mirror a smidge higher as her other hand held a hair comb adorned with iridescent pearls that matched the glittering combination around her waist and along the neckline of her dress. Carefully, she slid the comb into place and held the mirror out further to make sure that it looked like it was in the right spot. Only once she was satisfied did she place the handheld mirror back on her bathroom counter and turn around to look at her reflection. The image that stared back at her looked different, almost otherworldly, with her light blue hair pulled up in a curly updo that seemed to make her face seem more angular and her light blue dress that made curves appear where she felt that she hadn’t any before. She looked like belonged in a fantasy novel, and honestly that made her feel pretty magical. With a smile on her face, she stepped out of the bathroom, and looked at her best friend. “Jude is going to absolutely die when he sees you.” Lacing her arm with her best friend’s, she smiled brightly. “Let’s go crash a prom.”

In the end, sneaking into Primrose Academy’s prom was nowhere near as hard as she expected it to be. For being a school for the rich and elite children of the world, there was a surprising lack of security, and all it took was a little strategically placed duct tape for most of the people residing at Phalanx House to sneak their way into a dance that was more opulent than anything most of them had even experienced. It was beautiful, with fairy lights and decor that looked like it belonged in a fantasy realm. Cora became aware that she fit right in, while simultaneously not fitting in at all. An outsider looking in, as always.

That had even become the case in her friend group to a point, lately. Asha and Jude still made sure to include her—which she was grateful for—but there was something about the relationship that had shifted, and it was hard to not feel like a third wheel sometimes. This was part of the reason Cora had edged her way off of the dancefloor as a slow song started playing, and went looking for some water. Thankfully, the Old Money Academy catered to the very particular needs of its students, which mean there were several bottles of water just sitting there waiting to be used. If she had to put her money on it, most of the students weren’t going to be drinking it; a lot of them had the ability to get alcohol if they wanted to and she knew it. She nabbed a bottle and headed to a table near the dance floor that wasn’t overrun with discarded shoes and coats from those who had abandoned them in the name of comfort.

Cora settled back in her chair, popping open the closure on her clutch back and digging out her phone. She had told herself that she wasn’t going to use it at all, but she needed something to distract her for just a moment while she grabbed a drink. As she scrolled through her notifications, Cora’s eyes landed on a familiar face, and she stopped, letting her eyes glance over the angles of his face. Jae. She’d been trying not to think about him since he left to make a name for himself in New York, but that had been hard to do. Biting down on the inside of her cheek, she typed up a quick text: “We crashed Prim Prom! Hope New York is treating you well! x”. She attached a selfie she had taken with Asha and Jude earlier, all three of them making ridiculous faces, and sent it off before she gave into the urge to tell him that she missed him. He had always made her feel special, had always known what to say or do to make her laugh or smile or blush. She did miss him, and not just because she’d found him cute.

With one quick motion, she shut off the display on her phone and slid it back in her clutch, becoming aware of a pair of shoes standing directly in front of her. “Oops, hi!” She looked up to see who was in front of her.