Ah, the Grand Ball. Students decked out in all their finery, showing off the best of their cultures and their species. Everyone with their significant other on their arms, smiling brightly. Truly one of the happiest days of the school year.

Unless you didn't have a date. Then it was just plain depressing.

Alicia groaned at the thought. There was nothing else for it, though. She looked at herself in the mirror for the zillionth time, trying to get everything perfect. She'd put her hair in a ponytail for the day, and her dress was a slightly reflective light green with a high neckline. [i]It's as good as it's going to get, I think.[/i] It wasn't quite time to head down yet, though, so she sat down in the common area of her dorm room, taking out a book to read as the late morning sunlight filtered through the branches.